tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89215918685355173402024-03-13T11:39:23.185-07:00Hair On Fire PeopleKira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-10460536435024925342020-09-02T15:48:00.000-07:002020-09-02T15:48:47.644-07:00I cannot fight...
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">America: September 2020. Chaotic, criminal mishegaas in the White
House. Wilding White Nationalists in the streets. Furious, righteous protests
met with tear gas, rubber bullets, and police brutality. A pandemic rages. The real
economy – the economy of people struggling to make ends meet – is melting down,
while the stock market rises higher and higher, bringing unimaginable riches to
a ridiculously tiny slice of the population. California is ravaged by wildfires.
Texas and Louisiana are pummeled by a ferocious hurricane that was the
strongest to make landfall in the Pelican State in 160 years.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">I am a proud resister and progressive, and a lifetime registered
Democrat. As a Little, I accompanied my parents to demonstrations. In grade
school, I proudly wore an “I was planned” button, and sported a red armband each
May Day. In high school, to the derision of my peers, I publicly supported President
Carter. In college I joined Greenpeace and marched against nuclear power and
for social justice issues.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">For the last five years my issue of choice – the issue on which I
spend 75% of my time and money – has been climate change. In these parlous
times, and particularly since Trump was “elected” to office, some have challenged
me on my focus, and accused me of abandoning “more pressing” issues, as if
climate change were not THE MOST PRESSING ISSUE of our time.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Think that only the last two sentences in the opening paragraph are
related to climate change? Feel that someone who prioritizes climate action has
abandoned their work on the other issues near and dear to progressive hearts?
Well, that’s off base. Because it is all connected.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">This year’s long hot summer of socially distanced protests have
been urgent, tumultuous (though 99% peaceful), revolutionary and potentially
world-shattering. The demonstrators are lancing a 400 year old boil and not
letting the complacent among us look away. You want American heroes? I think
the BLM and social justice warriors organizing and demonstrating and making
their voices heard are heroes. But remember that among the many and cruel racial
disparities in the United States they are protesting are housing, food security
and healthcare. Climate change intersects with each of these in ways that put
POC at a distinct disadvantage. <b>I cannot fight for human rights and racial
equality without fighting against climate change</b>.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Kamala Harris is the nominee for VP. We didn’t manage to elect a
woman last time – maybe this time, we’ll vote a woman into the #2 spot. In the
meantime, it’s important to note that women will be adversely and
disproportionately affected by the changing climate. For example, the widespread
drought and crop disruptions that climate change will bring will destabilize our
food supply, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234077791_Food_security_and_women's_health_A_Feminist_Perspective_for_International_Social_Work"><span style="color: #0563c1;">disproportionately
affecting women</span></a>, for whom food insecurity is a pressing problem. <b>I
cannot fight for women without fighting against climate change</b>. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Unions are under relentless attack from the right. Without unions,
we the people lose most of our power to demand that we be paid and treated fairly.
Even for non-union workers, we must have an adequate minimum wage, that
families can actually LIVE ON. I am 100% for a $15/hour minimum wage – or more!
– and we are going to need it if folks are shelling out to re-re-re-re-build
after the latest hurricane, flash flood, or wildfire. <b>I cannot fight for working
people without fighting against climate change</b>.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Poverty is an intractable problem in America: about 12% of us (that
is 36,460,000 </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; border-image: none; box-sizing: content-box; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; outline: 0px; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">people!!!)
currently <a href="https://www.wisegeek.com/how-many-people-in-the-us-live-below-the-poverty-level.htm"><span style="color: #0563c1;">live
in poverty</span></a>. While the well-off will deal with the impacts of climate change
where they live by buying what they need to survive, or will simply move to more
amenable places out of the path of hurricanes or wildfires, poor people will
not. They will be left behind in crumbling communities that are in the path of
the natural disasters engendered by a warming atmosphere. <b>I cannot fight for
poor people without fighting against climate change</b>.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">Climate change is the ur-issue of our time. It’s the monster in the
closet that has already devoured your neighbors and is just waiting to pounce
on you. It’s the top! It’s the Colosseum – it’s the top! It’s the Louvre Museum
– it’s a melody from a symphony by Strauss! Well, you get it. It will impact everything.
It will change everything. It cannot be ignored, and it should not be fobbed
off as “less important” because the link to something more “front of mind” and
in the headlines isn’t immediately apparent.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">And it is most definitely linked to the upcoming election in
November.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><b>We have already lost 4 years of potential government action under
Trump. Imagine another four years – and remember: emissions are still <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50648495"><span style="color: #0563c1;">going up</span></a>.</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 10.66px;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light",sans-serif; margin: 0px;">#HairOnFirePeople</span></p>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-48310554186496001052020-08-27T12:16:00.001-07:002020-08-27T12:16:39.452-07:00Hurricane Laura: The Butcher's Bill, Joe Biden, and Us<p><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Per the New York times as
of this morning, since the 1990s the frequency of extreme hurricanes (Category
4 or 5) in the Atlantic Ocean has </span><b style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">roughly doubled</b><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">. Read far enough in
the literature and you will learn that the *number* of hurricanes is probably
not increasing because of climate change – but the *severity* of each storm is.
My layperson’s understanding of this is that warmer water provides more energy
for storms. There is probably a third-grade level science experiment that I
could do in my kitchen that would prove that.</span><u1:p style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </u1:p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Beyond the devastation of
lives and the searing human cost – which I doubt anyone could convince a
Republican politician to care about, unless a family member of theirs were hit
by lightning or washed out to sea – let’s think about how we're going to PAY
FOR THIS MESS. </span><u1:p style="font-family: "Calibri Light", sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </u1:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Hurricane Rita (2005)
cost more than $10 billion. The same year, Katrina cost $125 billion. Super
Storm Sandy (2012) sent us an invoice for $65 billion. We haven’t got the
butcher’s bill – or the contractor’s charges – for Laura yet. All we know is
that the cost will be huge.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">So again: how are we
going to pay for all this damage? How do local governments cope? How do states
pay to keep re-re-re-building along fragile shorelines, on a warming planet
where the seas are rising and extreme storms are pounding us relentlessly?<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Our current path of
stubbornly committing to “rebuilding our lives” right where they’ve just been
wiped out seems incredibly foolish and shortsighted – not to mention a recipe
for eventual fiscal disaster. As climate change continues to worsen, we must
collectively wake up to the fact that the costs will continue to rise and so
far at least, there seems to have been precious little planning for this.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">And it's not just
hurricanes.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">California must rebuild
huge numbers of homes and buildings after every devastating wildfire season -
and climate change is directly linked to those fires. <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/climate-change-and-wildfires">https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/climate-change-and-wildfires</a><u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">The recent Iowa derecho
caused catastrophic damage to property and crops. According to WaPo, the storms
damaged FORTHY-THREE percent of the state’s crops – a staggering cost to that
agricultural state.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">How do we pay for that?
And <b>who</b> pays? Are we building this virtually certain future cost into
budgets? Or we will be robbing Peter to pay Paul – like Trump leveraging FEMA
money to give $300 a week to (some) unemployed citizens for a (very) short
period of time? (This, by the way, is madness – and seems even more lunatic given
that FEMA will soon be mounting an immense, and expensive, rescue effort in the
Gulf.)<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">There will be other,
not-as-easily quantifiable costs, as well. Rising costs for the treatment of
asthma, and diseases that can flourish in new territories further north than
their original stalking grounds. There will be costs associated with increased immigration:
even in a 2<sup>nd</sup> Trump administration, refugees displaced by rising
seas and desertification will need to be processed somehow – and that costs
money.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Humans react to each
disaster as though it’s a standalone that “we can get through!” We rush to help
with the mission of “getting better!” or “building back stronger!” (which
almost never refers to infrastructure). We tweet hashtags like #HoustonStrong
and #WeWillRise and pledge to come together as a community. All that is great
and good – but it is not a solution. And it is certainly not a clear-eyed
consideration of the future, which is going to include more and worse climate
events if we don’t change course IMMEDIATELY.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Remember – the climate is
continuing to warm, despite whatever it is we humans are doing. At the moment,
what we are doing is laughably piddly. <u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">No doubt you’ve seen
Amazon’s recent self-congratulatory ad campaign touting their green bona fides:
their “green pledge,” taken in 2019. Greenpeace says flatly that it’s “too slow
and not enough.” <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/amazons-corporate-climate-pledge-too-slow-and-not-enough/">https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/amazons-corporate-climate-pledge-too-slow-and-not-enough/</a><u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">And even if Amazon – a
single corporation – were really on the level and doing enough, it is an
entirely voluntary effort. And do you – do we here as a community of Democrats
– *really* trust modern, unfettered, piratical capitalism to fix this problem
for us? I certainly don’t.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Republicans have been
useless on the issue, although I used to cherish the hope that they could be
woken up to the danger of climate change if we talked to them seriously about
the cost in dollars, rather than the cost to the environment. So far, however,
nothing seems to have moved the needle with the GOP, and in this era of
Trumpism, they’ve gotten even more recalcitrant and intractable.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Further, it seems a
dubious proposition to assume that a future Republican administration
either “believe” in climate change or summon the will to enact any
legislative solutions for paying the crushing bills that will continue to
mount up. In fact, if we don’t win in November, I can forsee a future in which
more money is siphoned off not just from FEMA, but other programs that help
(poor) people, like SNAP and CHIP and Medicaid and <span style="text-align: start;">LIHEAP.</span><u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Our only hope to solve
this is to elect a Democratic administration and <b>hold their feet to the fire</b>
to enact a Green New Deal – one that includes provisions for funding after
fires, hurricanes, floods, and other natural catastrophes brought on by the
warming climate.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">We’ve already moved Joe
Biden on the concept of the Green New Deal. But we will still have a huge
amount of work to do once the Biden-Harris administration (I love typing that!)
takes office. We can’t forget that emissions are still going up. And we have perilously
little time to start to make a difference.<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">#HairOnFirePeople
#ClimateAction #VoteBidenHarris2020 /fin<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">PS: AO-C’s Green New Deal
is worth a read. Here’s just a snip to wet your whistle: “…building resiliency
against climate change-related disasters, such as extreme weather, including by
leveraging funding and providing investments for community-defined projects and
strategies; repairing and upgrading the infrastructure in the United States,
including by eliminating pollution and greenhouse gas emissions as much as
technologically feasible; by guaranteeing universal access to clean water; by
reducing the risks posed by climate impacts; and by ensuring that any
infrastructure bill considered by Congress addresses climate change; meeting
100 percent of the power demand in the United States through clean, renewable,
and zero-emission energy sources, including by dramatically expanding and
upgrading renewable power sources; and by deploying new capacity; building or
upgrading to energy-efficient, distributed, and ‘‘smart’’ power grids, and
ensuring affordable access to electricity; upgrading all existing buildings in
the United States and building new buildings to achieve maximum energy
efficiency, water efficiency, safety, affordability, comfort, and durability,
including through electrification…”<u1:p> </u1:p></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri Light","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;"><a href="https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/sites/ocasio-cortez.house.gov/files/Resolution%20on%20a%20Green%20New%20Deal.pdf">https://ocasio-cortez.house.gov/sites/ocasio-cortez.house.gov/files/Resolution%20on%20a%20Green%20New%20Deal.pdf</a><u1:p> </u1:p></span></p>Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-42770468524801580192020-08-22T10:33:00.004-07:002020-08-22T10:33:56.864-07:00Ruminations from June 2019 (the Before Time)<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">I posted this on the DailyKos over a year ago. The observations are still relevant - because we are STILL NOT DOING ENOUGH about climate change.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">Well, of course we're not - that ignoramus and his wrecking crew administration don't "believe" in climate change. Are you planning to vote in November? Are you voting for Joe Biden? If not, you are part of the problem.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt;"><span style="background: white; color: #3a9cd9; font-family: "Open Sans Condensed",sans-serif; font-size: 28.0pt; letter-spacing: .1pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/6/10/1863860/-Seattle-s-Summers-Are-All-Effed-Up-Or-The-Dizzying-Speed-at-Which-Hell-Becomes-the-New-Normal">Seattle’s Summers Are All Effed Up, Or, The Dizzying Speed
at Which Hell Becomes the New Normal.</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My husband and I live in Seattle.
Have done for almost 20 years. We got here right after 9/11, in which we were
both tangentially involved (long story).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since moving, we’ve become “stuck.” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DngSe0HwstM" target="_blank">We’re here
because we’re here</a> at this point. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s partially inertia – partially
the “golden handcuffs” of excellent jobs with the state – partially the fact
that we’ve made friends and nested – but it’s also partially because of the
glorious beauty of Washington State. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A majestic range of mountains – the
Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east – rises up like a guardian on
either side of the Puget Sound. Looking south to the implausibly majestic bulk
of Mount Rainier it’s easy to understand why some indigenous people
worshiped her as a god. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After only a short drive from
downtown you can choose to hike through deep forests, fish in a brilliant
turquoise lake, or kayak across the shimmering teal and emerald waters of
Deception Pass. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On a ferry ride across Puget Sound
you’ll see cormorants, guillemots, and gulls. Look down over the railing to
catch a glimpse of a sea otter, and if you’re very lucky, a pod of Orcas will
appear on the horizon, a shimmer of water on broad backs and jutting dorsal
fins.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An hour north of town the Skagit
Valley beckons, with its seaside towns, broad swathes of excellent farmland,
tulips and daffodils, and amazing farm stands.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the shores of Hood Canal the
oysters and clams are just a short scratch down in the sand. Bring a garden
claw and a pocket knife. Dig for 15 minutes, then feast on fresh, delicate,
briny oysters that will make your toes curl with delight.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even just trudging around
bang-in-the-city-center Green Lake I can feast my eyes on magnificent conifers
and see myriad colorful ducks, bald eagles, and spidery, stalking herons.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In short – it’s glorious. The
weather is glorious, too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I know – I know. Everyone says it
rains a lot. Not so much. Washington State is only the <a href="https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-state-precipitation.php" target="_blank">29<sup>th</sup> rainiest state</a> in the union. Hawaii is
number one, and even New York gets more rain. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We do get low gray skies and soft
drizzle in the fall and winter. It’s nice. It’s not torrential. It’s good for
your skin! But summers are mostly clear, and they are – or they were – utterly
GLORIOUS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It never really gets all that hot.
