Login HereImagine a world where sagebrush grows in the northernmost reaches of Alaska. Where the Baltimore oriole no longer lives in Baltimore and the American finch can be found only in Canada.
Snowshoe hares will turn white before the snow arrives, making them easy prey. Birds and bats will arrive in the spring before the insects - their main source of food.
Along with the pikas and polar bears, 20 to 40 percent of the world's known species could go extinct within a century - no matter what wildlife managers do.
That world may not be a figment of imagination, and it may come sooner than you think. It is the world that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's scientists predict we'll see before the end of this century - and one they presented to federal land and wildlife managers, scientists and others Tuesday at the Boise Centre on The Grove on the first day of a two-day conference to examine how climate change will affect natural resources management....
Even if people can dramatically reduce greenhouse gases, which scientists say are the major cause of warming, experts warn the warming will continue for decades until the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissipates....
We are paying for all of our choices. Would that we would make better ones going forward.
(YouTube -- music from Princess Mononoke.)
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Christy!
I did not expect to see you here; I just got a bit of sewing done for my daughter. Princess Mononoke is a favorite movie in our house too.
Aloha, Christy!
DIGG IT!
A real barrier I see to our being able to make genuine reductions in carbon dioxide is the energy issues of rural areas in the northern half of the US. Far too many homes are older, not insulated, with leaky windows and doors and inefficient oil furnaces or using wood heat in outdoor burners(very dirty burn and people who use them also tend to burn things like old tires and other dirty fuels). If we could get a tax on burning fossil fuels, something we would need to use it for would be to deal with those houses and furnaces. Otherwise, rural residents have no choices and as the cost of fuel oil goes up, the faster they are going to switch to something like self-cut wood, scrounged fuels and so on, using outdoor burners.
dugg
Jus Cogens!
We need programs like the one California instituted back in the early 1980s. Basically it incentivized the power companies to reduce energy use by customers through a pretty complicated formula whereby the electric utility’s profit margin remained essentially unchanged, total per capita energy use went down, and the consumers did not pay the bill on their monthly. There were some subsidies through state taxes for the energy companies.
Anyway, the utility would come to your home, perform an energy audit, and then provide, free of charge, items like weather stripping, caulking, water heater blankets, little foam things to keep air out of the electrical outlets (yes - amazing!), and a number of other items like this. Contractors worked with them to do new double-pane windows and blow in insulation. The state had a bunch of rebates to help with the cost of these more expensive items, and oversaw a payment plan that had very low interest.
Of course that was before the Rethugs got ahold of it and Enron and Delta destroyed the entire California grid.
Oh, I forgot - California uses less electricity per capita than any state in the US as a result of this program.
The Hawaii legislature just passed a law requiring all new homes to have solar hot water systems installed on them…!
EPUd from below.
Let me put it as simply as I can. This FISA bill was not about security. It was not about terrorism. It was completely about self serving petty politicians, concerned only about their re-election and pathetic hold on power. If this bill was about security and terrorism, the measure could have very simply been issued by the House with all of the current provisions but immunity, and passed by the Senate in that form. It would be next to impossible in the Senate to strip immunity out after tonight’s vote; but Harry Reid could have refused to bring it to the floor until the House had done so. Neither happened. The Democratic Leadership wanted immunity. It is that simple.
Let’s assume that the Congress had passed the entire bill without immunity, what then? We know Bush threatened to veto. He might would have, but that would have meant that he was putting the country at risk to benefit phone companies that he claims did nothing wrong. Nobody but his little 20% would support that. McCain would have either supported the Democrats bill as passed or joined Bush on saying the whole bill was no good without the gold plated gift to BigPhone. He would look like an idiot either way. Obama could have benefitted from this tactical posturing and made McCain look like a rube. Protected the people and the Constitution in the process. Why didn’t he? Why didn’t the Democrats? Because they are too fucking lazy, and they just don’t give a damn about the Constitution or our privacy. They could get their precious little power play the easy way like they just have done, and not have to strain their brains and actually explain things to their constituents. Bottom line: It was all just too much hassle for the little dears.
