The Politico reported these zingers from President Obama at California fundraiser on Sunday:
“Has anybody been watching the debates lately? You’ve got a governor whose state is on fire denying climate change,” Obama said to applause in San Jose, according to the pool. “It’s true. You’ve got audiences cheering at the prospect of somebody dying because they don’t have health care and booing a service member in Iraq because they’re gay.”
Hey, maybe the President or his speechwriter read Climate Progress:
- Texas Drought Now Far, Far Worse Than When Gov. Rick Perry Issued Proclamation Calling on All Texans to Pray for Rain
- Scorched Earth Strategy: Perry Wants to Bring All America the Texas Miracle, Firefighters Paying for Gear, Engine Fuel
- With No End in Sight for Texas Drought, ABC News Explains: “Every Farmer in the World Will Be Affected by Climate Change”
The bad news for Obama is that after Perry’s dreadful debate performance last week, the right wing punditocracy has gone after him hard, and he has begun to sink in the polls and Intrade. Perhaps the President is trying to resuscitate Perry’s campaign.
Of course, the problem with the incumbent president mocking his opponent’s denial of climate science is that it becomes incumbent on him to take serious action on the problem, rather than, say, being recumbent!
UPDATE: The Perry campaign replies:
“It’s outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1,500 homes, the worst fires in state history, as a political attack,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner told ABC News.
Memo to Perry campaign: The whole point Obama is making is that these wildfires are the worst-ever for a reason! See Hell and High Water Stoke Texas Blaze: “No One on the Face of This Earth has Ever Fought Fires in These Extreme Conditions”
Previous in TP Climate Progress
Language Intelligence: Lessons on persuasion from Jesus, Shakespeare, Lincoln, and Lady Gaga
“…being recumbent”?
I’m trying to stay awake in class. This isn’t helping.
Perry might take a little time to go out and talk to farmers whose crops have failed, farmers who have watched the weather for a lifetime and ask them if they think the current weather is unusual.
Joe,
It is time you take a good serious look at the investments and changes this administration has put in place before you spout off that the Obama administration has not taken serious action on climate change.
Yes we do not have a price on carbon.
We do however have $40 B of investments in clean tech, raising CAFE standards twice, SunShot, ARPA-E and the DOE loan program to name a few. I’ve read countless articles in Green Car Congress on the wide range of DOE and ARPA-E investments in clean teach.
As one Gore Climate Presenter to another I know that you remember the first presentation pointing out the lagging fuel economy standards and what needed to be done.
It is time Joe for this blog to do a thorough accounting of the clean investments this administration has made rather than throwing out words like “recumbent”.
Finally, I’d like to let you know that I spoke with POTUS recently at the Univ of Richmond rally and asked him to defer the decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the election. He responded very thoughtfully that he is still considering Keystone. I was afforded this opportunity because I’ve been organizing for OFA, as any climate change activist should rightfully be worried about the prospect of President Perry.
If after you have weighed the combined efforts of the Republican field to combat climate change with the record of the last years of the Obama administration that you find you’d like to support folks who have bent the cost curve of solar 28% in the last year and a half, I suggest you send your readers to http://my.barackobama.com/September-Grassroots-FR
Respectfully,
–morris meyer
TCRP Presenter
OFA Fairfax County Phonebank Organizer
Mr. Meyer, respectfully, I have to stand up for Joe here (this article in particular) and disagree with you – I believe he is calling things as he sees them and in my opinion, Joe is right to highlight the wrenching feelings we (the folks who were expecting action on climate change) get hearing our current President using climate change when it suits his political whim to wack Perry (deservedly) over the head.
You are right, the president has implemented much better mileage standards, however that is a energy resource play, not climate change. Just like the huge expansion of coal production on government lands was a resource play. The giveaway of oil drilling prior to the BP spill was a resource play, Keystone XL expansion and on and on throughout his administration – the President is consistent.
The President has been a good supporter of Green Energy – he deserves good marks for that. That is a good thing and definitely not where the Republicans in the House are taking us (with little hope to change that).