Temps stay in the low-to-mid seventies. Lambent blue skies offer views straight
up into Heaven. Everything is moist and green and lush, like a salad on
steroids. In fact, much of the Pacific Northwest is a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_temperate_rainforests_(WWF_ecoregion)" target="_blank">temperate rainforest</a>!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ecosystem of Pacific temperate
rain forests is so productive that the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomass">biomass</a> on the best sites is
at least four times greater than that of any comparable area in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_rainforest">tropics</a>. In
sheer mass of living and decaying material - trees, mosses, shrubs, and soil -
these forests are more massive than any other ecosystem on the planet. In part,
this is due to the rarity of fire. Unlike drier forests, which burn
periodically, temperate rain forests are naturally subject to only small-scale
disturbances, such as blow-downs and avalanches.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well,
no longer.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Three summers ago, in 2017, a dear
friend of mine journeyed to Seattle on the middle leg of a three-city “where
should I retire?” tour. I took her on a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. I
wanted to cry. As we chugged away from the dock, the skyline receded into a
grimy haze. Within ten minutes the Space Needle was barely visible. A grim
shroud enveloped Rainier to the south: it was as if she didn’t exist. My friend
tried to be polite about the not-all-that-dazzling scenery, and all I could
think of was Mordor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That was the first summer of
wildfires on an epic scale. Records were set. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Washington_wildfires" target="_blank">Terrifying,
horrifying records for heat and aridity</a> – two things for which the Puget
Sound has not historically been known. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On September 5, ash from the Central
Washington fires fell "like snow" on Seattle and as far west as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grays_Harbor_County">Grays Harbor County</a>,
which borders the Pacific Ocean.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Again in 2018, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Washington_wildfires" target="_blank">wildfires
raged</a> and roared. Governor Inslee declared a state of emergency in July. In
July and August the city smelled like a camp fire, and the skies were dull
and gray. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Boylston Fire started on July 19
again shut down I-90 east of Ellensburg for 24 hours. It burned 80,000 acres,
mostly on the Yakima Training Center, caused level three "leave now"
evacuations, and destroyed five buildings while being fought by three
fixed-wing aircraft and two helicopters. Military personnel and equipment to
fight the fire were sent from Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane and Joint
Base Lewis-McChord in the Puget Sound Area.[23][24][25] The smoke caused
"unhealthy" air conditions in Spokane on July 20.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The mellow drizzle of autumn was a
more than usually welcome relief.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That was two summers in a row. <b><u>Just
two</u>.</b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s June now and we’re on the slide
into summer. About a month ago, I saw a TV spot for a local heating and air
conditioning company. The voice over brought me up by the short hairs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The reference to the “smoky air of
summer” was dropped in so matter-of-factly, so casually, that at first I didn’t
think I’d heard correctly. But I had. To at least one big Seattle company, the
“smoky air of summer” needs no explanation. That’s just how summers are around
here – buy our superior air conditioners!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE SMOKY AIR OF SUMMER IS NOT A
NORMAL THING. The smoky air of summer is something that did not exist until
recently. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Summers in the Puget Sound were
cool, breezy, lovely. There’d be a few hot days in August when I’d sweat and
curse, but never more than a week or two. Never a stretch of days when the
forests were engulfed in raging flames and the air was choked thick with smoke.
Never.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And now, it seems to be the “new
normal.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“We’re headed into summer, folks!
Time to get out your asthma inhalers and make sure your air purification system
is working! Gonna be some wildfires!”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We humans get used to things really
quickly. We adapt. We don’t have particularly long memories, and we forget that
what we thought was normal is now a memory, getting ever more distant as the
years march on.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But we have to take notice. We have
to remember. We have to pay attention and not allow ourselves to slide into a
non-reactive state of torpor. Things change — things fall apart
— really really fast. It is starting to be TOO LATE.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/science-and-impacts/impacts/infographic-wildfires-climate-change.html" target="_blank">Wildfires are increasing as the climate changes</a>. That’s
a fact. That’s something we know.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now what the ACTUAL HELL are we
going to do about it?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2015/5/21/1386753/-Hair-On-Fire-People" target="_blank">very first diary </a>on this site was posted May 21,
2015. Allow me to quote myself:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was late 2012, on a week day,
about 5:00am. I’d just sent my husband out the door with his lunch and was
brewing myself a cup of tea to enjoy in front of the odious "Morning
Joe," when he called to share something horrifying he’d just heard on NPR.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">They were reporting that at a recent
climate change conference, some leading scientists had stated that 2020 is the
LAST YEAR we humans can do anything to reverse the effects of climate change.
At that point, said my husband a little breathlessly, everyone on the planet
could stop driving cars and it WOULD NOT MATTER. We’d already be toast. Almost
literally.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/12/new-global-co2-emissions-numbers-are-they-re-not-good" target="_blank">Carbon dioxide emissions are going up</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HairOnFirePeople" target="_blank">Hair. On.
Fucking. FIRE</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-84924953719794498502018-08-09T11:11:00.001-07:002018-08-09T11:11:11.490-07:00Ring of Fire<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">So what’s an old broad to do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">(<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/9/1787059/-Ring-of-Fire-Joe-Ring-of-FIRE-Plus-a-no-cook-dinner" target="_blank">Whole post here</a>.)</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Today it is HOT in Seattle. HOT. This afternoon I will hang out in my cubicle writing a “lessons learned” document and reveling in the combination of delicious A/C and the gusty little fan under my desk.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Tomorrow I will wake up, brace myself for a day of miserable, pungent sweating, and keep on talking, blogging, and activism-ing about climate change. It’s the most pressing problem on our planet right now, and I don’t have any choice.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">But tonight? Tonight I will creep home along the baking sidewalks, fling off my work clothes in favor of something loose and cool, shake up a wicked icy martini, and have this delicious, protein-packed no-cook salad for dinner.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Depleted Pantry Salade Nicoise</strong></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">This recipe is based on a traditional Salade Nicoise and is adapted for what I know I have in my kitchen right now. Have I mentioned that it’s HOT? It’s hot. So I am not making any extra trips to buy ingredients, and I am not turning on the stove!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">On a bed of fresh greens – I have romaine and butter lettuces in the fridge – arrange tuna, hard-boiled eggs, olives, green beans, and anchovies (yes, these are obviously optional). Boiled potatoes are traditional, and very nice, but I don’t have any cooked potatoes to hand.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">I start by tearing up the lettuce into manageable pieces and tossing them in a basic vinaigrette. Here’s a really easy one from my favorite Swedish Chef, Marcus Samuelsson:</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 plump garlic clove, smashed and minced into a paste</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 generous tsp Dijon mustard</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">3 tbsp red wine vinegar</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Juice of ½ lemon</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Whisk the garlic, mustard, vinegar and lemon juice in a bowl. Drizzle in the olive oil as you continue to whisk. (Or you can just dump everything into a small jar and shake it about madly.)</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Toss the lettuces in half the dressing and mix to coat (reserve the other half for drizzling).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Plop the dressed greens on a broad salad plate (in an artful arrangement, if you have the energy).</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">I open and drain a can of sustainably harvested solid white tuna, but you can use whatever tuna you like.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Flake the tuna into sizeable chunks onto the greens. Use all of it for a protein punch, only half if you don’t want a salad dominated by fish.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Slice a hardboiled egg or two (I think I only have one, but we shall see) and arrange it over the salad.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Toss a few whole or halved olives onto the plate. I have a jar of supermarket salad olives. A good, traditional Salade Nicoise uses excellent French olives (or Cerignola olives, mmmmmmmm) but I am fresh out of those. Manzanilla olives from Safeway will have to do.</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Arrange a few cooked green beans on top. I have leftover steamed beans that are-pre-dressed with a little garlic. If you have pickled green beans, those would work a treat!</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Finally, drape an anchovy fillet or two over the top and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Eat it accompanied with a hunk of crusty bread. It’s easy, healthy, delicious, and does not require heat.</span></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-60143767151580043192018-08-03T12:38:00.001-07:002018-08-03T12:38:04.303-07:00Bean, beans, the magical fruit!Talking about FOOD over at Dailykos today. Trying to get my 90% vegan on. <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/8/3/1785660/-Beans-Beans-the-Magical-Fruit" target="_blank">Check it out</a>!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKF1R1r8mFwzS0WYnpGCfwo7YNVErUU-8HN1tWTaoyaYQyRRbwdJ1z2uZ5cZlEioOmrVmpQ_gYO7EiNsiu_eH4Dqq07AxAtK1TtDmAEX3xQYTSuGhFWk9ziZXQeJ6PbtCu8yaD8ef3BUn6/s1600/WhiteBeansBlueBowl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKF1R1r8mFwzS0WYnpGCfwo7YNVErUU-8HN1tWTaoyaYQyRRbwdJ1z2uZ5cZlEioOmrVmpQ_gYO7EiNsiu_eH4Dqq07AxAtK1TtDmAEX3xQYTSuGhFWk9ziZXQeJ6PbtCu8yaD8ef3BUn6/s1600/WhiteBeansBlueBowl.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think this looks better than....</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5j3QmsvWLx86ESpA-AIuj8aOwBCPMLC-P6LAoYQY415djD6Od8DimC1oQrFCfYkTdpQF9gmcQAvLgpi3sjS5w491TyelIcODb7Poq13IvruuI-e-F9GYZe8CdoMTj5JMrnAX0kYr0JyIn/s1600/McDonald%2527s_Double_Cheeseburger.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5j3QmsvWLx86ESpA-AIuj8aOwBCPMLC-P6LAoYQY415djD6Od8DimC1oQrFCfYkTdpQF9gmcQAvLgpi3sjS5w491TyelIcODb7Poq13IvruuI-e-F9GYZe8CdoMTj5JMrnAX0kYr0JyIn/s320/McDonald%2527s_Double_Cheeseburger.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS. Do you? :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-90802167103452258252018-07-31T14:22:00.002-07:002018-07-31T14:23:19.467-07:00You don't need a weatherman...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghW6blhf3thSCtHlzi9hJwpc20NfaRXG5y8jFA3IuVioeDR9LKFwZBvmLL9pfGPhtEtj98i_PwXtdGNwWzBmius3V13zB3HIcpweklGTVd8GfK6e7Jc4jEQoLAwmkeSTa4DD_GpvPbjBAC/s1600/WildfireAndAmericanFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghW6blhf3thSCtHlzi9hJwpc20NfaRXG5y8jFA3IuVioeDR9LKFwZBvmLL9pfGPhtEtj98i_PwXtdGNwWzBmius3V13zB3HIcpweklGTVd8GfK6e7Jc4jEQoLAwmkeSTa4DD_GpvPbjBAC/s320/WildfireAndAmericanFlag.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cross-posted here: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/7/31/1784861/-You-don-t-need-a-weatherman</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Charles P. Pierce has a short but stunning piece up today about <a href="https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22602547/climate-refugees-kiribati-south-pacific-atoll/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Kiribati, sea level rise, and ex-situ nationhood</a>. It’s a very good quick read. And together with something Richard Haas said today on “Morning Joe,” it’s got me re-freaked out about the political state of play with climate change.</div>
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Haas’s comment, which was pretty throwaway, was also quietly terrifying. I'm paraphrasing, but it was basically,</div>
<blockquote style="background-color: #f7f7f7; border: none; box-sizing: border-box; color: #3c3736; font-family: "Open Sans"; font-size: 16px; letter-spacing: 0.125px; line-height: 24px; margin: 20px 0px; padding: 30px 60px; width: 660px; z-index: -1;">
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 10px;">
"I don't want to be pedantic here, but as we continue to experience challenges from extreme weather because of climate change...."</div>
</blockquote>
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He then continued smoothly talking about how we aren’t taking things like climate and infrastructure seriously as a nation, and sort of, oh heck what can you do?</div>
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Haas is a Republican. I don’t know if he’s gone on record as a denier in the past, or not. It was the almost calculated smoothness of how he rolled climate change out as an unassailable fact, and how he said he didn’t want to be a “pedant,” that sent up a warning flare.</div>
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Why that flare? Because I can vividly imagine a scenario in which all of the “it’s a Chinese hoaxsters” and climate change deniers in the GOP make the cold, calculated decision to unobtrusively roll over, throw up their hands, and decide to admit that yep — the climate is changing. Without a break in stride, just deciding that the denial battle has been lost, and they’re gonna flip — with no fanfare, and no big announcement.</div>
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I can hear them already, talking in their smooth, “reasonable,” oleaginous voices about stricter immigration policies to deal with climate change refugees, harsher controls on displaced people arriving from island nations and places like <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/the-unfolding-tragedy-of-climate-change-in-bangladesh/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Bangladesh</a>, and fiscal and tax policies designed to protect the rich and their property from sea level rise and wildfires.</div>
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It’s not even a tiny stretch to imagine going from the current debate between us in the reality-based community and the congressional deniers being paid by the fossil fuel industry, to complete acceptance on their part, with no middle ground where they wake the FCK up and decide we need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.</div>
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This is the perfect time and political space for that change to happen. There’s a blazing orange fire in the White House to rival the wildfires in California (and <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-wildfires-europe-20180728-story.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Sweden</a>!) and everyone’s attention has been absolutely riveted for the past 18 months on what will happen next with Mueller, Russia, Manafort, Papadopoulos, Jarvanka, Junior, Trump, and Stone. Climate change? What climate change? There are battalions of other shoes to drop! Ghouliani’s on CNN, rambling incoherently about Michael Cohen — pay attention to that!</div>
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In the meantime, the weather right now (and no, weather is not climate) is being extremely convincing on the subject of global warming-driven changes to “normal.” <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/30/us/carr-fire-california/index.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Fire</a>! <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/07/23/east-coast-rain-forecast-floods/817844002/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Flood</a>! Hurricane season is upon us, and who knows what devastation might be unleashed this year?</div>
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So it’s a perfect time for Republicans to use the cover created by the Trumpstorm to noiselessly change their tune on climate change from flat out denial and contempt to sudden tacit acceptance. They can then use that new-found acceptance (“of course the climate is changing… look around you!”) as a very convenient excuse for policy making. Which is to say, for the making of regressive policies: piss-poor policies that prop up and protect the wealthy at the expense of the poor, the brown, and the displaced.</div>
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Frankly, I think that eventuality – about which I fervently hope I am wrong – is more insidious, and much worse, than if the majority of the GOP were to stay flat-out deniers. At least folks with an opposing position can be argued with. Some Republicans have even <a href="https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2018/06/11/trumps_nasa_chief_changed_his_mind_on_climate_change_he_is_a_scientific_hero.html" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">changed their minds</a> when confronted with the evidence!</div>
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<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px;">
But now, just six weeks into his tenure as NASA administrator, Bridenstine stated that he has "evolved" on climate change.</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 10px;">
“I don’t deny the consensus," Bridenstine<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </span><a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a20735500/nasa-administrator-jim-bridenstine-i-believe-fully-in-climate-change/" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;">said at a NASA town hall meeting</a>. "I believe fully in climate change and that we human beings are contributing to it in a major way.”</div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box;">