For all those talking about the bribes and money; it is not about the money. The average amount of money that the dems voting for this received from telcos over the last two years is freaking paltry. It is not the money. It is the petty self serving DC insider power bullshit; they want to have and keep their power, and do so with as little effort possible.
There was a program like that in New York State as well in the early 1980s - it was called “demand side management”. What it was supposed to do, really, was reduce the need for building more generation plants, if I understood things correctly. Those programs are looooong gone. And frankly, energy audits are sort of a waste of time. Any house that was built before about 1970 that has not been gutted and rehabbed, does not have insulation and the windows will leak; in my estimation, any money should go straight to insulation and new windows and doors. That will do a tremendous amount of good in terms of reducing the need for heat in the winter. I think that will get rural residents the biggest bang for the dollar. No State PSC is going to give utilities the go ahead to run natural gas pipes out into rural areas and no utility is going to ask for it either. Too few residences per mile of run.
Yep. Hence one of the earliest FDL phrases:
It’s all about the cocktail weenies (in more ways than one, if ya know what I mean…)
hey pups - christy is off to sleep so ya’ll get me instead
Hey Suz!
I’ll be long dead by the time this happens; it’s just so sad to see a dream die. And I feel sad for those who will have to deal with what’s coming and ashamed I couldn’t do more to change what will be.
Aloha, Suz!
Kewl!
I am just amazed at the lack of solar power awareness by people in most of the sunbelt states. I moved from California to Florida and was stunned. I lived in a rural, poor, northern Calif county - there were 27 solar contractors in my local phone book. The population of the entire county was 132,000.
I moved to Lee County in Florida, population about 350,000. One contractor - and all he did was solar heaters for swimming pools. !!!WTF!!!
Calif is always the but of the DFH jokes but they are so out in front on this issue. Solar siting is required for all new homes. The state had rebates and tax credits for wind and solar installations before the feds and long after all the fed ones expired.
They were out in front on the auto emissions - for a long time they were the ONLY ones requiring extra emission controls, and higher fuel mileage on cars.
We all, in other states, could do well to follow their example.
Well, I’m glad to hear that..she works so hard and she needs her rest.
What community has the highest per-capita use of solar energy in Ohio? None other than the Amish.
http://blog.wired.com/wiredsci.....ultim.html
OK..what is wrong with this picture?
exactly. thanks for understanding
how’s everyone doing tonight?
Well, natural gas is another carbon-CO2 producing fossil fuel. I wouldn’t want them to run pipes for that - stave off the problem by contributing to it in another way, not a good idea.
The energy audit was a way to provide a complete package of information and education to the homeowner about how much they could save on their bills, things they could do themselves, applications for loans and grants for the bigger stuff, and all the free weatherization item I mentioned. It wasn’t a waste of money IMHO.
Of course all those old houses leak and don’t have insulation. But you have to educate people as to their options, and more important, how they will benefit (lower power bills, etc.)
A program like this but with an emphasis on converting to solar or wind or both would be excellent. And yes, you can do solar in northern states. Germany is the solar power king, and they are on the same latitude as Montana.
I was a little kid in CA when Jerry Brown was Gov. Work mostly for environmental causes to this day because of the ethic he and Carter instilled in me.
Can’t help but wonder how different the world would be now if for the last 30 years we were living in the “Green Economy” that Brown, Carter and others were promoting back then, and now is all the rage in recent years.
Another case of Liberals being right all along.
This is a major reality point, Toby, that is generally ignored. Insulation in many American homes, and not just in rural areas, is inadequate for both heating and cooling … and any serious energy-environmental ‘policy consideration’ MUST include an honest appraisal of this reality.
And outdoor burners are very often used exactly as you describe, but, also as you suggest, necessity, dire, survival necessity, will likely result in things becoming worse …
Worsening economic conditions will make rational environmental decisions even more difficult and quite impossible for many unless American society, as a whole, decides to get together on this ‘front’.
I figure that in forty or fifty years, assuming that we’ve not ratured ourselves into dust, America will begin to ‘get it’.
