We’ve compiled some of the best tweets about the President’s announcement:

Did you see any other good tweets? Let us know so we can add them to our list.

Climate Progress is poised to achieve another pair of milestones — 5,000 tweets and 20,000 twitter followers:

How tweet it is.  You can help put us over the top by clicking here.

But why should you follow this blog on twitter?  Four reasons:

1. It’s a modern, portable version of a news teletype.
2. Your (online) neighbors are doing it!
3. The UK Guardian listed us as one of the Top 50 Twitter Climate Accounts to Follow.
4. You can help some of our best content go viral.

Let me elaborate:

1.  It’s like a modern news teletype.  Some may think Twitter is only for dishing out 140 characters of trivial information to the kind of people who are interested in what Ashton Kutcher had for lunch.  But in fact, for a blog, Twitter is more akin to an old fashioned “teleprinter (teletypewriter, Teletype or TTY),” which for much of the second half of the 20th century was a must-have in newsrooms and anywhere else that wanted to keep up with the latest breaking news.

As Climate Progress articles are posted, Twitter followers get the headline plus a TinyUrl to access the whole piece.  Since the next several months will see lots of breaking news on the Presidential election, Keystone XL pipeline, EPA, the disinformers, clean energy, climate science, and extreme weather you’ll get the news delivered immediately to you ahead of everyone else.  Not only won’t this cost you a penny, it’s surely a lot better than this ever was:

2.  Your (online) neighbors are already following Climate Progress on Twitter! Since going on Twitter in April 2009 (see “How tweet it is“) we  amassed over 10,000 followers by January 2011.  And we’ve been adding followers at the rate of 1,000 a month, which I’m told is a lot.  I’m also told that latest behavioral psychology research says the best way to persuade people to adopt a certain behavior is to make sure they know that their neighbors and people are doing it.  Well, they are.  All the time.  Do they know something you don’t?  Do they also have more compact fluorescent LED light bulbs and a bigger solar PV system and a smaller carbon footprint than you?  Get with it, readers.

3.  The UK Guardian listed us first among bloggers to follow on Twitter.

4.  You can help some posts go viral on twitter be retweeting the headlines and tinyurl.  Take a recent viral post like, “The 1% Have a Stranglehold on Politics: New Al Jazeera Documentary Sheds Light on the Koch Brothers.”  It had 430 retweets.  I estimate the average CP follower has 400 to 500 followers of their own ( some only have 100, many have a few hundred, and some half 15,000).  That means as many as 200,000 people are potentially exposed to the headline and link.  And we get a decent click-through rate.  So this really gets the word out on CP posts.

Plus, this year there has been actual tweeting from Climate Progress separate from the posts.  Ace clean energy blogger Stephen Lacey has been tweeting his thoughts and retweeting other sites’ best stuff.  I have been tweeting some of the best lines and facts that weren’t captured in CP post headlines.

To follow Climate Progress on Twitter, click here.  Do it for your kids.

Of course, you can still do it the “old”-fashioned way, with my RSS feed, where you get the previous 24 hours’ posts delivered to your  inbox — see sign up box on the right hand column.  Or like us on Facebook.  Or visit the site a couple times a day.  Or make Climate Progress your homepage!

Ah, tweet mystery of life, at last I’ve found thee!
Ah! I know at last the secret of it all!

A round-up of climate and energy news. Please post other stories below.

Climate forecasts near an upgrade

Even a century ago, scientists working out equations on paper understood that gases in the atmosphere absorbed and emitted energy, keeping Earth from being a ball of ice. Today they use supercomputers to make increasingly refined predictions about how the Earth’s climate will change.

The new efforts take the question from global to local scale. Nations, states and communities have lots of climate-related questions: Should they divert water from one area to another? Build higher sea walls? Store and manage water the way Israel does today? Plan for many more 100-degree days in future summers?

“We can’t answer those questions with the capabilities we have today. That’s why we’re using supercomputers to push the limits of what we understand and how well we can predict,” said James Kinter, a professor at George Mason University in Virginia and director of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies.

US Solar PV to Double in 2011; Grow 47% a year to 2015

The US solar photovoltaic (PV) market will double in 2011, this despite current economic weakness, according to research from Solarbuzz. With a current project pipeline of more than 17 gigawatts (GW), the Port Washington, NY-based research firm foresees the US solar PV market growing to reach 6.4 GW by 2015, a constant annual growth rate of 47%.

