I'll have more on this soon, but I saw last night's Oval Office address as a speech aimed primarily at more casual observers who need to know the White House is on top of the BP gusher disaster. I wasn't surprised or disappointed in that sense. At the same time, energy/climate specifics -- and clear leadership -- have got to materialize soon. If last night's speech is meant to stand alone, it's definitely not going to cut it, and the White House is missing a critical opportunity. On the other hand, if last night's speech was the first - step in an ambitious ramp - up, that's a different story. I haven't read anything definitive yet one way or the other, so all I can confidently say is that we've got our work cut out for us either way.
With that said, the backlash to Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow's reaction to the speech from some of the presidents staunchest defenders (on virtually everything) is childish and extremely short - sighted.
Threatening to stop watching Keith Olbermann's show is just silly. What are we, five?
Asserting that Rachel Maddow's criticism means that she may be joining the village is truly strange, and not in any way "reality - based."
Communicating honest differences with Olbermann and Maddow, or anyone else, is great. It's healthy. It's in our DNA as progressives. But it shouldn't be done in a way that goes after them for communicating their honest differences with the Obama Administration. Those who resort to this tactic are only going to intensify the gap in the grassroots/netroots between those who believe the president is falling short of what is necessary, at least in part because of his own decisions, and those who are more apt to claim that his approach isn't a significant part of the problem. And that doesn't help any of us.
It's wrong. It's highly counterproductive. Those who are pulling these stunts Are. Not. Helping.
UPDATE: "Fake President" Maddow's gave her own "Oval Office in my mind" address on tonight's show. It was really good.
Today chief executives for the major oil companies answered questions to Congress about their own ability to respond to a tragedy caused by their own practices such as the one that occurred in the Gulf. They argued that continued offshore drilling was essential to American oil and gas supplies and to their own industry. They hung BP out to dry implying that the British oil company did not follow proper safety procedures while their companies do. While they called this disaster an "Aberration", it was pretty clear by the end of the hearing that their own companies were no more prepared than BP for such a disaster.
"Regulation: Phthalates are an EPA "chemical of concern." The FDA allows for plastic containing phthalate in flexible food packaging. The U.S. government last year banned or restricted six phthalates for use in children's toys and children's products.
What you can do to reduce exposure: Avoid shampoos, conditioners and other personal care products that list "fragrance" as an ingredient. These may contain phthalates. (Companies are not required to disclose the ingredients in their scents, and the industry says this phthalate is safe.) The federal government recently ended one source of exposure, banning the sale of toys containing any of six phthalates."
It's painfully apparent that the consequences of the BP offshore drilling disaster are going to be much more severe, both for the environment and the economy, than was initially thought.
I'd like to think that waiting my turn at public hearings and constant letters to elected officials had something to do with keeping "more than 8,000 tons of plastic out of landfills annually." I wish my low impact DKos diaries played a part but I'm pretty sure that my graffiti had some serious impact.
For about a year whenever I found myself in the privacy of a public men's room stall, I just scribbled some message on the wall. I also think that so many New Yorkers assuming that the city accepted all sorts of plastic played a role in the new legislature but a few saw my message.
Protest NYC's limited plastic recycle program. Place all plastic in the Blue Bag!
I wrote other messages. Too many to remember but here are a few more.
Scientists at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center have published a study, Evidence for a recent increase in forest growth, suggesting that climate change can quite literally be measured by treehuggers. Like the average American citizen, American trees look to have had increasingly bulging middles in recent decades. Having spent their careers quite literally hugging trees, SERC scientists Geoffrey Parker and Sean McMahon have written a study documenting
evidence that forests in the Eastern United States are growing faster than they have in the past 225 years. The study offers a rare look at how an ecosystem is responding to climate change.