When asked why he changed his mind, Bridenstine<span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/06/05/nasas-new-administrator-says-hes-talking-to-companies-to-take-over-the-international-space-station/?utm_term=.21b9500acbe7" style="background: transparent; box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(153, 107, 61) !important; text-decoration-line: none;">told The Washington Post</a>, “I heard a lot of experts, and I read a lot. I came to the conclusion myself that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, that we've put a lot of it into the atmosphere, and therefore we have contributed to the global warming that we've seen."</div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">But a GOP that soundlessly makes the change to acceptance of the facts, without putting the slightest thought or effort into policies that would help limit some of the worst effects of the warming climate, could be an unmitigated disaster.</strong></div>
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These are, after all, the folks famous for their “I’ve got mine, Jack” attitude. They’re the “God ‘n’ guns ‘n’ country” hacks who fight to grow an already bloated military budget while paring back the laughably few dollars the federal government spends on the National Endowment for the Arts. They’re the wretched ghouls celebrating every bite they manage to take out of Obamacare. They’re the dead-eyed bureaucrats who thought that separating children from their parents was a swell idea that would deter future refugees from darkening our doors at the southern border.</div>
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It’s becoming unavoidably apparent that something is going very wrong with our climate. It’s becoming blindingly obvious that it is going to cost one hell of a lot of money to rebuild, dig out, harden coastlines, and deal with waves of displaced people seeking terra firma as their nations drown.</div>
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If the GOP realizes which way the wind is blowing, why wouldn’t their adaptive strategy be to drop the pretense of denial and start working to saving their own – and their rich donors’ – asses? The party hasn’t done anything in the last 40+ years to convince me they’d act for the greater good. Not even Jim Bridenstine’s reversal at NASA gives me the warm fuzzies about how the GOP writ large might act, if they make a political decision to accept facts and act in concert to save their own skins (and wallets).</div>
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It’s a chilling thought. And I am taking bets on how this all plays out. After all, you don’t need a weatherman…</div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-65795369275114787712016-09-29T13:29:00.000-07:002016-10-03T14:04:43.605-07:00The Last Big PushIn calendar 2017, I suggest we pivot to climate together. What am I rambling about? I'm asking that all of the social, environmental, and climate justice organizations that came together for the People's Climate March in September of 2014 come back together for ALL of 2017, and spend at least 50% of their time and treasure that year on climate change:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Outreach</li>
<li>Action</li>
<li>Lobbying</li>
<li>Education</li>
<li>Advertising</li>
<li>Web presence</li>
<li>Social media</li>
</ul>
<br />
This is the last year. This must be the big push. Let's #PivotToClimate!<br />
<br />
If we act fast, we may be able to seize and take advantage of one of those rare windows of opportunity that comes at the exactly right time - when we are close enough to disaster that we can see it looming up on the horizon, and yet have JUST enough time to grab the wheel and yank it around, narrowly avoiding what might otherwise have been inevitable.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJStZPEy53xVcnqUowMirpf3qmSkpfXIjGFLAsBNdokC33g250wGR8qxiLF2BYv8uVTIWx-LUrDW9m534dOsfBJ9PRAskQvqOe92CMpdJnCtYE1Y2sJs4PsOTc0MzNqTMJ9b6CVfVNkbS/s1600/PivotToClimate3.jpeg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJStZPEy53xVcnqUowMirpf3qmSkpfXIjGFLAsBNdokC33g250wGR8qxiLF2BYv8uVTIWx-LUrDW9m534dOsfBJ9PRAskQvqOe92CMpdJnCtYE1Y2sJs4PsOTc0MzNqTMJ9b6CVfVNkbS/s400/PivotToClimate3.jpeg" /></a>In the <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/have-we-passed-the-point-of-no-return-on-climate-change/">April 2015issue of Scientific American</a>, this appeared: "Greenpeace, a leading environmental advocacy group, says we have until around 2020 to significantly cut back on greenhouse gas output around the world—to the tune of a five percent annual reduction in emissions overall—if we are to avoid so-called “runaway” climate change.<br />
<br />
This was when, as the article also noted,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Currently the atmospheric concentration of CO2 (the leading greenhouse gas) is approximately 398.55 parts per million (ppm). "</blockquote>
<br />
And <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal scientific agency tasked with monitoring the health of our oceans and atmosphere, the current average annual rate of increase of 1.92 ppm means we could reach the point of no return by 2042."</blockquote>
<b><i><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">In September, we crossed the threshold of 400ppm of CO2 in the atmosphere.</span></i></b><br />
<br />
To quote from a recent piece on <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/world-passes-400-ppm-threshold-fade7f48e025#.subb2rajr">ThinkProgress</a>: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"In the late 2000s, climate scientist James Hansen argued that the world needed to stay below 350 parts per million to avoid the worst impacts of climate change (his warning is what gave 350.org, the global climate activism group, its name). Three years ago, Earth’s atmospheric carbon dioxide levels first exceeded 400 parts per million, but those levels quickly dipped back below the threshold, as atmospheric carbon dioxide waxes and wanes with the seasons.<br />
<br />
Which is why the fact that atmospheric carbon dioxide is still above 400 parts per million at the end of September is a worrying fact: September is usually the time when concentrations are at their lowest, as trees in the Northern Hemisphere have grown all summer, sucking carbon out of the atmosphere. In a blog post, Ralph Keeling, current head of the Scripps carbon dioxide measurement program and son of Charles Keeling, wrote that it is “almost impossible” that CO2 levels will drop below 400 in October.<br />
<br />
“Concentrations will probably hover around 401 ppm over the next month as we sit near the annual low point,” he wrote. “Brief excursions towards lower values are still possible but it already seems safe to conclude that we won’t be seeing a monthly value below 400 ppm [parts per million] this year — or ever again for the indefinite future.”"</blockquote>
<br />
The first year of the new Clinton Administration will be the most propitious time - the time with the most potential for radical change - that we will have until… well, until it is likely too late.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxmZ5Kl83gjpi61icL-sxEGLYIfgy9J-59rurIxrnD9uG91NclTXilmOSzrCHcgkckK4wLbFPtx1KI5PnwRt4BXok6zCXR4qFaUoe_j_P1kRjniRn5-ZWookP7CjHxWBPmoKghXA8f4uT/s1600/PplsClimateMarch.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxmZ5Kl83gjpi61icL-sxEGLYIfgy9J-59rurIxrnD9uG91NclTXilmOSzrCHcgkckK4wLbFPtx1KI5PnwRt4BXok6zCXR4qFaUoe_j_P1kRjniRn5-ZWookP7CjHxWBPmoKghXA8f4uT/s320/PplsClimateMarch.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
The energy from pulling off a win could propel the new administration to take bold, aggressive action on climate change during Hillary Clinton's first year in office - especially if all of the players from the 2014 People's Climate March get back together (we're getting the band back together!) and focus her attention on the people's will.<br />
<br />
If we act fast, we may be able to seize and take advantage of one of those rare windows of opportunity that comes at the exactly right time - when we are close enough to disaster that we can see it looming up on the horizon, and yet have JUST enough time to grab the wheel and yank it around, narrowly avoiding what might otherwise have been inevitable. Let's PIVOT TO CLIMATE - TOGETHER.<br />
<br />
<b><i><span style="color: red;">#PivotToClimate - #StrongerTogether</span></i></b>Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-85790047189948600222016-08-26T13:39:00.001-07:002016-08-26T13:47:58.461-07:00Deconstructing the Democratic Party Platform...<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, just the sections that address climate change and clean energy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm doing this not just for my own amusement and edification, but also to find out what's been proposed/promised, so when it's time to hold the Clinton administration's feet to the fire, we know what they committed to in the platform.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hair On Fire People annotations are in italics below the paragraph they comment on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so without further ado.... from the Democratic Party platform, 2016...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYtnn45RcxPVrgTIBbfIP7n1s4lFi5yj3Kkq9FwY2EHe8yi6ywgJx9tMlUCKtCXqwn3D4YC9HZbA9qcO1Ki5C0uFzr4YYp-WRLdAEsnG8Ujo7ayDQ2Q2fNjQeK9RNUgIU6y15BzcarQK9/s1600/DemDonkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmYtnn45RcxPVrgTIBbfIP7n1s4lFi5yj3Kkq9FwY2EHe8yi6ywgJx9tMlUCKtCXqwn3D4YC9HZbA9qcO1Ki5C0uFzr4YYp-WRLdAEsnG8Ujo7ayDQ2Q2fNjQeK9RNUgIU6y15BzcarQK9/s200/DemDonkey.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Combat Climate Change, Build a Clean Energy Economy, and
Secure Environmental Justice</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Climate change is an urgent threat and a defining challenge
of our time. Fifteen of the 16 hottest years on record have occurred this
century. While Donald Trump has called climate change a “hoax,” 2016 is on
track to break global temperature records once more. Cities from Miami to
Baltimore are already threatened by rising seas. California and the West have
suffered years of brutal drought. Alaska has been scorched by wildfire. New
York has been battered by superstorms, and Texas swamped by flash floods. The
best science tells us that without ambitious, immediate action across our
economy to cut carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases, all of these
impacts will be far worse in the future. We cannot leave our children a planet
that has been profoundly damaged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This is a pretty good preamble. Just two notes:<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>We won’t just “leave our children a planet that has been
profoundly damaged” – we must live in that damage ourselves. Talking about
children allows wiggle room for procrastination.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The “planet” will be fine, whatever ultimately happens. What
we should focus on is damage to the climate and the biosphere. The rocky ball
that revolves around the sun will continue on apace – even without us, and even
with wildly changed climatic conditions. But OUR survival in a radically
altered climate and biosphere is not guaranteed, nor is the survival of our
fellow travelers, the rest of the biomass of Planet Earth – nor is the survival
of the food webs that keep us alive. We may be facing down extinction. And that
should terrify us.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Democrats share a deep commitment to tackling the climate
challenge; creating millions of good-paying middle class jobs; reducing
greenhouse gas emissions more than 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050; and
meeting the pledge President Obama put forward in the landmark Paris Agreement,
which aims to keep global temperature increases to “well below” two degrees
Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit global temperature increases to 1.5
degrees Celsius. We believe America must be running entirely on clean energy by
mid-century. We will take bold steps to slash carbon pollution and protect
clean air at home, lead the fight against climate change around the world,
ensure no Americans are left out or left behind as we accelerate the transition
to a clean energy economy, and be responsible stewards of our natural resources
and our public lands and waters. Democrats reject the notion that we have to
choose between protecting our planet and creating good-paying jobs. We can and
we will do both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>More scientifically literate types than I am can probably
parse this paragraph better, but just at first blush it occurs to me that only
a couple of years ago our “target” was reducing greenhouse gas emissions more
than 80% below 1990 levels – not 2005 levels. Is this new research? Is this a
different benchmark? How is this different? <a href="http://grist.org/climate-energy/yes-the-u-s-can-reduce-emissions-80-by-2050-in-six-graphs/">http://grist.org/climate-energy/yes-the-u-s-can-reduce-emissions-80-by-2050-in-six-graphs/</a><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Mentioning both that Paris Agreement’s aim of keeping global
temperature increases to “well below two degrees Celsius” as well as noting
“efforts to limit global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius” is
heartening, because it keeps 1.5 degrees in the platform as a goal.</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-43149900997141630792016-08-25T11:59:00.003-07:002016-08-25T11:59:35.017-07:00Pivot To Climate<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<b>So just what is
#PivotToClimate?</b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Simply put, we (the
members of the Hair On Fire People community) are asking that environmental and
justice organizations such as the Audubon Society, Sierra Club, Theodore
Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, World Wildlife Federation, Oxfam and Unicef
- that is, the pantheon of progressive activist groups that made up the
People's Climate March in September of 2014 - join together again and pledge to
dedicate at least 50% of their time and treasure to climate change during the
2017 calendar year (coinciding with the first year of the Hillary Clinton
administration).</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3sR0UBvM0QmTH-kVb3rF2S6XbAiEGERsb9AcequbTG6qw9wrX3hiAbHcOHQIaJtL6pAdPX39zy9ieCunOhYi8B7NQ8W9r8t1oWcrZJeM0PLRfICFnQ7wwP_OQ9RSzXoo3qDpZLkCsePQ/s1600/ClimateChangeJawsPosterSmaller.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit3sR0UBvM0QmTH-kVb3rF2S6XbAiEGERsb9AcequbTG6qw9wrX3hiAbHcOHQIaJtL6pAdPX39zy9ieCunOhYi8B7NQ8W9r8t1oWcrZJeM0PLRfICFnQ7wwP_OQ9RSzXoo3qDpZLkCsePQ/s400/ClimateChangeJawsPosterSmaller.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
We ask that these
groups recoalesce around the idea of a #PivotToClimate so we can combine our
separate, individual rays of light into a super-charged floodlight trained
squarely on the most pressing crisis of our - or any - time. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
We ask that with
their time and money, these groups collaborate on redoubled, concentrated
efforts to educate, organize, mobilize, advertise and lobby for climate action.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In 2014, Business
Insider reported that: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
"Last year, the global economy needed to slash
world carbon emissions by 6 percent in order to stay on target, but we only
managed a dismal global average of 1.2 percent. That means starting this year,
we’ll need to cut 6.2 percent of our emissions every year for the rest of the
century if we want to meet our 2 C goal."</blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Also in 2014,
Michael E. Mann, <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-will-cross-the-climate-danger-threshold-by-2036/" target="_blank">writing in Scientific American</a> produced new calculations indicating that:</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"if the world continues to burn
fossil fuels at the current rate, global warming will rise to two degrees
Celsius by 2036, crossing a threshold that will harm human civilization."</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; margin: 0in;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">In short: we are
rapidly running out of time.</span></i></b></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
So what that does
time limit have to do with a #PivotToClimate?</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Do you remember the
People's Climate March in September of 2014? A throng of marchers more than
250K strong took to the streets in NYC and cities across the globe, roaring for
climate action. We were that many strong because we were inclusive not just of
climate change activist groups, but of a panoply of progressive activist
organizations and individuals.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Everyone joined
forces and took to the streets together: indigenous peoples groups, LGBTQIA
groups, Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, soccer teams and parents pushing strollers,
nuns and priests, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (I think they were
there), folks from Save the Wales, contingents from Greenpeace, and
representatives from Oxfam, Avaaz, the World Wildlife Federation, the
Teamsters, and 350.org. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
There were labor
groups, anti-corporate groups, peace and justice groups, environmental justice organizations and other
communities, food and water justice groups, interfaith groups. There were folks
dressed as polar bears. There were people on stilts. There were hippies and
hipsters and Millennials and Boomers and Gen Xers and various assorted cranky
olds and cheerful youngs (and vice versa).</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_TylrZcRPfbi90vpaMQ83ZogeVoHIVul497Zuf5_PWsAJn056cqZQ4qU_sBMoklRqDxuYr3Hd7cAHCzdHxYs-wvtRgZ_D5DPzHF2mGowdJVjTtQoyHKzyoZWGRYG4FPSKmEFN95e6PEn/s1600/ppls14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6_TylrZcRPfbi90vpaMQ83ZogeVoHIVul497Zuf5_PWsAJn056cqZQ4qU_sBMoklRqDxuYr3Hd7cAHCzdHxYs-wvtRgZ_D5DPzHF2mGowdJVjTtQoyHKzyoZWGRYG4FPSKmEFN95e6PEn/s320/ppls14.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
It was amazing. And
despite a shocking lack of coverage on the day, it made a difference.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
And now, we have to
do it again - but this time, for an entire year. I am convinced that if every
environmental and social justice group worked together just on climate change
for one full year, our voice would be so loud, and the pressure we could exert
would be so mighty, that things would change, and fast.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
This of it this way.
We seem to be a little stuck. It's like when your car gets stuck in the mud,
and you can't push it out yourself. You and a buddy can't push it out together.
But when a van full of folks pulls up and there are 10 of you pushing - voila!
The car comes unstuck.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In upcoming posts, I
will lay out my - admittedly still somewhat half baked - plans for what a year
of concerted, multi-organization climate action would look like. If you have
suggestions, please add them in the comments! This is our work in progress. I
appreciate your ideas.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
And, as always,
please stay tuned!</div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-85192937035891471492016-08-24T13:35:00.003-07:002016-08-24T13:35:34.949-07:00It pays to advertise...<div class="MsoNormal">
Energy companies – fossil fuel conglomerates – oil and coal
and gas companies – run ads. The “I’m Maggie,
and I’m an Energy Voter!” ads. Exxon
Mobil ads that talk a disingenuous blue streak about all the alternative energy
options they have in the pipeline. The “We
Are Koch!” ads that make it sound like the Brothers Koch are a caring, sharing
pair of hippies who march in the front lines in solidarity with climate change activists.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These folks have money.
