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LGBT

Bill Clinton Urges North Carolinians To Oppose Discriminatory Amendment

By Igor Volsky on May 5, 2012 at 2:35 pm

President Bill Clinton has joined the campaign against North Carolina’s Amendment 1, a measure which would prohibit same-sex marriage, civil unions, and domestic partnerships in the state constitution. In a recorded robo call released on Saturday, Clinton says:

Hello, this is President Bill Clinton. I’m calling to urge you to vote against Amendment One on Tuesday May 8. If it passes, it won’t change North Carolina’s law on marriage. What it will change is North Carolina’s ability to keep good businesses, attract new jobs, and attract and keep talented entrepreneurs. If it passes, your ability to keep those businesses, get those jobs, and get those talented entrepreneurs will be weakened. And losing even one job to Amendment One is too big of a risk. Its passage will also take away health insurance from children and could even take away domestic violence protections from women. So the real effect of the law is not to keep the traditional definition of marriage, you’ve already done that. The real effect of the law will be to hurt families and drive away jobs. North Carolina can do better. Again, this is Bill Clinton asking you to please vote against Amendment One. Thanks.

Listen:

Clinton first came out in favor of marriage equality during a Campus Progress Conference in July of 2009, saying that he thought it is “wrong for someone to stop someone else” from marrying. “I personally support people doing what they want to do,” he explained, adding that “all these states that do it should do it.” In May of 2011, Clinton endorsed marriage equality in New York.

Clinton’s daughter Chelsea is also taking part in the North Carolina campaign.

NEWS FLASH

Connecticut to become 17th state to legalize medical marijuana. | The AP has the story: “A bill legalizing marijuana for medical purposes has passed the Connecticut Senate. The state joins 16 others and the District of Columbia in enacting such legislation. State senators voted 21-to-13 in favor of the measure early Saturday, after nearly 10 hours of debate …Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has said he supports the measure, is expected to sign the legislation into law.”

Climate Progress

Study: ‘Virtually’ Certain Impact Of Manmade ‘Climate Change Is Observable In Arctic Sea Ice Already Today’

By Joe Romm on May 5, 2012 at 12:15 pm

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology news release.

The ongoing rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice is often interpreted as the canary in the mine for anthropogenic climate change. In a new study, scientists have now systematically examined the validity of this claim. They find that neither natural fluctuations nor self-acceleration can explain the observed Arctic sea-ice retreat. Instead, the recent evolution of Arctic sea ice shows a strong, physically plausible correlation with the increasing greenhouse gas concentration. For Antarctic sea ice, no such link is found – for a good reason.

When scientists try to attribute some observed climatic change to a specific forcing, they usually use complex climate models. The scientists at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M), however, decided on a different strategy as they set out to identify the main driver for the observed sea-ice loss in the Arctic. Dirk Notz, lead author of the study that was now published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters [1], explains why: “Sea ice is so thin that it reacts very sensitive to the large natural fluctuations of weather and climate that prevail in the Arctic. Because these fluctuations are inherently chaotic, their specific timing cannot be reproduced by standard climate models. Such models therefore aren’t necessarily the best tool to examine if natural fluctuations did cause the observed sea-ice loss.”

The scientists instead used a historical record that described the natural variations of sea-ice extent between the early 1950s and late 1970s. These natural fluctuations were then compared to the magnitude of fluctuations of the Arctic sea-ice cover as measured from satellites since the late 1970s. From such comparison, the scientists found only a minute chance that the recently observed extreme sea-ice minima simply happened by chance – and they could exclude self acceleration as the main driver for the observed sea-ice retreat. “Whenever we had a strong sea-ice loss from one year to the next, the ice cover always recovered somewhat in the following year,” explains Dirk Notz. This would not be the case if the sea-ice retreat were indeed self-accelerating.

Jochem Marotzke, Director at MPI-M and co-author of the study, describes what the scientists did next: “Having excluded natural fluctuations and self acceleration as the main driver for the sea-ice retreat, it was clear to us that some external driver was responsible for the observed sea-ice decline. We therefore set out to find an external driver that showed a physically plausible relationship with the observed sea-ice retreat.” The scientists examined, for example, the strength of solar radiation. “Here, a physically plausible link to the observed sea-ice retreat can only be established if solar radiation had increased in recent years.” However, solar radiation has slightly decreased in the past decades. Its fluctuations are therefore very unlikely to be the main driver of the observed sea ice loss. The scientists could not find a plausible link to changes in prevailing wind patterns, volcanic eruptions, oceanic heat transport, or cosmic rays, either.

