Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1201

BP oil disaster is a call to action on clean energy

Minnesotans have already helped the Gulf respond to this current disaster. To prevent future calamities, we need to move swiftly to a clean energy economy. We have the technology, we have the capacity, and I believe that Americans have the will. Future generations will thank us for our courage this year.

State Rep. Jeremy Kalin, DFL-District 17B, is the chair of the national Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now.  He has a great op-ed in the Minnesota Post, which I excerpt...

Harry Reid calls the bluff of Climate Peacocks

Climate peacocks like to preen and call attention to themselves with flashy moves — but they are not sincerely interested in taking the difficult but necessary steps toward reducing carbon pollution.  Wonk Room's Brad Johnson has the story of this rara avis and names each one of its members.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) is giving obstructionist senators a chance to finally take action on climate and clean energy, after they attempted to block the "unelected bureaucracy" of the Environmental...

Time magazine names Climate Progress one of the 25 "Best Blogs of 2010″ - And one of the "top five blogs Time writers read daily"

For any first time visitors here, you might start with "An Introduction to Climate Progress."

From the savvy to the satirical, the eye-opening to the jaw-dropping, TIME makes its annual picks of the blogs we can't live without

Here's the full list along with what Time said about Climate Progress [plus a nice video:]:

Climate Progress began as a hobby but quickly became a full-time passion for Joe Romm, a physics Ph.D. from MIT who worked for the Rockefeller Foundation during the Cold War...

Time magazine names Climate Progress one of the 25 "Best Blogs of 2010″

For any first time visitors here, you might start with "An Introduction to Climate Progress."

From the savvy to the satirical, the eye-opening to the jaw-dropping, TIME makes its annual picks of the blogs we can't live without

Here's the full list along with what Time said about Climate Progress:

Climate Progress began as a hobby but quickly became a full-time passion for Joe Romm, a physics Ph.D. from MIT who worked for the Rockefeller Foundation during the Cold War, focusing on global...

Jindal's self-righteous indignation - LA governor talks tough on BP oil disaster response, while deploying "only a fraction" of National Guard, CBS reports

If Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) were a Texan, they'd say he was all hat and no cattle.  He speaks loudly, but he doesn't carry much of a stick as we've seen on the sand berm "solution."  TP has much more on the great Jindal swindle.

Last year, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) — a rising star in the GOP and potential nominee for the presidency in 2012 — gave a widely mocked rebuttal to President Obama's State of the Union address, prompting many pundits to conclude that his national...

American Public turns against offshore drilling

Ruy Teixeira , a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, shows us how the oil spill has been shifting public opinion on offshore drilling, little by little, in this repost.

The gulf oil spill disaster is starting to take a serious toll on public support for offshore drilling. Consider these data from a new Pew Research Center poll. Back in February of this year, 63 percent of the public supported more offshore drilling as a policy response to address our energy needs...

Energy and Global Warming News for June 28: Silicon Valley becoming driving force for electric vehicles; G20 urges phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies; Gore says record temps show need for Senate to pass climate bill

Silicon Valley becoming driving force for electric vehicles

Tuesday's scheduled stock market debut for Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors Inc., the first by a U.S. automaker since Ford Motor Co.'s in 1956, is the highest-profile sign of the region's role as a vibrant hub of the growing electric-vehicle industry.

But Silicon Valley is also home to some of the top companies working on the infrastructure needed to keep the cars charged up and on the road, including Better Place of Palo Alto and Coulomb...

At Oil Palace in Texas, Palin pushes 'drill, baby, drill,' says Obama wants to rule by 'presidential fiats'

Palin just can't quit "drill, baby, drill" — or hypocrisy — as TP explains in this cross-post.

In the wake of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf, many House Republicans backed away from former Alaska governor Sarah Palin's infamous 2008 campaign slogan "drill, baby, drill" in conversations with ThinkProgress. In a Facebook posting earlier this month, Palin herself declared that the United States "must" "drill, baby, drill," but "the public will not trust" oil companies to do so "unless g...

BP Slick Reached Mississippi While Haley Barbour Went Fundraising In Washington

As significant amounts of oil from the BP disaster moved past Mississippi's barrier islands this week, Gov. Haley Barbour (R-MS) partied in Washington DC to raise money for Republicans.  TP has the story in this cross-post.

On Wednesday, boats were skimming oil near the Petit Bois Island at the Mississippi-Alabama border. Barbour decided to attend to his duties as a political fundraiser:

Barbour on Thursday held Washington fund-raisers for the Republican Governors Association, which he heads...

Technically, I am 50 today

At least that's what Wikipedia says.

But my daughter keeps me young at heart.  And the blog keeps my neurons firing.  Thanks for that.

For my b'day, consider either buying my book or posting a globally heart-warming story — think "Chicken Soup for the Climate Science Realist's Soul," since I don't expect to see that book anytime soon….