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Climate Progress

McKibben Must-Read: ‘Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math’

By Joe Romm on Jul 23, 2012 at 6:40 pm

“Three simple numbers that add up to global catastrophe — and that make clear who the real enemy is”

CO2 emissions by fossil fuels [1 ppm CO2 ~ 2.12 GtC, where ppm is parts per million of CO2 in air and GtC isgigatons of carbon] via Hansen. Significantly exceeding 450 ppm risks several severe and irreversible warming impacts. [Estimated reserves and potentially recoverable resources are from U.S. EIA (2011) and German Advisory Council on Global Change (2011). We are headed toward 800 to 1,000+ ppm, which represents the near-certain destruction of modern civilization as we know it -- as the recent scientific literature makes chillingly clear.]

Climate hawk Bill McKibben has a terrific new piece in Rolling Stone, “Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math.”

It is getting monster social media numbers of the kind usually reserved for pieces on HuffPost about Kim Kardashian in a bikini: 66k FaceBook likes and an astounding 6300 retweets. That means millions of people have likely been exposed to at least the headline and probably some of the opening text:

If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven’t convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States. That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere – the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe.

Meteorologists reported that this spring was the warmest ever recorded for our nation – in fact, it crushed the old record by so much that it represented the “largest temperature departure from average of any season on record.” The same week, Saudi authorities reported that it had rained in Mecca despite a temperature of 109 degrees, the hottest downpour in the planet’s history.

Not that our leaders seemed to notice….

The three key numbers are:

  • The First Number: 2° Celsius [3.6° Fahrenheit]: The temperature rise we need to work as hard as possible to limit total warming to if we want to have our best chance of averting multiple catastrophes and amplifying carbon cycle feedbacks
  • The Second Number: 565 Gigatons: “Scientists estimate that humans can pour roughly 565 more gigatons of carbon … into the atmosphere by midcentury and still have some reasonable hope of staying below two degrees. (‘Reasonable,’ in this case, means four chances in five, or somewhat worse odds than playing Russian roulette with a six-shooter.)”
  • The Third Number: 2,795 Gigatons: “This number is the scariest of all – one that, for the first time, meshes the political and scientific dimensions of our dilemma…. The number describes the amount of carbon already contained in the proven coal and oil and gas reserves of the fossil-fuel companies, and the countries (think Venezuela or Kuwait) that act like fossil-fuel companies. In short, it’s the fossil fuel we’re currently planning to burn.

The figure above from James Hansen yields a moderately lower number, but the point is if we don’t we don’t leave most of the proven reserves in the ground — and all of the “potentially recoverable resource” — we are boiled brainless frogs.

McKibben writes too thoughtfully to summarize — and too eloquently to paraphrase. You should read the whole thing, which ends:

Read more

Economy

GOP Senator Blasts Obama For Talking ‘Incessantly’ About The Middle Class

By Travis Waldron on Jul 23, 2012 at 6:23 pm

President Obama’s plan to allow the Bush tax cuts for incomes above $250,000 to expire at the end of the year has revived the Republican talking point that he is waging “class warfare” against the wealthy, a point Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl (R) drove home in an entirely new fashion today.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Kyl claimed that the president’s usage of the phrase “middle class” is “misguided and wrong and even dangerous.” Calling for an end to rhetoric about classes, Kyl blasted Obama for “incessantly” talking about class, “particularly the middle class”:

KYL: Most prominently, we have a president who talks incessantly about class, particularly the middle class. Maybe you’ve noticed that. He defines class strictly by your income. In the president’s narrative, someone who makes $199,000 a year is a member of one class and someone who makes $200,000 belongs to another class. Does that make sense? Indeed, each day the president’s out on the campaign trail championing himself as the great protector of what he calls the middle class and pitting these Americans against their fellow citizens by arguing that the wealthiest class is victimizing them through the tax code.

Watch it:

Kyl went on to explain that America doesn’t have “a true class-based society,” since we don’t have an “ingrained class system” or “noble bloodlines,” a point that seems to ignore every common usage of the “middle class” in our political system.