They have reach. And they have
talented minions cranking out advertising for them that is DESIGNED to
obfuscate and spread mis- and disinformation on climate change, their role in
it, and how an “all of the above” approach is a sane, sensible solution to a
problem that they’re loathe to even admit exists: anthropogenic climate change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We in the climate activism community need an advertising
campaign, too. That’s part of my
year-long #PivotToClimate proposal, in which I am calling on the majority of
environmental and social justice groups to spend 50% of their time and treasure,
at a minimum, on climate change in calendar 2017.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we just had a pool of money – money already raised by the
Sierra Club, Greenpease, 350.org, Oxfam, and the like – to use on advertising,
we could move the dial of public opinion in a HURRY.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need to advertise – that is, to use the lingua franca of
these United States – to inform, energize, and mobilize the American people on
climate change.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJs8V0qEiC5W_3e5IUUMZqnyMeQacRz8F17VwpqRHqUPpF9cp4BRKxsI6HhyphenhyphenZOu1UlrLO5aKPdYD4AkEDJSotNUsvtCA_2Xe1_6jPpkJnfzHNQE9FsdKB0j_52S1olGmjhfkC5TC5GANP/s1600/megaphone-kid-cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJs8V0qEiC5W_3e5IUUMZqnyMeQacRz8F17VwpqRHqUPpF9cp4BRKxsI6HhyphenhyphenZOu1UlrLO5aKPdYD4AkEDJSotNUsvtCA_2Xe1_6jPpkJnfzHNQE9FsdKB0j_52S1olGmjhfkC5TC5GANP/s320/megaphone-kid-cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The messaging I propose should be designed to hit people
like they’ve been gut shot, and let them know that years of inaction by
foot-dragging, heavily-lobbied, and bought-off politicians has led us to our
current perilous position, facing a future of hellish heat waves, devastating
droughts, rampant “once in 1,000 years” storms, epic deluges, terrible public
health challenges, inundated coastal cities, and hordes of frantic climate
change refugees.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This isn’t the time for business as usual. It’s not the time for long explanations. It’s not the time for nuance and for coaxing
people along with rational explanations for why carbon dioxide can, yes, be a
very good thing (in moderation) for our friends the plants, but at higher
concentrations in the atmosphere begins to trap more heat which can lead to
more moisture in the atmosphere, much like the effect you might feel in a
greenhouse, which is why we call it….. zzzzzz…..<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The years of teaching and educating and imploring and
exhorting Americans to get worried about polar bears and shrinking ice sheets
at the far reaches of our globe just hasn’t mobilized enough of us. Yes, it’s mobilized some. I am not overlooking all the excellent
education and communication that’s been done.
The dial is moving… but it’s moving far, far too slowly. I feel momentum – but I fear we need even
more engagement, even faster.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Our “leaders” in DC are very well aware that most of us
simply aren’t fussed enough about climate change for them to pay it much heed,
either. They read the polls. They see where public opinion sits. So they know they can keep on taking the
money and lying like rugs (looking right at you, Senator McConnell) and not get
voted out of office. They know full well
that they can hem and haw, splutter and obfuscate, deny, declare they’re not
scientists, throw snowballs, and suffer no consequences. And so while the dial has been moving
recently – and President Obama has been raising a bit of a ruckus all by himself
– we’re not moving in the right direction fast enough. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><u>It’s time to crank it up to 11.</u></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need an electorate that’s furious at government inaction
on climate change and will vote for politicians who promise to take immediate
action. We need an electorate who won’t
put up with their lies any longer and who demand that their representatives do
their will on this most urgent and pressing of issues. We also need a population that is fired up
enough to take the personal actions required, like giving up or rationing meat,
driving less, buying green and renewable and local products, and more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need all Americans to be fired up and marching in the
same direction – which is roughshod over the folks like Paul Ryan and Lamar
Smith and Mitch McConnell and the Koch Brothers and the Heritage Institute and
the big fossil fuel corporations who want to stand in the way of us saving the
precious Goldilocks climate of our one and only home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So… here’s my question.
If you worked in an advertising agency, what messaging would YOU propose
to set the American public’s hair on fire?
How do we communicate urgency and get people angry that they’ve been shamelessly
lied to for so many years? We need ZING!
and POW! and ZOWIE! messages! What would
they look like? What would we say?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Please add your excellent ideas in the comments. And thanks!<o:p></o:p></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-91421988682445906102016-07-08T15:26:00.002-07:002016-07-08T15:27:05.015-07:00Paul Ryan vs Science<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSLcdcedRSTN0PE5l3OReR6VQ4PQJLlPC5ynbwmMq-yjSXQdqpC7NxlUBDL8dja3tX_A_TA62NnsKjqxkfiY9NeP8P-Vx420huTcrku2Bgud0DKUOkSeq5FLfelJVBFMf6I7MAallkggi/s1600/PaulRyanVsScience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBSLcdcedRSTN0PE5l3OReR6VQ4PQJLlPC5ynbwmMq-yjSXQdqpC7NxlUBDL8dja3tX_A_TA62NnsKjqxkfiY9NeP8P-Vx420huTcrku2Bgud0DKUOkSeq5FLfelJVBFMf6I7MAallkggi/s1600/PaulRyanVsScience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think it is fair to say that Paul Ryan would lose... but he, alas, does not know that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgdej_RXy64mrd8H7WwHO8CC_HvYPQZAg_trSkXhSrJi-yhl654rqL2r0VTfyo9YYyR0XE6-01x9kjyJsKmIb7nJ0juDvFBY5lC685L6TcNhurOSi3eIDSGhp_9yTGF_OSNhx2bQAQ3ES/s1600/PaulRyanVsScience.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPgdej_RXy64mrd8H7WwHO8CC_HvYPQZAg_trSkXhSrJi-yhl654rqL2r0VTfyo9YYyR0XE6-01x9kjyJsKmIb7nJ0juDvFBY5lC685L6TcNhurOSi3eIDSGhp_9yTGF_OSNhx2bQAQ3ES/s400/PaulRyanVsScience.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-27591518166234963942016-07-08T15:16:00.001-07:002016-07-08T15:17:52.051-07:00Posted at Dailykos on Brexit and Climate Change Awhile Back...<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That post is <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/06/24/1542096/-Brexit-and-climate-change" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Since then, the world has been an even meaner, uglier, more horrifying and violent place than just a few weeks ago.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Still... even with everything else terrifying that's been going on...</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMa1Tbn9Crz1xXS2U0ENy-yOBIfDBfTZPVuXMPAScqPUBDkkcbXN-LErf8pflAgyJlzpUGGGwJjPamh4rCv-B7f3YsV-hNleH74Htk6IvYQnUx3NTjJ9CTJamnmuoHoYSaHBFSU75uM4B/s1600/CCPoorDecision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMa1Tbn9Crz1xXS2U0ENy-yOBIfDBfTZPVuXMPAScqPUBDkkcbXN-LErf8pflAgyJlzpUGGGwJjPamh4rCv-B7f3YsV-hNleH74Htk6IvYQnUx3NTjJ9CTJamnmuoHoYSaHBFSU75uM4B/s400/CCPoorDecision.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-52361127827065416552016-05-13T12:50:00.003-07:002016-07-08T15:22:25.007-07:00Break Free!<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's time to break free from fossil fuels. Massive and widespread actions are apparently being <a href="http://www.thenation.com/article/break-free-from-fossil-fuels/" target="_blank">planned... or have occurred</a>? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I haven't heard a peep on the local news, and I live in Seattle, where we do a lot of kayactivism. I haven't heard a peep on the other news shows I watch - Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, either.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Apparently there have been actions and marches in the UK, the Philippines, and Australia. If I hadn't read the story at the link above, I would not have known. Not only have I not felt a tremor in the Force, I haven't seen a headline, seen a crawl at the bottom of a screen, or seen any tweets about all of these "mass actions" that are theoretically taking place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There's a <a href="http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/279666-we-must-break-free-from-politics-as-usual-from-fossil#" target="_blank">round-up off all the actions here on The Hill</a>, of all places. I read it with interest - and a bit of amazement. I'd had no idea such a lot of action was going on!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So I hit up Google for the news that I had clearly been missing - news of all the myriad protests, marches and actions going on all around me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I turned up hits... from Deutsche Welle, The Nation, Morocco Wold News, National Catholic Reporter, the Northwest Herald, EcoWatch, Islands' Weekly, Waging Nonviolence... see a pattern? Those are the top news hits for my search on "break free actions."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Except for The Nation, there's not one instance of the "MSM" reporting on people-powered actions to bring attention to this most urgent existential crisis of our time!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I did turn up reports from local news - KOMO News and KING5 - both on page 2 of the search results.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My plan is to tune in tonight and see what KOMO and KING5 have to say - and, of course, to watch Rachel Maddow and see if she has an item related to the break free protests. Given what else is going on right now, I rather doubt it. Today's news is nothing if not juicy. Release of the list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Bridgegate case has been delayed. The attorney in the DC Madam case may be dumping his list of contact information for her clients - a list he said may have bearing on the Republican primary process. And there's that silly game Rachel plays every Friday, the Friday Night News Dump quiz show - a waste of a segment if ever there was one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">So in short - the reaction of the major news outlets to "Break Free!" appears to be...</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwhHcn6_chitAJeaRj24uPLSy6pqpOf71qcaewh89WuVXfcGqVJasPCk8OEZUl7AxAOptyEfkB-B6Lutou8Cv1dHH8b_uzLlxXj2qyqOTkhWk212pFHlJx5sC4sUnd3PWO5YmSwzWJMEl/s1600/WinchesterHavePint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwhHcn6_chitAJeaRj24uPLSy6pqpOf71qcaewh89WuVXfcGqVJasPCk8OEZUl7AxAOptyEfkB-B6Lutou8Cv1dHH8b_uzLlxXj2qyqOTkhWk212pFHlJx5sC4sUnd3PWO5YmSwzWJMEl/s1600/WinchesterHavePint.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
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<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-44298469940166200102016-02-18T15:44:00.004-08:002016-02-18T15:45:06.228-08:00#ExxonKnewThis <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mckibben/exxons-neverending-big-dig_b_9262862.html" target="_blank">blog post by Bill McKibben</a>, writing at the Huffington Post today...<br />
<b><span style="color: red;"><u><br /></u></span></b>
<b><span style="color: red;"><u><br /></u></span></b>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="color: red;"><u>BLEW UP MY HEAD</u></span></b>.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
I knew that Exxon lied. Of course they did. But the sheer stunning immensity of their sociopathic disinformation campaign and...<br />
<br />
Well, read the post, linked below at the hashtag. But please, take your blood pressure medication before you do!<br />
<br />
#<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-mckibben/exxons-neverending-big-dig_b_9262862.html" target="_blank">ExxonKnew</a>Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-85589468204186798522015-11-24T12:04:00.000-08:002015-11-24T12:11:21.872-08:00It pays to advertise<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQD6rfrohqMrW1p5aL7qGkMnGZuGeiiR92sIBUd7k88YOmO9MqMISyPTfOUL5KHAwidVpbiagib47HxU_27dwAnQ71Ur4cZFP0lPTBTEv6QmvtJX0eNaETd30As5Nu6c-URsTilnNUjB45/s1600/StarSpangledHeart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQD6rfrohqMrW1p5aL7qGkMnGZuGeiiR92sIBUd7k88YOmO9MqMISyPTfOUL5KHAwidVpbiagib47HxU_27dwAnQ71Ur4cZFP0lPTBTEv6QmvtJX0eNaETd30As5Nu6c-URsTilnNUjB45/s320/StarSpangledHeart.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
Advertising. What if
advertising is a big part of the solution?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First, here’s the problem, as a series of related and
overlapping questions:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Why aren’t average Americans more worried about, and engaged
with, climate change?</li>
<li>Why, if a majority of Americans “believe” that climate
change is real, do so few rate it as a high priority for action?</li>
<li>Why, in this hottest ever year on record, aren’t average
Americans badgering their representatives and senators in Congress to DO
SOMETHING, and do it NOW?</li>
<li>Why, after years of messaging about environmental issues in
general, and climate change in particular, is the climate change message not
gaining more traction?</li>
<li>Why, when asked to <a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/167843/climate-change-not-top-worry.aspx" target="_blank">rank their worries</a> did Americans place
climate change almost dead last on their list? </li>
</ul>
Advertising is the lingua franca of the United States of
America. We swim in a sea of advertising
from the moment we wake up until the moment we fall asleep. We are surrounded by, engulfed in, and
showered with countless advertising messages every day – from radio ads with
the morning weather report, to billboards as we drive to work, to advertising
hoardings around the field at the Big Game, to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/business/media/15everywhere.html?_r=1&" target="_blank">relentless streams ofcommercials</a> at the movies and on television, to every show on TV (even the ones
“On Demand”) and You Tube and Yahoo and all of the websites we use.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everything is sold to us with advertising. EVERYTHING.
Think I’m exaggerating? Here’s a
partial list of things that are hawked with aggressive ad campaigns.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Pharmaceuticals (ED,
diabetes, Afib…)</li>
<li>Education (trade schools, on-line MBAs…)</li>
<li>Dating (Match, eHarmony…)</li>
<li>Cars</li>
<li>Lawyers</li>
<li>Movies</li>
<li>Sitcoms (with more advertising interrupting them)</li>
<li>Gifts</li>
<li>TVs</li>
<li>Lawn care</li>
<li>Hair care</li>
<li>Deodorant</li>
<li>Tech</li>
<li>Games</li>
<li>Baby food</li>
<li>Diapers (infant, toddler, adult…)</li>
<li>Fast food</li>
<li>Slow food</li>
<li>The American Petroleum Industry</li>
<li>Koch Industries</li>
<li>Political candidates</li>
<li>Political opinions</li>
<li>Television news</li>
<li>Child care</li>
<li>Elder care</li>
<li>Insurance</li>
<li>Good causes</li>
<li>Pain killers</li>
<li>PSAs (smoking is bad, drinking is bad, drugs are bad… unless
you’re talking about prescribed meds, and then… see “Pharmaceuticals”)</li>
<li>Love</li>
</ul>
And that’s just off the top of my head.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Americans are fluent in the language of advertising. Most of us have been marinated in advertising
since birth, and respond to it on an almost cellular level. The familiar cadence of the snake oil
salesman is deeply understood and being used to sell us everything from denture
cream to the conviction that fracking is a benign way to bring Americans clean
energy and more jobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most folks think they’re pretty jaded about
advertising. It’s common for people to
say that they “know how to tune that stuff out” and “don’t really believe” in
the pitch. That’s not the case,
alas. Advertising works. Despite protestations that we’re “too
sophisticated” and can resist the lure of the jingle and the slogan, we are in
fact responding to and being influenced by all of that rootsy guitar music, and
those images of babies and handsome people having fun. Why?
