Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1175

Bill McKibben reviews "Straight Up," challenges me to offer 350.org advice. I accept!

Bill McKibben — some-time guest blogger and the author most recently of the must-read book Eaarth — has a challenging review of my book Straight Up in the Washington Monthly.

He literally challenges me to talk more about political movements on this blog, such has the one he cofounded, 350.org.  I accept.

Indeed, I issue a challenge of my own to 350.org to change its focus and get more political! I'd love to hear your thoughts — and I'm quite sure that McKibben would, too.

So I'll mostly...

Video 2: Climate Change and National Security

Our favorite climate de-crocker, Peter Sinclair has another video on "Climate Change and National Security":

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I'm speaking at SF's Commonwealth Club next Monday

I hope to see some Bay Area Climate Progress readers next Monday at the Commonwealth Club at 6 pm, reception to follow (tix here).

Here are the details of the timely event, "After BP, Climate Progress?"

Does the oil sloshing around the Gulf of Mexico improve or impede the chance of major energy legislation getting through Congress this year? After decades of debating climate science, is the United States making any progress toward acting upon it? A former official at the U.S. Department of...

Energy and Global Warming News for July 12: Run cars on green electricity, not natural gas; World on track for hottest year on record; New rules may cloud outlook for biomass

Run Cars on Green Electricity, Not Natural Gas

With the dramatic increase in oil prices earlier this year translating into higher prices at the gas pump in the United States, concerns over U.S. dependence on foreign oil are once again part of the national discussion on energy security. Combined with the growing understanding that carbon emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels are driving global climate change, the debate is now focused on how to restructure the U.S. transport system to...

BP contractor: "What this company is doing to this country right now is just wrong"

A former contractor has come forward to denounce foreign oil giant BP and the "cutthroat individuals" running the oil disaster response.  Wonk Room has the story in this cross-post.

On Friday, contractor-turned-whistleblower Adam Dillon told New Orleans television station WDSU he was fired "after taking photos that he believes were related to the use of dispersants and to the cleanup of the oil." As a BP liaison, he had rebuffed reporters' attempts to observe cleanup operations in...

Preparing for the next public health crisis

Workers clean up the Gulf shore in this AP photo. The BP disaster underscores why we need to better manage the short- and long-term responses required to address the public health threats such disasters pose, as discussed in a new report by Ellen-Marie Whelan , CAP's Associate Director for Health Policy, and Lesly Russell, a Senior Fellow . This is cross-post.

We've all seen pictures of the dreadful and continuing aftermath of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of ...

WI GOP Senate candidate Ron Johnson owns over $100,000 in BP stock, supports Great Lakes oil drilling, and is "glad there's global warming."

Ron Johnson, a wealthy business executive and leading Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin this year, is beginning to receive scrutiny for his extremist views.  Last month he was asked whether or not he agreed that "man-caused global warming is a proven fact."   His reply:

I totally disagree…I'm always surprised that people think this is the sweet spot in global history in terms of this is where we should be climate-wise. We live in Wisconsin – I'm glad there's global...

Notes from the Denial Industrial Complex: Chamber of Commerce rents its roof to Fox News, Fox News refuses to critically report on the Chamber

Two of the leading organizations pushing disinformation on climate science and clean energy are the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (see "Luddite Chamber seeks "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" on global warming) and Fox News (see Fox News blurts out its agenda: "First, stop cap-and-trade, which could send these groups trillions," and then put "the whole corrupt 'green jobs' concept outside the bounds of the political mainstream").

Not it turns out they have a real bromance going...

Major BP shareholder Rep. Sensenbrenner says BP doesn't "deserve any type of executive bonuses"

In June, the AP reported that Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) owns hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of BP stock, according to financial disclosures. Shortly after the spill, Sensenbrenner focused his criticism on President Obama, attacking him for "publicly chastising and threatening BP" when BP "likely wants this resolved more than anyone."

At a town hall in Saukville, Wisconsin on Tuesday, Sensenbrenner told ThinkProgress that he would not recuse himself from BP-related votes,...

Tom Swift and the birth of American techno-optimism

It's the hundredth anniversary of the publication of the first Tom Swift novels.  Wikipedia notes:

The Tom Swift books have been credited with laying the foundations for success of American science fiction and with establishing the edisonade (stories focusing on brilliant scientists and inventors) as a basic cultural myth….

A number of prominent figures, including Steve Wozniak and Isaac Asimov, have cited "Tom Swift" as an inspiration….  According to Wozniak, reading the Tom Swift books made...