“In the end, only the increase in greenhouse gas concentration showed a physically plausible link with the observed sea-ice retreat. We expect a decreasing sea-ice cover for increasing greenhouse gas concentration, which is exactly what is observed,” Notz explains. The physical link between greenhouse gas concentration and sea ice is quite straightforward, he adds: “Greenhouse gases increase the downwelling thermal radiation. This radiation, in turn, is the major player in the heat budget of Arctic sea ice.”

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LGBT

Gay Bush Ambassador Slams Romney Campaign For Indifference To Anti-Gay Attacks On Grenell

By Josh Israel on May 5, 2012 at 12:12 pm

Bay Windows 1994 cover

1994's Moderate Mitt told Bay Windows He's Support Equality

Despite efforts by Mitt Romney and his campaign to put to bed the controversy over their roles in the resignation — which occurred under pressure from right-wing groups — of openly gay foreign policy spokesman Richard Grenell, the flap continues.

Yesterday, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Michael Guest, an openly gay diplomat who was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Romania by Republican President George W. Bush. Guest laments in the piece that the Republican Party’s leadership allows “principles of fairness and equality” to be “hollowed out.” While he dismisses the idea that Romney himself is to blame for the way Grenell was treated, he writes:

Romney’s slowness to comment amid the noise since Grenell’s resignation raises questions about his principles, as well as the quality and depth of his leadership. That’s what should concern us most in this sad affair. We should expect Romney to go further in making clear that issues of sexual orientation will have no bearing on any personnel decisions he makes, whether in his campaign or, should he be elected, in the administration he would lead.

Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of GOProud — a group more focused on encouraging LGBT voters to back Republicans than on encouraging Republicans to back LGBT equality — echoed these criticisms. In a break from the group’s usual GOP unity message, he told the Post’s Greg Sargent on Thursday:

The Romney campaign should have spoken up publicly in defense of Rick against the attacks over the past two weeks… This was an opportunity to send an important message that Mitt Romney wants everybody to get behind him and to support his campaign. They let that opportunity pass.

Log Cabin Republican Executive Director R. Clarke Duncan and former Bush adviser Mark McKinnon have also called out the Romney campaign for not standing up for Grenell and have encouraged the apparent GOP nominee to take steps to stop employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In 1994, Moderate Mitt Romney promised to co-sponsor a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act — and claimed he’d be a better advocate for gay and lesbian citizens than Sen. Ted Kennedy. But by 2007, Severe Conservative Mitt Romney etch a sketched his position and no longer saw a need for a federal employment non-discrimination law.

Now, Guest, LaSalvia, Duncan, and McKinnon are left lamenting that 2012 General Election Mitt Romney and his campaign’s cowardly handling of the Grenell situation is much more 2007 Mitt than 1994 Mitt.

Update

In a Sunday Washington Post opinion column, Virginia Log Cabin Republicans Political Director David Lampo joins the chorus of LGBT Republicans criticizing Romney’s record. Telling Romney to “stop pandering,” Lampo writes that while Romney needs to stake out pro-equality positions on at least some issues, his record “unfortunately, does not bode well for his doing not only the right thing, but the politically smart thing.”

Economy

On Derby Day, How Republicans Help Millionaire Horse Owners Pay Less In Taxes

By Travis Waldron on May 5, 2012 at 11:29 am

The 138th running of the Kentucky Derby is today, and more than 100,000 fans will pack Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky to see the first leg of the Triple Crown. What they will also see is a select group of horse owners who get to pay less in taxes thanks to a hand-out from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

In a tight race to keep his Senate seat in 2008, McConnell inserted the “Bluegrass Boondoggle” into the Farm Bill. The Boondoggle gave a special tax break to millionaire horse owners, costing the government $126 million over 10 years.

Though McConnell now decries wasteful spending, he publicly touted the millionaire-only earmark in 2008, and the GOP has done everything it can to preserve the tax break since. The House GOP budget, which gives massive tax breaks to the rich that Republicans say will be paid for by closing tax loopholes, doesn’t touch the Bluegrass Boondoggle.

That budget has wide support throughout the party and has been endorsed by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, another fan of humongous, unpaid-for tax cuts for the richest Americans. (Romney is, of course, also a fan of fancy horses.)

Romney has openly touted his friendships with the owners of NASCAR and National Football League teams. Given his support for a budget that gives away tax breaks to millionaire horsemen, he may be making a few friends in the horse industry too.