On the other foot, President Obama may discover that being progressive and honest about the needs of real,actual human beings might not be such a bad thing. (Well, we are all entitled to a certain amount of silly hopefulness)
Completely pissed and bummed with our congress critters…! 8-(
planet earth responds to humans
Pissed off mostly. In terms of energy, NYS PSC is still giving the thumbs down to the purchase of Energy East by Iberdrola…why? Because they already have a wind power generation plant that just happens to be in an area of Energy East’s franchise. Iberdrola has committed to spending several billion dollars in Upstate New York to build wind farms(they are the largest generator of wind power in Europe and already have wind farms in PA), but the NYS PSC has told them that if they want to buy a pipes and wires company, they have to sell their wind generation…because the PSC doesn’t want any utility to have the ability to generate their own power now. Why? Because they deregulated. Used a model that has not worked at all for the consumers of NYS…but they are going to stick with it. Iberdrola has said that if the deal can’t be done, they will take their money elsewhere. Governor wants it. the legislature wants it. Most of the people who showed up for the public hearings think it is a terrific idea to get Upstate NY some clean power. Only the administrative law judge doesn’t like it. Stupid.
Heh, the animals have their own fork thread!
WoW!
Yes. So, lets take that $87 billion tax giveaway to Big Oil and use it to help people get their homes and apartments insulated and get good windows in them. Bring back the tax credits and rebates for solar panels, etc.
Do something to help instead of hinder.
nothing is wrong with that picture.
they make choices about what technologies they want in their lives, rather than letting corporations and the government decide.
as peak oil draws to a close the massive, unsustainable, bleakness of the Suburban buildout, the Amish will be seen as very wise indeed.
Disgusted. As if FISA wasn’t enough for one day, the Supremes took away 90% of the settlement for the Exxon Valdez spill - twenty years now after the event. Disgusting.
Yeah, we have that situation here. We have a big wind farm under contract to Northwestern Power. They want to put up another big section, have investors lined up and land available. Northwestern says it would ‘cost too much to integrate the wind power into the grid’ so they declined to purchase it. Huh? They are already integrating the current production…
fucked: by the great shining
suited smilehope Barry The Privacy Slayer, the Dem Sens who sold out with him, Barry’s fanclub(s), and the “progressive” blogs who pimped for him.Speaking of that, where’s Kos the Dem candidate/campaign consultant?
Oh yeah - I forgot: living in his very expensive home in Berkeley.
Must be nice to be paid for selling out the Constitution.
But don’t ask me: ask Barry, his PR team, and Kos.
They’d know.
I just watch the
bodyConstitution counts.fucked and didn’t even get dinner and a movie first
I forgot to add that we have a GOP presidential nominee who doesn’t have a clue about technology or energy policy(though he will show up to have his picture taken at a wind generation equipment place)and yet, a group which is seen as backward and technologically unsophisticated is snapping up solar panels as if they were hotcakes at a church breakfast. That whole thing is just so weird to me.
problem is, shrubco doesn’t care about their subjects or their planet. They figure they (and the trust funds they’ve set up for their descendants with our stolen money) will be fine no matter what happens.. They’ll just all move to the Cheney ranch in Wyoming and build a big fat compound wall around it. I’m being somewhat facetious, but only somewhat… :P Appealing to their sense of civil responsibility or patriotism or even noblesse oblige is sort of like asking Genghis Khan for compassion. You can’t appeal to what isn’t there.
Impeach!
Heh..or, as we used to say…”and I didn’t even get kissed in the morning..”
From IndpendentMovement.org survey as of today:
http://survey.constantcontact......bd/results
I see that McSlime admitted publicly today that his ‘energy policy’ really is all spin and hype and that nothing would happen to help people for about 10 years.
and he’ll be either dead or in a nursing home…so, what does HE care?
good for HI. Hope other states do the same.
Looked at the list of senators who voted no on the motion to end debate (is that what it was called). Was NJ the only state to have both senators voting the right way? See? I’m right to be proud to be from NJ.
McCain adds a new title to the list of things he thinks he’s qualified to be:
Economist
Foreign Policy Specialist
Patriot
Conservative
and now - Psychologist.
this is your regular gig anyway, isn’t it? or is that later?
kirk, can we do anything about his last one… don’t the psychologists have an association with standards about practicing without a license (and malpractice insurance)?
President? Husband?
eureka tonight.. i have tue, thur and sat nites and we alternate on sundays.. this will be his week for sunday late late nite
Impeach!