Because modern, sophisticated ad techniques take advantage of how your deep
brain operates. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Effective advertising isn’t all about giving you the information
you need to make a rational choice. It
isn’t only aimed at the prefrontal cortex, where decisions are made. It also cleverly aims its messages at the
limbic system – the “lizard brain” that deals in emotions, memory, and
arousal. And that, of course, is why ads
traffic in babies, syrupy music, holiday memories, frolicking families and
beautiful, healthy people doing aspirational things, even if those images are
laughably unrelated what they’re selling.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfi4UmGFQhCig9ZY30f668HAOnZdL1NxepPdWcPNhnKjpdF-OQTDGi6w1i2pUa2WzuTHVUCKQ4_WMpCVxiUC4S6osjWsjWw2WRk7i1eFZAu6l2h8K7SVpqKcRLe8Z8li2cYUSOQhyTie1M/s1600/In+Case+You+Were+Wondering+-+Woman+Flooded+Car.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfi4UmGFQhCig9ZY30f668HAOnZdL1NxepPdWcPNhnKjpdF-OQTDGi6w1i2pUa2WzuTHVUCKQ4_WMpCVxiUC4S6osjWsjWw2WRk7i1eFZAu6l2h8K7SVpqKcRLe8Z8li2cYUSOQhyTie1M/s320/In+Case+You+Were+Wondering+-+Woman+Flooded+Car.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Don’t believe me?
Think about any popular product being advertised these days, and then
remember HOW it’s being pitched. Cell
phones are technical gadgets – but they’re pitched with moms and families and
catchy, hook-laden music that stirs the heart strings. Same with cars, riding lawn mowers, blood
thinners, and big box retail outlets.
And it’s impossible to enumerate the unrelated agglomeration of products
being sold to you with sex.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While your prefrontal cortex is scoffing and thinking
“That’s nonsense! Cooper and Britnee
aren’t going to love me more if I take them to Disneyland!” the limbic system is listening, too, and
absorbing the lesson. You KNOW the
truth, but begin to associate the images of a loving family with the Disney
brand – whether you want to or not.
Watch one of those beer ads featuring healthy 20-somethings on a hike,
and while you KNOW that buying that brand of brew isn’t going to make you
adventurous and outdoorsy and slim, your limbic system is buying at least part
of what they’re selling. You’re being
aroused by the music, and feeling the sensation of happy good times, whether or
not you actually believe a word of the voice-over.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Advertising also works by the simple power of
repetition. Hear one simple message over
and over and over again, and you learn it.
For example, I know that Arby’s has “all the meats!” I know DiGiorno is “better than
delivery!” And I’ve learned a LOT about
Koch Industries since they started running ads on the Rachel Maddow Show. What have I learned? That they’re a great place to work, and care
deeply about water quality in the slums of Brazil. I have no idea if either of those things are
objectively true – but I sure learned them!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Koch Brothers know that advertising sells economic ideas
and political beliefs as well as it sells products. The Petroleum Council of American knows that
it can sell intense pride in America, fear of unemployment, AND “drill, baby –
drill!” disguised in a soothing 30 second spot about “clean energy from right
here at home,” featuring an anodyne cast of blandly diverse actors. And they know that if they keep repeating
those messages – those simple, clear messages – they’ll eventually move the
dial on public opinion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In short – if you want to sell something, hire a good
advertising agency and get your billboards and 30 second spots out there. And keep at it, too, with simple,
easy-to-grasp messages packaged to arouse the lizard brain. It’s only a matter of time before your
audience associates the feelings triggered by the carefully chosen images and
music with your simple message, and bingo!
You’ve gained traction. You’ve gotten
people fired up and ready to do something.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Which begs the question: if the Kochs and BP and Exxon Mobil
and the American Petroleum Council and their profit-driven, emitting ilk are
out there advertising like crazy, why is there no ad campaign aimed at firing
up Americans to take personal and collective action on climate change? Why are there no PSAs repeating incessantly
that climate change is already upon us, and it’s time to give up meat, turn
down the heat, and call your Senator? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why aren’t there any billboards hammering home the point that the time
is NOW and we have to act? Why aren’t
there any pop-ups on Yahoo’s landing page intoning “In case you were wondering
– this is what climate change looks like!” and featuring a picture of flood
victims in South Carolina? Why aren’t
there any messages with soothing, folksy guitar songs and video of soldiers on
patrol somewhere in the Middle East, talking about working together as
Americans to lead the world on climate action?!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mostly, of course, because climate change doesn’t have an
industry organization. Climate change
has many, many activists fighting against it in many and various ways, but it
doesn’t have a single powerful lobby.
There are multifarious groups working for clean energy, carbon
legislation, and so forth – but no ONE big group that has the financial clout
to take out an ad campaign or two. There
are individuals – from movie stars to nobodies like me – tweeting away in a
frenzy of intensity, but we seem to be mostly tweeting to ourselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Information about climate change is available, to be
sure. It’s covered in the media –
although mostly as a “debate” or “conversation.” It’s in popular culture: take “Years of
Living Dangerously,” for which there was a robust ad campaign. But that ad campaign was for one TV show –
and in order for an individual to engage more deeply, it was still necessary
for them to take the leap and opt in.
And to do that requires a level of motivation as a baseline.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
At the moment, most Americans are NOT motivated by and
engaged with climate change. Whether or
not they “believe” or are “very concerned,” they aren’t ready to storm the
barricades. They aren’t primed to take
the leap and take personal responsibility for their actions to address it. Most Americans aren’t tuned in to the same
frequency as those of us who are already passionately committed to doing
something about it. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many people say they “believe in” climate change but then
are honestly gobsmacked when someone suggests to them that climate change is
more of a personal threat to them than, say, terrorism. They don’t get the connection between climate
change and their breakfast – or climate change and their health – or climate
change and their homeowners insurance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Advertising has the power to dramatically change that
dynamic. Advertising has the power to
put climate change at the forefront of the national conversation. It has the power to carry simple, bold
messages, like:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s time to do everything in our power to slash emissions
and slow the progression of climate change. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">You’ve been lied to.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">You’re in danger.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">This is urgent! This
is happening NOW – to YOU! </span></b></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nuance can come later.
The thrilling emotional impetus must come first. Before we get a groundswell of citizen
action, people need to get fired up.
Before we get EVERYONE out in the streets marching and demanding that
Congress stop lying and take action, we need them moved, and touched, and
energized… and furious.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And to get them there, they need to be SOLD ON climate
change. Sold on it – with advertising.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have the power of truth on our side. There’s no need to feel grubby or
dishonest. Advertising isn’t necessarily
or inherently about selling snake oil – it’s about influencing people by using
emotional connections and repetition of easily-grasped concepts. The climate change movement needs to use this
American lingua franca to our benefit!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, there might be a billionaire out there who is on the
right side of history vis-à-vis climate change and would be willing to splash
the cash on a few gripping PSAs. In
fact, I am probably going right over to Kickstarter after I publish this. But I think there’s a critical role for the
government here, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s been much chatter about the need for a “new greatest
generation” and a “war time level of mobilization.” It got me thinking – specifically, about the
fact that during WWII, the federal government created the United States Office
of War Information to: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“…formulate and carry out, through the use of press, radio,
motion picture, and other facilities, information programs designed to
facilitate the development of an informed and intelligent understanding, at
home and abroad, of the status and progress of the war effort and of the war
policies, activities, and aims of the Government.”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m calling on the next president of the United States to
immediately upon taking office, create a United States Office of Climate Change
Information, to:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“…formulate and carry out, through the use of press, radio,
TV, motion picture, electronic and other platforms, information programs
designed to: facilitate the development of an informed and intelligent understanding of the imminent threat of
climate change to each American; report on the progress of the Government’s
efforts and activities devoted to reducing emissions, developing renewable
energy sources, and lowering the nation’s carbon footprint; provide information
on the climate change policies, activities, and aims of the Government; and let
each citizen know both how critically urgent it is that they pitch in and do
their part in combating this planet-wide catastrophe and that it is vital that
the United States of America lead the world.”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>In a word: advertising.</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m envisaging advertising by the government as analogous to
the war information in WWII: part of a broader strategy. There were many governmental agencies and
actions involved in mobilizing for war.
In the case of climate change I think that broad spectrum communications
– advertising – is an immediate need and requisite first step. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we elect a President Sanders, we know he’ll be focused on
climate change from Day One. But in
order to actually do anything – and do it fast enough – he can’t have Congress
blocking him every step of the way. That
means he has to have all Americans on board to either chuck out or change the
positions of the liars and deniers who are currently stalking the halls of the
House and Senate. Those who suggest that
we need a “war time mobilization effort” have it right. Part of that must include a vigorous,
effective advertising campaign the likes of which Americans haven’t seen since
WWII. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s where an energized, informed, activist American
people comes into it. The messaging I
propose should be designed to hit people like they’ve been gut shot, and let
them know that years of inaction by foot-dragging, heavily-lobbied, and
bought-off politicians has led us to this perilous position, facing a future of
hellish heat waves, devastating droughts, rampant “once in 1,000 years” storms,
epic deluges, terrible public health challenges, inundated coastal cities, and
hordes of frantic climate change refugees.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This isn’t the time for business as usual. It’s not the time for long explanations. It’s not the time for nuance and for coaxing
people along with rational explanations for why carbon dioxide can, yes, be a
very good thing (in moderation) for our friends the plants, but at higher concentrations
in the atmosphere beings to trap more heat which….. zzzzzz….. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The years of teaching and educating and imploring and
exhorting Americans to get worried about polar bears and shrinking ice sheets
at the far reaches of our globe just hasn’t mobilized enough of us. Yes, it’s mobilized some. I am not overlooking all the excellent
education and communication that’s been done.
I was at the Seattle People’s Climate march, for Pete’s sake!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But our “leaders” in DC are very well aware that most of us
simply aren’t fussed enough about climate change for them to pay it much heed,
either. They read the polls. They see where public opinion sits. So they know they can keep on taking the
money and lying like rugs (looking right at you, Senator McConnell) and not get
voted out of office. They know full well
that they can hem and haw, splutter and obfuscate, deny, declare they’re not
scientists, throw snowballs, and suffer no consequences. And so while the dial has been moving
recently – and President Obama has been raising a bit of a ruckus all by
himself – we’re not moving in the right direction fast enough. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilafo8wqxgsl-t2-HLaVHXXUkXOLechuPrVRj0-0lQng7o42VbFl78jntCf_j_7Zet32cGEbAH3aToIRjMLOUS7nGv3RbKH_HK9FJ5qazU44u0qk43E4YAKRN_GAo-XuCft3EFURJXu0aN/s1600/UpTo11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilafo8wqxgsl-t2-HLaVHXXUkXOLechuPrVRj0-0lQng7o42VbFl78jntCf_j_7Zet32cGEbAH3aToIRjMLOUS7nGv3RbKH_HK9FJ5qazU44u0qk43E4YAKRN_GAo-XuCft3EFURJXu0aN/s320/UpTo11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><b>It’s time to crank it up to 11</b></u>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need an electorate that’s furious at government inaction
on climate change and will vote for politicians who promise to take immediate
action. We need an electorate who won’t
put up with their lies any longer, and demand that their representatives do
their will on this most urgent and pressing of issues. We also need a population that is fired up
enough to take the personal actions required, like giving up or rationing meat,
driving less, buying green and renewable and local products, and more. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
So let’s get Bernie Sanders elected, and then let’s call on
him to start by getting Americans fired up and marching in the same direction –
<b>which is roughshod over the folks in Washington who want to stand in the way of
us saving our one and only home.</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-17697930506266914772015-11-06T11:36:00.005-08:002015-11-06T11:37:43.350-08:00Climate change communications... are we doing it wrong?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU6rP30fNjiASH-NAB7lXjrkHg36eo5JJEWoeHrRDF_eei477xWbwjLwNsLsTuNVYylOHC87bGlB0ZxcaL2BPSa4hv1P3OSPA3pP-HpI5mFx1Rupk6nCtrVU6Fad43vUmx4_BSqWbuHL8/s1600/StarSpangledHeart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU6rP30fNjiASH-NAB7lXjrkHg36eo5JJEWoeHrRDF_eei477xWbwjLwNsLsTuNVYylOHC87bGlB0ZxcaL2BPSa4hv1P3OSPA3pP-HpI5mFx1Rupk6nCtrVU6Fad43vUmx4_BSqWbuHL8/s320/StarSpangledHeart.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Note: At the exact moment I hit "publish" on this piece when I posted it to dailykos today, President Obama rejected the Keystone pipeline application. Hah! Nevertheless.....</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In my last post I fulminated about the lies being told in
the media about the Keystone XL pipeline and climate change. Specifically, I called out MSNBC’s “Morning
Joe” show and the insistence of host Joe Scarborough and Senator Joe Manchin
(D, WV) on one popular piece of misinformation – that the pipeline will create
40,000 jobs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To say that the veracity of that claim is hemmed about on
all sides by caveats is to stunningly understate the case. Nevertheless, Scarborough and Machin said it
on TV, in their outdoor voices, and were not challenged by anyone. Given that the pipeline is a late pipeline, and is pushin' up the daisies, I won't link to the politifact take-down of that jobs claim here. The point is moot. However...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Into the same time frame came a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/americans-largely-unconcerned-about-climate-change-survey-finds_563906d8e4b079a43c04de2d" target="_blank">piece by Seth Borenstein</a> on
a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that
found that, while most Americans know that the climate is changing, they just
don’t really give a flying flap.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Given that climate change will bring dangerous, damaging
weather (got flood insurance, folks?), increases in public health concerns
(think asthma and mosquitos, just for a starter), possible food insecurity, and
the potential for global conflict and mass migration, among other horrors, it
would seem to behoove us to snap out of our complacency and press the
government for urgent action. It was
also seems to make sense to get rid of our SUVs and monster pick-up trucks,
swear off factory-raised meat, and plant trees in profusion. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
American climate change communicators and activists are not
shooting ourselves in the foot or alienating people when we call clarion
attention to the criticality of the situation.
In order to make the systemic changes necessary to drastically slash
emissions, to begin the hard work of mitigation and shoring up systems to
withstand whatever climatic conditions are coming down the pike, and to
navigate the treacherous waters ahead, ALL Americans need to be not just well
informed, but mobilized and ready to move.
ALL Americans need to be on board!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We all need to know what we’re up against, what the time
table is, what the consequences will be, and what climate change has already
wrought. And we need to get that message
out effectively to more people than we have reached thus far.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Only then will we have enough people in the electorate who
know the urgency of the situation well enough to make climate change a priority
when voting – and (and I think this is key) will storm the barricades if
government isn’t moving fast or urgently or effectively enough.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Yet Borenstein reports:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>...fewer than one in four Americans are extremely or
very worried about it, according the poll of 1,058 people. About one out of
three Americans are moderately worried and the highest percentage of those
polled - 38 percent - were not too worried or not at all worried.</i><i><br /></i><i>Despite high profile preaching by Pope Francis, only 36
percent of Americans see global warming as a moral issue and only a quarter of
those asked see it as a fairness issue, according to the poll which has a margin
of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.</i></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That so many Americans haven’t yet made the connection
between their own urgent self-interests and the changing climate reflects a
number of realities, including:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*) The media either doesn’t cover climate change or presents
it in the context of false balance. Rare
is the report of a devastating flood, for example, that includes a sentence
noting that climate change might have made the situation worse. Media reports on the “conversation” or “the
debate,” rather than reporting the scientific facts. (Insert dark muttering about who owns the
largest news outlets.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*) Many (largely but not only) right wing politicians have
eagerly taken campaign donations and other perks from fossil fuel corporations
in exchange for lying about climate change.