Solarbuzz forecasts the US will account for 12% of the global solar PV market by 2015, up from 5%. This would make the US the third-largest solar PV market worldwide, ranking behind Germany and Italy.

2010 growth rates will vary regionally and by market segment with shifts in policy and incentives at the federal, state and local levels of government, but the sharp drop in solar PV prices will underpin growth, according to Solarbuzz’s “United States 2011 PV Market” report.

EPA head: Wetlands to be focus of gulf restoration

Addressing wetlands loss will be a major component of an upcoming report on Gulf Coast oil spill recovery, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday.

Administrator Lisa Jackson is chairing the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, which she said is taking a broader view of restoration. The panel is putting emphasis on longer-term issues that include wetlands loss, “one of the most urgent ecosystem challenges we are facing,” she said.

Ninety percent of wetlands losses in the continental U.S. are in the Gulf, Jackson said, adding that the task force has not written its report yet. Wetlands loss will be a major component of the report and dealing with it will reach beyond the coast.

“That means addressing the Mississippi River, its management as well as addressing opportunities for projects that would help us to work with nature instead of against it, but also allow us to do some commonsense things when we do have to dredge,” Jackson said at the National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration.

Fake Twitter accounts used to promote tar sands pipeline

Someone in the oil industry appears to be resorting to astroturfing to bolster support for the controversial proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry tar sands oil from Alberta down to Texas if approved by the Obama administration. The Rainforest Action Network thinks the American Petroleum Institute and its oil lobby allies are behind a slew of fake Twitter accounts designed to prop up public opinion about the pipeline.

The final decision on the project lies with the State Department and is expected before the end of the year. The proposal has raised concerns among environmentalists, farmers, ranchers, and landowners in the region, however. Many tweeps following the debate have been using the hash tag “#tarsands” to discuss the pipeline. On Wednesday morning, RAN noticed a group of Twitter handles posting the same tweet, “#tarsands the truth is out!” followed by a link to the API webpage about the tar sands. Then those accounts sent out another link, this time to the Nebraska Energy Forum, a state-based group sponsored by API that has also been heavily involved in promoting tar sands development. I sent a request to API for comment about whether they are, in fact, behind the handles, but I have not yet received a response.

GM sells 173,398 vehicles in China during July

General Motors and its joint ventures sold 173,398 vehicles in China during the month of July, as Shanghai GM and GM’s Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands all set sales records for the month.

GM’s China sales in July were down 1.8% from the same month last year due to the drop in industry sales of commercial vehicles, which impacted its SAIC-GM-Wuling and FAW-GM joint ventures. However, domestic sales of passenger cars from Shanghai GM rose 14.4% on an annual basis to 91,818 units.

Buick sales were up 15.4% on an annual basis to 50,265 units, led by record July sales of the LaCrosse upper-medium sedan and Excelle XT and GT lower-medium passenger cars. In addition, sales of the GL8 family jumped 45.7% from July 2010, benefiting from the popularity of the new GL8 luxury MPV.

Domestic sales of Chevrolet products rose 17.1% year on year to 46,154 units, receiving a boost from Shanghai GM’s new Aveo small car, Cruze lower-medium sedan and Captiva SUV, and SAIC-GM-Wuling’s Le Chi mini-car.

Cadillac had another strong month in China, with sales rising 76.1% on an annual basis to 2,365 units. The SRX luxury SUV remained its best-selling model, accounting for about two-thirds of Cadillac sales in July.

Report: Volkswagen still trying to negotiate changes to CAFE standards

While the majority of automakers have officially chosen to back the proposed 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, Volkswagen blasted the requirements, alleging that rules are biased.

Since the proposed 2025 CAFE standards are, well, proposed, VW still hopes to negotiate some modifications before the fuel economy guidelines become official. Jonathan Browning, chief executive officer of Volkswagen Group of America, told Ward’s Auto (sub. req.) that, “We still have a dialogue going on with the administration in terms of how we think the policy needs to be adjusted.”

