Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Environmentalist Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	1/25/2007 12:33:34 AM
From: jim-thompson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 36922

i think Dick Morris will take care of hillary. i am going to send him money to help make the movie...... you might do the same so she doesn't cause the democrap party to crash.....

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	1/25/2007 5:57:26 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 36922

Putting the war into global warming alertnet.org

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	1/25/2007 6:25:53 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 36922

seattlepi.nwsource.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	1/27/2007 8:52:28 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 36922

Global Warming: A Divide on Causes and Solutions pewresearch.org

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	2/5/2007 12:28:16 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 36922

French president urges world leaders to act on climate change canada.com

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	2/7/2007 11:30:24 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 36922

Bush Ripped on Global Warming wired.com WASHINGTON -- Congress continued to probe allegations Wednesday that the Bush administration tried to muzzle government scientists on climate change and suppress scientific research, including a comprehensive report in 2000 on global warming's impact on the United States. During a Senate Commerce Committee hearing, both Democratic and Republican lawmakers weighed in with harsh words for an administration that has come under fire in the 110th Congress for its stance on climate change. "One incidence of political tampering with science is too many," said Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the committee chairman, referring to a survey released last week by two advocacy groups that showed widespread political interference in research related to global warming. "For years we have been frustrated by the lack of recognition and cooperation on the part of the administration on addressing this issue," said Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona). Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) blasted the alleged political meddling, calling it "George Orwell at its best." At the hearing, several witnesses testified that they had experienced or seen political interference by the Bush administration in climate-change science. Witnesses said press officers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies had manipulated or obstructed media interviews with government scientists. Witnesses also said that important research on global warming had been downplayed, edited or suppressed by a system of "minders" and "gatekeepers." Rick Piltz, the director of the climate science watch program at watchdog group the Government Accountability Project, said the Bush administration effectively quashed official use of the 2000 National Assessment report on global warming in the United States. According to Piltz, who worked for White House climate-change programs from 1995 to 2005, the report remains "the most comprehensive, scientifically based assessment of the potential consequences of climate change for the United States." In his written statement, he called the suppression of the report "the central climate science scandal of the (Bush) administration." Other witnesses testified that agency flacks had hindered their ability to inform the public about their research. In his written statement to the committee, Tom Knutson, a meteorologist and hurricane expert at NOAA, detailed several instances in which his media interviews were mysteriously canceled or language in his presentations was changed. Internal NOAA e-mails (.pdf) obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request last year suggest a plan to keep Knutson from discussing any evidence connecting global warming to stronger hurricanes. James Mahoney, a deputy administrator of NOAA from 2002 to 2006, also said he had seen scientists discouraged from talking to the media during his time at the agency. Other witnesses bemoaned cuts in areas of funding at NOAA and NASA that would reduce the number of satellites and Earth-observing instruments in space by 35 percent by 2010, making it harder to study climate change and predict natural disasters. The committee hoped to hear from representatives from the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy, which advises the White House on science issues, but none showed up, leaving William Brennan, acting director of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, to defend the administration. Kerry saved his most withering comments for Brennan, expressing outrage over the amount of progress on climate change achieved by Brennan's program, which seeks to integrate research on climate change from 13 federal agencies. "I think this is the most serious dereliction of public responsibility that I've ever seen," Kerry said. "This is a disgrace. You're turning your backs on future generations in this country and potentially inviting a global catastrophe." Brennan said his group would soon be releasing 21 reports covering a range of key issues related to climate change that would help inform policy. A comparison of the research schedule released by the Climate Change Science Program in July 2003 and a current status summary of the research reveals that the program has failed to meet its deadlines or is behind schedule on 20 of the 21 reports.