And no votes for incumbents ever again.
(with a very few exceptions).
(maybe). I’m inclined to cut some slack for newbies who voted the right way. As for everyone else, good intentions or not - they didn’t get the job done, now did they?
OT. From the Department of Perfect Timing:
Jack Shafer of Slate, in the long-since-taken-over-by-neocons-NYT Book Review,
reviewing Arianna Huffington’s Right is Wrong:
The review will appear in Sunday’s edition (no link yet).
I think we should have this statue moved into Chris Dodd’s yard.
-G
Psychologist? I guess I missed that one - what did he say/do this time?
Oh but we couldn’t do that.
1. It would be reasonable.
2. It would be the right or correct thing to do.
Therefore: It McCan’t be done!
Besides if you ‘take’ money away from the obscenely wealthy, the ‘unseen
hand’, being idle, as a result of the application of your thoughtful suggestion, might fall into ‘bad’ company and begin to do Satan’s handiwork.
And we wouldn’t want that, now would we.
No, we just have to believe that this is the best of all possible worlds, regardless of the truth, or we shall vex ourselves to no good end.
Note: The preceding snark is all snark except where it isn’t.
President? Husband?
If you’re a fan of spousal abuse, yeah, he’s your guy.
In the unlikely event Barry The Privacy Slayer selects a progressive Veep, impeachment is fine by me.
In the meantime:
oppose the rethugs - never vote for them
vote to defeat McCain and all Rethug Congresscritters and Blue Dogs
revile Obama
despise Obama
I wouldn’t piss on Barry if he were on fire.
Here piggy,piggy, piggy! Come feed at the trough, lotsa slop!
From Pro Publica:
All the Same
Oops. Thought it was brass, not bronze.
-G
those corporations that easily bought off most of the (D) party to force retroactive immunity through?
they are they same kind of corporations whose business model of constant growth and exploitation dooms our biosphere, gee-whizz quick-fix gadgetry like the Prius notwithstanding.
The potomac could flood up to the steps of the Capitol and the (D) and the (R) parties would still do the bidding of the corporations.
many, many people have realized this - from the late 1980’s, definitively with the Clinton Administration.
Some who came to this realization took the reform from within, more and better Democrats route. Hows that working out?
Others realized that solutions do not come from co-conspirators, and other avenues must be pursued - 3rd Party, community building, emigration, whatever.
They haven’t reformed the system either, obviously, but they don’t have to cope with the constant humiliation and disappointment every time the (D) betrays them, their most faithful, puppy-eyed supporters.
This:
I don’t see an immediate relief, but I do see that exploitation of existing reserves that may exist — and in view of many experts that do exist off our coasts — is also a way that we need to provide relief. Even though it may take some years, the fact that we are exploiting those reserves would have a psychological impact that I think is beneficial.
There apparently is a very unflattering article in this edition of Newsweek regarding how McC has treated Cindy. Parts of it are at Buzzflash and sorta chill you.
I put this on another thread, but probably more on-topic here..:)
http://cryptogon.com/?p=1597
signed back on to say–forgot—
no link, but on the news tonight, local or lehrer report, they mentioned that 20% of the people in the lawsuit against exxon were dead now, and the rest got around $20,000 dollars as a settlement……
that’s the people who were put out of work by it, affected by it…….twenty thousand for losing your livelihood. that wouldn’t even cover a boat.
nite.
p.s. i realized today that i’m gonna equate all of this crap going on to frisbee golf….frisbee golf replaced tennis in my life in my early 20’s…..we had a helluva course in winton woods in greenhills in cincinnati back before anyone knew what it was….very early 80’s…what a course, woods, fields, curves, trails…….that course had a few of us locked in, we met at 7:30 in the morning on sundays, every single sunday, some were musicians still up from their gigs the night before, some of us had been there but went to bed inbetween, that was always a laugh, a wide variety. all serious killer frisbee wingers. me included….i usually came in second. alex killed all of us……art major, architect. approached it like science. he was magic to watch……..he was that persistent and that good. i don’t think he ever lost.
so, short game, curve, long run, basket……
and i’ve got a new long distance flyer to go with my short curve…..with practice, it’ll be deadly.
just gotta adjust your game……
like i said in the last thread-
outta here, man, what a day.
heads up, more frisbees to throw tomorrow………
OOOH - I like that.
