The Briefing - 5/29/07: Secret Service, Greenland, Coal, and The Vatican

So according CNN's Money section, Generation Y produces driven, ambitious, and pierced workers. We're a weird lot, focused on success but not afraid to challenge authority. Sounds good, although I hope we can live up to such platitudinal greatness.

MW


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The Briefing – 5/29/07
524 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Politics, Politicians, Elections, and Electoral Mayhem
- Think you can’t handle this ridiculously large Presidential crowd, what about the Secret Service?
The (supposedly) Presidential ’08 Crowd
- Obama: Hitting Romney and McCain hard; Will unveil health care plan in Iowa; Here’s a sneak peek
- Romney: Playing the lead in Iowa
- Giuliani: Surprisingly, he is backed by social conservatives; Maybe its because he’s smiling
- Edwards: Populism is a risky bet
- Clinton: Vilsack is a key player
- Huckabee: Room for more???
- Bloomberg: Why the fantasy won’t come true
- Biden: May pay political price for Iraq war funding vote
- Coburn: Wait… what... Coburn???
Senatorial Shenanigans
Our Very Own House of Commons
- Texas 22: Lampson will not run for Senate, intends to seek re-election
The Environment and Elections
Environmental Issues People Really Should Care about in the News
- Speaker Pelosi sees firsthand evidence of climate change in Greenland
- US rebuffs Germany on greenhouse gas cuts, consistently holding back the G8
o 2009 set as a deadline for negotiations
- Lawmakers push for big subsidies for coal to liquid
- A legacy issue for older Americans -- What type of planet is being left for future generations?
- Efficiency, not just alternatives, is promoted as an energy saver
- Will warming lead to a rise in hurricanes?
- Oxfam – Rich must pay bulk of climate change bill… who’s Rich?
- Anti-pollution lawsuits have fallen by 70% under the Bush Administration
- From state pride to rarely eyed?
- Biodiesel makers see opportunity
- Program aims to treat nature-deficit disorder
…oh that pesky Blogosphere
- Green Media: The Vatican goes solar
- The Fix: On the Obama-McCain kerfuffle
- MYDD: Frustration with coal-to-liquids
- MYDD: Peterson yields on Farm Bill amendment process
- Grist:
o An interview with Warren Stone, green religious leader
o Dispatches from New Orleans
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- Can science outwit storms like Katrina?
- An analysis of Gen Y workforce… not sure if I wholly agree…
- Who needs Mother Nature anyway?
- Man, leave the freakin’ Teletubbies alone
- The nerve.
Quotes O’ the Day
“You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're doing is recording it.” ~ Art Buchwald

The Briefing - 5/23/07: Global Carbon Emissions, Al Gore, and Invasive Species

Carbon emissions are increasing exponentially, Republican Governors are pestering the Bush Administration to do something, and we've got two Senators pushing for drilling in the Arctic. Sheesh.

MW

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The Briefing – 5/23/07
530 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Politics, Politicians, Elections, and Electoral Mayhem
The (supposedly) Presidential ’08 Crowd
- Giuliani: An abortion muddle?; Above the McCain-Romney fray;
- McCain: Assails Romney on immigration; Turns focus to fundraising
- Richardson: Kurtz wonders why no one is paying attention to him;
- Edwards: Discussing diplomacy and military policy; An easy mark?
- Gore: He’s got big plans; Even lucky enough to have Maureen Dowd pick on him
- Romney: He’ll bring a new approach;
- Clinton: She’s got Bill doing some fundraising
- Thompson, Fred: Signs point to a candidacy;
- Gingrich: Announcement coming soon
- Brownback: Wants to end US reliance on foreign oil by drilling in the Arctic and Canadian sands
- Obama: Ready to get specific on health care
Senatorial Shenanigans
- Oregon: Smith may get a challenger soon
Our Very Own House of Commons
- DCCC leader gets early jump on ’08
The Environment and Elections
Environmental Issues People Really Should Care about in the News
- Global carbon emissions in overdrive
o Response from Grist
- Border fence could imperil wildlife
- Governors Schwarzenegger and Rell to the EPA: Lead, or Step Aside
- How to win the energy war
- Harnessing methane, cutting waste… recycling carpet tiles
o An interview with the CEO on his green conversion… and here’s the video
- Returning to the land for fuel
- Money shuffle creating friction over Farm Bill
- Gov. Corzine (D-NJ) worrying environmentalists
- NY cab fleet to be green by 2012
- Sens. Rockefeller and Byrd: Coal and clean air aren’t incompatible
- Sen. Murkowski likes the whole drilling in the Arctic thing too
- Bill to honor Rachel Carson is held up in the Senate
- Happy 300th, Carl Linnaeus
…oh that pesky Blogosphere
- The Fix: Hillary and Women
- TPM: Edwards – “War on terror” is a bumper sticker slogan
- The Caucus: New ads from Dodd and Romney
- Taylor Marsh: A conversation with Al Gore
- The Lede: Sustainability for the rich and poor
- This is pretty neat
- Grist:
o Change the rules, change the future
o Is it alright to kill an invasive species?
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- Great, now the saying “Who needs men anyway?” really has some weight
- Umm, I’m guessing the “side effect” would make the car ride home a tad uncomfortable
- Mars was once… wetter?
- Alright, why am I not on this list?
Quotes O’ the Day
“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.” ~ R. Buckminster Fuller

Daily Briefing - 4/3/07: EPA, China, Bush Administration, Columbian White-Tailed Deer, and Global Warming

The buzz grows over the impending release of the IPCC's second report, due out this Friday. It's been called "bleak," "a tearjerker," and references a "highway to extinction." As America's foremost conservation organization, we wait with baited breath.