To cite just one of the more egregious examples: Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, who appears to be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the coal
industry. Mis- and disinformation is
rife, and our leadership in Washington DC riddled with active deniers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*) We humans are wired to react to terrors that occur in the
short-term, like “Snake!” or “Gun toting intruder!!” while being relatively
complacent about threats that are perceived as a distant future
contingency. We’re evolutionarily
fine-tuned to stuff happening NOW, and our brains are wired to respond to
short-term disasters, not to something phrased as “a potential for 2.0 degree
Celsius rise in global temperatures by the year 2100.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*) Because of the scant attention paid in the popular media,
we on the left - progressive activists and climate change communicators - have
been doing most of the outreach about climate change. We've made great strides in raising
awareness, but we seemed to have reached the upper limits of our market
penetration, at least using our current tactics. We're not doing it wrong, but we need a few
new tools in the tool box.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first three bullets are true enough, but they're not
what I want to talk about here. Instead,
I think we need to address the last point. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>What’s the frequency, Kenneth?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a registered Democrat I am painfully aware of my party’s
tendency to speak softly while shooting ourselves in the foot. We do not excel in snappy one-liners and
zingy come-backs. We aren’t willing to
elide a detail here or there in order to get the main point across. We do not excel at manufacturing, and
sticking robotically to, talking points.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve observed that my brothers and sisters on the left are
more likely to present several sides of a subject, and lard a discussion with
caveats and footnotes. We can be earnest
and a little preachy. We want to seem
intelligent and rational and nuanced. We
want you to know we did our research, and will bore you with it at length. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And climate change lends itself to this style of
communication. While the central precept
is simple, there are many nuanced details and lines of evidence to consider,
and these can lead inexorably to the aforementioned caveats, charts, graphs,
and dense tangles of off-putting scientific jargon.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s easy to fail at crafting a message that compels the
attention of people who aren’t naturally tuned to our frequency. It’s easy to lose audiences who aren’t
already primed to hear our message. And
even when we do come up with a headline we think will grab hearts and minds, we
sometimes don’t recognize that there’s a big group of people who doesn’t share
our priorities and concerns. Polar bears
and penguins don’t move everyone.
Neither does coffee, or merlot, or the fate of people in faraway lands.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We need to learn how to talk to the people who aren’t tuned
in to Radio Progressive. We need to add
a channel on a frequency they’ll listen to, and can hear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Take Bill Nye the Science Guy. I adore Bill Nye. He’s got a twinkle in his eye and facts on
the tip of his tongue. Bill Nye speaks
truth to power, and isn’t even all that earnest and preachy. Trouble is that to a goodly number of
Americans, Bill Nye is the nerdy, unpopular brainiac they used to give swirlies
in junior high.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then there’s John Oliver.
Of course I love him, but every time I see headline on a progressive
website to the effect of “John Oliver destroys climate change deniers in hilarious
video!” I cringe. People – he’s
English! He’s nerdy. He’s sarcastic. He peers into the Rube Goldberg edifice of
American cultural life and makes wry, critical observations. There is a broad swath of Americans who will
be unmoved at best, or offended at worst, by his erudite British sniffing at
what they’ll perceive he thinks is their idiocy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, Director of the Hayden
Planetarium, and “Cosmos” host has a little bit more of a regular guy vibe, but
he’s an astrophysicist. He’s going to
use science and reason and graphs when he talks. To quote those recent irritating GEICO
commercials – “it’s what he does!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being intelligent and good and rational isn’t bad: it’s just
not enough. Being intellectual and
scientific and reasonable doesn’t play all that well to large swaths of the
American electorate. It’s not a sign of
weakness – or an abandonment of our Lib/Dem/Prog ideals – to acknowledge that
we must start reaching out to people using language and messaging tactics that
they’ll respond to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Tried and true GOP/conservative communications tactics –
like using family, faith, and patriotism to frame the narrative – are tried and
true because they work. Making a simple
statement of fact/values and instantly pivoting to a powerful talking point is
a typical GOP strategy. It’s one of the
reasons conservatives can be so irritating to debate with – but that
statement/pivot tactic works. Why don’t
those of us on the left do that more?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I used to be conflicted about trotting out those tactics and
memes to educate people about climate change.
I shouldn’t have been. Climate
change is the most important issue that’s ever faced humanity, and so far,
efforts from the left to fire up “average Americans” have been largely
inadequate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Take <u>patriotism</u>: I suppose I am patriotic, but at the same
time I’m deeply conscious of what America doesn’t get right, and what we’ve
done wrong. I am not moved by appeals to
me on the basis of “American exceptionalism” – but a lot of Americans are. We should be appealing to their sense of
patriotism. </li>
<li><u>Family</u>: Begging folks to “think of your grandkids” is off
the mark because it drives home the notion that climate change is far in the
future. But talking about climate
change’s current impacts to families and children makes a lot of sense. People are dealing with the personal and
financial impacts of climate change right now – but they don’t know it. We need to tell them.</li>
<li> <u>American exceptionalism</u>: That’s something I don’t believe
in. Others do, and we should appeal to
those people to consider that America is exceptional enough to lead the world
in this urgent work. A popular “denier”
talking point is to whinge about how “China won’t keep their promises.” We must craft a powerful counter-narrative,
and drive home the point that America can take powerful action – just like we
did in WWII, let’s say.</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In short: we know the science, and we know the shit is
hitting the fan. So we’ve got to stop
hedging and offering caveats. We can
continue a nuanced discussion of “average global fluctuations of temperature
since the Industrial Revolution” among ourselves - but for other audiences, we
need to replace that sort of argle bargle with simple, declarative statements
and startling, compelling talking points.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We urgently need to connect with the people who haven’t
tuned it, or who don’t get what we’re flapping our gums about because they’ve
gotten the impression that climate change is arcane, abstruse and not happening
right now. It’s time to take a page from
the right wing playbook – to use blunt, confident assertions and make broad
appeals to American exceptionalism, patriotism, and self-interest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Tea Party is famous for all sorts of things, including
Sarah Palin, the word “moran,” and getting their rabble well and truly roused. We progressives laugh at their simplistic,
perfervid communications style. But you
know what? That sort of sloganeering and
rabble-rousing works. Did you happen to
notice who won Kentucky’s race for Governor this week? The Tea Party guy. More half-baked ideas than a boulangerie with
a broken oven, but he got elected.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If we don’t talk to people who aren't tuned to the frequency
of liberal persuasion, who aren’t motivated or don't have the time to read
something long and discursive, who shut down when regaled with statistics, who
are accustomed to the timbre and cadence of right wing political speech and are
more likely to be persuaded by arguments in that style because it’s familiar,
and who respond to the classic GOP tactic statement/pivot, then we are leaving
a lot of potential allies on the table.
We already know that we haven’t gotten through with polar bears and pie
charts!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As George Bernard Shaw is said to have opined, “The single
biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We don’t need to replace our pie charts and penguins. But we should consider adding some mom, flag,
and apple pie.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next time – Fun with Facebook! In which I use GOP and Tea Party talking
tactics and re-work some climate change communications. Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-50019198163462897612015-10-23T11:03:00.003-07:002015-10-23T11:03:38.536-07:00Life in a boring time...<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
I was a voracious reader as a kid. I’d
glom onto and devour anything – mythology, poetry, plays, anthropology, horror,
sci fi, romance novels, adventure tales, classics, penny dreadfuls – but I
really, REALLY loved history, tales of swashbuckling derring do, and amateur
science.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
As a result, by the time I was 9 I had
come to the glum conclusion that I was living in the Most Boring Epoch of Human
History.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3T51tEQcknjJyL_6o7VouU3aLJNKDlY9jQ3kkMl-fx55LnQA2iQEoSE2QjsuxzVysElgIcL3WV3FVLR-Cx7AJoAonqrwFjF1KgBjMCgt6H9EW_FvMmrA8mXKQOj0l3Y1afVmEkpmRG-X/s1600/Borda_auguste_mayer_1867-reduc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz3T51tEQcknjJyL_6o7VouU3aLJNKDlY9jQ3kkMl-fx55LnQA2iQEoSE2QjsuxzVysElgIcL3WV3FVLR-Cx7AJoAonqrwFjF1KgBjMCgt6H9EW_FvMmrA8mXKQOj0l3Y1afVmEkpmRG-X/s320/Borda_auguste_mayer_1867-reduc.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "ship of the line"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
There was no place to explore except
space – and I was a girl, which meant the fighter jock-to-astronaut life path
was closed to me. I wouldn't be able to
discover the Northwest Passage, or the source of the Nile, either - someone had
beat me to it. As for a life of
adventure in a tall ship on the high seas?
Nope. Those days were over.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I read to my disgust
that most major diseases were either conquered, or soon would be - and that
medical science was progressing at such an incredible rate that there’d
probably be no horrible maladies left for me to find the cure for when I grew
up. We’d certainly never again experience something as gnarly and gruesome as
the Black Death (yes, little kids are savages sometimes – I found the idea of
such a horrific epidemic a tad exciting).</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Science was a
possible avenue for an amazing career, but since flying cars were touted as
being just around the corner, and "the future" appeared to be
hurtling toward us at a dizzying pace, I didn't hold out high hopes.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
As for social
causes, well - feminism was making great strides possible for women, poverty
would soon be a thing of the past, and life in a post-Civil Rights era meant
we'd soon have racism whacked once and for all.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The vision of a
future where everything had been discovered and all our troubles had been
banished spread before me in a sunny, futuristic hellscape of blandness, devoid
of conflict and strife, and empty of the possibility of peril and turmoil.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin-bottom: 6pt; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
To a weird little 9 year old craving
purpose, thrills, and a mountain to climb, it seemed pitiably depressing. How
could the adults have ruined everything for their kids? Didn't they know we needed a cause? Didn't they know we needed mysterious far off
places to explore? Didn't they know we
needed evil and wrongdoing and danger to fight against?</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws1cIbM3ojcu4fYhlSexJL6dYjv7hT2eh5oqwt7ryt_zYyor9wo6U6LW8s-M7D8TqdiSTh1kEwHdAKmfEbvsbVKvK4K4iaGUgNWr1lE9CR9H-h7uK38_d3cBhCeX8JZg1zZYz-1IeNj51/s1600/Flying+Saucers+For+All+Ad.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhws1cIbM3ojcu4fYhlSexJL6dYjv7hT2eh5oqwt7ryt_zYyor9wo6U6LW8s-M7D8TqdiSTh1kEwHdAKmfEbvsbVKvK4K4iaGUgNWr1lE9CR9H-h7uK38_d3cBhCeX8JZg1zZYz-1IeNj51/s320/Flying+Saucers+For+All+Ad.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flying saucers for EVERYBODY!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
It's funny to
remember how dejected I felt. It took me
years to realize how spectacularly and hilariously wrong I was, and when I did,
I instantly wished I could be back in my 9 year old skin, believing with
passionate intensity that life was improving for everyone on the planet - that
people were being lifted out of poverty and disease so rapidly that there might
only be pockets of strife left for me to help with as an adult, and that all
the adventure and mayhem and unpredictability was being sucked out of life and
sanitized by the twin forces of science and technology.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I like to think that
9 year old me would have recoiled in terror and horror at the challenges,
danger, strife, suffering, and unknown vistas unfurling before us as we watch
the climate change. But 9 year olds are
still young enough to not realize the real consequences of peril and
horror. The 9 year old me would probably
leap at a chance to live now, in a world with ever more monstrous typhoons,
scorching heat waves, droughts, wildfires, and rising sea levels. The 9 year old me would probably thrill at
the idea of a people's revolution if governments can't halt their climate
altering emissions in time to keep planetary warming under 2 degrees
Celsius. The 9 year old me would
probably be excited.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
The middle aged
me? I'm just angry, frightened, and
increasingly frustrated. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
In the United
States, only one single Republican running for president accepts the science of
climate change. In Congress, the<a href="http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/issues/energy-environment" target="_blank"> Chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee</a> flatly declares climate change to
be "a hoax." And while <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/04/06/new_climate_change_poll_shows_americans_believe_in_global_warming.html" target="_blank">most Americans now"believe"</a> in climate change - a majority are also not convinced that humans are causing it - or that it
will affect them personally!</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If the topic of
climate change has reached a "break-out" point, I haven't noticed
it. We seem to be stuck in 2nd
gear. The great "click!" that
so many of us have been waiting for hasn't happened yet, and the talks in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/21/paris-climate-pledges-will-slow-energy-emissions" target="_blank">Paris this November - if 100% successful</a> - </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="margin: 0in;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt;">"</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt;">will result in a rapid and dramatic
slowdown in the growth of carbon from the energy sector - <b><i>but will not reverse
that growth within the next 15 years </i></b>(emphasis mine)."</span></blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
It's time to up the
ante. It's time to do something
drastic. It's time to put the pedal to
the metal - but how? What can "we
the people" do to accelerate change, heat up the debate, and force our
leaders to take much more drastic action on climate change?</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
Here's something I
can get behind - and it's an issue around which there is currently heat and
light. Let's get the <a href="https://storify.com/350dotorg/get-the-fossil-fuels-out-of-climate-talks" target="_blank">fossil fuelcompanies out of the climate talks</a>! </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
I'm <a href="https://350.org/press-release/setting-up-a-fight-with-the-fossil-fuel-industry-activists-prepare-for-paris-climate-talks-2/" target="_blank">joining 350.org</a>
with the express purpose of pitching in on that effort. Here's their website if you'd like to join up
too. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
This is timely - and
it may be too late - but if you haven't been involved yet, it would be a great
place to start.</div>
<br />
<div style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; margin: 0in;">
If you're in Seattle
and haven't joined 350.org yet, there's a chapter! I plan to join this weekend. Ping me on Twitter at @KiraOnClimate if you
want to join and would like some company.
I hope to see you on the barricades soon!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-39710677444769707772015-10-16T08:44:00.001-07:002015-10-16T08:47:13.053-07:00If you wait long enough, it doesn't matter any more...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I got married in January of 1991, and that summer R and I
had our picture taken together. We were goofing around in the courtyard of Da’s
new place on West 50th Street and a photographer friend captured a few lovely
images of us as newlyweds. (“You’re
looking at him like he’s an ice cream cone!” she giggled when she saw the
prints.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Da loved those photos, and he hung the best one prominently
in the living room, everywhere he lived after that. But of course time passes,
and people change, and eventually, Da asked me if R and I would have another
portrait done together, so he could have a more current picture of us, too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My Da was secretly a tender man, but his default exterior
persona was professorial and gruff. That he asked was all I needed to know
about how much he wanted that new image. He lived in Manhattan and we were
living in Seattle, and we didn’t see each other often enough. My Da wanted another picture to remember us
by, and I fucked it up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For years I thought about getting that portrait done. I
plotted cool locations – naked (but tasteful) in a hot tub! in motor cycle leathers on the roof of a
building on the lower east side! - and researched photographers. But I never
did anything concrete.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For one thing, I hate having my picture taken. R is tall and
lean and classically handsome (think a really, REALLY lovely Chiwetel Ejiofor)
and I’m... not. I'm zaftig and florid and red in the face, with pale, bushy eyebrows.
