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In the News 3/11: Let’s Talk About Climate Change

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Found on the Internets …



Talking about your g-g-generation … and the next 100 or so.

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28 Senators Are Staying Up All Night To Bring Attention To Climate Change

On Monday, 28 senators are planning on staying up all night talking about climate change, an effort that aims to “wake up Congress” about the seriousness of the issue.

The “talkathon” will start after Senate’s last votes Monday and is expected to last until Tuesday at 9 a.m. It was organized by the Climate Action Task Force, a group launched in January whose goal is to take an aggressive stance on climate change in Congress. Twenty-six Democrats and two independents have committed to attend the talkathon and are planning to tweet throughout the night using the hashtag #Up4Climate.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), one of the members of the task force who will be participating in the talkathon, said the goal of the all-nighter was “to break the pattern of the Senate and show the interest of at least 20 senators who will be participating through the night.”

CSPAN Video Feed

Twitter Hash Tag #Up4Climate

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Floor Remarks Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) #Up4Climate Senate Floor

The scientists have done their work:  We now better understand the human causes of climate change and we understand its profound and accelerating impact.  Unfortunately, too many policy makers deny the evidence, or refuse to cross political lines to solve the problem.  But it is time that we wake up and act on climate change.

We have taken some steps in the right direction.  This past summer, President Obama announced his Climate Action Plan to cut carbon pollution.  The Environmental Protection Agency has begun creating new carbon emission standards for future power plants.  The Department of Energy is working on ground-breaking energy technologies, and the Department of Transportation is studying transportation planning to address future risks and vulnerabilities from extreme weather and climate change.  The Transportation Department is also addressing vehicle fuel efficiency which is saving vehicle owners and operators billions of dollars a year.  While these are all positive changes, it should concern us all that they are not nearly enough to address the problem at hand.  Congress needs to lift its blinders and wake up to this problem by enacting legislation that prioritizes renewable energy development, supports energy efficient technologies, and taxes carbon pollution.

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More …

A little birdie told me …

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More from the morning news …

Here’s What You Need to Know About the President’s 2015 Budget

The President’s proposed budget shows how we can strengthen our economy and bring down our deficits while expanding opportunity for every American. Brian Deese, Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, took to the whiteboard to show what that looks like. And after that, we’ve put together a graphic explaining what else the budget does. Take a look, and pass it on.

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Uninsurance Rate Falls As Millions Sign Up For Obamacare, Survey Finds

The U.S. uninsurance rate has hit another five-year low as Americans continue enrolling in health coverage during Obamacare’s first open enrollment period, according to a new Gallup survey. All told, the uninsurance rate in the first three months of 2014 stood at 15.9 percent, compared to 17.1 percent in the last quarter of 2013 – and the largest drops in uninsurance occurred among African Americans and lower-income people, who are among the most likely to benefit from the ACA’s financial assistance.

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Republicans Must Make A Choice About Obamacare: Repeal Or Relent

The number of uninsured Americans has dropped by three to four million since Obamacare coverage took effect Jan. 1, according to a new Gallup survey. How much of the drop can be precisely attributed to the health care law is a matter of debate, though there are signs that enrollment among the uninsured is picking up.

What isn’t up for debate: Republicans are now confronted with a fork in the road in how they approach Obamacare. Repeal or relent.

Every newly insured American undermines the “repeal” stance that has been the party’s status quo over the last four years. But relenting, acknowledging the law won’t be undone and pivoting to more of a “fix” mentality isn’t going to be easy either, given the demands of the far-right.

You can’t have both.

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Weather …

TheVane: Help Advance Scientific Research from Your Cell Phone with mPING

Since 2006, the Meteorological Phenomena Identification Near the Ground (mPING) program run by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) has helped meteorologists improve their forecasts and weather radar algorithms by using public reports to determine what type of precipitation is falling at ground level around the country.

mPING allows the public to report precipitation type, intensity, and duration to the NSSL using the mobile app available for free through iTunes and Google Play.

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Editor’s Note: Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.


Categories: Uncategorized.

/ 23 Comments

23 comments

  3. princesspat

    The Best Of The Dish Today

    The news cycle is so punishing these days you might be forgiven for thinking the Obama era is over. But it isn’t. It’s at its peak in terms of impact, because policies, especially economic ones, take some time to have effect. Five years in, we have enough data – so reading through the Economic Report from the Council of Economic Advisers is therefore a helpful exercise. And it seems to me to be a rather impressive record – and utterly alien from the picture of gloom and dysfunction the Republicans are currently concocting.

    ~snip~

    If someone had suggested to me in 2009 that by 2014, after the worst recession since the 1930s and after the huge debt pile-up in the Bush years that the US would be growing steadily, gaining energy independence, and cutting its deficit deeply, I’d have been amazed. We’ve so easily forgotten the extraordinary crisis Obama inherited. We shouldn’t. This presidency was always going to be judged on whether it could return the US to normal governance after the economic calamity of 2007, and after the disastrous wars that were far from over. I fail to see how Obama has failed in any critical respect. Not that it gets him much praise these days. For that we may have to wait for history’s judgment.

    The graphs in the link are impressive….an amazing accomplishment in spite of the persistant anti government R’s.

  4. JanF

    New York Times Applauds Reid For Finally Standing Up To The Koch Brothers

    While Reid’s criticism of the billionaire siblings has upset both Republicans and purveyors of conventional wisdom, the Times had a very different take on Tuesday: It’s about time.

    Democrats have for too long been passive in the face of the vast amounts of corporate money, most of it secret, that are being spent to evict them from office and dismantle their policies. By far the largest voice in many of this year’s political races, for example, has been that of the Koch brothers, who have spent tens of millions of dollars peddling phony stories about the impact of health care reform, all in order to put Republicans in control of the Senate after the November elections.

    Now Democrats are starting to fight back, deciding they should at least try to counter the tycoons with some low-cost speech of their own. Democrats may never have the same resources at their disposal – no party should – but they can use their political pulpits to stand up for a few basic principles, including the importance of widespread health-insurance coverage, environmental protection and safety-net programs.

    I think that most Americans don’t like the idea of the super-wealthy insinuating themselves into elections … buying politicians for their own profit. This windmill-tilting by Harry Reid has the potential of catching the public eye.

    I can’t see any downside.  

  5. HappyinVT

    that make me extra, extra curious about what is going to be the decision on Keystone.  Part of me wonders if they are simply hoping that TransCanada (I hope that’s right) gives up.

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