As ThinkProgress has repeatedly noted, the president’s plan to end the tax cuts that benefit only the wealthiest Americans doesn’t amount to class warfare — in fact, it still maintains a sizable tax cut for them too. And while Kyl claims “class is a loaded term that’s not appropriate for our debates about income,” the talk about who pays their fair share is a hot topic for the GOP too. Republicans have pushed the false notion that 47 percent of Americans don’t pay federal taxes to make it seem that it is actually the poor and middle class who aren’t paying enough in taxes, and Republicans consistently opposed an extension to the payroll tax cut, which primarily benefited middle class workers.

The House GOP budget, meanwhile, gutted the social safety net, taking 62 percent of its cuts from programs that benefit the middle and lower classes. And while the GOP maintains the idea that reducing the debt and the tax burden on the wealthy will help middle-income Americans, the last decade has proven that to be utterly false. Republicans promised prosperity and job growth when they passed the high-income Bush tax cuts in 2003; what followed was a decade of rising deficits, anemic job growth, and a massive recession that decimated middle- and lower-class families and programs that benefit them.

Security

Romney Adviser Bolton Appears On ‘Birther’ Conspiracy Theorist’s Radio Show Blasting Obama

By Ali Gharib on Jul 23, 2012 at 6:00 pm

Conspiracy theorist Aaron Klein (L) and Romney adviser John Bolton (R)

Mitt Romney’s foreign policy adviser Amb. John Bolton has a knack for grabbing headlines for his unbridled hawkishness. On Sunday, Bolton rehashed his usual attacks on President Obama for not being supportive of Israel (those charges are spurious).

The only thing that might be notable about Bolton’s comment was its venue. Bolton was appearing on Sunday on a radio show hosted by Aaron Kelin, the Jerusalem bureau chief for the conspiracy website World Net Daily, known as WND. WND is perhaps best known for pushing Obama “birther” conspiracies — the widely discredited claim that the president was born abroad and is ineligible to hold his office — as well as other questionable stories.

It should come as no surprise that the Romney campaign, where Bolton serves as a foriegn policy adviser, maintains these sorts of relationships with conspiracy theorists. In an interview with another right-wing website, a Romney campaign spokesman Lenny Alcivar outlined a media strategy to use right-wing websites like the aggregator Drudge Report to get around critical media coverage. (During the campaign, Romney singled out Drudge as one of his favorite websites, and posted a video of himself reading the Drudge Report.)

But Drudge has a sordid history of providing traffic-driving links to conspiracy websites — including WND. A ThinkProgress investigation revealed that, since June 2011, Drudge linked 184 times to WND and another prominent conspiracy site, by conservative estimates driving over 30 million pageview to them — and that doesn’t include the seven permanent links Drudge has to WND columnists.

Here’s a chart showing how one of Mitt Romney’s favorite websites drives web traffic to WND and other conspiracy sites:

Like his employer WND, Klein buys into “birtherism”: He recently hosted “birther” idol Sheriff Joe Arpaio on his show to discuss findings of an investigation concluding Obama’s birth certificate was faked. (Klein said he, too, did an investigation that yielded the same results.)

WND pushes other less-than-reliable conspiracies on its pages. The website published stories alleging that Obama spent a year in Pakistan working for the C.I.A. and that conspiracists’ bête noire William Ayers paid to put the “foreigner” Obama through school.

For his part, Bolton had, not including this weekend’s episode, appeared on Klein’s radio show at least three times this year alone, with more appearances before that.

NEWS FLASH

Department Of Justice Opens Formal Investigation Into Discriminatory Pennsylvania Voter ID Law | The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has requested state data from Pennsylvania officials, the first step of a formal investigation into the state’s new voter ID laws, according to a report in Talking Points Memo. Earlier this month, ThinkProgress reported that more than 750,000 residents could be disenfranchised this election cycle thanks to the new law, and like many other voter ID laws introduced by Republicans nationwide, the majority of those impacted would likely be minorities, low-income individuals, and students, three groups of people who vote overwhelmingly Democratic. Last month, Republican House Majority Leader Mike Turzai landed in hot water after admitting during a committee meeting that the new law would “allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.”

