Comments davidconnell has made

  • Jim Webb at 87 Percent on LCV Score

    Just saying, that's a better score than Obama or Clinton. see it hereOn Republicans for Environmental Protection explains McCain ranking (or lack thereof) posted 1 year, 6 months ago 4 Responses

  • Gypsy Moths Are Invasives KILL THEM ALL!

    If you live in Virginia there's a good chance these "tent worms" are the much more insidious and invasive gypsy moth (Lymantrisexia dispar) which last year destroyed 73,408 acres in Virginia alone.

    Gypsy moths look very similar to their benign cousins but are highly destructive to forest health and 100 percent invasive to North America. If you see gypsy moths do our natural world a favor and kill them on sight. Our forests, particularly in the Appalachian Mountains depend on it. Here's some more info. on the gypsy moth:

    http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/nor ...

    http://na.fs.fed.us/fhp/gm/

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gypsy_MothOn Umbra on tent caterpillars posted 1 year, 6 months ago 14 Responses

  • Here, Here...

    Don't misconstrue this as an endorsement for Clinton, but jeez, it's awfully demeaning they way everyone refers to her by her first name. I honestly think it's subtle sexism -- like a woman is best referred to by her first name. (Although, it doesn't help that all her campaign materials refer to her as just "Hillary.") On What makes a good climate change plan? posted 1 year, 9 months ago 3 Responses

  • Where Will the "Clean Coal" Come From?

    Some magical happy mine that doesn't destroy wilderness, pollute our streams, or make the surrounding areas completely unlivable?

    Clean coal is a myth. On Two huge power plants offer different paths forward posted 1 year, 9 months ago 8 Responses

  • Tim Kaine is Essentially a Dud

    As a Virginia Democrat, I have to say Kaine has pretty much turned out to be a dud. While he's still better than the alternative, George Allen, he's proven to be less a progressive and more of an inept  bureaucrat. He's dropped the ball on basic environmental issues as this post points out and -- perhaps worse -- bumbled initiatives like the Dulles Rail project and aggressive driver fees that will provide plenty of fodder for Republicans in a state that is still very much a deep purple.

    In a state with term limits and a short election cycle for governors it's easy to see how Kaine's missteps could lead to a Republican victory next time around. On Tim Kaine burns national ambitions in coal furnace posted 1 year, 9 months ago 4 Responses

  • Need to Relate Cap and Trade to Local Economy

    I think to most Americans cap and trade is still a pretty esoteric concept. He should have related it to the local economy. Something like, "We're going to implement a cap and trade system the reduces greenhouse gases, puts money back in people's pockets, and helps fund new industries like the wind power they have right here in Texas!"

    Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!! Yes, We Can! Yes, We Can!, Yes We Can!

    Give them the old specific, vague, specific line.On Obama pledges to cap carbon posted 1 year, 9 months ago 1 Response

  • Additional Reading...

    This is a very eye-opening study, let's hope "the deciders" take a long look at it. We really need to figure land-use changes into the climate change equation when making these decisions, or we're just going to be shooting ourselves in the foot - wasting lots of money and time (which we frankly don't have) on "solutions" that may exacerbate the problem.

    Anyone interested in reading more from on this, should check out this Q&A with Joe Fargione - one of the lead authors of The Nature Conservancy/University of Minnesota study.

    (I won't go into the fact that the Mr. O'Donnell failed to cite the the study as coming from The University of Minnesota AND The Nature Conservancy. I'm sure it was an honest mistake) ;-)
    On Researchers find corn ethanol, switchgrass could worsen global warming posted 1 year, 9 months ago 111 Responses

  • Pot, Kettle, Black

    Seriously? You're going to try to bring some fairy tale of a scandal into this debate. Given the Clinton's history (whitewater, travelgate, rose law firm, just off the top of my head) I don't think that's wise. By the way, the Clinton's two homes (New York and DC) come in at a combined total of $4.55 million, so they're getting a bit closer to you're fabled 10 million figure.

    If you want to talk about lobbyists, check out the first sentence of this report from The Hill:

    "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has a network of lobbyists and political insiders three times the size of her closest Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)."

    My suggestion is to stick to the facts of this debate. On Obama joins Illinois legislators pushing to revive FutureGen posted 1 year, 10 months ago 14 Responses

  • Or, He's Just Out of Touch With US Politics

    So, this is either dry English wit being a bit too dry, or Finkelstein is just woefully out of touch with US politics, and probably shouldn't be commenting on it at all.

    Look, I love Al Gore, and I love what he's done for climate change awareness, but there simply isn't a more polarizing figure in American politics right now (with the exception of George Bush and Dick Cheney, of course).

    These reasons simply aren't compelling and each would open themselves up to a strong counter-attack very quickly. For example, "he served in Vietnam even though he opposed the war." I could swift boat that for you right now: He was a reporter in the War and only signed up because he was a politician's son "destined to be president." He went to Vietnam for future political gain, pure and simple, and stayed out of harms way with a pen in his hand -- not a rifle.

    Gore is too smart, and he's got too much going for him right now to run for office, which all of us Democrats should be thankful for.  On Number one reason Al Gore will not be Barack Obama's running mate posted 1 year, 10 months ago 4 Responses

  • Two Different Isms

    "You just cannot be a meat-eating environmentalist."

    It's statements like this that make many Americans feel like they cannot be environmentalists and that caring for environmental well-being is "just not for them," or only for elite, city-dwelling liberals. This is like saying you can't be an electricity-using environmentalist.  

    It's too bad, because PETA makes a good point. Americans should be eating less meat for our environmental health as well as our physical health. But when you wrap a solid message in outlandish rhetoric, all people hear is the noise.  On Driving Us to Vegetarianism posted 2 years, 3 months ago 14 Responses

  • Fire Down Below=100 Percent AWESOME

    Any flick that can bring a pro-environment message to the Steven Seagal pseudo-judo crowd is alright with me! Y'all can have your low-budget, never-seen-but-on-IFC documentaries--give me the pony-tailed vigilante! On 15 Green Movies posted 2 years, 5 months ago 52 Responses

  • Conservation Must be a Key Policy

    Considering climate change as a threat to national security is a good start, but the U.S. should be considering all environmental threats as we look to secure the future. Steve McCormick, CEO of the Nature Conservancy, wrote a nice--and short--essay on this a couple of month ago that can be found here. He calls for a scientific panel to study the links between environmental degradation and international security (maybe a more relevant body than an NIE?)  as well as considering "natural capital" within the GDP index. Now, some may balk at monetizing nature, but without quantifying the economic benefits of a country's environment it will be hard to get them to invest in solutions that will benefit nature, and international security. On Bipartisan bill calls for intelligence assessment of climate impacts posted 2 years, 7 months ago 10 Responses

  • Its Time to Start Considering Adaptation

    The sad fact is that climate change has already started damaging ecosystems around the world--contributing to coral bleaching, vegetation shifts, changes in the seasons, and yes, damage to human well-being.

    It's time for the scientific community to start thinking seriously about how we can help ecosystems adapt to the changes that have already occurred, or will occur even if we stop emitting CO2 today. The Nature Conservancy has a nice primer on what these adaptation techniques are and how they work.On As expected, the news is mostly bad, and then worse, and then worse still posted 2 years, 7 months ago 23 Responses