MW

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Daily Briefing – 4/4/07
579 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- Administration thinks they’re doing enough
- EPA revives California’s request to set tough emission standards
- Reports from the four fronts on warming
- Linfen, China: The frontline in the war on global warming
- IPCC: It’s been called a tearjerker
o The elimination of up to 30% of life forms
- Global warming happens, is it catastrophic?
- Christian Today: Climate change could be biggest disaster in human history, says WWF
- Gore urges engineers during San Jose visit
- Florida leaders hear of insurance, global warming woes
o Conversation urges conservation
- Australian fish being driven south
- Idaho: Valley residents challenged to stop global warming
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- President Bush fighting Democrats and doubts
- Speaker Pelosi goes to Syria
Potential ‘08ers…
- Romney (Mormon base a mixed blessing), Obama (reports $25 million in fundraising), McCain (revamps fundraising), Edwards (returns to Iowa), Obama again (facing a battle over Iraq war opposition), Obama again again (knows his way around a ballot), McCain (evangelicals bracing his immigration stance), Giuliani (tells Iowa voters to evaluate his record), Giuliani again (won’t commit to Iowa straw poll), Romney again (money in the bag, now works on name rec), Clinton (Iraq funding plan a thorny issue), Edwards again (crowd zeroes in on issues), Biden (Bush could be impeached, but that would be impractical), Richardson (goes to North Korea at the behest of the President), Giuliani again again (surmounts expectations in NH), Thompson, Fred (evangelical leader likes him)
- GOP protégés aim shots at each other
Other News from the Media
- Brother, can you spare a cup of coffee for Columbian white-tailed deer? Do note the quote from NWF’s very own Corry Westbrook.
- British captives to be freed
- An arid west no longer waits for rain
- Loss of coral may cause food supply crisis
- Court overturns Duke clean air law ruling
- Electranet could see the light of day
…and the Blogosphere
- RCP: New polls from CA, IA, and NH
- MYDD: New Hampshire poll
- TPM: “Moderate” GOP senators will bail on Iraq if progress isn’t obvious by late summer
- PeakEnergy: Bright green building and dark green buildings
- TomPaine: Overwhelmed by climate
- Grist:
o Automaker suit against California may be dismissed by tomorrow
o Is coal running out too?
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- Labor union v. Starbucks. Over what you ask? Piercings.
- Mayor Rocky Anderson v. Chain stores
- Umm, is that why he looks the way he does?
- MySpace to hold presidential primary… It better not be on February 5th or I will, like, totally be angry.
Quotes O’ the Day
“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.” ~ Thomas A. Edison

Daily Briefing - 3/27/07: 83% of Americans, India, Local Climates, and Global Warming

83% OF AMERICANS...

What percentage of our politicians?

MW

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Daily Briefing – 3/27/07
587 days until the NEXT election… and global warming is an integral part of our nation’s agenda!

Key Issues in the News
Global Warming
- Scientific American: 83% of Americans say global warming is a serious problem
- British economists: India must mitigate climate change
- Driving the message
- Heat invades cool nights over Arizona desert
- Top EU energy official comes to Washington
- Local climates at risk… may create novel climates or eliminate some altogether
- U.S. magazines going green
- A rush for riches in the Arctic
- Laurie David and Sheryl Crow hit the road on the Stop Global Warming College Tour
Washington/Legislation/Politics/People/etc.
- Tony Snow’s cancer has returned
- Webb aide mistakenly tries to take gun into Senate building
- Republicans soften stance on pullout message
- Poll backs Attorney General investigation
Potential ‘08ers…
- Obama (his back story), Clinton (cultivating the military), Giuliani (wooing anti-Hillary crowd), Clinton again (takes on White House), Edwards (Elizabeth is buoyed by supporters), Edwards again (gains support as he remains in the race), Romney Paying off students), Romney and McCain (touring Texas), Thompson, Fred (gaining support in the House), McCain (traveling through SC)
Other News from the Media
- You, too, can be a banker to the poor
- Taking green up a notch
- Mr. Puck’s good idea
- Global boom in coal power… and emissions
…and the Blogosphere
- The Fix: The Case Against Fred Thompson
- The Caucus: Couric criticized for Edwards interview
- Huffington Post: Science for Sale
- MYDD: As Dems’ Senate field expands, GOP admits concern
- The Man in Seat 61: Traveling without flying
- Tell your clean energy story, get in Rep. Jay Inslee’s book!
- Grist:
o Investing in wind
o As farms succumb to chemical factories, bullets fly
o Conservatives and global warming
Miscellaneous… or just plain weird
- Cool, robot worms
- Rudy gets shunned by Mets fans
- A solar powered Wii
Quotes O’ the Day
"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say 'Well, I read a science-fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame-retardant. You take action.” ~ Al Gore, during Congressional testimony