I have tiny teeth and small lips. I make lots of funny faces. Don't get me
wrong - I'm pretty - but when your own mother says "you really aren't
terribly photogenic dear," you know you're not photogenic. So between my
natural bent for procrastination and my fear of the camera’s all-seeing gaze, I
put it off. And off. And off.
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I had time! Da's
mother lived to be 97, and his father to 83. His older sibs all died in their
90s. His Aunt Sis was 100 when she attended her little sister’s 90th birthday
party. If the rest of the family was any indication, he wasn't going anywhere
for a long time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then he died. He
was 76. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHPlvKljcZe23k5x7bi-k0Ejpsz9LmS3FrpWgQaJUQC0JoGSsLe9hKGhCMSQ4YugHwLFZhok9QAupcEo5zHkG_I9xoFEq9Npx7yYS7Ab_jqeOhTDuaChkCaE3voZctDgxPOHBU6voBPNXn/s1600/Richard-Thomsen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHPlvKljcZe23k5x7bi-k0Ejpsz9LmS3FrpWgQaJUQC0JoGSsLe9hKGhCMSQ4YugHwLFZhok9QAupcEo5zHkG_I9xoFEq9Npx7yYS7Ab_jqeOhTDuaChkCaE3voZctDgxPOHBU6voBPNXn/s320/Richard-Thomsen.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Da</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The diagnosis of lung cancer came out of the blue. Da was lucky. As an actor, his excellent
union insurance got him screened frequently, so it was caught very early. That
same excellent insurance got him whisked into surgery within a couple of days.
The nodule came out. It hadn’t metastasized, so he wouldn't need radiation or
chemo. He recovered fast, and went home. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was just before the first Obama election (Da was over the
moon about Obama and the election results were the first thing he asked about
in the recovery room). R and I had our plane tickets for a Thanksgiving visit. Then
one night the week before Thanksgiving Da was pulling on his robe after a
shower and dropped down dead of a cerebral aneurism.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was still thinking about getting that portrait done -
maybe for Christmas that year? - when suddenly, I had waited long enough that
it didn't matter anymore. Da was dead, and no one else was asking for a picture
of R and me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I read this <a href="http://www.skepticalscience.com/must-stop-new-carbon-infrastructure-2018.html" target="_blank">piece on Skeptical Science</a>, I wondered if
we’re at the same point with climate change. If you're concerned about climate change you’ve probably read it by now, but if not, here’s a taste:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“In only three years there will be enough fossil
fuel-burning stuff—cars, homes, factories, power plants, etc.—built to blow
through our carbon budget for a 2 degrees Celsius temperature rise. Never mind
staying below a safer, saner 1.5°C of global warming. The relentless laws of
physics have given us a hard, non-negotiable deadline, making G7 statements
about a fossil fuel-phase out by 2100 or a weak deal at the UN climate talks in
Paris irrelevant.”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then there’s <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/07/20/the-worlds-most-famous-climate-scientist-just-outlined-an-alarming-scenario-for-our-planets-future/?postshare=1411437423303637" target="_blank">James Hansen’s new paper</a>. Hansen has authored a lengthy study outlining
a <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“...scenario of potentially rapid sea level rise combined
with more intense storm systems. It’s an alarming picture of where the planet
could be headed — and hard to ignore, given its author. In the new study, Hansen and his colleagues
suggest that the “doubling time” for ice loss from West Antarctica — the time
period over which the amount of loss could double — could be as short as 10
years. In other words, a non-linear process could be at work, triggering major
sea level rise in a time frame of 50 to 200 years. By contrast, Hansen and
colleagues note, the IPCC assumed more of a linear process, suggesting only
around 1 meter of sea level rise, at most, by 2100.”</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And David Suzuki, of all soft spoken people, is calling the
recent G-7 agreement a "<b><a href="http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2015/07/welcome-to-an-extreme-warming-world/" target="_blank">horrifying joke</a></b>." Yes, he wrote that. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So…. have we waited too long? Are we at the point where no matter how fast
we act, and how drastic the action we take, it’s no longer possible to avoid
catastrophic warming? Have we waited so long that it doesn’t matter anymore?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is it time to just fling up our hands, approve the Keystone
pipeline, call off the #ShellNo kayakers and drill, baby, drill? Is it time to
start work on our time capsules, so we can leave a message for whatever
sentient species makes it through the nightmarish hellscape of the future? To
start writing down our stories and recording our songs so we can bury them deep
in an impregnable bunker, to be found by someone else after we are all gone?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is it time to start preparing our children for the
inevitable, and ourselves for the terrifying road ahead? What do we do? Build sea walls? Build underground
fortresses? Migrate north en masse? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or do we stay where we are and hunker down, buy better auto
insurance for the next time a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh71bMbxZ7M" target="_blank">wildfire hops the freeway</a> and sets our car on
fire, then surf the web to learn more about the Kardashians, and watch trashy
TV?<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It's a serious question.
And I don't know the answer.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-4705356367554585242015-10-15T14:36:00.001-07:002015-10-15T14:58:36.307-07:00Willfully ignorant howler monkeys<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOf2eybtdKm4nddNcbjP1u9KFgsc_hg7NVjhZF-H609cJ2V5wXgaDBlpCQDovC2Mbp-RVTjWNJH-wXo1wGXB7C-KBD1kENVlSz-B-nhidZyDmGMOe0GsUY6ij-Ve1LKvv9oo34oeZLx-Uv/s1600/Howler_monkey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOf2eybtdKm4nddNcbjP1u9KFgsc_hg7NVjhZF-H609cJ2V5wXgaDBlpCQDovC2Mbp-RVTjWNJH-wXo1wGXB7C-KBD1kENVlSz-B-nhidZyDmGMOe0GsUY6ij-Ve1LKvv9oo34oeZLx-Uv/s320/Howler_monkey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Now that I have your attention... have you seen this <a href="http://www.ispot.tv/ad/73jj/2015-ford-edge-odds-song-by-rachel-platten" target="_blank">2015 Ford Edge ad</a>? <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A gorgeous young woman drives an enormous red SUV through a
gleaming, modern city. Sweeping,
pop-serious music swells behind her. In
voice over, the woman resolutely enumerates her personal odds in a city of
"two million, four hundred and thirty-four thousand, three hundred and
eleven people." As we begin to hear
the lyrics - "this is MY LIFE!" - and the music reaches a thundering
crescendo, all I can help but think is - we are F***ED.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What does this ad - what does anything about this ad - have
to do with the CAR they are flogging?
Yes, I obviously get the stretch they're making (car = powerful) but...
really? What does this striving young
hottie in a business suit have to do with how the car is engineered, or how
well made it is, or the features it has?
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh - and - since I care about the emissions that are causing
our climate to change... what's the MPH?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The 2015 Ford Edge gets "up to 20 mpg city, 30
highway." That's per Ford. That's their mileage brag.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These big, bulging SUVs - all curvy lines and jellybean
colors, replete with cup holders and mini computer screens and icy air
conditioning and GPS - are rolling off the factory lines at a tremendous pace
and selling like hotcakes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They're being sold the same way everything is sold these
days, via shameless appeals to the id and the limbic system. Is mileage even mentioned in this ad? Nope.
Is it mentioned in most ads these days?
Not that I have noticed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead, we're buying gas guzzling cars at an amazing pace,
because... personal ambition. Love. Sex.
Family. Babies. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They all do it, although the Subaru "Love. It's what make a Subaru a Subaru." ads
make me craziest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And every industry advertises the same way, with powerful
music and gauzy images of happy, sexy, vibrant people. The ads make us long for the feelings
promised by the images and the music, and make us greedy - nay, LUSTFUL - for
more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have never been more marketed to, and we have never been
hungrier for MORE.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anyone who knows anything about climate change should know
by now that we must SLASH CO2 (and other GHG) emissions by HUGE percentages
immediately in order to have a hope of slowing climate change and keeping the
total warming under 2 degrees Celsius. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But we're buying SUVs and pick-ups like they're going out of
style. We're consuming like it doesn't
matter what we buy. We're addicted to
enormous cars and air conditioners and riding lawn mowers and immense TVs and
power tools and heated swimming pools and cities that blaze like brush fires at
night with light after light after light after light... and we're mostly ignoring an issue so immense
that it boggles the mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you haven't read Margaret Atwood's piece about "it's
not climate change - it's <a href="https://medium.com/matter/it-s-not-climate-change-it-s-everything-change-8fd9aa671804" target="_blank">everything change</a>!" I encourage you to do so at
your earliest convenience. And then I
challenge you to get a good night's sleep, or stay on the sidelines of the
climate change fight. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Into this apex consumption moment, President Obama has
rolled out his new national Clean Power Plan, requiring that U.S. power plants
reduce their emissions 32% below 2005 levels by 2030. </b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, the plan doesn't do anything about personal consumption,
but bear with me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Personally, the majority of Americans seem to prefer to keep
the status quo. They want their SUVs and
their McMansions and their rooms full of flashy new appliances.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So maybe government can help? Maybe government can implement sensible
regulations, and work with private industry, to rapidly bring online cheap,
renewable energy that will allow us to continue our lavish collective lifestyle
without emissions? Surely President
Obama would like to include BOLD, effective action on climate change in his
legacy, no?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Actually, yes. He
would - hence the plan. The only problem
is that, compared to the scale of the action that we need to take, this is an
almost laughably meager effort. No less
an authority on climate change than James Hansen says the new policy is </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/obamas-climate-policy-practically-worthless-says-expert" target="_blank">practically worthless</a>.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nevertheless, the usual troop of willfully ignorant howler
monkeys are ENRAGED that our imperial muslin communist usurper president would
DARE to make even the tiniest change to the relevant EPA regulations. The GOP is prepared to fight with everything
they've got to stop this new presidential action in its tracks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And here we are, and that's why we're f***ed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There's no personal will to learn about climate change and
take sensible, immediate, personal action.
All the vast majority of us want to do is consume, consume, consume and
damn the torpedoes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There's no political will on the right to act with
intellectually honesty and take immediate, urgent, "war effort" style
action on climate change. All the vast
majority of politicians - left and right - want to do is get along to go along,
appeal to their base, take Big Daddy Oil's money, and get reelected.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The president - our intelligent, caring, effective, fired up
president - puts forth a demonstrably timid climate change plan that is doomed
in the cradle. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A national plan that would actually make a difference on
emissions would be centralized and coordinated federally. It would take enormous effort and enormous
will and unprecedented amounts of cooperation and "reaching across the
aisle," to use a tired old phrase.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It would require immediate government action and personal
sacrifice from every single American.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And we're not there.
The people don't even care enough to worry about the mileage their new
gas guzzling SUVs get. The republicans
pretend climate change isn't happening.
And our next president very well might be Donald Trump - the actual
living embodiment of the MORE IS MORE personal credo of consumption.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yep. We're doomed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-41145890691995637502015-10-13T15:43:00.002-07:002015-10-13T15:44:22.063-07:00Let's talk about insects<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAK1McPQeRSsEO0kAwNkPLsFXnONFZZdQfROY8-8MrgPmpLql8vvjOS1COe1QHCnWPteGQp4swr5dI_Gv-d3B7034h1k7QpIKQUMXeZeGB-p8F19ObVZNgW1hGbK8DWlaXPXP37HWF8804/s1600/stagADurer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAK1McPQeRSsEO0kAwNkPLsFXnONFZZdQfROY8-8MrgPmpLql8vvjOS1COe1QHCnWPteGQp4swr5dI_Gv-d3B7034h1k7QpIKQUMXeZeGB-p8F19ObVZNgW1hGbK8DWlaXPXP37HWF8804/s320/stagADurer.jpg" width="315" /></a></div>
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Let’s <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0714/240714_invertebrate-numbers" target="_blank">talk about insects</a>.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I live in Seattle now.
I consider myself a New Yorker despite not having lived there since right
after 9/11 (it’s been a long, strange trip).
And my family farm is in Iowa. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a kid I spent weeks there every summer, peeling potatoes,
hanging up laundry, picking beans, making pickles, husking corn, going fishing,
“helping” Grandpa Channer milk the cows, exploring in the pasture beyond the
apple orchard, and taking minute inventory of the astounding variety of insect
life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was a mini-biologist back then, and the farm was paradise
for someone so inclined. Everywhere,
there were insects. If you couldn’t see
them you could hear them, thrumming and whirring and scratching as they went
about their business. Bees crowded the
garden, all industry and drive amongst the peonies and bachelor’s button. Palm-sized garden spiders hung in wait in the
long grass at the far side of the driveway, midriffs bright with orange and
scarlet coats of arms. An almost
infinite variety of beetles were everywhere to discover – huge ferocious stag
beetles, pretty ladybirds, longhorns, and loud, startling click beetles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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There were giant walking sticks and waterbugs to catch and
release – katydids and praying mantises to observe – wasps to fear as they
buzzed protectively about their immense, bulging nests – fireflies to catch and
imprison in Mason jars – and giant red velvet mites astonishing in their tiny
perfection.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Clouds of gnats hovered in the cool under the oak trees at
the bottom of the lawn, and at the stone quarry in Chickasaw Park there were
traffic jams of dragonflies – bright blue skimmers, heavy cruising darning
needles, emeralds and petaltails. In
August, any tiny patch of moisture on bare ground attracted cabbage moths,
yellow and white, fluttering delicately as they sipped and looking in their
numbers as if, when they flew off, they could hoist the Earth with them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And now? Now, there
isn’t nothing, but there’s not much left.
The full-throated chorus of droning, humming, throbbing insect song is a
barely-heard ghost in the distance. A
handful of gnats bother late porch-sitters if the screen door isn’t
closed. The garden spiders are a greatly
reduced army, and they are all much, much smaller than before. A Monarch butterfly in the garden is cause
for exclamation, and farmers are <a href="https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/releases/iowa-state-researchers-explore-possible-causes-honeybee-disappearance" target="_blank">importing bees from Australia</a>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A recent study published in Science and led by UCL, Stanford
and UCSB found that invertebrate numbers have decreased by 45% on average over
the last 40 years.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I can see the decline when I visit the farm each
August. I can hear the silence where
once there was an omnipresent roar. But
I had no idea how drastic the change was – and when I saw it quantified, I was
astonished.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You might ask, “So what?
I don’t like spiders. Gnats are
nasty and annoying, and butterflies are pretty, but who needs them?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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According to the study,<o:p></o:p></div>
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This decline matters because of the enormous benefits
invertebrates such as insects, spiders, crustaceans, slugs and worms bring to
our day-to-day lives, including pollination and pest control for crops,
decomposition for nutrient cycling, water filtration and human health.</blockquote>
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And Dr. Ben Collen, last author of the study, said,<o:p></o:p></div>
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We were shocked to find similar losses in invertebrates as
with larger animals, as we previously thought invertebrates to be more
resilient. While we don’t fully understand what the long-term impact of these
declining numbers will be, currently we are in the potentially dangerous
position of losing integral parts of ecosystems without knowing what roles they
play within it.</blockquote>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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And yes, climate change. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s not the only reason, of course, that insect populations
are in decline. We don’t know what’s
happening with the honey bees yet. In
Iowa I suspect that factory farming, so reliant on chemicals, is killing off
populations of any number of species.