Election

Romney’s ‘You Didn’t Build That’ Attack Ad Stars Businessman Who Received Millions in Government Money

By Aviva Shen on Jul 23, 2012 at 5:43 pm

After the conservative blogosphere used a selectively edited Obama campaign speech to suggest that the president belittled the achievements of small business owners, the Romney campaign released an attack ad featuring New Hampshire small business owner Jack Gilchrist as a counterpoint.

In “These Hands,” the Romney campaign repeated the out-of-context quote, “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else did that.” Jack Gilchrist, the owner of Gilchrist Metal Fabricating in Hudson, New Hampshire, incredulously asks, “My father’s hands didn’t build this company? My hands didn’t build this company? My son’s hands aren’t building this company? …Through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. Why are you demonizing us for it?”

In context, Obama’s speech was not “demonizing” small business owners but simply challenging the idea that wealthy and successful individuals have never benefited from government services.

And, as it turns out, Jack Gilchrist is no different. The New Hampshire Union Leader reports today that Gilchrist benefited from millions of dollars of government loans and contracts to get his business on its feet:

In 1999, Gilchrist Metal received $800,000 in tax-exempt revenue bonds issued by the New Hampshire Business Finance Authority “to set up a second manufacturing plant and purchase equipment to produce high definition television broadcasting equipment,” according to a New Hampshire Union Leader report at the time…

Last year, Gilchrist Metal also received two U.S. Navy sub-contracts totaling about $83,000 and a smaller $5,600 Coast Guard contract in 2008, according to a government web site that tracks spending.

Gilchrist wisely took advantage of these funds, which help small businesses like his survive in their early years. He also took a U.S. Small Business Administration loan in the late 1980s totaling “somewhere south of” $500,000, plus matching funds from the federally-funded New England Trade Adjustment Assistance Center.

In a lesson on basic government spending that Romney himself could learn from, Gilchrist succinctly explained: “I’m not going to turn a blind eye because the money came from the government. As far as I’m concerned, I’m getting some of my tax money back. I’m not stupid, I’m not going to say ‘no.’ Shame on me if I didn’t use what’s available.”

Watch the Romney ad:

NEWS FLASH

Atlanta Is The Largest Southern City To Ban Smoking In Public Parks | The Atlanta City Council approved a ban last week on smoking in public parks, and the punishment for breaking the new policy — up to $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or community service — is even harsher than in New York. While the South still leads the nation in cigarette use, the ban also makes Atlanta the largest southern city to ban smoking in public parks. The New York Times reports that about 200 southern towns have outlawed smoking in bars, restaurants, or work places in recent years, and last year, cities in Alabama passed more smoking bans than in any other state.

By Amanda Peterson Beadle on Jul 23, 2012 at 5:37 pm

Justice

Court Rejects Challenge From Reverends Who Want To Pack Heat, Upholds Georgia Ban On Guns In Churches

By Guest Blogger on Jul 23, 2012 at 5:35 pm

Our guest blogger is Billy Corriher, associate director of research for Legal Progress.

Hours after the horrific shooting in Aurora, Colorado last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to Georgia’s ban on carrying concealed weapons in places of worship. Guns rights advocates, along with two Reverends, argued the ban violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but the court disagreed. When the Supreme Court recognized that the Second Amendment protects an individual right, Justice Scalia said the ruling should not “cast doubt on . . . laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.”

The 11th Circuit held that the rights of gun owners are trumped by the rights of private property owners to determine the circumstances under which others can enter their property. The Georgia law allows parishioners packing heat to ask the church for permission to bring their guns. The court said, “An individual’s right to bear arms as enshrined in the Second Amendment, whatever its full scope, certainly must be limited by the equally fundamental right of a private property owner to exercise exclusive dominion and control over its land.”

The ban on guns in churches was enacted in 2010, when Georgia relaxed its concealed carry laws. The former law prohibited guns in “public places,” but the state legislature replaced that rule with a list of eight places where guns are forbidden. The list includes places of worship, government buildings, bars, nuclear power facilities, and polling places. Other than these restrictions, Georgia’s gun laws are among the most permissive in America.

