Climate Politics

How to build a real climate movement

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Campaigns and programs crafted to advance the Bright Lines strategy must also fit real world constraints and political realities on the ground, and take account of external roadblocks to effective action. The following objectives address these issues.

1. Tangible risk. Climate change is like world hunger: it's an issue of concern when media attention is high, just as coverage of periodic famines raises concern about world hunger. Most Americans do not see climate change as an immediate or personal risk, yet, like world hunger, they view it as a problem so immense that it is impractical to think that it will ever be solved.

NGO relief efforts and international governmental aid are widely supported, but are seen as altruistic, charitable actions. Climate policies and programs now advanced in the U.S. are so small-scale they can only be understood in similar terms, as altruistic and charitable acts like huger relief. Measures like Governor Corzine's initiative in New Jersey, for example, take aim at an intangible, global risk with essentially symbolic action.

The problem must be dealt with by establishing the scale of global response and role of the U.S. in advancing a solution, but should also be tackled by defining tangible, local risks. By advancing climate change assessment and remediation, several objectives are achieved:

What the choco-giants are up to.

A couple of weeks ago, we noted here that Big Food is haranguing the FDA to loosen the definition of “chocolate” to allow for adulteration. At the time, I didn’t know why the industrial chocolate giants were agitating for this dubious cause. Now I think I know: cocoa-bean prices rose abruptly last year, pushed up […]

A video compilation

The South Carolina debate among Democratic presidential candidates on Thursday didn’t exactly light my fire, but there were some decent bits. LCV’s Heat Is On program is rounding up all sorts of good YouTube clips relating to global warming, and they’ve got a cut together video of every mention of climate change in the debate:

The Mustache way

The Mustache wants a green pony: In this election cycle, we need to hold a “Green Debate,” devoted only to energy and environmental questions. I would suggest Tulane University in New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2007 — the second anniversary of Katrina. That would give the candidates, Republicans and Democrats, all summer to develop positions […]

If we aren’t causing it, why would reducing emissions fix it?

According to a new poll, a majority of folks in South Carolina — from both parties — agree that it’s time to do something about global warming. However, while the majority of Democrats polled believe that humans are driving recent warming, a majority of Republicans cite "natural processes." This position by Republicans, which I think […]

Polls point to yes

There’s lots of interesting stuff in this new Quinnipiac poll, particularly this: Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani leads New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and other Democrats in the 2008 presidential race in three critical states – Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to Quinnipiac University’s Swing State Poll, three simultaneous surveys of voters in […]

Legally speaking

California is threatening to sue the U.S. EPA for obstructionism. You’ll recall that the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled decisively that CO2 is a pollutant under the Clean Air Act, and that implementing restrictions on vehicle CO2 emissions does not abrogate the DOT’s authority to set fuel-efficiency standards. That ruling pretty well destroys the legal […]

More exciting than it sounds

British Columbia has just joined Schwarzenegger’s Western Regional Climate Action Initiative, which is meant … … to identify, evaluate and implement ways to collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region and to achieve related co-benefits. The initiative requires partners to set an overall regional goal to reduce emissions, develop a market-based, multi-sector mechanism to […]

Video, yo

Here’s Sen. Barbara Boxer (most appropriately named!), discussing global warming at the National Press Club (for 25 min.). Good stuff: (h/t: Hugg)

Shooting for a green capitol

No, it's not a new psychological disorder, but a plan for greening the capitol complex.

Over at Building Design and Construction they've got a piece on the acceptance of a "green the capitol initiative."