For over 20 years, Parker has gone into a set of forests in the mid-Atlantic, tape measure in hand, and giving them a hug to measure their size. Parker's own hugging has been extended with a robust group of volunteers conducting regular measurements of specified trees. (The boy scout to the right, while in a SERC forest, isn't engaged in actual measurements for the study.) Some 250,000 hugs later, he has quite a database in hand.
that the forest is packing on weight at a much faster rate than expected. ... on average, the forest is growing an additional 2 tons per acre annually. That is the equivalent of a tree with a diameter of 2 feet sprouting up over a year.
Now, there are many things that contribute to plant growth, from soil quality to rainfall to temperatures to CO2 concentrations. Parker and McMahon have concluded that the driver for the bulging middles of the studied groves is best explained through human impacts: the rising levels of CO2 (a nutrition); and the warmer temperatures and extended growing season due to global warming (driven, in no small part, due to the rising CO2 levels).
If you've been thinking you should 'Go Green', the next question should be 'why'? If all you can come up with is 'the environment', our polar ice caps, and other 'non-specific answers, you should run to your nearest library, book store, etc. (Hint: You can sometimes find it as a used book on Amazon.com) and get The Autoimmune Epidemic by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. Donna Nakazawa is an investigative reporter who has an autoimmune disease herself. I promised in a prior post to have more on this book as it is so important to each of us personally.
In just about a month from now, Progressive Blue will celebrate 2 years!! Woo Hoo!! In this short time, we have built a small but pretty dedicated community here--one I hope of which we are all proud.
We've weathered some storms, outlasted the nay-sayers, and shown that while civil discourse isn't always easy, it sure beats the alternative!
Doctor Dan Mongiardo, Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor, has announced that he is running for the Democratic nomination for the Kentucky Senate race, to take on whoever wins the Republican nomination to challenge for the seat that Senator Bunning (R-Big$$$) has announced he is giving up.
Lots of politics to unwrap in that paragraph, which I'll leave to the political wise-guys. The Sunday Train today is about Dr. Dan's Rail Plan.
As far as I can tell, Dr. Dan's Rail Plan has four main parts, and regular readers of the Sunday Train will recognize much from each of the four parts:
Support for expanding Kentucky's existing and potential Amtrak routes into 110mph Emerging Higher Speed Rail corridors
Support for regional rail services to complete the above state rail map
"Hybrid Light Rail" to provide cross-metropolitan local rail services, principally to Louisville
Heavy investment in complementary local transit, including bus rapid transit and a high frequency driverless monotrain system for Kentucky.
Last year, I told VP Joe Biden about the Sustainable Electric High(er) Speed Rail I wanted for Christmas (cf. links below). It involved electrifying the 30,000+ miles of STRACNET, and establishing 100mph Rapid Freight Rail paths, including support for running 110mph or 125mph long haul electric passenger services on the Rapid Freight paths.
In short, I wanted Joe Biden to take Alan Drake's plan and just fracking DO it.
I didn't get it for Christmas last year - but then, I guess he was only VP-elect last 25DEC08. The post today is to look at the progress toward the goal. The answer, surprisingly, is that we have made substantial progress. Certainly we are not halfway there, yet, but we are much further along than I expected to see.
and giving them a hug to measure their size. Parker's own hugging has been extended with a robust group of volunteers conducting regular measurements of specified trees. (The boy scout to the right, while in a SERC forest, isn't engaged in actual measurements for the study.) Some 250,000 hugs later, he has quite a database in hand.
Doctor Dan Mongiardo, Kentucky's Lieutenant Governor, has announced that he is running for the Democratic nomination for the Kentucky Senate race, to take on whoever wins the Republican nomination to challenge for the seat that Senator Bunning (R-Big$$$) has announced he is giving up.
Last year, I told VP Joe Biden about the Sustainable Electric High(er) Speed Rail I wanted for Christmas (cf. links below). It involved electrifying the 30,000+ miles of STRACNET, and establishing 100mph Rapid Freight Rail paths, including support for running 110mph or 125mph long haul electric passenger services on the Rapid Freight paths.
