Stephen Lacey
writes,
The Sound of Climate Silence: Romney and Obama Spar Over Who Wants to Drill For More Fossil Fuels During Debate:
Those concerned about climate change were sorely disappointed during Tuesday night’s town hall-style debate when both the candidates and the moderator—CNN’s Candy Crowley—failed to address the issue of climate change, even during a lengthy and heated exchange about energy issues.
“I had that question for all of you climate change people,” said Crowley in the post-debate coverage. “We just, you know, again, we knew that the economy was still the main thing so you knew you kind of wanted to go with the economy.”
Obama started off the debate with a strong nod to renewable energy, explaining that we need to invest in “solar and wind and biofuels, energy efficient cars.” But after a voter asked about gas prices, both Obama and Romney proceeded to battle over who could drill more fossil fuels. [...]
Obama separated himself by focusing on the need to develop more renewables and lower consumption of petroleum through better efficiency measures. But when talking about why he believes those investments are important, he never mentioned the reasons that alternatives to fossil fuels are so important.
Perhaps Australian climate scientist Will Steffen can explain: “This is the critical decade. If we don’t get the curves turned around this decade we will cross those lines. We are on the cusp of some big changes. We can … cap temperature rise at two degrees, or cross the threshold beyond which the system shifts to a much hotter state.”
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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2004—Bush nixes Muslim peacekeepers for Iraq:
Lovely.
President George W. Bush rebuffed a plan last month for a Muslim peacekeeping force that would have helped the United Nations organize elections in Iraq, according to Saudi and Iraqi officials.
As a result, the UN continues to have a skeletal presence in Iraq, with only four staff members working full time on preparing for elections set for the end of January. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has refused to establish a new UN headquarters in Baghdad unless countries commit troops for a special force to protect it.
Saudi leaders, including Crown Prince Abdullah, personally lobbied Bush in July to sign off on the plan to establish a contingent of several hundred troops from Arab and Muslim nations. Abdullah discussed the plan in a 10-minute phone conversation with Bush on July 28 after meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to Saudi officials familiar with the negotiations.
Diplomats said Annan accepted the plan. But the Bush administration objected because the special force would have been controlled by the UN instead of by U.S. military officers who run the Multi-National Force in Iraq. Muslim and Arab countries refused to work under U.S. command, and the initiative died in early September.
Yet another reason we need to get rid of Bush.
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Tweet of the Day:
Tagg, if you're really interested in swinging, check with Dinesh D'Souza.
— @beardedstoner via web
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show,
Greg Dworkin returned to survey the post-debate landscape, and tell us why national polling still matters, Electoral College or no.
Armando also joined the show to discuss it all: The binder. Tagg Romney wanting to punch the President. "Five point" jobs plans that have no points in them, and studies that "support" the plan, but actually don't. Plus the amazing ability of conservatives to connect poverty & gun violence, but not access to health care & mortality.
High Impact Posts. Top Comments.