You Don’t Need A Weatherman…

cape wind logo…to know which way the wind blows.  It’s blowing against the reactionary forces spearheaded by the relatively unsung member of the Koch family, Bill.  Although not in the same league as his two protofascist brothers, Bill nevertheless gets high marks for doing what he can to undermine both democracy and a sane approach to energy in his obdurate opposition to a superb renewable energy initiative, Cape Wind.  The list of supporters for this project is, however, long and prestigious. Continue reading


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Time to Wake Up

U.S. Senator Whitehouse and Senators from the Senate Climate Action Task Force gather on Capitol Hill in Washington

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is shown here having fun with some of his colleagues prior to launching what we used to call a teach-in.  They spent 15 hours last night into this morning highlighting the manifest dangers of climate change.  Whitehouse has been a vocal leader on the issue, delivering a series of floor speeches as part of his “Time to Wake Up” campaign.  He is part of a wholly reinvigorated effort in the US Senate to move the climate agenda.  Climate Progress has essential messages from most of the more than 30 Senators who took part.  One new Senator, Ed Markey, is well known for coauthoring the Waxman-Markey bill which passed the House in 2009, but died in the SenateReuters quotes Markey last night:  “We hope that by staying up all night … we will signal a new dawn of climate change action in Congress.” Continue reading


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On Wisconsin

ow_bannerAs I said a couple of years ago when the capitol building in Madison was being occupied by people incensed by the depredations being mounted against democracy by the Republican Party there, driven by Tea Party ideology and Koch Brothers money, I was never more proud to be a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.  (See Wisconsin is About Climate and Energy Too.)  I still am proud.

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Inside the Climate Wars

Frontline has produced pretty consistently terrific programs over the years.  I use both Hot Politics and Heat in my classes on climate change and on energy and the environment.  Another blockbuster program, Climate of Doubt, hit the airwaves this past week on PBS.  It looks very closely at the industry that has grown up around climate change denialism.  It pinpoints the fact that many millions of dollars have been spent by the likes of ExxonMobil and the Koch Brothers to fund this industry.  It documents the havoc that this disinformation campaign has caused. Continue reading


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