I voted for Barack Obama and I worked hard campaigning to get him elected. I would do it again and I’m proud of the small contribution I made to achieve change.
But I’m not happy with the President’s strategy or performance when it comes to our nation’s response to global warming. After the jump I’ll share what I said on Climate Progress about it yesterday, and you can read Bill McKibben’s comment there too.
But first, let’s listen to what McKibben told Grist TV yesterday about it:
Click on the breaking news above and you’ll finally get to see the greenhouse gas numbers on our two local climate changing refineries that I’ve been demanding for a year now. The CARB released them about an hour ago, too early for the morning papers, but not to early for your Creative Greenius.
I’ve been a little busy the past few months and I’ve fallen behind in covering some of the bigger environmental news stories locally here in my own backyard, but today we’re going to play catchup, big time –
In one of the Creative Greenius’ most highly read posts, written on July 29 of this year, I said there was no difference between today’s global warming deniers and the heads of the tobacco industry a few years back.
Yesterday my position was correctly stated by Rep. Jay Inslee a democrat from the great Pacific Northwest state of Washington who tore the authors of SuperWeakEconomics a new one for all their lies and hack writing in their new, already discredited book.
Continue reading ➞ “Greenius Was Right!” says US Congressman Inslee from Washington State
I originally wrote and published this piece in June of 2008 under the title “The Cat Is On The Roof – This Joke is at YOUR Expense…”
Today, on this very special Blog Action Day Creative Greenius, I take you back to June of 2008 and ask you: What the hell have YOU been doing for the past 15 months? Worried about your finances and the crash of the economy? That ain’t nothing compared to what’s on tap for you next.
You woke up to a house on fire, and you best stop thinking that smell is coffee.
Continue reading ➞ The Cat Is Still On The Roof – And The Roof! The Roof! The Roof Is On Fire!
Hey, Max Baucus and Jon Tester in Montana – Do either of you US Senators have a clue on climate change? It sure doesn’t seem so from the weak, milquetoast style nonleadership you’re both dishing up on this issue that neither of you seems to understand too well. We can’t afford your ignorance any longer. Time to cowboy up fellas. I know you both like to prance in front of the media in cowboy hats, but that phony play acting doesn’t get the job done on climate. And yeah, I know you’re fellow Democrats, that’s why I have the right to be so frank and direct with you both.
My friends at the World Wildlife Fund are nicer about it in their new video directed at your fellow Montanans, but neither of you two public servants has earned that courtesy through your actions.
What about you Senators Snowe and Collins of Maine? You’ve been two weak sisters when it comes to defending your own state against its greatest risk and there’s nothing “moderate” about that. All that global warming isn’t just coming from women your age having hot flashes, or don’t you get that? It doesn’t appear that you do, from your actions so far. Don’t you love and care about the people of your own state? If you do, you’re going to have to move at a much faster speed with a much sharper response ladies… Watch the Maine WWF video after the jump
Continue reading ➞ The Sad States of Global Warming & Their Sorry Senators
It’s time – right now – to take dramatic action on climate change if you care about preserving a livable civilization for your children and their children. At this moment we are right on track for “disastrous climate changes that spiral dynamically out of humanity’s control,” as Dr. James Hansen warmed us 15 months ago. At that time he said we had 12 months in which to start acting.
While the paid-off ballwashers and sycophants of the fossil fuel industry sellout their country, our citizens and their own families’ future – for reasons only the people on their Bizzaro World home planet, can comprehend – the activists of Greenpeace are telling the truth and telling it in ways impossible to ignore.
They deserve your praise, your thanks and your admiration. They are this era’s Paul Revere and they warn of the real calamity to come. The true patriots of our country will heed that call and are already prepared to fight for a better climate.
My friend, attorney Leslie Williams, of Shaub and Williams, has been busy for the past few months putting together a big Renewable Energy Law Summit at the Southwestern Law School in L.A. and it takes place next week, on Sept 18.
If it wasn’t my 52nd birthday and I wasn’t already volunteering for the South Bay Environmental Services Center that day in Lawndale, I’d be there – because the lineup Leslie’s put together is pretty terrific:
Continue reading ➞ The Summit On Clean Tech Law & The New Energy Policy
My friend Elizabeth is from the South Pacific Island Kingdom of Tonga, an exotic locale long fixed in my memory with images of Polynesian paradise.
Tonga has sadly been in the news lately after an inter-island ferry sank on August 5 drowning over 70 people. It’s a huge tragedy in such a small place and it has saddened all Tongans around the world.
When I first met Elizabeth I had no idea that there were so many Tongan Americans living in large communities in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Dallas and other cities across the USA. Elizabeth is producing a documentary film on the history of Tongans immigrating to America and she knows a lot about the subject.
But surprisingly, a subject Elizabeth didn’t know a lot about is Tonga’s frontline role as a victim of the climate change crisis.
One of the groups I support and learn from is Environment California who have been great advocates of AB 811 and AB 920, the one-two punch for solar we absolutely need to drive solar sales at the rate demanded by today’s CO2 levels. Dan Jacobson is the Legislative Director of Environment California and he’s both progressive and effective – and someone I admire a great deal.
Dan’s been a big help to California Assemblyman Jared Huffman’s efforts to get AB 920 turned into the feed-in tariff law that will drive sales of solar literally through and onto every available rooftop in the Golden State. And if you talked with Lawrence Cooper he’d probably tell you it would be a big help in getting to 33% renewable energy in California. Lawrence Cooper works with Assemblyman Huffman, and AB 920 is one of his big responsibilities.
I heard from Cooper a couple of times this week with updates on the progress of AB 920 which is expected to be heard on Monday in Senate Appropriations, where it will be referred to the suspense file due to the cost. Cooper and his team will then start to work to get the bill out of suspense.
Cooper has already worked long and hard, including setting me straight about SCE’s support for the bill. I had gotten that wrong in my piece on Monday and Cooper was kind enough to correct me without beating me up.
Continue reading ➞ Your AB 920 Greenius Update & A Call For Three Times The Sun!
Creative Greenius 