I am getting old (57) and I have seen better times.  Not in terms of my own finances, because truthfully I am about as prosperous as I've ever been, which is comfortably middle-class.  I have been poor and this is better.  Or in terms of my own mental health; I have been terminally depressed, and this is better.  But in terms of the rest of the world, our own nation, I have seen things slide down hill.  Of course, the global economy, not just our own, is in sorry shape, the dollar is depreciating, oil prices are going to the moon, inflation is rampant, there is turmoil in the Middle East.  Still, having lived through the seventies, I feel like this is deja-vu all over again.  We can survive this.

Other things are not so easy to fix.  And I don't mean that flippantly.

Al Gore has asked for our help.  I am responding to his request.  I hope you will do the same in kind.

It doesn't get much more visionary and ambitious than Al Gore's recent speech on energy and climate change, and this sentence in particular:

Today I challenge our nation to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.

If you missed it, you can find the full text here or read a helpfully annotated version here.

My only quibble with this fantastic speech was that Gore said little about the transportation sector, which is the second largest contributor to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

Changing our transportation policies and funding priorities could greatly help us address the climate change emergency. More on that after the jump.  

UPDATE: Once again I am asking for signatures on a petition to get the Traditional Media to tell the truth about the relationship between Global Warming, or as I prefer to call it, Climaticide, and extreme weather events. Given Al Gore's Challenge to Americans speech yesterday, it seems appropriate to once again call for signatures from the Daily Kos community. People can not make informed decisions if they aren't told the truth.

If you have already signed, thanks a ton. If you haven't please do.

You can sign here or read more below the fold.

Al Gore's latest plea for energy whatever it is was laden with some blatant misrepresentations. He said something like this, the USA borrows money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf which we then burn and by burning we will cover the continents with ocean in ten years from the effects of the CO2 melting the polar ice caps if we don't all build a wind mill in our back yard. Actually my problem is with the first part.

We do not borrow money from China to buy Persian Gulf oil. China invests it's trade surplus created, excess dollars in our Government debt. And because of the Petro Dollar, China needs US Dollars to participate in oil global oil markets. The Petro dollar just didn't sort of evolve on it's own from some sort of need for convenience. No, the petro dollar was fought for by Henry Kissinger during the Nixon administration which was coincidentally the same time Nixon was opening relations with China. All while China was helping North Viet Nam defeat us in the Viet Nam War. Small world, no?

In this 2008 political cycle, candidates are quick to propose expedient solutions to lower the price of gasoline. Few seem to recognize or admit that the primary function of markets is to forecast supply and demand. The energy and food markets are telling us that we must change our methods of production. Doctors say that pain is a friend since it is a symptom of what’s wrong and it motivates patients to seek solutions. Hopefully, the high cost of energy and food will likewise motivate us.

Some blame speculators for the high price of energy and food. It is true that traders can manipulate short-term markets, but they cannot buck fundamental supply and demand. We stand at the threshold of the largest industrial revolution in history. The energy demands of China, India and other developing nations are growing exponentially. The price of food and many other commodities are rising as a result of the energy needed to produce and transport them.

Here's a fun little story about how "scientists" and "journalists" fake each other out to misled the public - in a forum on physics and society, no less.

So, this evening while catching up on the news I somehow I followed a link to Drudge where I saw this.

"Group Repping 50,000 Physicists Opens Global Warming Debate..." (I don't link to Drudge.)

The link took me to this Daily Tech story.  

In an auspicious presentation at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Friedman spells out in no uncertain terms the challenges mankind faces in the Energy Climate Era now underway in the 21st century.

1. Energy and resource supply and demand.

2. Petro-dictatorship.

3. Biodiversity loss.

4. Climate change.

5. Energy poverty.

These five trends, which have met or passed their 'tipping points', will define humanity going forward. It was a tour-de-force clarion call.

"We are the first generation of human beings that are going to have to think like Noah," he said. "We are the first generation of humans who are going to have to think about saving the last two pairs."

Watch the videos of Friedman's speech.

Friedman throws down the challenge.

Al Gore 's speech (video) points to a solution.

The world is changing fast around us, and will not give us a second chance. We had better get started now.

I have been following the whole man made global warning debate for several years.  It has been entertaining to say the least with all the arguments from both sides.  

It seems that now the Physicist world is reopening the debate as to whether global warming is man made or not.  The Al Gore consensus seems to be falling apart.

Yay!  I get to meet Dean again tomorrow.  Dean is the person who got me involved in politics.  Way back in the dark days of 2003, the Daily Show was the only place I had heard anyone ask the question "Why the hell are we in Iraq?"  That is until Howard Dean said it and my heart skipped a beat, a political junkie was born.

