Archive for the 'climate change' Category
Posted by Catherine Morgan on May 12, 2008
Posted in John McCain, YouTube, bio-fuels, climate change, elections, environment, media, news, news and politics, opinion, politics | No Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on March 13, 2008

New EPA Clean Air Standards Show Why Consumer Action is so Critical…
Today the Care2 Election Blog has a timely guest post by Diane MacEachern, the founder and CEO of Big Green Purse, Diane is passionate about empowering women to use their marketplace clout to protect the environment. She is a best-selling author, successful entrepreneur, sought-after public speaker, and long-time conservationist, she has launched the only company in the U.S. dedicated specifically to transforming women’s environmental concerns into measurable improvements in our quality of life.
READ FULL POST AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG
Posted in America, Care2, activism, climate change, environment, health, life, news, news and politics, political, thoughts, women | No Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on February 18, 2008

Where Do The Candidates Stand on Issues of Science? — Posted by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at Care2 Election Blog)
It seems to me, the Bush administration has been a serious thorn in the side of science over the last seven years. That’s why it is so important for us to understand where our current presidential candidates stand on issues of science. What would they do about the environment? Stem Cell research? Global Warming? Well, we know a little more after science advisors for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, debated at the Annual Convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Saturday.
From AFP - Clinton, Obama science advisors showcase their candidates
Clinton and Obama propose doubling the federal budget for basic scientific research over a period of five years; investing heavily in technology to produce next-generation biofuels; and advancing the fight against global warming.
They also want to remove what they say are the current ideological constraints on science, to return it to its rightful place in government policies.
“Hillary Clinton will end this assault on science,” said Kalil, who served as deputy assistant for technology and economic policy under former president Bill Clinton.
“She knows that innovation is critical for economic growth and high paying jobs,” he added, after outlining Hillary Clinton’s science program on a giant graph.
Ross limited himself to a simple oral presentation that was less structured as he invited members of the audience to visit Obama’s Internet site to get more details about his program.
Obama on Science?
Barack Obama’s “plan” for science was just posted on his campaign website issues page. The statement is short and generic at best, but he has also posted a three page fact sheet that gives more detail about his overall view. They call the fact sheet a plan on the issues page, but it is really a rather odd combination of statements about his record on the issues and statements about what he supports rather than a real top down plan for science. Overall, the document is very positive for science, but it lacks enough detail for any kind of substantive assessment of what he would do for science as President.
Clinton on Science - Speech from Carnegie Institution for Science
Instead of leading the world in oil imports, we can lead in green technology exports. The country that split the atom can end our dependence on foreign oil and launch an energy revolution. We can call it Energy 2.0 because we’ve got everything it takes except we have not organized ourselves to make it happen.
When science is politicized, when the truth is subjugated by ideology, it’s worse than wrong — it’s dangerous. Ending the war on science and once again valuing the ever-skeptical but always hopeful scientific enterprise is about more than our economy. It’s about more than our security. It is about our democracy.
Also See:
Science Debate 2008
Making Science a Presidential Priority
Physics Today - Where Do They Stand On Science?
Where Do Candidates Stand on the Environment?
Bryon Williams - The Huffington Post
Posted in Barack Obama, Bush, Election 2008, climate change, current events, debate, democrats, elections, global warming, hillary clinton, news, news and politics, opinion, political, politics, science | No Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on January 22, 2008

Is The EPA Really Protecting The Environment? — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at Care2 Election Blog)
Why is the EPA so determined to refuse to allow California and 17 other states from setting stronger emission standards? If this wasn’t so pathetic it might actually be funny. Our country has this thing called the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As the name implies, this agency is designed to protect our environment. But oddly enough, the EPA doesn’t seem concerned with the environment so much anymore. In fact, the EPA has evaded disclosure of documents on why California’s emissions laws were struck down.
The refusal to provide a full explanation is the latest twist in a congressional investigation into why the EPA denied California permission to impose what would have been the country’s toughest greenhouse gas standards on cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles.
The EPA is claiming “executive privilege” - I can’t tell you how sick I am of hearing the words “executive privilege” every time an attempt is made to get to the truth about something.
Secrecy, secrecy, and more secrecy - These are the words that are the cornerstones of the Bush administration. Can there be true “democracy” in a government of secrecy? Does “freedom” exist in a country of secrecy? How can there be “unity” in the United States of America, in the face of so much secrecy? One thing is for sure…Global Warming will continue to thrive in this environment of secrecy.
The Care2 community is very concerned with the environment. If you would like to get involved with protecting the environment, here are a few groups you might want to check out…
Environmental Defense
Union of Concerned Scientists
Hybrid Vehicle Supporters
Global Healing
READ MORE AT THE CARE2 ELECTION BLOG
Posted in America, Bush, activism, climate change, current events, debate, government, life, news, news and politics, opinion, political, politics, thoughts | 1 Comment »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on December 19, 2007
Posted in America, Bush, Election 2008, GOP, Gas & Oil Lobbies, Republicans, activism, blogging, climate change, current events, democrats, global warming, government, news, news and politics, opinion, political, politics | 4 Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on October 12, 2007

Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
For the past year, Al Gore has gone about his considerable business without showing much interest in running for president. While picking up an Oscar and an Emmy, publishing a very smart book and playing host at a global concert for the planet, he’s never done more than tease the idea. And yet all that time, the leaders of the Draft Gore movement have been clinging to a single fervid dream: that Gore would win the Nobel Peace Prize and use it to catapult himself to an eleventh-hour bid for the presidency.
Now the Nobel Committee has done its part, awarding Gore the Peace Prize for being “probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding of the measures that need to be adopted” to combat climate change, according to his citation. (The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was also a joint winner of the prize.) And so, after the obligatory spasms of celebration and the equally obligatory gnashing of Rush Limbaugh’s teeth, will Americans finally get to enjoy one of the great spectacles in political history, as Gore’s ultimate honor levitates him beyond his leading rival, Hillary Clinton, and into the Oval Office? — read full article here
Also See: Additional posts and links on Global Warming
Posted in activism, climate change, current events, elections, global warming, informed voters, life, news, news and politics, political, politics, science, teen politics, world | 2 Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on April 21, 2007
Our planet’s prospects for environmental stability are bleaker than ever with the approach of this year’s Earth Day, April 22. Global warming is widely accepted as a reality by scientists and even by previously doubtful government and industrial leaders. And according to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there is a 90 percent likelihood that humans are contributing to the change.
The international panel of scientists predicts the global average temperature could increase by 2 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100 and that sea levels could rise by up to 2 feet.
Scientists have even speculated that a slight increase in Earth’s rotation rate could result, along with other changes. Glaciers, already receding, will disappear. Epic floods will hit some areas while intense drought will strike others. Humans will face widespread water shortages. Famine and disease will increase. Earth’s landscape will transform radically, with a quarter of plants and animals at risk of extinction.
. . . . . . . . . 2008 - Global oil production peaks sometime between 2008 and 2018, according to a model by one Swedish physicist. Others say this turning point, known as “Hubbert’s Peak,” won’t occur until after 2020. Once Hubbert’s Peak is reached, global oil production will begin an irreversible decline, possibly triggering a global recession, food shortages and conflict between nations over dwindling oil supplies.
. . . . . . . . . see what happens between 2008 and 2050
. . . . . . . . . 2050 - Small alpine glaciers will very likely disappear completely, and large glaciers will shrink by 30 to 70 percent. Austrian scientist Roland Psenner of the University of Innsbruck says this is a conservative estimate, and the small alpine glaciers could be gone as soon as 2037.
. . . . . . . . . see what hapens between 2050 and 2200
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ALSO SEE: THE STOP GLOBAL WARMING VIRTUAL MARCH
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CLICK HERE TO SEE AN INTERESTING INTERACTIVE LINK ON GLOBAL WARMING
CLICK HERE TO SEE A SPECIAL INTERACTIVE REPORT ON THE ICE SHEETS ON EARTH
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ALSO SEE MY PREVIOUS POST THAT HAS OVER TWENTY-FIVE LINKS ON GLOBAL WARMING.
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Posted in America, LINKS, activism, bio-fuels, blogging, climate change, current events, global warming, government, informed voter, life, media, news, news and politics, opinion, political, politics, research, science, society, thoughts, world | 9 Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on March 31, 2007