And monoculture agriculture can’t be conducive to biological diversity,
even where insects aren’t bug-bombed into oblivion.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But climate change isn’t helping. Sure, a species here or there is able to
expand its range – but that comes at the expense of other, neighboring species,
on whom it must encroach.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most concerning, I think, is that WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT WE’RE
DOING. We don’t know what’s out
there. We don’t know precisely how these
complex ecosystems work. We don’t know
which species can die off with no human repercussions, and which are lynchpins
on which our very survival might depend.
We suspect – we think we know – we study feverishly, attempting to limn
the outlines of the story before the players change – but we don’t know. Not for certain. Not enough.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The issue is not that we act as though insects are pests to
be gotten rid of. The issue is that we
are heedless in every way. Our
lumbering, careless, devouring predation and annihilation of ecosystem after
ecosystem does not strike us – or at least not many of us – as the amoral
violence that it is. We’re rushing
toward the future and we think it’s bright.
We think of planetary prosperity and food for everyone, a never-ending
upward rise and expansion, a glorious future of technology and pleasure.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The minatory finger of evidence, however, points in the
exactly contrary direction. The insects
are telling the real story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So listen, will you, when you step outside. <b><i>What do you hear?</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-16468734462767634642015-10-13T08:44:00.001-07:002015-10-13T08:44:40.497-07:00The path in the dark toward mayhem...As a Communications Manager at a large regional healthcare system, I deal with change a lot. In fact when I was hired, the working title for the position was Communications and Change Management Lead - and change management is still a big and important component of my job.<br />
<br />
So I am intimately familiar with the sound of squealing stuck pigs. I am intimately familiar with the whining, denying, tantrum-throwing, conniption-fitting and desperate bargaining that accompanies change. I deal with it every day. To say that I am "over it" after almost a decade of helping people navigate unwelcome change is to indulge in reckless understatement. I hear you, people - you don't want to change. You like the way things are. Got it.<br />
<br />
Now, while there's little direct comparison between learning how to navigate a set of new data entry screens in an electronic health record system and the fundamental lifestyle modifications that will likely be required if we are to adequately address climate change, the human reaction to both types of change is the same.<br />
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First fear. Next denial. Then highly motivated, panicked bargaining. Eventually, after much heartburn, foot dragging, and time wasting, acceptance. <br />
<br />
Even many of us in the liberal activist community (Robert Kennedy Jr. is a case in point - check out this cringe-inducing video) who accept the science and are highly motivated to work on the issue of climate change are not thrilled with the idea that fundamental changes to how we live day to day may be required in the very near term.<br />
<br />
Almost every American wants to continue to live the way they do now, or better. In America, the average person already enjoys a sublimely lavish standard of living compared to people in the 2nd and 3rd world. In America, the problem is that even many climate change "believers" want to change nothing about the way we live, while at the same time changing everything. Or rather, we want to change very little about the way we live, while making a major, major change to the way the world does business with respect to energy use and production.<br />
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Meanwhile, the people who do not live as lavishly as the average American are hoping, praying, striving, and working their fingers to the bone with the singular passionate goal of some day enjoying the comforts and conveniences of the first world. Asking people to continue to live with less - or to understand that it is no longer possible for everyone to dream of an ever-upward trajectory in their standard of living - is an almost impossible task.<br />
<br />
But things as they are now are unsustainable and insupportable. And it is massively, desperately unfair that the first world has heedlessly consumed and emitted us to this dire point, while much of the rest of the world lives in grinding poverty and hunger and despair, without hope of ameliorating their life circumstances.<br />
<br />
The fact of the matter appears, however, to be that this planet cannot support a population of seven, eight, nine, and more billion people at such a high level – at least not with our current technology.<br />
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Clearly, the status cannot remain quo. We must interrupt, disrupt, erupt. A revolution is coming. What form it takes is up to us.<br />
<br />
If we take urgent, immediate, collective global action (hollow laugh) that will constitute a revolution, and in the right way. Immediate collective sustained global action on climate change would be a positive, hopeful revolution.<br />
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My fear is that instead we are plunging headlong down a path in the dark toward mayhem. All around I read and see and hear the signs that we are already experience disruptions and calamities caused (or worsened) by climate change - and I fear that we are hurtling toward what amounts to a global revolution based on mass migration, emptying flooded cities, the breakdown of food supply chains, unquenchable wildfires and punishing drought, food insecurity, the crumbling of governments and the rise of dictatorships.<br />
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Change is painful. No one likes it. That's the assumption going in. Now let's take a deep breath and think together about how we can change productively and effectively in the immediate near-term - together as a nation - to fight climate change. I believe it will take the sort of mobilization that was required during the Second World War - although perhaps on a grander scale.<br />
<br />
Recently in California excellent climate change legislation was watered down to accommodate fossil fuel interests, because people were afraid of the dreaded "R" word - that is, rationing.<br />
<br />
But what, pray tell, is so dreadful about rationing? We’ve done it before.<br />
<br />
When talking about the generation of Americans who “won WWII,” it’s usual to exclaim effusively about their strength and fortitude and patriotism and sacrifice. Tom Brokaw, who wrote a book about them and coined the phrase, writes variously:<br />
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...there on the beaches of Normandy I began to reflect on the wonders of these ordinary people whose lives were laced with the markings of greatness.</blockquote>
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They stayed true to their values of personal responsibility, duty, honor, and faith.</blockquote>
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A common lament of the World War II generation is the absence today of personal responsibility...</blockquote>
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And this, despite the off-topic, off-putting, bit about marriage:<br />
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The WWII generation shares so many common values: duty, honor, country, personal responsibility and the marriage vow " For better or for worse--it was the last generation in which, broadly speaking, marriage was a commitment and divorce was not an option.</blockquote>
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This is fulsome language, and it may in no small measure be true. What it does not reveal is that the greatest generation didn't do all of that commendable sacrificing and acting selflessly in the best interests of their country without being required to do so.<br />
<br />
For example, the greatest generation was required by their government to ration.<br />
<br />
Gasoline was rationed during WWII, as were tires, sugar, meat, silk, shoes, nylon and other goods. Can you imagine how we’d react to such restrictions today? I leave it to your imagination. Yet not that long ago – well within the memory of actual millions of living Americans - we dealt with it. During WWII Americans made do in conditions of relative privation because they knew their sacrifice was for the greater good. Of course people cheated, sold ration books on the black market, and tried to weasel out of doing the right thing. But that’s exactly my point.<br />
<br />
If you’re proud of your grandparents or great-grandparents for being part of that generation, be aware that they did not just rise up and act as individuals for the collective good of all Americans. While it is true that many citizens signed up to go fight the war, here on the Home Front it was government programs –funded by tax dollars – that required folks to act.<br />
<br />
If fossil fuel must be rationed while we are transitioning off it and if we can offset the personal inconvenience of driving less with creative solutions like carpooling, better public transportation, and job swapping, then why not ration? It makes excellent, practical sense to me. Obviously the legislation would need to be mindful of limits, of when such rationing might be lifted or re-imposed under changing circumstances, and set timelines and provide alternative transportation options where possible. It wouldn’t be easy legislation to draft – but what legislation is easy?<br />
<br />
And of course there's the dreaded "T" word - taxes. Everybody hates taxes. But what if we must put additional taxes on carbon? What if, in fact, we must put taxes not just on carbon itself, but on some consumer goods? I can imagine the necessity for a tax on luxury products that produce insupportable levels of emissions during production and transport. <br />
<br />
And what if it's necessary to tax the super rich to pay for a government program, based on the WPA, that produces good jobs working on infrastructure projects, planting trees, leading local Community Climate Corps, and cleaning up after the inevitable natural disasters that climate change is going to continue to bring?<br />
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Regulations are another “R” word. Recently, the GOP has been up in arms about sensible EPA regulations imposed by President Obama. But how do we move forward without regulating things like fossil fuel, coal production, power plant and car emissions, and more?<br />
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It is difficult to imagine a mechanism other than government intervention - regulations, taxes, rationing, new public works programs and the like - for limiting emissions, scaling back consumption, sharply reducing or eliminating our use of fossil fuels, developing modern, high-tech clean energy technologies and shoring up infrastructure to cope with the flooding, heat waves, and violent weather we can expect (and are already experiencing) as the world continues to warm.<br />
<br />
However well-meaning, people and corporations aren’t going to all of a sudden begin moving on these things, all together, in the same direction, without the government stepping in. IMHO, that is one of the fundamental things that government is FOR! Simply put: We the People aren't going to #ActOnClimate effectively and quickly enough without being required to do so.<br />
<br />
The alternative to asking our government to step in and enact sensible, climate change-focused legislation to help move us in the right direction is… what? Even if the Paris talks in December this year are a resounding success, the agreements arrived at there are only the start. Once the last limo has left for the airport, policies must be put in place to enact the decisions made there. That means Big Gubmint, like it or not.<br />
<br />
Are we a lesser generation than those who went through WWII? Perhaps we are, if we can’t rise to this challenge. Perhaps we are, if we continue as a nation to stick our fingers in our ears and sing “la la la la la – I can’t hear you!” to the voices calling for action.<br />
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And if that is the case, then do we - lesser current and future generations - deserve what we get? Do we deserve to reap the whirlwind? Are we on a path in the dark, hurtling toward mayhem?<br />
<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-47755688879478863252015-02-22T09:18:00.000-08:002015-02-24T14:34:15.319-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: start;">So what action are you going to take today on climate change?</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">I have been tweeting like mad, and feeling frustrated as hell that I am not doing action in the real world. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlHtPzcOdJiLNhmfnEtj4eYoegOj-D5aSJ9XTzQsIBQzTJ5kGWLbvls3zRrYdpdUWQth-9acp310AX794fZt-hYOW67AzKYzKqg6Lyf38ZXQmnvFmAEIhanbdt7GFWr0tsmQcoOLpMcr1/s1600/Action+-+Picasso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlHtPzcOdJiLNhmfnEtj4eYoegOj-D5aSJ9XTzQsIBQzTJ5kGWLbvls3zRrYdpdUWQth-9acp310AX794fZt-hYOW67AzKYzKqg6Lyf38ZXQmnvFmAEIhanbdt7GFWr0tsmQcoOLpMcr1/s1600/Action+-+Picasso.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
The climate march was amazing - incredible - miraculous, practically - but what the heck has happened since then? <br />
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It's time for something else concrete. As citizens, we have the power of our vote (sort of... gerrymandering...) and the power of our bodies, which we can, and should, be throwing in front of oil trains and Senatorial offices.<br />
<br />
Big oil money will continue to drown us out if we don't get off our butts and take to the streets.<br />
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Even then, chances seem slim that anything will be done in time to prevent the worst ravages of <a href="http://www.skepticalscience.com/print.php?r=349" target="_blank">climate change</a>. Deniers with lots of oil money and plenty of power are blasting the message that "there are many more urgent competing priorities" - and there are NOT. <br />
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So where's the next huge march? The last one actually moved the dial. Let's do it again!<br />
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<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-36322182844635085562015-02-22T09:11:00.003-08:002015-02-22T09:11:35.205-08:00Deniers! Find yours - call 'em out!This <a href="https://www.barackobama.com/climate-change-deniers/#/" target="_blank">excellent resource</a> from the President is back! Find your denier in Congress and tweet them like crazy.<br />
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What's that thing they say about politicians? Oh - right! That they're all like weathervanes. So let's huff, and puff, and BLOW their minds open!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFs8Vw4sK6adOsDlNaeDRRqYP6e-y6lQgMlYH9hXnG9cPuupPVm1B3owLY-8mhcUNFyVZSt4OSW-9VfPOcyLDNs4W5_T_C0wE9fVfOFSDpvXcvzno5DBgpBn3QEmiRQ6FrZVWGNMSgn-cl/s1600/WeatherVaneRooster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFs8Vw4sK6adOsDlNaeDRRqYP6e-y6lQgMlYH9hXnG9cPuupPVm1B3owLY-8mhcUNFyVZSt4OSW-9VfPOcyLDNs4W5_T_C0wE9fVfOFSDpvXcvzno5DBgpBn3QEmiRQ6FrZVWGNMSgn-cl/s1600/WeatherVaneRooster.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-53125699253048146232014-11-13T13:24:00.001-08:002014-11-13T13:30:58.279-08:00It's a FACT. Let's ACT.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBTla5rPTJbmHzguaEBnAOW6wTEX1lgGD2n6xb2QC1ItTmH-HlBK5fUYRvlIWgC2rn6tNO5Y5mIo81NHy_ihOzDhkOOulr6a-Wd5v1bdQQW2S0qfYsOaSXBXhCx1naiDP3zhB3TxHgLs6/s1600/Its+a+Fact+-+UK+-+Dinghy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBTla5rPTJbmHzguaEBnAOW6wTEX1lgGD2n6xb2QC1ItTmH-HlBK5fUYRvlIWgC2rn6tNO5Y5mIo81NHy_ihOzDhkOOulr6a-Wd5v1bdQQW2S0qfYsOaSXBXhCx1naiDP3zhB3TxHgLs6/s1600/Its+a+Fact+-+UK+-+Dinghy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBTla5rPTJbmHzguaEBnAOW6wTEX1lgGD2n6xb2QC1ItTmH-HlBK5fUYRvlIWgC2rn6tNO5Y5mIo81NHy_ihOzDhkOOulr6a-Wd5v1bdQQW2S0qfYsOaSXBXhCx1naiDP3zhB3TxHgLs6/s1600/Its+a+Fact+-+UK+-+Dinghy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIBTla5rPTJbmHzguaEBnAOW6wTEX1lgGD2n6xb2QC1ItTmH-HlBK5fUYRvlIWgC2rn6tNO5Y5mIo81NHy_ihOzDhkOOulr6a-Wd5v1bdQQW2S0qfYsOaSXBXhCx1naiDP3zhB3TxHgLs6/s400/Its+a+Fact+-+UK+-+Dinghy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I just found <a href="http://www.thescienceisstillsettled.com/" target="_blank">this blog</a>, and haven't had a chance to check it completely out. The basic premise seems sound, though.<br />
<br />
And if you are wondering who <a href="http://www.thescienceisstillsettled.com/home/settled-anthony-watts-is-a-fraud" target="_blank">Anthony Watts</a> is, and why there seems to be a link to his website in every tweet you get from a denier - well, there's your answer!<br />
<br />
I personally am going to tweet the meme on the left, together with a link to the settled science blog, to every <a href="http://ofa.barackobama.com/climate-deniers/#/state/wa" target="_blank">denier on this list</a>. (Well, except for Michele Bachmann. ;-)<br />
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I apologize in advance for how BORING my Twitter feed is about to become!<br />
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And hey - anyone want to join me?<br />
<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921591868535517340.post-80480132221173115082014-11-13T11:23:00.001-08:002014-11-13T11:23:49.004-08:00With all the flooding in Florida...You'd think <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/18/3569347/rick-scott-climate-solutions-summit/" target="_blank">Rick Scott</a> and <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2014/may/14/has-marco-rubio-backtracked-climate-change/" target="_blank">Marco Rubio</a> would get a clue.<br />
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At least Rick Scott met with some scientists.<br />
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<br />Kira Thomsen-Cheekhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09234332372654719366noreply@blogger.com0