Here is the NYT analysis of the speech:
http://www.nytimes.com/...

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon fossil fuels within a decade and rely on the sun, the winds and other environmentally friendly sources of electric power, or risk losing their national security as well as their creature comforts.

Mr. Gore called for the kind of concerted national effort that enabled Americans to walk on the moon 39 years ago this month, just eight years after President John F. Kennedy famously embraced that goal.

The current edition of Econoticiario brings you stories from Spain (the end of the Catalan drought?), Mexico (a slideshow of a glacier crumbling in Patagonia), Costa Rica (results of a new study on the migratory habits of leatherback turtles), Colombia (Costa Rica announces carbon offset program for air travelers), and Chile (tightening of rules in Santiago on who can drive on "pre-emergency" days)

Your Spanish words of the week:

tar sands--arenas alquitranadas

energía mareomotriz--wave power/energy

energía solar--solar power/energy

energía eólica--wind power/energy

energía geotérmica--geothermal power/energy

the livestream is over, will be posting clips & text as soon as they are availiable
here's the email sent from the We campaign before the speech

Dear M,

Something important is happening tomorrow.

In a speech in Washington, DC, Nobel Laureate and Former Vice President Al Gore will issue a major challenge, essentially pressing the "reset" button on how we think about energy and climate, and how we can create prosperity in America.

His speech will generate a great deal of attention. Since you are a We campaign member, we wanted to make sure you heard about it in advance. We'll email you when we've posted the video highlights, action steps and other resources -- so stay tuned for breaking news!

Cross-posted on THE ENVIRONMENTALIST

 A recent study has concluded that NF3 (nitrogen trifluoride), which is used in the manufacture of computers, cell phones, TVs and solar panels, can be identified as the "missing greenhouse gas."  The study warns that NF3 may "cause more global warming than coal-fired power plants" because NF3 is 17,000 times "more potent than carbon dioxide."  NF3 remains in our atmosphere for 550 years but it is not regulated by Kyoto or other agreements yet production of NF3 is significantly increasing.  

You may have read :
Polar Ice Cap to Completely Melt by September, by Phil In Denver : http://www.dailykos.com/...

so now Pugh wants to top his swim at the North Pole last year :

http://afp.google.com/...

1 day ago

LONDON (AFP) — A British explorer unveiled plans Tuesday to kayak all the way to the North Pole to expose just how quickly the ice cap is melting.

But renowned extreme swimmer Lewis Gordon Pugh, dubbed the human polar bear, is hoping his bid will fail -- and not because of the lethal conditions or a walrus attack.

The climate change campaigner said the mission ought to be impossible -- but some scientists predict that due to global warming, this year might be the first when someone could do so.

Pugh is due to paddle out from Norway's Svalbard islands on August 29, heading 1,200 kilometres (some 750 miles) north across the Arctic Ocean to the North Pole, kayaking up cracks in the ice.

Here's the full, astonishing quote out of the mouth of Rick Wagoner, the chief of General Motors:

   I’m determined and highly confident that G.M. will be a survivor.

That ought to send shivers up every stockholder's spine. A survivor, merely?

You can find more posts on climate change science, policy, and news at Environmental Defense Fund's Climate 411 blog.
 
 

I noticed that the Netroots Nation website links to the Burnt Orange Report’s Guide to Visiting Austin. Number one on the list of things to do is swimming at Barton Springs Pool.  
 

Barton Springs is indeed a very special place. It’s also a very visible reminder of one of the most unique and fragile geological features in Central Texas – the Edwards Aquifer.
 

Follow me over the fold to learn more about this special resource, and how you can help protect it during and after your visit to my hometown.

The biggest problem facing the world is the lack of a clean and inexpensive new energy source to replace fossil fuels. The solutions being talked about, like solar and wind, will not solve the world's exploding appetite for more energy. There is an incredible amount of evidence that new energy technologies and inventions are being suppressed, such as by threatening inventors or buying and shelving the invention by the threatened industries. Yet, there is no discussion of this topic, here or almost anywhere else in the liberal blogosphere. My question is why not? For Daily Kos, is this a banned topic, like 9/11 conspiracy theory? If it is not technically a banned topic, is it just a socially unacceptable topic because Kossaks imagine such topics will reflect poorly on the entire Daily Kos community?

There are things that I would like to have covered here, and I would even write diaries on myself, but I would first like to know if such efforts will be acceptable and/or grounds for being banned here. Any thoughts?