To: American Spirit who wrote (9133)	2/9/2007 2:12:21 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 36922

We owe it to our children to ramp up global-warming fight ______________________________________________________________ By Floyd J. McKay* Guest Columnist The Seattle Times Wednesday, February 7, 2007 We are stewards of our children's future, and it's damn well time that we gave them a future that is not irreparably damaged by our addiction to carbon dioxide. Once again, the world's leading scientific experts on climate change have issued a warning that time is running out. In 2001, the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said science is "66 to 90 percent sure" that greenhouse gases are driving climate change that will be catastrophic unless nations take action. The IPCC on Friday issued an update, and its confidence level is now 90 percent, which in scientific circles is "very high confidence." Science is constantly evolving — there is no 100-percent certainty so long as research continues. Can we stop quibbling about this overwhelming consensus of the world's best scientific brains and move to Step Two: doing something about it? The recent election helped, but the obstinacy of President Bush means Congress must produce big majorities — perhaps veto-proof — to bring this nation into line with the rest of the developed world. Major Republican leaders in Congress and elsewhere support action, but they must overcome some serious congressional roadblocks. Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe, who infamously called global warming a "hoax," lost his Energy Committee chairmanship with Democratic control, but threatens to filibuster global-warming bills. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is trying an end run around House Energy Committee Chairman John Dingell, a made-in-Detroit hardliner. Pelosi's special committee on global warming may propose automobile rules Dingell has killed in the past. But a lot of Democrats campaigned on this issue; Dingell's base has been weakened. But as with Iraq, much of the burden of pounding common sense into the White House falls to sensible Republicans. Fortunately, two of the most visible, Sen. John McCain and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, have taken leading roles in opposing greenhouse gases. California is everyone's love-hate state — Americans move there in droves, yet we make fun of its culture and try to avoid "Californicating" our once-pristine lands. But California leads against global warming, and give Schwarzenegger credit: The Gubernator has proved to be more than a set of muscles. Unbelievably, some of California's major efforts have been opposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, which under previous presidents of both parties was actually a force for the environment. California has adopted cap-and-trade rules for industry, increased fuel standards for cars, invested in solar power and changed power-company incentives from sales to conservation. As a result, electricity consumption per person in California is well below the national average, and has remained stable, while it is increasing rapidly in other states, particularly the "red" states of the South and Midwest. Yet, even in hard-core Bush country, action is taking place. Midwestern farmers benefit from ethanol (as do Eastern Washington farmers), and wind power is ramping up in wide-open spaces. There is even hope that Southwest states will wake up to the solar energy that attracts so many "snowbirds" and trap it rather than build more coal-fired power plants to heat their swimming pools. Major industries increasingly support federal controls. Firms such as DuPont, General Electric and Alcoa, more than the rest of us, realize that volunteerism — the Bush mantra — simply means a free ride and competitive advantage for bad behavior. They also understand that state-by-state regulations drive up their costs and confuse their customers. Even elements of Bush's "base" — evangelicals — are deserting him; the Evangelical Climate Initiative urges Bush to provide world leadership. Bush's reaction to IPCC was to reject mandatory greenhouse-gas controls, leaving solutions in the tender hands of Exxon and friends. The denial of global-warming science that still exists here is not a factor among our closest European allies. I was in Britain last fall when the three major parties held annual conventions, in which they competed to be the "greenest," particularly on global warming. A government report in October "demolished the last remaining argument for inaction in the face of climate change," proclaimed Prime Minister Tony Blair. Al Gore was treated as a hero in London and Edinburgh, his movie universally praised. Globalization, driven by American corporations, is producing more greenhouse gases in the developing world. Middle-class Chinese and Indians will not continue to ride bicycles while we snort gas in our SUVs. Cheap imports carry an environmental price. We cannot wait until 2009 and installation of a president who places sound science above ignorant instincts. The rest of us know better and we must demand action from our politicians. We owe it to future generations. *Floyd J. McKay, a journalism professor emeritus at Western Washington University, is a regular contributor to the Seattle Times editorial pages. E-mail him at floydmckay@yahoo.com Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company ______________________________________________ Learn more at these links... The IPCC report: ipcc.ch Evangelical Climate Initiative: christiansandclimate.org