Check out this article about a Republican congressman and climate-change-denier who is pleading with Moeller alum Boehner for permission to serve as the new head of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee: click here for the article.
The above article links to a charming video in which Congressman Shimkus cites the books of Genesis and Matthew -- what he calls the infallible word of God -- to assure his fellow policy-makers that God loves us, won't destroy the earth ever again, and as such we need not worry about altering our current carbon-polluting energy systems.
My thoughts? Indeed, the Earth will be here for several billion more years, at least until our Sun swells into a Red Giant and absorbs the inner ring of planets in our solar system. Humans, while only a few hundred-thousand years old, will likely stick around several thousand more. But our current civilization, our growing planetary population, and the world's dwindling biodiversity? Those have a much shorter time frames, and they'll only get shorter with people like Rep. John Shimkus at the helm.
If God exists, may she save us from such fools.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Resurrection!
Hooray for resurrection of the TGB (The Group's Blog)! Boo-hiss for resurrection of a Republican-controlled House and Republican dominated governorships and state legislatures. :(
I'm afraid the later resurrections above mean we're even further from American Climate Legislation. The United State's shift toward a sustainable energy future remains depressing. You can access a remarkable and recent New Yorker article about the collapse of cap-and-trade last Spring here.
In that article, blame for the demise of a bi-partisan climate bill, which seemed surprisingly like a reality at one point, falls upon many, including the White House. Granted, altering how the global economy functions and is powered would be daunting at any time for the world's largest economy but especially so during the worst recession in 80 years (a recession, I might add, that began under Republican rule and stemmed from laissez faire deregulation of our financial markets and money lenders.)
As Brad mentioned elsewhere, immigration will likely be a big push for the G.O.P (i.e. Party of NO.) However, I expect Republican will focus on extending (and seeking to make permanent) the Bush tax cuts as the House's first priority followed by attempts to dismantle the Health Care bill.
On related note, I'm interested to see how much pull the Tea Party players have in the newly resurgent GOP. My guess is the GOP will co-opt the Tea Party peeps and make them dance to corporate-called tunes (somewhat like what happened to the Populist Party in the mid 1890s). My hope is the Tea Party grows enough to run a third party candidate who splits the 2012 Republican ticket for Obama to win (similar to what happened in 1912 with Wilson/Taft/Roosevelt, or more recently in 1992 with Clinton/Bush/Perot and in 2000 with Bush/Gore/Nader.) Here's hoping.
I'm afraid the later resurrections above mean we're even further from American Climate Legislation. The United State's shift toward a sustainable energy future remains depressing. You can access a remarkable and recent New Yorker article about the collapse of cap-and-trade last Spring here.
In that article, blame for the demise of a bi-partisan climate bill, which seemed surprisingly like a reality at one point, falls upon many, including the White House. Granted, altering how the global economy functions and is powered would be daunting at any time for the world's largest economy but especially so during the worst recession in 80 years (a recession, I might add, that began under Republican rule and stemmed from laissez faire deregulation of our financial markets and money lenders.)
As Brad mentioned elsewhere, immigration will likely be a big push for the G.O.P (i.e. Party of NO.) However, I expect Republican will focus on extending (and seeking to make permanent) the Bush tax cuts as the House's first priority followed by attempts to dismantle the Health Care bill.
On related note, I'm interested to see how much pull the Tea Party players have in the newly resurgent GOP. My guess is the GOP will co-opt the Tea Party peeps and make them dance to corporate-called tunes (somewhat like what happened to the Populist Party in the mid 1890s). My hope is the Tea Party grows enough to run a third party candidate who splits the 2012 Republican ticket for Obama to win (similar to what happened in 1912 with Wilson/Taft/Roosevelt, or more recently in 1992 with Clinton/Bush/Perot and in 2000 with Bush/Gore/Nader.) Here's hoping.
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