Gore on coal issues

Former vice-president Al Gore made a surprise appearance at Netroots Nation and took some questions.

wvblueguy of WVaBlue asked him about mountaintop removal and coal-to-liquid technology.

Gore's take on MTR?

"Mountaintop mining is an atrocity. It is an outrage."

[...]

"It's all done in automated way. That's why the coalminers lost all of their jobs. When we make this transition to renewable fuels, we have to keep them in mind. We ought to guarantee a good job in the fresh air and sunshine for every single coal miner who has been affected by the transition over to renewable fuels."

Here's the video:



More on this here in the original WVaBlue post.

Quickies

- Howard Zinn says no one wins in a war.

- Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr attended Gore's speech.

-Clem Guttata at W.VaBlue has a good take on what the Gore plan can mean for W.Va.

- Poor Holy Joe Lieberman has no friends.

Gore hands the Democrats an issue

The Democrats have more or less dropped the ball in making the energy crisis a meaningful issue so far in this race.

McCain and the GOP have put forward their horrid "drill here, drill now, blah blah blah" plan. But, to some voters, at least they're [seen as] talking about a solution. And it's helped McCain some.

I have no doubt that Obama would be a bazillion times better on the issue than McMaverick and his army of career lobbyists, but so far, he hasn't spelled it out as well as he should.

Today former Vice President Al Gore called on the U.S. to set a real alternative energy goal for the nation.

AP:

WASHINGTON (AP) - Just as John F. Kennedy set his sights on the moon, Al Gore is challenging the nation to produce every kilowatt of electricity through wind, sun and other Earth-friendly energy sources within 10 years, an audacious goal he hopes the next president will embrace

[..]

Gore said he fully understands the magnitude of the challenge.

The Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan group that he chairs, estimates the cost of transforming the nation to so-called clean electricity sources at $1.5 trillion to $3 trillion over 30 years in public and private money. But he says it would cost about as much to build ozone-killing coal plants to satisfy current demand.

"This is an investment that will pay itself back many times over," Gore said. "It's an expensive investment but not compared to the rising cost of continuing to invest in fossil fuels."

This is the way Obama should approach this issue. Propose an Apollo Plan for energy. He hinted at it a bit when he criticized McCain's 'magic battery' pitch. Possibly, he'll elaborate as the campaign continues.

He needs to focus on this issue, contrast the differences in his plan and the GOP's and make it his own.

---

And proving that he knows how to get his message out and noticed , Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr was in attendance.

Former Vice President Al Gore speaks about energy and the future, Thursday, July 17, 2008, at Constitution Hall in Washington. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Quickies

- Former White House Press Secretary and FOX News host Tony Snow has lost his battle with cancer.

- Arnold Schwarzenegger is quickly becoming my favorite Republican. On the Bush administration:

"This administration did not believe in global warming," Schwarzenegger told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview that will air Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

- Scott Saxton reports on his WSAZ blog that ballot access efforts for third party candidate Ralph Nader are underway in W.Va. Bob Barr's supporters are planning to kick off their signature drive Wednesday, Saxton says.

- Pete Seeger is still active at 89.

Seeger will headline a Sept. 13 New England Farm Relief Concert in Brattleboro to raise money for a new micro-loan program being developed by The Carrot Project and the organization that operates the town's annual Strolling of the Heifers.

- The Lie That Won't Die: Pennsylvania Edition!

Photo: White House spokesman Tony Snow conducts his first press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Snow has died of cancer. He was 53. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Santa is screwed

From the Independent (You know, that UK paper we have to read to get the news because, these days, most U.S. newspapers aren't worth the paper they're printed on:

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.

"From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water," said Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.

Art: Metro

For the global warming deniers

This has been predicted for years. Now it's happened.

Will the rightwing commentators, who like to use the intellectually dishonest technique of cherry-picking scattered reports of record snows in their effort to "prove" warming is not taking place, mention this one?

Don't hold your breath.

From AP (The bold is key):

WASHINGTON -- A chunk of Antarctic ice about seven times the size of Manhattan suddenly collapsed, putting an even greater portion of glacial ice at risk, scientists said Tuesday.

Scientists flocked to take pictures and shoot video after a massive chunk of the Wilkins ice shelf collapsed in Antarctica.

Satellite images show the runaway disintegration of a 160-square-mile chunk in western Antarctica, which started February 28. It was the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf and has been there for hundreds, maybe 1,500 years.

This is the result of global warming, said British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan.

Reducing our carbon footprint

WVU students and faculty are pushing the school to become more green in its energy use.

To give you more info on the effort, here's an excerpt from a message sent by Cheyenna Weber, a WVU graduate and one of the organizers of the WVU Green Fund to fellow alumni.

As you consider your own carbon footprint, have you ever considered the impact of our fine alma mater? Perhaps you have heard that West Virginia University is becoming a cleaner, greener, more sustainable institution. Perhaps you were excited by this, and even wondered to yourself, "Hey, I sure wish I could play a role in saving the planet, and I sure wish I could tie it to West Virginia." Well, this is your lucky climate-change averting day.

The WVU chapter of the Sierra Student Coalition has proposed a substantial program to boost energy efficiency, cut emissions and promote a greener institution. The new WVU President, Mike Garrison, already met with them once, made encouraging noises and agreed to more meetings. Faculty and staff are signing on in support, and the time has come for alumni support. (How? Hang on.)

We all know making buildings more energy efficient and creating renewable energy infrastructure is expensive. In fact, although it saves money, (and the planet), in the long-term it is often so cost-prohibitive schools can't make the changes. WVU already has presented this argument, but luckily there is a simple solution: the WVU Green Fund.

Here's how it works: WVU establishes an endowed fund that is invested in environmentally sound companies. The returns from those investments then are earmarked for green campus projects. The more money donated to the fund, the more is invested, the greater the returns. The principal is never touched-which means green projects won't be dependent on an annual fund-raising campaign or the whims of the WVU Foundation. So simple, right? Right.

Except, of course, we have to convince WVU to do it. To do that we have to show there is support for a WVU Green Fund. Now, we all could cut checks and send them to WVU, but there's nothing to keep the school from refusing to set up the endowed Green Fund and using up all the money on a single project. So instead, I'm asking people to sign the petition, located here

A similar campaign is being started up by student groups at Marshall University as we speak and we'll probably be hearing a lot about it in Huntington soon.