Last night on The Daily Show Obama's overseas journey to Iraq was covered in hilarious fashion as Jon waits eagerly for his first gaffe which never comes. They do however, play McCain's geography gaffe.

Colbert also covers Obama's trip thus far and gives some satirical commentary on the charges of media bias being leveled by people like FOX News' Chris Wallace and Steve Doocy.

The Colbert report also had one of the funniest interviews I've seen in months when he sat down with someone from the Sierra Club group of environmental lobbyists. While I consider myself an environmentalist, this interview was hysterical - especially the part with the polar bear (you gotta see it to understand).

 San Francisco Bay area bully Cargill, Inc. now threatens to take back some of its salt ponds and go home in retaliation for environmentalists' opposition to a proposed real estate development.  

With environmentalists trying to qualify a November ballot measure that could block open-space development, Cargill and real estate development firm DMB Associates are telling Redwood City residents that if they don't support building homes and commercial offices on the 1,433-acre site as well as wetlands restoration, the company will continue to harvest salt indefinitely.

A DMB official who asked not to be named denied that the announcement is a response to the environmentalists' ballot proposal.

 http://www.mercurynews.com/...

With hurricane season beginning on June 1, the Disaster Accountability Project will be reporting this week and next on inadequacies in government preparedness. This is the first report of the series, published on the DAP Blog (author: Claire Trimble) and cross-posted here with permission.

The Sierra Club recently tested five "Katrina cottages" being used in Mississippi and found all to contain higher levels of formaldehyde than is recommended for long-term exposure by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Normal levels of indoor formaldehyde run between 10-20 parts per billion but three of the five cottages contained over 100 parts per billion. This level is even higher than the 77 parts per billion average tested in the 516 trailers this year by the CDC.

This week was Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. It also was the fifth aniversary of Bush's infamous "Mission Accomplished" speech. This aniversary was unique in that for the first time the Bush administration has admitted that the banner was a huge mistake...though John McCain blamed it on the military, excusing Bush for the fiasco. The Republicans are finally acknowledgig the dismal failure of "Mission Accomplished" but refuse to take the blame. Typical. Absolutely typical. Republicans wouldn't know responsibility if it bit them in the ass.

Wondering what the rest of my fellow eco-kossacks think about this news?

It kinda turns my stomach, but I could be wrong.

What do you think?

Discuss.

 As explained yesterday in Voteharder's diary, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff is

imposing a blanket waiver of environmental and land management laws along 470 miles of the U.S./Mexico border

so the U.S. can move forward with building a fence along portions of the border.
 The Defenders of Wildlife and Sierra Club have filed suit to stop the Bush administration from such sweeping disregard of environmental laws.  But in the meantime they need our help.
 

Power2Change

The Sierra Club is launching a nine-state campaign, Power2Change, focused on bringing clarity about what is at stake in the 2008 elections.

The choices we make in 2008 will define our future - especially when it comes to the election and energy issues. The contrast between competing visions of America's energy future could not be sharper this year: we can move forward or continue the policies of the past.

The key points are clear ...

We have the power to change direction.

Yes, we do. But, what is keeping us (the US) from moving forward to a sensible, prosperous, climate friendly society?

What we have lacked is the political will and leadership ...

As many of you know there is a Senate seat up for grabs here in Oregon. Republican Gordon Smith is up for re-election and has an approval rating below 50%. We have two progressive candidates running against each other for the nomination, House Speaker Jeff Merkley and lawyer/activist Steve Novick. Today the Sierra Club endorsed Jeff Merkley for Senate, joining numerous other unions and progressive organizations. Steve Novick is a highly respected environmental lawyer, so why would Merkley get the Sierra Club's endorsement over Novick? More below the fold.....

John McCain has several lines in his stump speech where he waxes poetic on the importance of curbing global climate change.  His rhetoric soars with a line something like: "If we work to slow greenhouse gas emissions, and stop warming, our grandchildren will thank us for our foresight... But even if we are ultimately wrong about warming, they will still thank us for protecting our environment. So, when I am President I will institute meaningful measures to protect our earth." Or some such bleck.

Well, it should come as no surprise that Mr. McCain is, in fact, no friend of the environment.  The Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters just released Mr. McCain's environmental scorecard.  Wait for it: ZERO, ZIP, NADA points for protecting the environment.  

Mountaintop removal is a radical form of coal mining where entire mountains are literally blown up --devastating communities throughout Appalachia, polluting drinking water and destroying rivers. And the worst part is, you're paying for it.
If your home or business is on the electric grid, chances are you are connected to mountaintop removal in the Appalachian Mountains. Find out how --and then find out what you can do about it.

Barbara Boxer has been a real leader on Global Warming
issues in the US Senate. A leader who suffered for far too long under the 'tutelage' of Senator James Inhofe (R-Exxon).  Sadly, for whichever set of reasons, Senator Boxer has being working hard to corral votesin support of the fatally flawed Lieberman-Warner Coal Subsidy Act and reacting strongly against those who have the audacity to question the bill and her approach to it.   The bill, however, is getting growing notice and the questioning of Senator Boxer's approach to it is spreading.  

John McCain gets much credit for his Straight Talk when it comes to Global Warming, speaking tough even in the face of a Republican Party that seems determine to reject reality.  The Republican Base seems to trust their hatred of Al Gore more than what the data, science, and the weather all around us (US) say to those focused on reality-based policy-making.  McCain is on the record as to the need to invest in renewable power to deal with Global Warming, even in face of special-interest opposition.