But both these things are utterly different from serious action to slow down and stop climate change and on this point our current President has not only not had serious action, his administration has sold his citizens and future generations down the river.
Where the President stood on climate change was visible almost immediately after he got into office. Whether it was the leaders of the House having to goad the President into lobbying their members to pass the climate bill in 2009 or the fact that in June of 2009 (with the price of oil through the floor and great support for climate action) he approved the first large scale tar sands pipeline to midwest refineries (Keystone 1) that is now in operation delivering close to 10% of US oil to US midwest refineries (gives a Prius the CO2 emissions of a Hummer) – people are driving on that stuff now (and have no idea of course).
There are many other examples, but the Keystone 1 pipeline is, truly, key – as Dr. Hansen has said (in effect), if we burn the tar sands, it’s game over for the climate. Our current President is the one that put that first big pipeline into those tar sands (giving it big money for future lobbying and expansion) – and once a pipeline is open its hard to see it ever closing (especially with future oil demand and supply), helping to seal our fate.
The important thing here isn’t this or that silly election, it’s over (if you look at the expected effects) the future of civilization by the end of the century – and that’s action on climate change.
So while it might be good if Joe saluted to the political winds from the White House and got in line saying how great the President is on climate change – that would be a lie and I for one would rather have the truth – and here Joe is just continuing (as he apparently strives to do) to call out the truth.
One point on the solar costs – its the Chinese (with their massive government support and dumping) that have caused the price of solar to fall through the floor over the last 2 years – and they are in the process of destroying the US solar production industry in the process (First Solar the lowest cost US producer is now having to sell at a loss – its why their stock has taken such a wallop). Its great to have low cost solar, but I want to keep the US solar panel industry around – and its not worth it if we give them up and have to be reliant on China for future clean energy tech.
Nice article Joe, I salute you (for what that’s worth) – better keep that asbestos underwear handy as the campaign starts to power up.
Sasparilla,
“The important thing here isn’t this or that silly election, it’s over (if you look at the expected effects) the future of civilization by the end of the century – and that’s action on climate change.”
Talk about missing the forest through the trees. We have in office a President who will sign climate legislation into law. We have a Senate that is preventing climate legislation from reaching the President’s desk.
Instead of viewing this through the long term prism of putting into place legislators who are climate friendly through organizing, putting pressure on legislators and voting out climate deniers through the long hard electoral work, you naively believe that sitting on the sidelines throwing mud is somehow going to bring us a climate treaty.
If you really believe it is more prudent to sit out this election and wait five years for some mythical progressive savior in 2016 to solve our problems, good luck combatting an electorate that gets millions of dollars of fossil fuel advertising while you are off chasing climate purity.
That the disparate voices of the environmental movement are not producing a climate bill is failure of organization, and considering that 71% of the electorate believes that the climate is warming makes this failure all the more tragic.
Instead of Monday Evening quarterbacking I’d like to hear what you’ve done to change our laws and change our world to address climate change.
I am as impatient as anyone for a climate bill, but instead of throwing potshots from the sidelines I’ve ran for Congress in 2004 against Joe Barton, helped elect a climate friendly President, Senator and Congressman in 2008, and keep my Congressman (VA-11) after he voted for ACES in 2008.
–morris meyer
Sorry, I have to disagree with you again Mr. Miller.
What we need to defeat climate change, in the end, is the truth.
Whether that is the truth about climate change or the truth about the choices our politicians make regarding climate change is one in the same.
What Joe wrote here was the truth, its good that he did so and its important.
The previous decisions and actions taken by our President regarding climate change (that I touched on) are clear, consistent, deliberate choices (not potshots).
He made them, he blew our chances for the foreseeable future to get meaningful action on climate change at the federal level and now he gets to live with those choices – for better or for worse.
He’s still going to get the votes of most people here in the election (myself included, probably), but he doesn’t get credit for action on climate change, cause he chose not to do it (and shouldn’t be expected to do so in the future).
And that’s the truth.
I want action on climate change as well, but with this article and with this issue, the truth matters and its good that the truth is published.
