Climate change or not, it still stinks!

The News

Pew Research Center fround recently that only 30 percent of voters believe global warming is a top concern. In 2008 35 percent of voters survyed by the Pew Research Center believed global warming was top priority and 56 percent believed protectcing the enviornment was a top concern. This year only 41 percent of voters listed protecting the enviornment as a major priotiry.

Power plants emit about 90% of the sulfur dioxide and 57% of the nitrogen oxides in the US. The bulk of today’s air pollution however results from our own individual activities – for instance, exhaust from cars, trains, buses and planes, yard and recreational equipment, and smoke from our chimneys and burn piles.

Bad air makes us sick and is only one type of pollution. While we're debating climate change, we're still stinking up the place.

It was raining birds in New Jersey.

Obama takes action to improve New Jersey's air.

Obama's stimulus package includes significant investments in alternative energies.

A team will measure water levels in California's Sierra mountains. California will enter another year of drought.

Farmers are slashing their planting in response.

The "Exxon Valdez of coal ash" in Tennessee may poison wildlife for years to come, "but no one seems to be talking about it," conservationists say.

President Barack Obama's directive on cars and climate change Monday sent the clearest signal yet the administration plans to regulate the emissions blamed for global warming.



The newly discovered carnivorous sea squirt traps fish and other prey in its funnel-like front section. Most of the 2,000 or so known sea squirt species are filter feeders that strain plankton from seawater.


Liberal NY Times? Hmmm. Karl Rove story buried on page 23, beneath story on octuplets

Rove lawyer says he's still protected by executive immunity

Obama's new orders: maybe not!

If the print run of a single Sunday New York Times was recycled, it would spare 75,000 trees.

"The share of adult Internet users who have a profile on an online social network site has more than quadrupled in the past four years -- from eight percent in 2005 to 35 percent now."

Not all bankers got it wrong.

Obama to impose tough new bailout rules

Another lobbyist headed into Obama administration.

Save the Economy by Cutting the Defense Budget.




A very interesting discussion of Bush photos from the Bush administration's Vincent Amalvy (Thanks Mark Baldridge)



Obama tells Arabic network that the "US is not your enemy"

Reactions:

"I am very excited about President Obama's push to make the US independent of foreign oil. I have felt strongly about this for probably 30 years shortly after the fuel shortages of the 70's when I started realizing the issue. I think this is doable. I think this is a necessity. Most people see this in the light of the environment, but it is necessary for national security today.

Our military, just as the German military of WWII, runs on petroleum. If foreign petroleum producers really united they could shut our country and our military down. You've seen the numbers on petroleum usage and production. Here is a link http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html so I won't get into that. As we all know the U.S. is at war, however they are not what I might term intense warfare requiring our militaries to face other very capable militaries requiring the use of very large amounts of fuel for tanks, personnel carriers, supply vehicles, ships and planes. This is not to diminish the wars currently underway.

So in the midst of the world heading toward a recession who made money? The oil industry of course. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/02/high_oil.html http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/business/01cnd-exxon.html?em&ex=1202101200&en=575e77c5fd8688b0&ei=5087%0A Maybe they could finance the US bailout.

I don't suppose they oppose renewable energy, do you?.... I don't have any facts on this, but I recall comments many years ago that the oil industry was buying up the patents on renewable energy. From a business standpoint that makes sense because you make money on producing energy. Right now you make your biggest profit on cheap petroleum. So you buy the patents to do R&D for creating energy for the future and/or keep the competition from creating alternative energy. We live in a world of greed. Businesses aren't necessarily, in fact probably seldom are looking for the best interest of the United States or the citizens of the U.S.. They're looking to line their pocket...what many call the American way. I have my own business and work for another business. I understand the need to make a profit, but it seems there are ethical considerations here as well.

I think this is where a large portion of our bailout money should go. I hate the fact that we're "throwing good money after bad". We're giving money to businesses who have squandered away billions of dollars to keep them from destroying our economy. However I don't want to see our economy collapse. We need new businesses that can run efficiently. We need an evolution of business, but for our own sake we need to pay for it to occur gradually. By doing so some of those dinosaurs will continue to survive, but a new industry, a new economy will grow, even flourish.

So how else can alternative energy help us and how can this help us now? In the last few weeks around a quarter of a million Americans lost their job from all sorts of industries. These people have skills that can be used to build the infrastructure necessary for producing and delivering these energy sources. This will provide new areas of study. Students will be able to advance in areas to support this industry. There have been numerous production plants around the country that have shut down. These may be capable of being revamped to develop that hardware en-mass. Of course this will all take money. It will take time and energy as well. But I believe that if we go into this with from the point of view that it is a national security issue it can be done quickly.

I haven't even touched on environmental issues surrounding alternative and renewable energy. This issue is just too big. Interestingly I'm currently watching a show on public television about Oppenheimer and the development of nuclear weapons. Look what we've accomplished in the past (not that I'm promoting the development and use of nuclear weapons here) when we put our minds and energy into it, especially when we felt we had to do it to win a war, to survive. Re-engineering our energy infrastructure must be done. We can do it. Yes we can! " (John Danley)

Your Job:

Do more to help the earth and share with us your ideas. Every little bit does help.

One thing you can do is reduce the amount of packaging you use -- do you really need a bag at the grocery store to carry your milk in? If so, can't you just bring one from home? One reader suggests carrying with you one of those paper cup holders, as she does, instead of always using a new one at the coffee shop. Are you recycling as much as you can? Can you compost? Take public transportation? None of us are perfect -- these aren't rules for tree-huggers -- this is just as much about business or national security, as Danley writes as it is about simply protecting what we have, be that lakes, trees, animals, fish, water or air.

So whatcha got?