Solve tomorrow’s problems. Today.

Mañana.

Sigh.

Procrastination is a disease that inflicts many of us (certainly not excluding this author) and The US.

It seems that there is nary a chore, nary a challenge whose solution can’t be put off to tomorrow or, preferably, the day after.

The time has passed. It is time to change our habits. We must start doing our chores.

We must stop making a mess. We must fight to clean up our collective messes. 

We, together, can solve tomorrow’s problems.  Today.

Al Gore gave a speech Thursday (video) in Washington, DC, one that set a major objective before us, a path toward clean up our biggest mess, the dumping of carbon and other pollutants into our atmosphere and waters. He set a path for us to begin to  Solve Tomorrow’s Problems, Today.  And, he gave another speech earlier today in Austin, Texas, at Netroots Nation that raised, not just Global Warming, other serious problems in our society and democracy.  He laid out problems, but, at the core, stated:  Carpe Diem.  Seize the Day.  Work together, fight to Solve Tomorrow’s Problems.  Today!  

A list of Global Warming sites

If you want to go for Global Warming information, where do you go? After the fold are some great sites.

Reid: “Coal makes us sick …”

Harry Reid spoke bluntly on energy issues.  Looking the Faux and Balanced cameras square on, he spoke truth:  

Coal makes us sick …

This is an important statement.  Reid is speaking truth to an audience that isn’t used to hearing it.

George Carlin: Global Warming Denier … ?

This video is the rage among the Global Warming denial sect, as they pass it around and post it with great glee following Carlin’s death. Their RIP is a celebration that George was one of theirs.

You got people around you.
The country’s full of them right now, people walking around all day long, every minute of the day, worried about everything …
the greatest arrogance of them all, Save the Planet.  …
I’m getting tired of this shit.

Celebrate George “Global Warming Denier” Carlin!
…
Hold on a second …

Pat Sajak: Gl_b_l W_rm_ng D_n_ _ r ( _ssh_l_!)

Well, the man who needs a ditzy blond to help him spell words has come out of the woodworks.  Pat Sajak is a strong-worded Global Warming Skeptic.

Sadly, Wheel of Fortune’s host probably has a greater voice than the thousands of IPCC scientists with a segment of the American public … hopefullyu that segment isn’t highly represented in the voting public.

But, while Sajak’s denier attitude might be worth rejection, he raises an ethical and moral challenge that should make us all restless at night.

NOTE:  Giving credit where credit is due.  I lifted this great title from Steve Caratzas over at Ecotality Blog.  Kudos Steve — Truly, plagiarism is intended as the highest compliment …

And, in thanks for the great title, Steve chose to promote this Global Warming site (which I hadn’t seen before and which looks pretty good). 

TRADITION! WashPost Global Warming reporting Fair and Balanced

Tradition!

The Washington Post is establishing a firm 21st Century tradition: when it comes to Global Warming, take guidance from Faux News, “Fair and Balanced”.

Multiple times in the pastweek, both in reporting and on the editorial page, The Washington Post continued a seemingly iron tradition of coloring Global Warming science by ensuring that skeptics and deniers have their say as well, without providing any indication to the ‘regular’ reader that serial skeptics received a silver platter invitation to the Post‘s pages to spread their deception.

Fair and Balanced strikes WashPost Global Warming reporting again

Earlier this week, two Washington Post articles demonstrated, yet again, the Post’s editors’ dedication to modeling Post reporting after Faux News when it comes to Global Warming: “Fair and Balanced” over objective and truthful. In what were otherwise quite interesting and even valuable articles to read, the Post inserted material from Global Warming deniers and skeptics to assure that they had ‘both sides of the story’.

Sunday’s Higher Learning Adapts to a Greening Attitude, two notable skepics each had a paragraph: Donald J Boudreaux and Richard Lindzen (for a bit of my perspective, see Newsweek: J’accuse …). These two are quoted with their serious sounding titles (which make them sound more authoritative than anyone else in the article. Any context provided about how they’re among the normal talking heads brought to the table to provide the “other side” to the overwhelming majority of scientists who have looked at the Theory of Global Warming, tested it, and found that (sadly) it passed the tests? Of course not.

Monday, in an article about Jim Hansen’s 20th anniversary of speaking out publically on Global Warming issues, Turning up the Heat on Climate Issue, James Inhofe (R-Exxon) was given a couple paragraphs to comment. Any indication that Inhofe is the most virulent global warming denier in the Congress and that he has called global warming “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people”. For Inhofe, in essence, Global Warming is the latest Black Helicopter craze of UN conspiracy to take over the United States (and the globe).

Sigh …

Yet again, “Fair and Balanced” Washington Post threw into the trash the concept of objective and truthful reporting when it comes to Global Warming.

 

Making Energy Cents: From the Home to the Globe, and back

 

Energy has become an ever-more central part of my life: personal, intellectual, and professional. This ranges from working with the Energize America team, to serving on the Board of The Energy Consensus (a non-profit working to change the discussion of energy in DC), being trained by The Climate Project, blogging, giving lectures, writing letters to the editor and OPEDs on energy/environmental issues, advising organizations as to energy options, to efforts to foster local initiatives re renewables and energy efficiency patterned on San Francisco’s Vote Solar to advising friends/neighbors re home energy efficiency, to spending a few minutes at the end of the day (especially before weekends) turning off lights and computers in many offices at the end of the work day, to working to change the energy patterns in my own home …

RE the home: a question from a Congressional staffer in an email discussion group helped me realize something about the implications of these efforts.

Took me out to the ballgame …

Last evening, amid gorgeous weather, a call to action sent me out to the ballgame. While the 14-inning game was great (GO NATS!), play on the field wasn’t the only action.

The Strike Out Exxon campaign began yesterday. The Washington Nationals new stadium is the “greenest” baseball. And, who is one of their principle advertisers: that great friend of the environment Exxon-Mobil. A coalition has come together to call attention to this absurdity and to Exxon-Mobil’s roadblocking of action against Global Warming.

The power of 350 … spreading the word

Prior to the industrial era, the atmosphere was at about 280 parts per million of carbon dioxide.  Now, we are about 387 and growing at nearly 2 ppm per year.

The ‘old’ (a few years ago) scientific consideration was that it seemed we could stabilize, without utterly catastrophic risk, at 450 ppm or below.  This is the guiding thinking behind cutting carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Jim Hansen, NASA and one of the strongest voices in climate research, came out with work stating that we must fall to 350 ppm to avoid catastrophic climate change, considering the impacts that we are already seeing globally. 350 is required, Hansen tells us,

If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted.

We face a simple challenge, as a society (and species):  350 or bust!