MyDD :: Putting Global Warming on the Agenda

Putting Global Warming on the Agenda

by Matt Stoller, Sun May 28, 2006 at 01:16:17 PM EST

I was on a panel with Donald Graham a few weeks ago, and he said that the Washington Post doesn't make policy but does provide the factual universe for the country to have public policy discussions. I have a hard time believing this after reading this ill-informed article that fawns over global warming 'skeptics'. Joel Achenbach, who writes an off beat humorous blog for the Post, is the author of the article.

But tihs post isn't just for bitching about the stupid and ultimately irrelevant reporters who give a platform to industry paid liars. They don't matter anymore. The top-down media doesn't care about the public or the truth, and the public knows this. Which is why Iraq has become unpopular without a discussion in the top-down media about the war. The discussions happened out of view, a little on the blogs, mostly over dinner tables, but not on the pages of the nation's newspapers. It's like net neutrality; the top-down media really didn't report on that issue.

Al Gore is now leading a different conversation, on global warming, and that's the conversation we're going to start having. The first salvo is his movie. The second salvo, before we can talk solutions, is to make it very clear that accepting industry spam on global warming is not going to cut it. It's time to put people on the record. Since Congressional Republicans won't act, we will. The Roots Project is going to work to have a resolution introduced into Congress that says that global warming is man-made and that the the scientific consensus behind it is real. That's it. The resolution will call for no actions. The only purpose is to put global warming on the national agenda, to make it a voting issue in 2006.

So if you're a candidate, add a global warming section to your web site.

If you're a Congressman, add a global warming section to your Congressional web site.

Just try denying science.

Tags: global warming, Al Gore (all tags)

Permalink :: 7 Comments :: Post a Comment

Good call, Matt (none / 0)

The top progressive issues IMO are:

NO to unforced and unwarranted warfare
immediate action on averting/ameliorating global warming
preserving net neutrality, restoring media independence
healthcare
education

And, lest we forget, the genocide in Darfur must be stopped right now!

by NuevoLiberal on Sun May 28, 2006 at 01:38:36 PM EST

Sustainable Progress (none / 0)

... is half of the progressive agenda. Or maybe 90%, but regardless of the actual ratio, the rest is social equality.

Social Equality, Sustainable Progress

The war in Iraq is neither sustainable nor progress. Same goes for our health care system, our environmental/energy policy, even our educational system.

I'm working for Al Weed, and we were talking the other day about the specifics of switchgrass biofuel. He told me that if just the gas sold in the VA-05 were mixed with 10% ethanol (no engine modifications required) it would pump $50M per year back into the rural economy. We'd buy fewer barrels of oil, and each barrel would cost less.

Sounds like such a no-brainer, but the elephant party and much of the Democratic party haven't caught on yet.

Progress is Personal | PCCC

by msnook on Sun May 28, 2006 at 05:57:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Putting Global Warming on the Agenda (none / 0)

Mayor Bloomberg had a good line calling GOP pseudo-science "political science" in his speech to Johns Hopkins Med students and afterward.

I think there are also those who revel in their cynicism and think they are being "daring" for challenging a consensus, but when they bring that attitude to global warming, they are just misinformed fools. Gore's passion is an embarrasment to these kinds of people, and so expect him to be challenged fropm both the adherents of "political science" and the oh-too-cool cynics.

by Mimikatz on Sun May 28, 2006 at 03:35:55 PM EST

Re: Putting Global Warming on the Agenda (none / 0)

Hi, as someone who follows this closely enough to get exiled from various places, you are reading Achenbach wrong. The article is quite Colbert in its approach, the problem being that you need to know something about the subject to really appreciate it. Real Climate is a good place to start.

Eli (a Rabett in exile)

by Eli Rabett on Sun May 28, 2006 at 05:15:44 PM EST

Re: Putting Global Warming on the Agenda (none / 0)

Matt

I agree with Eli. It's actually a good article, showing the skeptics as having very little to go on. Some are just true believers who will say anything in support of of their pet economic theories, while Bill Gray actually seems a sad figure, the brilliant expert passed by as science moved on. Much as I agree with you on the lack of journalistic ethics continually displayed at the Washington Post and the fact that global warming is occurring, I think this article was quite good and helpful in getting the global warming message out.

Best regards,

by Joe Scordato on Sun May 28, 2006 at 05:28:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Jerry McNerney, Renewable Energy Expert CA -11 (none / 0)

Jerry McNerney, a renewable energy expert, is running against Big-Oil's best friend, Republican Congressman, Richard Pombo. Jerry is endorsed by the California Democratic Party, the State Labor Federation and has received the endorsement of every grassroots Democratic Club in the district.
From day one, Jerry has had on his campaign website a detailed section on energy and global warming.

Richard Pombo is on record as being a skeptic of global warming, and Pombo's perpetual solution to our energy crisis is to drill our way out of it. Check out the disinformation that has been coming out of Pombo's Resources Committee.

Jerry has devoted his career to developing new forms of energy for our country. His specialization is in wind energy, and Jerry recently had a diary on Daily Kos discussing the subject. I encourage you to read Jerry's detailed Clean Energy Innovation Plan and learn about his vision for energy independence.

Sincerely,

A.J. Carrillo
Campaign Manager
McNerney for Congress

by ajsuited on Sun May 28, 2006 at 09:13:22 PM EST

Unexpected sources of some truths (none / 0)

Agree with the general thrust of this post, but we do get some help from conventional dead tree media in regional newspapers. Some of them are quite sceptical of the Beltway narratives. The worst of the conventional media are the self-satisfied jerks who think they have all wisdom at the WaPo and NYT. And even there, breakthroughs happen.

And I think Al Gore is finally succeeding in putting climate change on the national plate.

Can It Happen Here?

by janinsanfran on Mon May 29, 2006 at 11:35:43 AM EST

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