I wish you the best though.
“He made them, he blew our chances for the foreseeable future to get meaningful action on climate change at the federal level and now he gets to live with those choices – for better or for worse.”
I don’t think that you can say this. We have EPA rules on carbon dioxide emission coming up soon (Yes, I’m taking the EPA at its word…). Would you consider this meaningful action on climate change? Or will you move the goal posts?
Certainly if one of the GOP field gets elected due to a lack of enthusiasm on our part then the EPA rules will be toast.
“What we need to defeat climate change, in the end, is the truth.”
Yes.. in the end, but truth is not enough. Just look at the fabulously successful rightwing… truth isn’t even part of the formula… organization and enthusiasm is.
We need truth, but we already have plenty of that. What we are missing is enthusiasm, organization and hardwork.
So I hate to sound combatitive, Sasparilla, but have you done as much as Mr. Meyer? What we need is action not talk. I freely admit that I have not done as much and so I’m humble about assuming that I know better.
Sasparilla,
71% of Americans already understand the truth about climate change and want to see reductions put into place. Perhaps you missed the ABC Cartoon of “I’m Just a Bill” growing up, but that 71% is not going to spontaneously materialize into 71 climate friendly votes in the Senate without effort.
We have in place a President who has already made big legislation a reality with health care and who has said that climate change is one of the things on the agenda. Should climate change been first and health care saved for later – as a climate hawk my answer is sure – but health care is something that affects all Americans and the benefits of carbon pricing are somewhat indirect. The case can and has been made that a climate bill would have been better for the economy.
We’ve had 32 months with this administration and 64 months to go if Obama is re-elected, should we just throw up our hands and stop trying to achieve our political aims just because a price on carbon didn’t happen in the first two years? Personally I believe we should take a page from the pro-life folks. They didn’t and they have not stopped pushing their agenda since being dealt a setback by the Supreme Court. They didn’t pout about the administration or the court, they took their challenge to all levels of government and have not stopped since. Here in Virginia, the 22 Planned Parenthood locations are being closed and we are going to look like South Dakota very soon.
Whether you vote for a President who has done very significant things for clean energy which reduce carbon (name another administration that has ponied up $4.5B for 1.4GW of solar – look up when the last increase in CAFE was – I’ll bet dollars to donuts it was before you were born) is not really the point.
Whether you are active to make sure every local, state and federal elected official is a vote for Climate Action is.
I have no problems holding any elected official to account on climate change and believe we should directly challenge each an every local, state and federal climate deniers. President Obama is not a climate denier, the administration has not been dormant on the issue, and the alternative if you are paying attention is hostile to the aims of taking action on climate change.
Ultimately I believe we need to take both direct and indirect action to get the climate legislation we need. Indirect action like the Climate Reality Project, 350.org, tarsandsaction.org are all providing information for that 71% who feel we need to take action. We also need direct political action – like the NRA or Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform that provides the political muscle to target elected deniers.
What actions are you going to take Sasparilla? Are you going to put your name out there and challenge the deniers in your community? Talk is cheap and mud is plentiful. We have been given license and liberty by our founders to be politically active and for climate change that fight is just starting and won’t be finished even with a price on carbon.
–morris meyer
Want the President to do better on AGW?
Elect better Congresspeople.
Yeah, that’s it, we just gotta get Obama Democratic majorities in both House and Senate and then he will push though a carbon price. Oh, wait…
If you want a President to do something meaningful on AGW then elect a President who actually cares about the issue. As Hansen says “Obama doesn’t get it.”
Nark, it goes without saying: “Elect better Congresspeople”
But, the immediate and most critical need is to keep the rethugs from controlling the Senate.
Senate Dems would become the filibuster party and President Obama would become the veto viceroy. No anything for Americans on our race to the bottom.
Mark, my deep apology. I misspelled your name.
The Florida Independent reports that Pam Bondi as attorney general of Florida is joining suit against the EPA ? Seems odd that the objections against better environmental protection for all would be her monetary concerns.
If I was to drive a car, it would have to have insurance.