But even these meager restrictions are apparently too oppressive for guns rights advocates. Father Stephen Pontzer, a supporter of the lawsuit, says the blame for gun violence belongs on those pulling the trigger. “It is not the actual item that really causes the trouble it is actually the people who would misuse them,” says Pontzer.

The Georgia legislature is now considering a bill that would overturn the 11th Circuit’s decision and further relax the state’s concealed carry laws to allow guns in churches, government buildings, schools, and bars, without the consent of property owners. In a nod to conservatives’ paranoia about the federal government seizing guns, the bill would also prohibit the National Guard from confiscating weapons during emergencies.

NEWS FLASH

Tennessee Titans Quarterback: I Don’t Mind If A Teammate Is Gay | Last month, former NFL player Wade Davis of the Tennessee Titans made news by coming out publicly. Today, Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said he doesn’t mind playing with gay teammates and even held a conversation with the other Titans quarterbacks about the topic. “[I]t’s kind of irrelevant to the discussion in terms of how we would view that person as a teammate or how we would view that person as a friend, or how we would trust that person,” Hasselbeck said. This is not the first time a prominent NFL player has come out in favor of equality on the playing field in recent weeks. Last week, New England Patriots tight end Rob Granowski said he’d be “cool” playing with a gay teammate.

– Ben Sherman

By Guest Blogger on Jul 23, 2012 at 5:30 pm

NEWS FLASH

Group Calls On Boehner To Kick Bachmann Off Intel Committee | The progressive group People for the American Way today called on House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) to remove Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) from her post on the House Intelligence Committee after suggesting that U.S. government employees are helping the Muslim Brotherhood infiltrate the U.S. government. PFAW noted that Boehner had criticized Bachmann for her witch hunt and that Huma Abedin, top aide to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton whom Bachmann named as part of the alleged conspiracy, was put under police protection because of receiving threats. “Members of the House Intelligence Committee are entrusted with classified information that affects the safety and security of all Americans,” said PFAW president Michael Keegan. “That information should not be in the hands of anyone with such a disregard for honesty, misunderstanding of national security, and lack of respect for her fellow public servants.”

Politics

Romney Dog Whistle: Obama’s Philosophy Is ‘Foreign To The American Experience’

By Igor Volsky on Jul 23, 2012 at 5:02 pm

Mitt Romney doubled down on his characterization of President Obama as a “foreigner” during an interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow Monday afternoon, insisting that the president believes that the government is responsible for the success of entrepreneurs and small businesses.

Romney’s comments continue to misrepresent Obama’s remarks at a July 17th event, during which Obama suggested that society as a whole contributes to the economic accomplishments of the individual. Republicans have seized on the remarks to advance the myth that the president espouses an “un American” governing philosophy:

KUDLOW: Why do you think President Obama, what did he mean, if you’ve got a business, you didn’t build it, someone else made that happen? He claims it’s being taken out of context. What do you think it means? Do you think this is Obama anti-business, anti-entrepreneur? Or do you think maybe he has been treated unfairly? [...]

ROMNEY: This is an ideology which says hey, we’re all the same here, we ought to take from all and give to one another and that achievement, individual initiative and risk-taking and success are not to be rewarded as they have in the past. It’s a very strange and in some respects foreign to the American experience type of philosophy. We have always been a nation that has celebrated success of various kinds. The kid that gets the honor roll, the individual worker that gets a promotion, the person that gets a better job. And in fact, the person that builds a business. And by the way, if you have a business and you started it, you did build it. And you deserve credit for that. It was not built for you by government…. So his whole philosophy is an upside-down philosophy that does not comport with the American experience.

In reality, Obama’s contention that — “when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things together” — is something Romney himself has agreed with. For instance, during his speech at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics, Romney said, “You Olympians, however, know you didn’t get here solely on your own power. For most of you, loving parents, sisters or brothers, encouraged your hopes, coaches guided, communities built venues in order to organize competitions.”

He echoed the same sentiment last week, saying, “I know that you recognize a lot of people help you in a business. Perhaps the bank, the investors. There is no question your mom and dad, your school teachers. The people who provide roads, the fire, the police. A lot of people help.”

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