Economy

Clinton Labor Secretary Schools Romney: 4% Unemployment Came After Education Investments, Tax Hikes On Rich

By Judd Legum on May 5, 2012 at 11:28 am

Speaking in Pittsburgh yesterday, Mitt Romney said that “anything over 4% [unemployment] is not cause for celebration.” The United States last achieved a sub-4% unemployment rate in December 2000, the end of President Clinton’s term.

On Twitter, Robert Reich, a Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, reminded Romney how America got there:


Romney, on the other hand, is proposing the exact opposite. His tax plan would give massive tax cuts to the rich. (The top 0.1%, for example, would recieved a $264,000 tax cut.)

Meanwhile, in a closed-door fundraiser, Romney revealed he planned to make massive reductions in education spending. He is also proposing cutting funding for infrastructure, including the possible elimination of the Department of Housing and Urban development.

Romney’s comments also don’t reflect well on Ronald Reagan, who Romney now says he wants to emulate. The average yearly unemployment rate exceeded 7% for most of his presidency and never dropped below 5.5%.

Climate Progress

The City Is The Crucible For The Electric Vehicle Market

By Climate Guest Blogger on May 5, 2012 at 10:00 am

by Ben Holland, via the Rocky Mountain Institute

After little more than a year on the roads, the first mass-market electric vehicles have attracted tremendous scrutiny. On a monthly basis, commentators and automotive journalists proclaim their success or failure, based on sales fluctuations. At first glance, the equation seems simple: automobile companies build cars, and if they’re popular enough, they’ll sell.

But the EV market is arguably more complex than the traditional vehicle market. Sales result not only from automaker marketing but from a groundswell of support. Amounting to somewhat of a global movement, the EV market consists of an array of stakeholders—automakers, technology companies, governmental agencies, nonprofits, manufacturers, fleet owners, and consumers—all bringing unique motivations and perspectives on vehicle electrification. But they coalesce in one place—the city.

The challenges of transitioning to vehicle electrification are real. The internal combustion engine has been the established automotive technology for over a century. Switching out this familiar technology with the electric powertrain will not happen overnight. And it may not happen with any real scale without a concerted effort to support the industry. So stakeholders across the EV value chain are coming together in cities around the world, creating test beds and strongholds for the market. By fostering coordination among these entities, cities can create a localized movement and an adoptable model for others to follow. Replicating those efforts helps boost the electric vehicle industry’s chances for success.

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Election

Anti-Bailout House Candidate Lobbied For Bank That Took Bailout Money

By Josh Israel on May 5, 2012 at 9:30 am

Lobbyist and Former Rep. David McIntosh (R-IN)

Lobbyist and Former Rep. David McIntosh (R-IN)

Former Rep. David McIntosh (R-IN) is campaigning to return to Congress. On Tuesday, he will face several other Republicans in a primary for the GOP nomination to fill the open seat of retiring Rep. Dan Burton (R). A registered federal lobbyist, he hopes to spin through the revolving door back into the House. One lobbying client reveals a disturbing contradiction between his rhetoric and his actions.

McIntosh, a co-founder of the conservative Federalist Society and the executive director of then-Vice President Dan Quayle’s infamous Council on Competitiveness in first President Bush’s administration, left Congress in January 2001. That year, he became a registered lobbyist at the firm of Mayer Brown LLP (rules now require a one-year “cooling off” period), using his access and connections to advance the interests of a wide array of corporate interests including Pfizer, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Lockheed Martin.

In 2011, he registered as a lobbyist for the Royal Bank of Canada and, over the course of the year, the bank paid McIntosh and his Mayer Brown colleagues $300,000 to represent its interests.

Now, McIntosh is focusing much of his campaign message on his opposition to bailouts for banks such as President George W. Bush’s 2008 Toxic Asset Relief Program (TARP). He attacks two opponents for supporting “federal bailouts” and promises he’ll “never vote for a bailout.”

In one spot, he focuses on what he calls “really bad ideas” after the 2008 economic meltdown such as “bailing out companies, bailing out Wall Street with taxpayer dollars.” Watch the video:

The only problem: the Royal Bank of Canada’s American subsidiary, RBC America was among those banks receiving bailout funds. According to TARP records, RBC USA received a commitment of $270,000 in Incentive Payments for Home Loan Modification. At least $43,500 has already been given to the bank.

Either McIntosh is being insincere with his fiery anti-bailout bluster…or he was just happy to profit from that which he finds reprehensible.

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