VW says the current proposed rules allow “special compliance flexibility for heavier light trucks” while placing too high a burden on passenger cars. More specifically, VW cries foul, stating, “The proposal encourages manufacturers and customers to shift toward larger, less-efficient vehicles, defeating the goal of reduced greenhouse-gas emissions.”

 

Below are old comments from the earlier Facebook commenting system:

• Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

As venture capitalists bow out, corporations step in.

But where venture capitalists are bowing out, big corporations are beginning to step in. At least that’s what New York-based investment bank Peachtree Capital Advisors has observed.

“Corporate investors, perhaps willing to overlook concerns about short-term profitability for long-term potential, were active in making both investments and acquisitions in the first half of 2011,” according to the firm.
…See More

1 · Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 1:38pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Halt Fracking! 68 Groups Say to Obama.

This morning, CEOs, founders, and other leaders of 68 organizations sent a letter to President Obama, urging that he do what he can to stop the dangerous extraction of shale gas that is occurring across the country without any federal public safeguards. Often called ‘fracking,’ communities from Pennsylvania to Texas to Minnesota are already suffering from the numerous environmental problems connected with this process to force “natural” gas from shale several thousand feet below ground.

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/halt-fracking-68-groups-say-to-obama/blog/36272/#.Tj_6ae-b_Sg.facebook

1 · Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 3:28pm

Colorado Bob · Top Commenter

# Both Oklahoma and Texas had their warmest months on record, with monthly statewide average temperatures of 88.9 degrees F (31.6 degrees C) and 87.1 degrees F (30.6 degrees C), respectively. Oklahoma’s statewide average temperature was the warmest monthly statewide average temperature on record for any state during any month. The previous warmest monthly statewide average temperature was also in Oklahoma, during July 1954, at 88.1 degrees F (31.2 degrees C).
# Only seven of the lower 48 states — all west of the Rockies — experienced a July average temperature near or below the 20th century average. The other 41 had a above-normal, much-above-normal, or record warmest July.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2011/7

1 · Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 3:26pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Duke Energy makes deal for long-planned Texas wind farm.
Duke EnergybizWatch plans to build a 200-megawatt wind farm in Willacy County, Texas, and sell the electricity it generates to San Antonio-based CPS EnergybizWatch , the nation’s largest municipally owned energy utility.
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/power_city/2011/08/duke-energy-makes-deal-for.html

1 · Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 5:50pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Germany: BMW Betting on Electric Lounge Car With Hemp Floor to Hold Off VW’s Audi http://hemp.org/news/content/bmw-electric-car-hemp-floor.

1 · Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 6:28pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Alex Steffen: The shareable future of cities http://www.ted.com/talks/alex_steffen.html.

1 · Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 4:11pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Satellite Finds Evidence of Antimatter Belt Around Earth.

Data from the cosmic ray satellite PAMELA has added substantial weight to the theory that the Earth is encircled by a thin band of antimatter.

The satellite, named Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics, was launched in 2006 to study the nature of cosmic rays — high-energy particles from the Sun and beyond the solar system which barrel into Earth.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/08/earth-antimatter-belt/

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 1:54pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Arctic open for exploitation: Obama administration grants Shell approval to drill http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0808-hance_shell_arctic.html.

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 2:24pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

World View – A weekly pictorial review of weather around the globe http://www.wunderground.com/worldview/?collection=88.

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 1:55pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Now live stream #progressive style.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/live

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 1:58pm

• Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Some feedback from twitter

@ejldurand Enrique J.L. Durand
Disapointing Obama´s speech. Insists on tax and spend and a promise of some concrete plan sometime in the future. Lacks decisive leadership. https://twitter.com/#!/ejldurand/status/100629616108113920

…See More

Like · Reply · August 8 at 2:11pm

• Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

@thedailybeast The Daily Beast
Obama Talks Debt, Taxes: Calls for tax reform to improve debt outlook. http://thebea.st/pgNMQ5 #cheatsheet
https://twitter.com/#!/thedailybeast/status/100638177504657408

Like · Reply · August 8 at 2:45pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Evidence of ancient supercontinent found.

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 8 (UPI) — U.S. and international geologists say they’ve discovered a billion-year-old piece of North America they can trace back to Antarctica.

