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environment 
Mon Jan 02, 2012 at 10:13:16 AM EST
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As the next Congressional fight over payroll tax extensions and unemployment benefits and pipelines gets set up in the next few weeks for either its final chapter or to be kicked down the road a bit farther, one or the other, you're going to hear a lot from our Republican friends about how much they value work and workers; most especially, they'll tell you, they value American jobs for American workers.
After all, they'll say, creating American jobs is the most important thing of all.
But if we were to look back over just the last few months, some would tell us, we could quickly find examples of how Republicans promote ideas that don't seem to value work or workers at all, much less American jobs.
Well as it turns out, "some" seem to be right; to illustrate one of those examples we'll look back a month or two or three to a time some Republicans might wish was long, long, ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
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Sun Dec 18, 2011 at 22:18:04 PM EST
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Cross-posted to Enviro-Mich, DailyKos and Michigan Liberal Governor Rick Snyder and Michigan Republicans have
carried out a damaging and subtle stealth attack on Michigan's system of environmental
permitting in the form of SB 275, which was signed on December 8. SB 275 is at: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/...
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Thu Aug 04, 2011 at 17:26:12 PM EDT
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(From the diaries! - promoted by Eric B.)
By Susan Harley, Michigan Policy Director Who says “yes, please, toxic pollution is just the thing I’d like to breathe”? No one. Except, apparently, for Big Coal. Their lobbyists are saying (and telling Congress) that the EPA shouldn’t be able to do its job and protect us from toxic air pollution like mercury. <!-- end #header --> Today’s the day to do something about it. Literally. Today is the last day to submit comments to make sure that the EPA stands tough and moves forward with the strongest possible protections from air toxics! The EPA has already heard from over 800,000 concerned Americans supporting their move to finally put a limit on the amount of toxic air pollution like mercury that can be released from power plants. People like anglers and mothers have spoken out in the press and at the EPA hearings across the country; they are standing up for strong health protections from air toxics. I had the opportunity to speak on behalf of Clean Water Action’s members at the Chicago hearing. As good as it felt for me to thank the EPA for protecting our Great Lakes from pollution from power plants, I think I most enjoyed displaying the beautiful fish petitions that we had children color at several Earth Day events. When I was at those events, speaking to families across the state about coal plants and the harm they cause to our health and our environment, it was so moving to see how excited kids were to take action to help keep fish safe from toxic air pollution. I also had copies of the Michigan fish advisory that warns against mercury contamination in all of the Great Lakes as well as in all of our inland lakes and streams at these events. People who just happened to stop by the table because their child wanted to color would pick it up and go from mildly bored to shocked to furious in a matter of minutes. Furious. That’s pretty much everyone’s reaction when they find out what a potent pollutant like mercury can do to a person. Especially a very small person: a tiny baby in the womb or a child that’s being fed breast milk– the most vulnerable among us. EPA is sure to be faced with intense and unwavering opposition from Big Coal. It happens anytime a rule might reduce their shareholder dividends for the sake of keeping people safe from pollution. (Forget the fact that it would be the fiscally conservative thing to do to have society avoid paying for all of those emergency room visits for things like asthma triggered by the pollution that’s coming out of their smokestacks.) But, by acting together, we can have a louder voice! There’s still time to take action to support the EPA’s move to set these much needed public health protections. No more procrastinating! For YOU to take action, for the EPA to write strong rules, or for the utilities to move away from dirty power to clean sources of energy that will bring good-paying, sustainable jobs to states like mine that really need them. The next generation thanks you!
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Sun May 29, 2011 at 15:20:13 PM EDT
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(From the diaries! - promoted by Eric B.)
"I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore. ... I hear it in the deep heart's core." - William Butler Yeats
For many of us who have grown up and live in Michigan, Memorial Day weekend kicks off the eagerly awaited summer season. We gather our family and friends, pack up the car, and drive "Up North!," wherever that happens to be. Beach towels and chairs, music, hot dogs and chips help set the scene, but they all pale in comparison to the joy of a warm, sunny day on a clear blue Michigan lake.
As Michiganians, we cherish our Great Lakes. Our collective history overflows with fond memories that all revolve, one way or another, around our wonderful waters. Whether from boat races, sailing regattas, swim competitions, or just carefree fun-in-the-sun-by-the-beach, the recipe for fun for so many of us in the Great Lake State could easily boil down to: "just add water."