Of course, the American Psychological is the same group with officers linked to the torture psychologists
(no slur on Laura D or the many honorable psychologists who join us here)
I think we’ll have to wait for them to dump their “leaders” before they’ll act.
The same state licensing boards that got after “Dr” Phil for crashing Brittany Spear’s hospital room may be able to get on McCain.
I got a good laugh outta the last poll question, whom does the critters work for… the number one response was the Party and special interests at 93%, even ‘no comment’ or ‘not sure’ beat out the “work for the best interest of the country”… Obviously, we’re onto their game… Yet, they still sell us out…!
yeah, anyway to get Feingold to win the convention?
‘In some cases, the U.S. military has been denying wounded soldiers the full amount of their enlistment bonuses, under the rationale that the soldiers are unable to fulfill the full term of their service contract.’
http://www.blacklistednews.com…..8211.html
so doc, what’s an effective way to handle all this fucking anger at our congresscitters?
Can’t see your link, jackie.
I’m never too ashamed to admit I don’t understand somethin’….. But I don’t get how, as I watch the price at the punmp climb to $5/gallon and higher,it’s supposed to help me psychologically to know that ExxonMobil will be able to produce bring gas to my pump in ten years. I mean, seriously, people can’t go places. No exaggeration. And when you live in a state with an irresponsible Republican governor and legislature who think everty responsibilty of government can be funded by the sales taxes paid by tourists…………………. you’re fucked (there’s that word again)> And yes, without dinner, a movie or a kiss good-bye.
But the query: How am I supposed to feel better? Can anybody possibly be this stupid? Well, we know the answer to that is yes, but overall, I think McCain just keeps digging himself deeper. I always said it wasn’t good for McCain that he wasn’t really taking advatage while Barack & Hillary were still engaged in their pissing contest. I mean he was fucking up and not even running against anybody. What they call in sports “unforced errrors.” I’m getting a feeling the McCain campaign is going to be one fuck up after another.
so you’re just being a good team player?? nice. thanks.
That’s odd. I can.. Mods??
jackie. i got a 404 error on that link.. i can see the link but it don’t work so i can’t see the page you are linking to
We tried to fix it, but it still yields an error.
Yep, there they go supportin’ the troops again.
Rat bastards.
-G
Here’s a different link re; same story..:)
http://www.naturalnews.com/z023488.html
Thank you jackie
that one works - thanks :)
lol
If that pisses ya off check out this article…
Cancer induced by DU munitions…!
I’m glad to be here.
HI you all.;)
I haven’t even read the limnk and I’m pissed.; why does the military like these guys (Republicans)Was talking to a colleague at work whose husband is in Iraq and it’s just heartbreaking. And he’s alive and not physically injured. Actually, he’s not in Iraq any more and she’s having a hard time keeping track of him. As she raises a young baby herself. just multiply her by how many hundred thousands. then tere are the spouses/families of the dead and wounded. Christ. 100 more years. nope. that AFSCME commercial is pretty good. I said the same thing before it came out — “100 years in Iraq?? You’re not getting my boys, John McCain, you old wrinkled prick.”
About right now, I would appreciate hearing Kiddo and Lahoma’s ‘take’ on things ‘democratic’, party-wise.
I’m wondering whether Kiddo would be about ready to consider a third-party approach for ‘next time’.
sporkovat has been pretty spot-on,for months and I’ve watched the disappointment of many here over the past year morphing into solid disgust.
So?
Looks like we’ve worthwhile ‘endeavor’ enough to last the rest of our lives.
Actually, I suppose we should be grateful, as most of our fellow Americans spend their lives in ‘quiet desperation’ and whatever else may be said of us, we are neither quiet nor desperate …
practicing deep breathing techniques so my head don’t explode
judas forking priest this administration forking pisses me off!
yeah, anyway to get Feingold to win the convention?
I have a gut feeling that Russ Feingold is a guy with very few friends in the Senate, or the Democratic Party in general.
Which is to his credit, imo.