Researchers say it’s the strongest evidence yet found suggesting North America and Antarctica were connected 1.1 billion years ago, long before the supercontinent Pangaea formed, a Geological Society of America release reported Monday.
…See More

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 9:14pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Uhhh Astroturfs

Fake Twitter accounts used to promote tar sands pipeline…

based on a State Department cable released by WikiLeaks, Neela Banerjee of the Los Angeles Times reported that, in 2009, the State Department’s “energy envoy” was already instructing Alberta’s fossil-fuel barons in how to improve their “oil sands messaging,” including “increasing visibility and accessibility of more positive news stories.” This is the government version of Murdoch-style enviro-hacking, and it leads many to think that the new pipeline is already a done deal.

Still, the president can say no. http://www.grist.org/fossil-fuels/2011-07-14-will-north-america-be-the-new-middle-east

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 1:51pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Concern Trolls..

Andy @Revkin, fiddling while the Arctic burns. http://thkpr.gs/oiS54E #climate http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/08/on-arctic-sea-ice-and-warmth-past-and-future/.

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 6:29pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Japan Tsunami Breaks Off Antarctica Iceberg the Size of Manhattan.
International Business Times – 10 minutes ago.

http://tv.ibtimes.com/japan-tsunami-breaks-off-antarctica-iceberg-the-size-of-manhattan/1555.html

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 9:13pm

Colorado Bob · Top Commenter

Cut and paste this far and wide.
“Senator Inhfoe’s Igloo Village” -
Oklahoma’s statewide average temperature was the warmest monthly statewide average temperature on record for any state during any month. The previous warmest monthly statewide average temperature was also in Oklahoma, during July 1954, at 88.1 degrees F (31.2 degrees C).

This is called rewriting the record books. sport.

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 11:06pm

Colorado Bob · Top Commenter

88.9 degrees F (31.6 degrees C) during July 2011 in “Senator Inhfoe’s Igloo Village” -
Beat 1954′s by .8th of a degree , that is the cross town bus, moving very fast when one speaks of monthly records, and all time highs in all of the lower 48.

This is called rewriting the record books. sport.

Like · Reply · August 8 at 11:19pm

Colorado Bob · Top Commenter

Someone needs to ask the Senator about all this. .

Like · Reply · August 8 at 11:21pm

Colorado Bob · Top Commenter

The “Hoax” has Oklahoma by the Throat “.

Like · Reply · August 8 at 11:37pm

View 2 more

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

The new normal: billion-dollar disasters.
http://www.grist.org/climate-change/2011-08-03-the-new-normal-billion-dollar-disasters

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 3:31pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Howto prepare for Climate Disruption?

http://www.youtube.com/user/ActontheActor#p/u/19/_Cg8BiIN08A

Notice that guy is a bit crazy… but how crazy is it actually to prepare for emergency situations, which become more common with climate disruption?

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 7:53pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

@Gus_802 Gus
The avg US temp in June was 70.7F (21.5C) – 1.4F (0.8C) above long-term (1901-2000) avg http://t.co/YZfNjJ4 #tcot #tlot #p2 #LGF #agw.
https://twitter.com/#!/Gus_802/status/98592144708739072

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 3:30pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

#LondonRiots #Ealing: about 15 teenagers took over a bus, forced the driver out and crashed it.The bus driver’s in shock http://yfrog.com/kfk1yehj.

Mindless actions…

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 10:03pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

Human swarm behavior is not very intelligent, there are many videos with mob mentality coming in, and i think all these gives clues how people will behave when confronted with serious climate disruption.

Also this offers clues about how past civilizations collapsed.

This is not an isolated event for the UK any longer, London literally burns tonight, Bermingham and Liverpool too have reports of violence. And this is not only the UK, there have been the Toronto riots 2 month ago and then we have the so called Arab spring and China too has many reports of riots.
…See More

Like · Reply · August 8 at 10:12pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

London tonight

http://yfrog.com/0wtduz

Now add in climate disruption…

Like · Reply · Subscribe · August 8 at 7:03pm

Prokaryotes – · Top Commenter (signed in using Hotmail)

London riots: the third night – live coverage http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2011/aug/08/london-riots-third-night-live#block-56

Like · Reply · August 8 at 7:09pm

They have broken down what they call the top 50 twitter climate accounts by category.  Blogging is inherently solipsistic, so we start with their recommendations for “Bloggers” to follow:

1. Climate Progress

Thoughts and re-tweets on climate science and politics.