I don’t think she would get far suing the state of Florida that insurance was not required because it would be a hardship for me to afford said insurance. Gee that someone could get away with disrespecting the law cause it might cause some money would be a wild precedence giving those who couldn’t afford an attorney wild ideas. Just a thought on where things could lead.
“It’s outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1,500 homes, the worst fires in state history, as a political attack,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner told ABC News……
Holy crap – is that all they have left by means of a defensive position? Mu God….
Cheers – John
It’s outrageous that Perry would use the threat of secession as the basis of a political attack, all the while using stimulus funds to plug some holes in his state’s massive budget shortfall – which he insisted didn’t exist.
Should have been “my God” – ‘scuse the typo!
With the latest phase of ENSO turning into a strengthening La Nina stage will Texas continue to dry out next year with more wet in Australia and drought in Africa?
Newborn La Niña: An Illustrated Guide
and
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center: La Niña is back
Also discussed in a recent episode of The Climate Show from Hot Topic, New Zealand.
Yes.
Republicans have always been the ones to exploit death and suffering in their political campaigns, starting with getting all weepy over “the troops” who get killed and maimed in senseless wars over oil.
For Perry and the rest of them to get self righteous here is quite sickening. We need to prepare for more of the same. Maybe Obama will catch on to who is real enemies are… or not.
Obasmaś criticism was valid if not a bit misplaced.
This weekend the Republican machine mobilized behind its selected candidate and savaged Perry. After never caring about record or conceptual cohesion the right wing press became sticklers for it. Even the Tea Party leadership seemed in on it and this was their candidate.
Now foxnews seems to be attempting a lurching shift to the middle clearly to make a moderate impression ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/26/roger-ailes-fox-news-course-correction_n_980850.html#comments ).
Ive never seen this kind of organization and energy concentrated in a race this early on.
This is going to be the most intense presidential race probably ever, whtih EVERYTHING at risk and I dont think the Democrats particularity those associating themselves with progressives are up for it.
They had to. Else an utterly unelectable candidate would be nominated. The Tea Party is damaging the Republicans, this is but the start of the blowback
Then again, pizza guy won in Florida last week. Plenty of wacky left in frothized GOP base.
Well I thought that candidate was Romney but I went back and looked at the people attacking Perry and they are pretty lukewarm towards Romney in past statements – the common denominator is they are all TOTAL Chris Christie fans. Including the fox news chief.
He has some incredible muscle supporters.
Wealthy, Influential, Leaning Republican and Pushing a Christie Bid for President ( http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/nyregion/some-of-the-men-pushing-a-chris-christie-run-for-president.html )
Hes not a denier, or not at least superficially:
“We have an obligation to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, and we’re going to do it in the concrete ways that I’ve laid out here today,” he said. “We’re not going to do it by participating in gimmicky programs that haven’t worked. And, you know, in the end, our view is it’s better to do things the right way than to do things the politically correct way.”
Christie’s decision to leave RGGI by the end of the year drew quick praise from conservative groups, including the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, that have long lobbied him to abandon the RGGI ship. ( http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55793.html )
Has anyone seen the new cozzy made for cookware? It’s a.slide on sleeve for a soup pan. It helps keep the cooking from heating up the kitchen so much. Don’t have to turn the burner on so high and the soup stays warm longer in the pan. I think it would be a nice Christmas guilt for those who don’t like so much heat in the kitchen, so to speak.
Sorry, that was supposed to be gift not guilt.
The american political conversation continues to live in a self-contained fiction separate from physical reality.
Exactly how much more of this kind of heat and drought can Texas and Oklahoma take before they become no-go zones and start evacuating? Sure, you could say that droughts of this magnitude are unprecedented in modern history but we’ve been getting a lot of “unprecedented” weather lately and multi-year droughts are not unknown.
You know what else is unprecedented? The worlds coral reefs dying off due to acidification. They have been on this planet literally millions of years before the first primate climbed down from a tree and walked across the savannah.
So maybe, just maybe, there’s a little more at risk here than the price of gasoline in 2016.