Reuters Photo: A polar bear sow and two cubs are seen on the Beaufort Sea coast within the 1002 Area of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in this undated handout photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Alaska Image Library.
Scientists Say Global Warming Will End Some Species
From the micro to the macro, from plankton in the oceans to polar bears in the far north and seals in the far south, global warming has begun changing life on Earth, international scientists will report next Friday.
“Changes in climate are now affecting physical and biological systems on every continent,” says a draft obtained by The Associated Press of a report on warming’s impacts, to be issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the authoritative U.N. network of 2,000 scientists and more than 100 governments.
In February the panel declared it “very likely” most global warming has been caused by man made emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Animal and plant life in the Arctic and Antarctic is undergoing substantial change, scientists say. Rising sea levels elsewhere are damaging coastal wetlands. Warmer waters are bleaching and killing coral reefs, pushing marine species toward the poles, reducing fish populations in African lakes, research finds.
“Hundreds of species have already changed their ranges, and ecosystems are being disrupted,” said University of Michigan ecologist Rosina Bierbaum, former head of the U.S. IPCC delegation. “It is clear that a number of species are going to be lost.”
The IPCC draft estimates that if temperatures rise approximately 2 to 4 degrees Fahrenheit more, one-third of species will be lost from their current range, either moved elsewhere or vanished.
From Associated Press bureaus around the world, here are snapshots of animals and plants the IPCC will identify as already affected by climate change…..READ COMPLETE ARTICLE
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ALSO SEE: MORE INFORMATION AND LINKS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
and
THE AGE OF WARMING
and
Emissions Already Affecting Climate, New York Times
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Posted in America, Gas & Oil Lobbies, LINKS, activism, bio-fuels, climate change, culture, current events, global warming, government, informed voter, news and politics, opinion, research, science, teen politics, world | 4 Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on March 16, 2007
Posted in Halliburton, activism, bio-fuels, blogging, climate change, current events, global warming, government, informed voter, life, media, news, news and politics, opinion, political, politics, science, world | 1 Comment »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on March 8, 2007
Posted in YouTube, climate change, current events, global warming, government, informed voter, life, media, news and politics, political, science, thoughts | No Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on January 28, 2007
Posted in climate change, current events, global warming, informed voter, life, opinion, political, research, science, teen politics, women blogging, world | 27 Comments »
Posted by Catherine Morgan on January 19, 2007

IS GLOBAL WARMING REALLY THAT BIG OF A PROBLEM? — by Catherine Morgan
Is anyone concerned that, the year 2006 has gone on record as being the warmest year in United States history in the past 112 years? That’s a lot of years. Or, that when experts look at the global temperatures they find that each year since 1993 the temperatures have been in the top 20 of the warmest years on record?
All the experts are saying that we need to start fighting global warming now. So, why aren’t we? I have a theory. Aside from all the economical and political problems that would arise in taking real steps to combat this problem, and that list is long…..The real stumbling block is the name. Our ears just don’t hear words like “warming” any more, “warming” actually sounds kind of “soothing” doesn’t it? Please don’t get me wrong, I am not making light of the gravity of this problem. But the sad truth is that we are now living in what I would call; “the age of extreme”, and most importantly “the age of fear”. Every minute, every day we are being bombarded with; “BREAKING NEWS”, “TERRORISTS THREAT WARNINGS”, “DEADLY PANDEMICS”, you know what I mean. We are surrounded by so much grief, doom, and sadness that are ears have become immune. So, “global warming“ might as just as well be called “a boo-boo in the atmosphere“.
In all fairness, it’s not our fault. For most of us this immunity has become our survival mechanism. Let’s face it, you can’t really watch the news these days and actually allow yourself to be affected by it. If you did, you would be in a constant state of panic and despair.
The government uses this immunity to their benefit. They would like us to continue to not worry about the whole global warming thing. It’s better for them if we keep thinking it’s just a little boo-boo, and we don’t have to worry about it right now. That’s because, if they admit the problem, they will need to fix it….and by fixing it they will be throwing a real monkey wrench into our governments’ political comfort zone.
Everyone knows that the only real solution to the global warming problem is to decrease carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. We can only reduce these emissions if our government makes this problem a priority. I think….As long as we are only suffering from “global warming“, our government will continue to treat this problem as a “boo-boo“. Once this “boo-boo” turns into a “gaping, hemorrhaging, war on our planet“, and of course the Bush administration is no longer in office, we might actually see a real effort to combat this devastating and very serious problem. Until then, we might want to consider renaming “global warming” to something a little less innocuous .
Let me know what you think.
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Also see: THE CONVENIENT $MEAR — posted 2/28/07
AND FOR LOTS OF LINKS AND INFORMATION — SEE MY MOST RECENT POST ON THIS SUBJECT, BY USING THIS LINK.
For more infomation go to: http://www.stopglobalwarming.org
ALSO SEE: Jan. 23rd post also on global warming
And check out: Tamino’s Site and My Errant Mind also:
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Let us know what you think on some of the other issues in politics today…..just go the the WHAT DO YOU THINK? link.
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Posted in climate change, current events, informed voter | 76 Comments »