2. Grist

News and retweets by this US-centric green news and comment blog.

3. TreeHugger

Chat and thoughtful tweets from the grandaddy of the green blogosphere.

4. Julian L. Wong

Useful links for anyone interested in China and climate change.

5. Kate Sheppard

A prolific US blogger at Mother Jones who re-tweets interesting content on energy and climate change.

Here are some more of their  recommendations:

Politics

1. Ed Miliband

Climate and energy secretary of the former Labour government used Twitter to broadcast from inside Copenhagen climate talks (his Lib Dem and Tory counterparts are not on Twitter).

2. Al Gore

Climate-centric tweets from the most-followed climate activist on Twitter.

3. Caroline Lucas

Not content with being the first green MP in England, Lucas also tweets her movements and chats frequently on her Twitter account.

4. United States Environmental Protection Agency

Links and news from the main Twitter account of the US government department responsible for the environment.

5. Department of Energy and Climate Change

News and a commendably high level of interaction from the UK government department responsible for climate change policy.

Campaigners

1. Eric Pooley

Author of The Climate War – tweets regularly about the fight in the US to keep climate change on the political agenda.

2. Bill McKibben

Commentary and an insight into the life of author and the founder of 350.org climate campaign.

3. Polly Higgins

Regular tweets from a campaigner and lawyer pushing for a new “ecocide” law that would declare the mass destruction of ecosystems a crime on a par with genocide.

4. Franny Armstrong

Newsy tweets and links from the founder of the 10:10 climate campaign and the director of The Age of Stupid climate documentary.

5. Kevin Grandia

Campaigner and blogger who puts climate change lobbying under the microscope.

Climate scientists

1. Earth Institute

Climate debate and news from Columbia University’s climate science department.

2. Katherine Hayhoe

Comment and interesting links from an atmospheric science professor at Texas Tech and author of A Climate for Change.

3. Tyndall Centre for Climate Research

Useful links from one of the world’s leading climate research centres

Norwich-based group of climate scientists.

4. Met Office

News on climate change and weather from the UK Met Office.

5. Climate Central

Newsy aggregation of anything climate-related by a non-profit group of climate scientists.

And there are 30 others.   For some reason the Guardian feels obliged to recommend “four voices from the other side of the climate debate,”  including the twitter feed of Sen. Inhofe, arguably the most destructive smearer of climate scientists on the planet, and another one from a “blog that believes solar variation is the reason the climate is changing.”   Why not the twitter feed of the Flat Earth society?

Seriously, if they listed the top twitter feeds of groups that help you and your addiction to tobacco and cocaine, would they also throw in the twitter feed of  people who don’t think smoking is bad for your health and the twitter feed of, say, the Colombian drug cartel?

Below are the earlier comments from the Facebook commenting system:

Dan Miller

My feed is http://twitter.com/danmill​er999. 90% climate and 10% pinball.

June 26 at 11:23pm

Mari McKay

Excellent!

June 28 at 5:44am

Alexander Zwissler

I actually think the idea of keeping an eye on a denier or two is not bad…keeps us sharp and aware of news tactics as they emerge…not saying deniers should be given any credence, but only violently agreeing with ourselves all the time can be limiting.

June 26 at 12:27pm

Prokaryotes

Follow me
http://twitter.com/progres​sclimate

June 26 at 10:27pm

Peter S. Mizla

Some good site to visit. I am primitive – no twitter- I visit Treehugger on line.

and Bill McKibben at 350– and ClimateActionCenter http://www.climateactionce​ntre.org/.

many more

The Daily Climate among many others.

June 26 at 11:33am

Will Greene

Peter you should get on board! I appreciate your posts on here.

June 27 at 12:59am

Will Greene

Might be fun to post the twitter handles of the top climate hawk commenters here on CP. Would want to restrict to those who almost primarily tweet about climate. Mine is: williambgreene and I tweet about 80% climate-related opinion and RT’s.

June 26 at 8:30pm

山下修一

This site washes my brain , leading me to to do so around ,,

June 27 at 1:50am

Dana Nuccitelli

Don’t forget Skeptical Science!