Yet ... yet ... repeatedly ... when given the opportunity to take action to go along with his Green Straight Talk Express, John McCain has boarded the Dirty Twisted Action Delay Machine and help inhibit (rather than help) a move toward an Energy Smart future.

And, when called on it, John McCain (or his staff director or ???) instructed his Senate Staff to lie about the issue.

Greenpeace has sent a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer expressing their support for Friends of the Earth effort calling on the Senate to Fix or Ditch the Lieberman-Warner Global Warming Bill.   Senator Boxer jabbed back at FoE

"They’re sort of the defeatist group out there. They’ve been defeatists from day one. And it’s unfortunate. They’re isolated among the environmental groups."

Well, Greenpeace's letter makes it clear that, contrary to Senator Boxer's statement, FoE doesn't stand alone.

I also strong disagree with your sentiment that Friends of the Earth stands isolated its position.  As I travel across the country, I meet people looking for leadership on this issue, but not just any leadership.  As ice caps continue to melt, seas continue to rise adn weather gets more and more extreme, they are not looking for government action simply for action's sake.  I find it difficult to locate any citizen concerned about global warming does doesn't want the same result as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

This letter is a strong endorsement of the FoE effort, calling on Senator Boxer to either Fix Lieberman-Warner or Ditch It.

For those scratching their heads: Dwight Schrute is a character on NBC's "The Office", a fakeumentary of life in a paper company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Scranton, unlike other cities in Northeast Pennsylvania I could mention (cough, Hazleton, cough), is quite a progressive place to live. One of the top Universities in the North East. Thriving art community. And a progressive Democratic mayor by the name of Chris Doherty.

So let's see if I can't personally help turn this cool city into a CoolCity...

Time magazine has identified "The Eight Keys to New Hampshire"

Fire Marshals, global warming, nostalgia — these are just a few of the indicators and factors that will help determine the outcome of the nation's first primary

What is truly notable about Time's reporting is that Global Warming is the sole "substance", the sole issue that Time has identified as a critical issue in the New Hampshire voting.  Not Iraq. Not the Economy. Not Health Care.  No, there are seven 'style' related "keys to New Hampshire" and only one item of 'substance'.

You already know that the fight for better Democrats in addition to just more of them is being fought fiercely in Maryland's fourth district, where Democratic incumbent Al Wynn voted for the Iraq war, the bankruptcy bill, and to repeal the estate tax, among other things you'd hate. As an incumbent, Wynn has a lot of establishment support, from Nancy Pelosi to tobacco companies and some unions afraid to threaten an incumbent.

But Donna Edwards is earning some serious support, too. She's already had endorsements from Color of Change, Friends of the Earth Action, Clean Water Action, and the League of Conservation Voters - a group whose ratings of him Wynn was caught lying about in September. And now she's got the Sierra Club:

"We are very pleased to announce today that the Sierra Club officially endorses Donna Edwards for the Democratic nomination for Maryland's 4th Congressional District," said Betsy Johnson, Political Chair for the Maryland Chapter. "We are confident that she will continue work to protect Maryland's environment, for our families and for our future." Sierra Club also endorsed Edwards in her first run for Congress in 2006.

This isn't one of those casual, "yeah, you can put our name on your website" kind of endorsements, either:

Along with the endorsement, the Sierra Club will lend its volunteer strength to Edward's campaign.

"We pledge to do all we can to help ensure that Donna Edwards is elected," concluded Johnson. "Scores of Sierra Club volunteers will contact voters on her behalf and we will speak to the public as often as possible about her exemplary environmental record. We look forward to a victory party for the environment on election night and to many more years of Edwards fighting for the environment as a U.S. Representative."

This primary comes on February 12. On that day, it's the choice between strong, progressive Democrat Donna Edwards and entrenched capitulator Al Wynn. In this solidly Democratic district, we can do better, and if we're going to have a capitulation-proof majority in Congress, we need to. Edwards is an important step in that long-term struggle.

On the web:

Donna Edwards for Congress
Blue Majority ActBlue page

Race tracker wiki: MD-04

Bravo to the Judiciary branch for doing what the other two can't or won't do!

Since the U.S. government announced new fuel efficiency standards in March of 2006, environmentalists and 11 states have argued that the standards do not go far enough to combat the harmful emissions that lead to global warming.

Today, the Ninth Court of Appeals gave a victory to environmentalists and a "rebuke" to the Bush administration in ruling that regulators "failed to properly assess the risk of global warming" in part at least for exempting larger SUVs and trucks.

The court decision is a rebuke to the Bush administration and its refusal to make meaningful steps to reduce global warming pollution from our automobiles," said Pat Gallagher, director of environmental law at Sierra Club. "The decision tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that it can't monkey the numbers when it sets fuel economy standards by ignoring the cost of carbon emissions."

The court’s action invalidates the March 2006 fuel standards for minivans, light trucks and smaller SUV’s.

While driving to work this morning I couldn't help but notice all the holiday decorations already in place.  I'm not ready for Christmas this year.  I've lost the desire to participate in all the consumerism that goes along with the season.  I love Christmas, don't get me wrong.  When I get out my decorations every year it is a magical time.  Old decorations from my childhood, those funny reindeer clothespins the kids made in grade school, the ornaments I've collected from vacation's, it is always a time filled with nostalgia and joy.

But, this year I want to do something different for Christmas.....This year I want to keep it simple and meaningful let's share some ideas....