Total outrage. Been picked up anywhere. After the what KO did to Wal Mart after they asked that employee for her court settlement (which they had every right to do, I’d like to see him make the Army a worst person until something is done.
I’ve been following the DU story for a while…Serious, serious shit :(
Lots of British soldiers getting sick too..
More on DU…
http://nationalexpositor.com/News/303.html
i get that same feeling, too. and I also agree, good for him. he didn’t hesitate to say Obama was wrong.
Jeezus H. Christ on a biodegradable popsicle stick….
All this doom and gloom around my favorite New Media outlets is killin my buzz.
More and Better is working out great! 2006 was historic in the DemocratIC gains, and 2008 is going to be even better. We’ve already kicked out a BushDog and significantly helped Donna Edwards take his place. She was just sworn in. One of our greatest champions, Dr. Howard Dean, is completely re-making the DemocratIC Party and developing a grassroots network in all 50 states, which will likely sustain this momentum for years to come. We replaced Denny’s Hasturd with Bill Foster, who just voted against the FISA fiasco this week. And on and on…
We’ve done all this in a few years from scratch, and completely outgunned in people and in money. It’s really amazing what we’ve accomplished so far.
Yes, the Dem “leadership” and Obama capitulations are terrible, and all the more reason for us to turn the screws on them for it, and that’s what it’s all about. Seriously…Donna Edwards running around Capitol Hill…think about it.
Whatever Obama does now with his pandering votes, no one can deny the number of people he brought into the process. Sure, there’s a lot of, “OMG! He’s so dreamy…” talk at his site, but there’s A LOT of people saying, “What the hell is wrong with CNN, NBC, etc?!? I used to think they were good but now I see how manipulative they all are.” This is crucial!!
We need more people on our side, and moaning and groaning ain’t gonna attract people to us. We’ve got so much momentum and right now, and it would be a shame to waste by throwing hissy fits.
Buck up campers, and let’s stoke that fire!
Never vote for Rethugs.
In local elections, vote Green/progressive.
When you can defeat the Rethug in State/Federal elections, vote Green/progressive.
No funds for DCCC/ DNC / Constitution sell-outs. Ever.
Support proportional representation/ranked-choice voting.
Support the Maine/AZ models of campaign financing.
Despise every Dem who voted for FISA amnesty: work to defeat them in primaries.
And sing along - mostly - with Chumbawamba (Mouth Full Of Shit):
I wouldn’t piss on Barry if he were on fire.
So if you walk by Barry and he has a big head of steam:
(1) Don’t put him out: the SS will whack you if you squirt him or touch him.
(2) Anyway, he probably just rubbed himself into ignition getting a stiffie for his true loves: power and ambition.
(3) Never use water-based liquids to quench a burning Power Tool.
It’s seems strange that the Pentagon is not sending bills to Halliburton/KBR for over charges and/or failure to complete contracts among other things, yet, can send a bill to wounded soldiers…
I’m getting worried about you, Kirk. Did you think that Obama could be elected without being vanilla pudding?
What matters now, is how he will govern once elected. I know we’re all pissed about FISA, and righteously so, but we don’t have a choice now.
wiping coffee off screen………lol
I wonder if the capital building were destroyed by a natural disaster how long it would take to be repaired?
i smell the beginnings of a new m&c post
It’s getting old voting for the lesser of two evils, or wearing a gas mask to vote.
I said it before as veteran of the trials and tribulations of navigating the VA, their motto is simple-”Delay, deny, & hope you die!” I promptly called the number that I was directed to phone Monday in a letter I received that very day. I received the generic “I am either away from my desk or on another line. Please leave your name and number and I will call you back asap”. I’m still waiting. They’re extremely motivated. I’ve noticed that they never offer those custmer satisfaction surveys…
Thanks, bonkers!
Let’s not forget Pups, that the republicks didn’t get where they are overnight.
Long term. Deep breaths. Further vision.
Possibly, today, I went after McCain and the GAO report…! ;-)
i’ve decided that tonight, i’m gonna gnash my teeth and wail and rant and moan and bitch about it - but tomorrow morning, i’m back to holding feet to the fire and demanding representation of ME and not some corporate lobbyist.