June 26 at 11:56pm

Blankenship has called opponents of his coalocratic worldview “communists,” “atheists,” and “greeniacs.” In reality, dependence on coal breeds the same kind of economic instability and injustice seen in petrodictatorships. Fossil fuels, requiring capital-intensive extraction and rewarding centralized control of distribution, reward oligarchic power structures that are profoundly anti-democratic. Furthermore, when the costs of pollution are borne by society instead of the coal and oil corporations, the divide between the economic costs and benefits grows wider.

The coal-dominated economy of West Virginia is a troubling example of the cruelty of coalocracy. Despite $118 million in coal-mining annual income, West Virginia has the nation’s lowest median household income, worst educational services, worst social assistance, the highest population with disabilities, and nearly a quarter of West Virginia children in poverty. A recent study by West Virginia University found that the “human cost of the Appalachian coal mining economy outweighs its economic benefits”:

The coal industry generates a little more than $8 billion a year in economic benefits for the Appalachian region. But, they put the value of premature deaths attributable to the mining industry across the Appalachian coalfields at — by a most conservative estimate — $42 billion.

If Blankenship, who sits on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, also tweeted that a cap and trade system is a “Ponzi scheme.” If Blankenship truly believed in the power of the free market and cheap energy to lift up democracies, he would support closing coal pollution loopholes — putting a true value on the majesty and diversity of Appalachia’s mountains instead of blowing them up, and putting a price on the carbon pollution that is destabilizing our climate. Instead, he and his fellow right-wing coalocrats are the Charles Ponzis of the entire planet.

Reader J.S. writes “I thought you may not have seen this but I know you are a big twitterer so you may see this differently.” This is an article making the case that Twitter should be eager to accept a purchase offer since ultimately there’s no revenue stream behind it:

The blogosphere was all atwitter over the weekend with news that Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is close to offering a lot of money for Twitter. I know I’m going to get dinged for saying it, but I think the company’s founders should take the offer, whatever the price. [...] And, when matched against the potentially cosmic implications of ubiquitous social/search, Twitter might be only one mechanism in search of an issue (or issues) to resolve. Sure, it’s immediate and quick, but what exactly does Twitter really own?

That seems entirely reasonable to me. I think that the true essence of the “new economy” of the digital era is that there will be lots of activity going on that people enjoy and find useful, but that has very little in the way of economic value that’s captured by profit-making firms. The quintessential enterprises of this era are things like Wikipedia, which may no money, or CraigsList which makes a very modest sum of money, even while they both revolutionize certain spheres of endeavor. Certainly the revenues associated with CraigsList are tiny compared with the revenues that used to exist in the rapidly-dying newspaper classified ad market.

Twitter seems like something that could become extremely widespread, and that lots of people could receive a small-but-real amount of daily enjoyment from, all without ever generating much money. And I think that will be pretty typical of the digital realm. The fact that Google itself is a very successful company sometimes serves to obscure the fact that the total amount of money being made off the internet is pretty small considering how ubiquitous internet use has become. Ultimately, I think understanding this growing de-linkage between value and monetizability, or perhaps between “use value” and “exchange value” as Marx would say, is important to understanding the world we’re increasingly living in.

Bobby jindal got a good national launch out of last night. His story is compelling.his values appeal to most americans

Wonder what a bad launch would have looked like.

Incumbent RNC Chairman Mike Duncan tries to hold onto his job and explain the future of conservatism:

“We have to do it in the Facebook, with the Twittering, the different technology that young people are using today,” Duncan ventured.

“Let me just say that I have 4,000 friends on Facebook,” contributed Blackwell, putting his hand on Dawson’s and Anuzis’s knees. “That’s probably more than these two guys put together, but who’s counting, you know?” Acknowledged Saltsman: “I’m not sure all of us combined Twitter as much as Saul.”

Not only is this, as Steve Benen says, weirdly inadequate to the size of the conservative predicament, it just doesn’t make any sense. I love Twitter. I have two Twitter feeds. I manage one with Twitterific and another with Twitterfox. And of course there’s my iPhone interfaces, too. Twitter’s neat, it’s fun, I enjoy it. But you can’t do political persuasion on Twitter and anyone who’s at all familiar with either Twitter or political persuasion could tell you that. It’s important for political movements to embrace new technologies, but part of embracing new technologies is understanding them and actually respecting what they’re for and Twitter is never going to be anything other than an incidental sideshow to political activism.