Daily Briefing - 1/31/07

Yesterday was chock full of hearings, as resident "pit-bull" Henry Waxman, Chairman of the Government Oversight and Reform Committee, took on the White House and its manipulation of data. Uhhh, I'm going to move forward without comment on this one. Not to be outdone (by anyone, least of which the House), Senator Boxer held her own hearing on climate change setting a rather impressive agenda that seemed to have solid backing. (Note: All this positiveness falls apart once actual legislating begins.)

Internationally, the uber-leaked UN report will be officially released on Friday, preced by a planned 5 minute blackout of the Eiffel Tower. (No. Bad. French. Jokes... okay, moving on)

The Presidential wannabe list keeps growing, and now its compounded longwindedness just quadrupled. Senator Biden announced, and he did so by saying some not so nice things about his opponents... his Democratic opponents. Sheesh, play nice!

Along with the traditional media, the blogosphere had a lot to say regarding yesterday's hearings. Bah, no need for me to keep spouting off... on to the briefing!

MW

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Daily Briefing – 1/31/07
642 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- The climate is changing, politically
- Scientists criticize White House policy in yesterday’s hearing
o Also from Financial Times, Chicago Tribune, Houston Chronicle, LA Times… even ESPN Outdoors
o Rep. Welch was stunned
o Committee website
- 1,000 years
o Eiffel Tower to go dark ahead of UN report
o Mulling a global summit to break the Kyoto impasse
- Not to be outdone by Rep. Waxman, Senator Boxer has a hearing too
o Klobuchar calls for action on behalf of Minnesotans
o Also from SF Chronicle
- The investigations are heating up
- More Minnesota action
- Polar explorer addresses lawmakers
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
Potential ‘08ers…
- Hagel (the case for), Biden (a full day of talking), Edwards (talking tough), Romney (not doing very well with the Jewish vote), Obama (changing his mind on setting a date), Biden again (and… he’s in, get ready for some verbosity!), Obama again (the secret of his appeal), Dodd (laughable? Ouch), Biden again again (uh-oh, he let his mouth go), Hagel again (the new John McCain?), Clark (edging closer to running), Obama again (Clintonian?)
- Who will Pelosi pick?
- Could the primaries be over too soon?
Other News from the Media
- Once a dream fuel, palm oil may be an eco-nightmare
- Feds to take wolves off endangered list
- Wall Street likes its tobacco
…and the Blogosphere
- Rothenberg: Rating the ‘07/08 Governor races
- RedState: Comparing Global Warming skeptics to Copernicus…or is it the other way around?
- Bush to Earth: Drop Dead (from TomPaine)
- Huffington post: UN predicts a global disaster
- Chris Mooney of ScienceBlogs gives us a breakdown of the Waxman hearing
o MotherJones and Huffington Post do too
- Grist:
o On farm subsidies
o Week of action on campus (not THAT kind of action, sheesh)
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- John Travolta: Mass-producers of GHGs
- When Josh Hartnett speaks, the world listens
- The Prince of Wales to build an eco-friendly mansion
- Woo! The Police are reuniting! More Roxanne, less Fields of Gold! Woo!
Quotes O’ the Day
“The truth is more important than the facts.” ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

"You're biased; you won't even let me talk" ~ Rep. Dennis Kucinich to Sean Hannity, who had just asked about liberal bias in the media