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Wed May 25, 2011 at 06:47:28 AM EDT
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In America, today, there are three kinds of drivers: those who look at the other gas pumps down at the ol' gas station and think: "Oh my God, I can't believe how much that guy's spending on gas", those who look at their own pump down at the ol' gas station and think: "Oh my God, I can't believe how much I'm spending on gas" - and those who are doing both at the same time.
Naturally, this has brought the Sarah Palins of the world back out in public, and once again the mantra of "Drill, Baby, Drill" can be heard all the way from the Florida coast to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
But what if those folks have it exactly backwards?
What if, in a world of depleting oil resources, the last thing you want to do is use yours up?
To put it another way: why isn't all our oil part of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
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Thu May 12, 2011 at 07:23:02 AM EDT
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They tell us we're dropping about $10 billion a month in Afghanistan so we can catch that Bin Laden guy...but eventually, we're gonna catch him, and as soon as we do you can imagine that folks will be wondering why we're still over there - and I gotta tell ya, I'm one of those people.
I mean, we're over here talking about how we're so broke that we have no choice but to cut a couple of billion from heat assistance for the poor, and a billion-and-a-half from the Social Security operations budget, and money from food stamps and childcare assistance and tornado forecasting in Alabama...but every single month, just as regular as clockwork, we seem to be able to find another $10 billion to spend in Afghanistan, even as we have an economy that could badly use another round of truly productive stimulus.
And I don't think y'all even realize just how much money $10 billion really is - but today we're gonna see if we can't fix that with a bit of a thought exercise.
Imagine if we set up a program that took that Afghanistan money and spent it right here at home for a year or two - and it was spent in the form of a lottery, where we stimulate the larger economy, help fix the mortgage crisis, and create a more energy-independent nation, all at the same time.
I got all we need except a catchy name; with that in mind let's move on to the description of how the Happy Super Fun Day Peace Lotto Stimulus Thingy works.
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Wed Mar 09, 2011 at 01:54:29 AM EST
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Got a simple little story for you today of a multinational corporation that wants to build a great big cement plant in North Carolina really, really, bad, and the local opposition to what appears to be a corrupt and distorted decision process.
Two local activists in particular have drawn the ire of Titan Cement, the Grecian corporation who seeks to build the plant-and because the Company doesn't like what the activists have been saying about what the impact of that plant will likely be or how the deal's going down...they're suing Kayne Darrell and Dr. David Hill, residents of North Carolina's New Hanover County, and the two folks who are doing the complaining the Company dislikes the most.
The Company further claims that they were slandered and defamed by the damaging statements that were uttered by the two at a county commissioners' meeting and that they have lost goodwill and the chance to do business with certain parties as a result of these statements.
But what if everything the Defendants said was not only true...but provably so-and the Company was, maybe...just looking to shut people up by sending teams of lawyers after them?
As I said, it's a simple story today-but it's a good one.
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Wed Oct 06, 2010 at 22:58:21 PM EDT
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It is about a week before early voting begins for a bunch of us around the country, and that means this may be one of the last times I have to convince you that, frustrated progressive or not, you better get your butt to a ballot box or a mail-in envelope this November, because it really does matter.
Now I could give you a bunch of "what ifs" to make my point, or I could remind you how we spent all summer watching oil gush into the Gulf, and how that came to be...but, instead, it's "Even More Current Event Day", and we're going to visit Hungary for a extremely real-world reminder of what can go wrong when the environmental cops are considered just too much of a burden by the environmental robbers-and if today's story doesn't scare you to death, I don't know what will.
It ain't Texas, but we will surely visit a Red River Valley...and you surely won't like what you're gonna see.
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Wed Jul 07, 2010 at 07:58:43 AM EDT
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It's been a while since we had to have a real heart-to-heart, the Obama Administration and I, and last time it was because Rahm Emanuel had been a bit snippy toward those of us who are carrying the water for this Administration.
We need to have another one of those conversations today; this time the circumstances are a lot more positive-in fact, if the Administration follows my suggestions here, we have a real chance to put the Democrats on the road to victory, not just this November, but also in 2012.
What I'm proposing will create hundreds of thousands, if not millions of jobs, and it will stimulate millions more as we create a national source of discount electrical power that can be used by business and consumers alike.
