7 green stories that ought to cheer you up
Last week’s Media Mayhem column from the Mother Nature Network:
Climate change looks as if it’s coming quicker than previously imagined. The strongest response that our politicians can manage may actually be worse than taking no action. And a huge chunk of one state is expected simply to disappear — even if we do manage to take effective action against global warming.
Here are seven developments that may play a role in solving climate change and other burning problems of the future — and that may never get the headlines they deserve.
For the rest of Media Mayhem, go to the Mother Nature Network.
Coal’s silver lining
My apologies for disappearing. Went on vacation, faced an onslaught of other projects and then the computer done broke. Starting to catch up with my June 13 “Media Mayhem” column from the Mother Nature Network.
The coal industry’s re-branding campaign reminds me of an old Mad Magazine illustration.
Fox and foreign press find fault but climate bill is progress
This week’s Media Mayhem column from the Mother Nature network.
I was so proud of the House of Representatives for its recent passage of legislation to tackle climate change. Finally.
Don’t cry for me, Sierra Club
Two backpackers at Pulpit Rock on the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. Neither appears to be South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. (courtesy Isaac Weigmann, Appalachian Trail Conservancy)
Gov. Mark Sanford’s sex scandal has become a Sierra Club marketing pitch.
“Dear Friend,” an e-mail letter to members of the organization begins.”We heard the governor of South Carolina had some trouble finding the Appalachian Trail last week.”
As you no doubt know Sanford — not known, by the way, as a big defender of the environment — told his wife and staff he was hiking on the trail, when he actually was in Argentina with his mistress.
The letter continues: Read more
Right-wing media’s overheated response to warming bill
You knew it would happen. But Fox News and talk radio have become a big unhinged over House’s vote Friday in favor of the Waxman-Markey climate bill.
It’s a Wall Street conspiracy. It’s a commie plot. It’s treason. Every year, it’ll cost each family 500, 750, 1,500, 3,000 dollars.
Sometimes, the talking points are a bit inconsistent. But that’s what makes them entertaining … in a slow-motion train wreck kind of way.
Media Matters, the left-wing watchdog site, has steadily pushed out clips of the talking heads, which I’ve annotated for your viewing convenience.
Fox’s Glenn Beck (June 29) issues a “Wanted for being a cap and traitor” poster for eight Republicans who voted for the bill:
More clips after the jump. Read more
27 GOP’ers run risks with ‘no’ vote on climate bill
Since Friday’s House vote, there’s been a lot of political reporting about how risky a “yeah” on the climate change bill would be for Democrats in conservative districts, or in districts that depend heavily on coal for their electricity.
If you take the climate vote in isolation, however, it seems more likely that more Republicans who voted against the bill will be vulnerable in 2010.
As the National Journal’s Ron Brownstein points out, 20 of 49 House Democrats from districts that Republican John McCain carried last November voted for the climate change bill. The vote could be used against Democrats in districts that lean Republican already, especially in states that are dependent on coal.
The reverse, Brownstein notes, is true for more Republicans:
In contrast with the Democrats from split districts, 27 of the 34 Republicans from Obama-districts held with their party and voted against the legislation. California crystallized that trend: Of the eight Republicans there in districts that Obama carried last year, only Mary Bono Mack from Palm Springs supported the bill.
When it came to the Republicans, however, Brownstein didn’t take that observation to the next level: Read more
