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Bridging climate science, citizens, and policy


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Random Pieces 6/25/08

Help Jared Polis get to 100 donors by this Friday. As of Wednesday afternoon, he has 40 donors. Donate whatever you want. A progressive voice that understands the importance of the netroots can go to Congress if we all chip in a little! Also, visit his campaign website.

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I thought Iraq was supposed to be the central front of the ultimate war between the civilized Western world and the extremist terrorist jihadists. If so, then why in the world would our media devote 181 weekday minutes to coverage of Iraq in just under six months? That’s way down from 1,157 minutes in all of 2007 by the major networks. Throw out the liberal media junk before you try to excuse this away. The networks are wholly owned by right-leaning mega-corporations. And there is the answer: if the network news had covered the actual events within Iraq during the past year, Republicans would have been bodily carried out from office by now. As long as the media pretends nothing bad happens in Iraq, people in the States can concentrate on other things.

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Gov. Ritter’s Energy Office announced four utility companies that will begin offering rebates for Small Wind Turbine installations. They are:

  • Highline Electric Association
    Contact: Jason Depperschmidt, 970-854-2236, jason@hea.coop
  • Sangre De Cristo Electric Association, Inc
    Contact: Bill Bennett, 719-395-4590, bennett@myelectric.coop
  • Southeast Colorado Power Association
    Contact: Jack Wolfe, 719-384-2551, jackw@secpa.com
  • Town of Estes Park
    Contact: Michael Mangelsen, 970-577-3583, mmangelsen@estes.org

Homeowners and businesses can arrange with these utilities to install a small wind turbine. The partners listed above will issue the rebates, not the state government.

If you want a similar program in your area, contact your local elected officials and ask them to get in touch with your Regional Representative about the Small Wind Incentive Program. The more interest we can demonstrate, the larger programs like this can become. Even small scale systems reduce our dependence on polluting energy sources like coal and natural gas.

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President Bush is whining that Democrats keep blocking his energy plans. He keeps trying to stick Democrats with part of the blame for the current price of oil and gas because they oppose opening up millions of new acres to leases to energy corporations. First: Bush need look no further than his own secret energy policy developed by energy lobbyists as to why oil and gas cost so much (not that he really even cares what most Americans have to pay anyway). Second: Quit your whining, Bush. There’s a reason you keep reaching record lows in polls. Your record on energy is a small part of the reason why only 71% of Americans don’t support you. Perhaps if Bush had concentrated on running the country instead of his legacy, Americans might still back him.

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2010 will be primary season, as Markos details.  There are a large number of Democrats who have voted too many times against Democratic principles.  Some folks are balking at that number, but I think it gives progressive activists choices.  We don’t need to target every single one of them, just some of them.  I would like to see a better Democrat than John Salazar in CO-03.  Yes, he’s better than a Republican some of the time.  I want someone who is better than a Republican more often.


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A Look at Telecom Donations to Democrats

When I think something is shady or unethical about the way in which a Democrat votes, I don’t hesitate to call it as I see it. The House’s approval of retroactive immunity for telecommunication corporations last week is a prime example. I have zero love for corporatist Democrats. My interests (and yours) aren’t taken seriously when companies like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint can spend millions of dollars to ensure they get their way.

MapLight.org examines how two votes this year produced Democrats that voted against immunity before they voted for it. Not surprisingly, a large number of Democrats that switched their votes also received money from the afore-mentioned corporations.

Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint gave PAC contributions averaging:

$8,359 to each Democrat who changed their position to support immunity for Telcos (94 Dems)
$4,987 to each Democrat who remained opposed to immunity for Telcos (116 Dems)

88 percent of the Dems who changed to supporting immunity (83 Dems of the 94) received PAC contributions from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint during the last three years (Jan. 2005-Mar. 2008).

Click on the link above to see the list of these 94 Dems.

Of note to Coloradans:

John Salazar (CO-03): $6,000

Ed Perlmutter (CO-07): $1,000

Mark Udall (CO-02): $0

Here’s the way I read this: John Salazar is a Corporatist Democrat. He’s willing to vote based on pressure applied from big-money interests (note: you and I don’t make that list). I don’t think Ed Perlmutter is a Corporatist Democrat, but I’m not sure how else to describe him. Why would he vote to grant retroactive immunity to corporations that knowingly broke federal wiretapping laws? Especially with Qwest’s presence in the state: they didn’t hand control over to the Bushies. Why should the other telecoms get off scott free?

Mark Udall is running hard for the center of the political spectrum and it’s disgusting, quite frankly. Republican politicians will stab his “bipartisanship” in the back the first chance they get (see Sen. Ken Salazar’s ridiculous contortions for proof). I don’t think Republican voters want immunity that much more than Democrats do, which is to say not at all. I would be very interested in seeing any kind of quantitative rationale for switching his vote. Does his campaign think it will secure Undeclared or Republican votes this November? He might need them if he continues to stick it to his base.

Here’s what it means to Democrats at the national level: folks like Steny Hoyer, Rahm Emanuel and Nancy Pelosi need to be replaced with better Democrats. This capitulation based on campaign donations is sickening.

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