Here's the best part: it's no "pie in the sky" promotion I'm offering here; we've already done the same thing before, it's been working out well for almost three quarters of a century...and even better than all that...my idea first pays for itself, and then...it actually makes the Federal Government a profit, forever after.
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Thu Jun 24, 2010 at 07:55:28 AM EDT
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Brighton, Colorado (FNS)-Attorneys from the Republican Study Group (RSG) descended upon the 17th Judicial District courtroom of Judge John T Bryan today to present an amicus brief and associated oral arguments in order to prevent a settlement in a lawsuit related to an automobile accident in this Colorado city.
The intervening attorneys claim the settlement reached between the two parties to the accident is a "shakedown" because the plaintiff had not yet exhausted all possible legal remedies when the agreement was finalized, and because the agreement was executed in the presence of the plaintiff's brother, a well-known local attorney.
They hope Judge Bryan will decline to approve the settlement in today's hearing, and that he will order the parties to move forward to trial.
"What we have is government transferring property from one party, an admittedly unattractive one, to others, not based on preexisting laws but on decisions by one man, a car czar", said Crush Mimbaugh, attorney for the RSG, "and we are here today to protect all Americans from this legally sanctioned rape of an innocent driver."
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Mon Jun 21, 2010 at 05:10:49 AM EDT
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Honestly, I am absolutely sick of commercial air travel these days. Just dealing with security is bad enough, but then there's the airlines, and...hey, all you really need to know here is that there has to be a pretty good reason for me to fly cross-country.
Well, I had one Saturday night, which is how I came to be in the Colonnade Room of the Fairmount Hotel, Washington DC with about 250 of my closest friends, in a classic shawl-collar tuxedo, attending one of the most exclusive "passing of the torch" ceremonies in recent Washington memory.
And when it was all over, Douglas Feith was a happy man.
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Thu Jun 17, 2010 at 09:16:48 AM EDT
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Netroots Nation will be in Las Vegas in just a few weeks; with that in mind we are going to play “piano bar” and fulfill a couple of requests, one today and one tomorrow, from folks who would like to bring a couple of things to your attention.
Today’s topic: climate change.
As you know, there is a lot of legislation floating around Capitol Hill that would begin to use some sort of market-based mechanism to reduce the amount of carbon we emit.
None of it will move unless it moves through the Senate, and today, that’s what we’ll be talking about.
Matter of fact, they will be too.
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Wed Jun 16, 2010 at 01:54:48 AM EDT
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It is by now obvious that even after we stop the gentle trickle of oil that's currently expressing itself into the Gulf of Mexico (thank you so much, BP) we are not going to be able to get that oil out of the water for some considerable length of time--and if you think it could take years, I wouldn't bet against you.
While BP is the legally responsible party, out on the water it will be up to the Coast Guard to manage the Federal response, and to determine that BP is running things in a way that gets the work done not only correctly and safely, but, in a world of limited resources, efficiently.
Which brings us to the obvious question: can the Coast Guard manage such a complex undertaking?
While we hope they can, you need to know that the Coast Guard has been trying to manage the replacement of their fleet of ships and aircraft for about a decade now...and the results have been so stunningly bad that you and I are now the proud owners of a small flotilla of ships that can never be used, because if they go to sea, they might literally break into pieces.
It's an awful story, and before we're done you'll understand why Deepwater was already an ugly word around Headquarters, years before that oil rig blew up.
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Sun Jun 13, 2010 at 07:17:13 AM EDT
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Dear The United Kingdom,
I just wanted to take a minute to say hello and to see how things have been for you lately, and to maybe bring you up to date on a bit of news from here.
Well, right off the bat, we hear you have a new Conservative Prime Minister and that his Party and Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems are in partnership, which I'm sure will be interesting; you probably heard that us Colonials are again having Tea Parties, which has also been very interesting.
I have a Godson who's getting married this September, so we're all talking about that, and I hear Graham Norton was even better than last year at hosting Eurovision, despite the fact that it's...frankly, it's Eurovision.
Oh, yeah...we also had a bit of an oil spill recently that you may have heard about-and hoo, boy; you should see how the Company that spilled the oil has been acting.
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Sat Jun 05, 2010 at 12:24:09 PM EDT
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We're now into day way too many of the BP oil spill, and the President has just yesterday been down on the Louisiana coast-again.
