A wind farm in Atlantic City, New Jersey. One of the many things cities can do to reduce their carbon emissions.
At Climate Progress, Jeff Spross writes
Cutting Carbon City By City Could Have A Huge Impact On Climate Change:
Cities could put a massive dent in global warming if they got serious about cutting their carbon emissions, with or without the help of national governments.
That’s the word from a new report put out Tuesday by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), a network of major cities around the world, along with the Stockholm Environment Institute and Michael Bloomberg, the United Nation’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. The top line number from the paper is that city governments could cut the world’s annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 3.7 billion tons in 2030 and 8 billion tons in 2050 on their own, with no national direction. […]
Specifically, there are four things city governments can do. The biggest move would be improving building energy use through efficiency and weatherization retrofits, more energy-efficient lighting and appliances, and more rooftop solar to cut fossil energy use. Next, cities can move toward pedestrian and public-transit-reliant traffic through better urban planning. One quarter of the average product’s shipment occurs in urban areas, so the third thing cities could is improve the logistics and efficiency of rail shipments. Fourth, better waste systems and recycling operations can reduce the GHGs from garbage and landfills, and waste.
This insight is especially consequential for American politics. As David Roberts just pointed out at Grist, Republicans are likely to hold the House of Representatives for decades, where they can stymie national climate action. But a big reason they’ll be able to hold it is the intense clustering of liberal voters in cities — what’s come to be known as the “urban archipelago.” As a result, the governments of American cities are tilting increasingly liberal, putting them in a perfect political position to take maximum advantage of C40′s recommendations, even as the national legislature dithers on climate change. […]
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Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2008—My reaction:
Obama was forceful, poised, presidential, blah blah blah blah. You can get that shit on TV.
Here's what really struck me: Obama's biggest weakness is the notion that he's not ready or experienced enough. It was the basis of many a McCain attack: "Senator Obama doesn't understand/doesn't get it..." He flat out accused Obama of not having the judgment to lead at one point.
Obama fought back by speaking at length on every issue, aided by a format that allowed him to speak beyond 30 second sound bites, and he name dropped countries and foreign leaders by the bucketful, to underscore the fact that he knows what he's talking about. It was very effective.
There were no gaffes, and no obvious YouTube moments, so if nothing else, this debate maybe reinforced Obama's fitness to be president, but I don't think that line of attack has had much salience beyond the wingnut sense anyway.
And given where McCain is in the polls (lagging and getting worse), this wasn't what he needed tonight.
And given that the status quo probably remains, in a debate that was supposed to focus more on McCain's "strength" (national security), Obama wins.
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One other point—Lehrer was the best moderator, BY FAR, of any debate this season. And the audience was perfectly behaved. A triumphal debate. Perfect. Kudos to everyone involved in making it happen.
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Tweet of the Day
On
today's "classic" Kagro in the Morning show, we party like it's 5774.
Greg Dworkin rounded up the fake Cruz filibuster, shutdown polls & the ACA exchange launch.
Joan McCarter discussed the very big differences between Senate filibuster rules in DC & those Wendy Davis' TX, plus procedural strategery on the CR & debt ceiling. Also: Senate ethics dismisses Vitter's complaint. All legislative business stalled. The ultimate Congressional health care perk: the Office of the Attending Physician. The Church Committee versus the modern NSA. Movement, and another looming crisis, on judicial nominations. Starbucks & guns. The 401(k) train wreck.
Fuzz2347's comment on gun insurance.
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