There have been suggestions that the Administration should take action to essentially push BP out of the way and take over the work itself, particularly as it relates to the cleanup.
It may have even occurred to you that an official declaration of some sort might be needed, in order to bring the full power of the Feds into play.
That's some good thinking, but before we go jumping right into declaring things we better understand the law, because if we don't, we could actually make things worse.
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Thu May 06, 2010 at 14:22:55 PM EDT
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Comments are open to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding hunting gray wolves in Michigan. The fear mongering about wolves is beginning in Michigan. The papers report, “A few have been spotted in the lower peninsula.” So is MI DNR suggesting that we hunt wolves to keep them out of the lower peninsula? The implication that the wolves will wreak havoc with farm animals, kill dogs and cats, which would be more than likely coyotes, is purposely misleading. Since there are a little over 4,000 wolves in the combined western Great Lakes, to think there are only a few in the LP is ludicrous. Michigan’s own 50-year study of predator/prey behavior on Isle Royale confirms a direct ratio between wolves and moose. Michigan’s DNR should surely know this. Michigan’s LP is full of deer. So there are probably more than a few wolves in the LP that have been there all along without incident. http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/defenders_magazine/fall
_2009/royale_challenge.php.
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Fri Apr 30, 2010 at 04:21:32 AM EDT
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Baton Rouge (FNS)-Facing both a massive oil slick from a sunken offshore drilling platform and a second year of declining tourism revenues along the Louisiana Gulf Coast caused by high gas prices, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal today introduced a new tourism promotion that he reports is going to "...make lemons into lemonade".
Jindal, flanked by British Petroleum's Director of Marketing Dick Timoneous and the Executive Director of the Louisiana State Tourism Board, Jenna Talia, announced that the "All The Oil You Can Carry Festival" would officially commence today just east of New Orleans, and last at least through the month of May.
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 at 16:25:57 PM EDT
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I find it extremely amusing that David Joos, departing CEO of Consumers Energy and "Michigan's 2010 Fossil Fool of the Year" sees his title as an "unwarranted personal attack." Not only does it show he's feeling the pressure from environmentalists calling for Consumers Energy to back off their folly of an investment-- a 930 megawatt coal plant proposed for Bay County, Michigan, it also clearly shows he doesn't understand that coal is a personal attack on all of us! Read more about how coal is an attack on our wallets, our health, and on Michigan's clean energy future!
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Mon Feb 15, 2010 at 17:24:37 PM EST
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Anyone that has been stuck behind a diesel truck in traffic or stood on the side of the road as one has passed by can recognize the black smoke and horrible smell associated with diesel vehicles. Right now, diesel emissions from trucks, buses and construction vehicles are poisoning our water and the air we breathe. Diesel exhaust causes a number of health problems, including lung disease, heart disease and a cancer risk that is 7 times higher than the combined risk of all the 181 air toxics tracked by the EPA. In Michigan alone, in 2010, diesel pollution is estimated to cause the early deaths of 443 people, more than 15,000 asthma attacks, 648 non-fatal heart attacks, and over 57,000 work loss days. To see the health risks associated with diesel pollution where you live check out: http://www.catf.us/projects/diesel/dieselhealth/
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Tue Jan 26, 2010 at 15:15:47 PM EST
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It seems nearly everyone in the Great Lakes states is concerned about what will happen should the Asian Carp make it into the Great Lakes water system. Michigan’s own Attorney General Mike Cox even sued the state of Illinois to get them to close the river locks. This would prevent the carp from entering Lake Michigan. But Chicago was not keen to have a major artery for commerce shut down, costing them millions of dollars in revenue through shipping fees. And lucky for Chicago that the U.S. Supreme Court wouldn’t issue an injunction to close the locks. This is unlucky for the rest of us, who are worried about the potential for Dire Consequences. People don’t seem to think there’s anything more to be done now except wait around until a summit next month at the White House. But there is one thing we can do: the state of Michigan can buy the rivers where the locks are located. Then we would be free to close and open the locks as necessary, and charge access through the rivers just as the city of Chicago currently does. "Crazy!" you say? Not in the least. You see, the Chicago Way isn’t just about putting guys in the morgue. It’s also about getting paid, handsomely.
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