Question Earthority!

“Hey, ho, where’s the cash flow? Wasn’t the bailout supposed to get those streams of credit flowing again? But while the titans of trickle-down and the free-reign rainmakers pray for new rivers of revenue to float their boats, some venerable bodies of water beyond the canyons of Wall Street are in danger of literally evaporating — and all the money in the world won’t bring them back once we pass that terrible tipping point.” (10/10/08)

http://tinyurl.com/5y8qbz

“A great frustration for those who (a) really care about reducing CO2, and (b) believe in the power of well-structured market mechanisms is that the current discussion around carbon policy has bastardized the language of environmental economics. There are tremendous economic and environmental benefits to be gained by a true cap-and-trade CO2 system. Unfortunately, all the plans that are currently being bandied about as cap-and-trade structures are really carbon taxes.” (10/10/08)

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/9/1014/00490

“Our constitutional right to liberty is systematically being attacked by government agencies flanked by anti-competitive forces in the food industry. Nowhere, is this more obvious than on the raw milk issue. California Governor Arnold Swartzenegger [sic] recently vetoed SB201, a bill to preserve consumers rights to access farm fresh milk, while guaranteeing its safety.The Governor, who likely consumed raw dairy in his rise to stardom as a body builder, thwarted the freedoms of the over 40,000 raw milk devotees in his state. He ignored the will of the people in favor of the milk processors and the government regulators bent on crushing the raw dairy producers in their state — two of which are the most successful in the nation.” (10/09/08)

http://counterpunch.org/hartke10082008.html

“With oil prices setting records every week and gas prices topping $4 per gallon, voters are getting increasingly angry. This naturally makes the politicians nervous, so they do what they can to divert blame from themselves at all costs. Two easy targets are ‘Big Oil’ and speculators. In this article we’ll see that the politicians’ accusations against these scapegoats are nonsensical, while the corresponding policy recommendations will only push oil prices higher.” (10/09/08)

http://www.fee.org/in_brief/default.asp?id=2393

“Pickens is calling Palin his equal? I guess that is what one would call ’self-disqualification.’ Palin is a one-talking-point deep joke on energy. I take that back. No one who has a serious chance of becoming vice president under a 72-year-old multiple cancer survivor can be called a joke. There are only two plausible explanations for Pickens’ comment. Either he really believes what he is saying, in which case he is losing it. Or, more charitably, he is pushing standard conservative spin, which merely proves that he still doesn’t understand which party is fight it to the death.” (10/08/08)

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/8/105927/172

“Until the financial meltdown obliterated all other news coverage, T. Boone and his energy plan were everywhere. His book, The First Billion Is the Hardest, is number two on the bestseller list. During the Republican and Democrat Conventions his press conferences were attended by a fawning media, virtually all of who filed stories with the theme ‘oil man turns wind energy advocate.’ Indeed, even the more than casual reader might come away believing the Pickens Energy Plan was all about wind energy. T. Boone’s web site does little to contradict that impression. It displays nothing but wind turbines. But expanding wind energy is not the key element in his plan.” (10/09/08)

http://tinyurl.com/4w5uvv

“California’s environmentalists don’t always see eye to eye. That’s especially true when it comes to the best way to reduce the state’s carbon emissions, as required by the landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, better known as Assembly Bill 32. Some environmentalists argue that carbon-trading programs offer the best compromise between free enterprise and government regulation. But environmentalists who oppose so-called ‘cap-and-trade’ programs claim that compromise comes at the expense of the poor and minorities, whose communities are often the hardest hit by air pollution. So when the California Air Resources Board released a proposed scoping plan for A.B. 32 featuring cap-and-trade as one of the program’s major components, environmentalists concerned with both reducing carbon emissions and improving conditions for lower-income communities were none too pleased.” (10/09/08)

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/commentary/38370

“‘Energy independence’ is a term that sounds good but falls apart on closer examination. Although the United States could achieve energy independence, we could do so only at an enormous cost. Energy ‘dependence’ is much cheaper and much more desirable.” (10/08/08)

http://www.fee.org/in_brief/default.asp?id=2390

“By and large, John McCain and Barack Obama stuck to their scripts on energy, arguing that the nation must invest more in alternative and renewable energy sources … and rely on traditional oil and coal sources. McCain repeatedly mentioned nuclear power, while Obama made the now-obligatory nod to ‘clean coal.’ But for a few minutes in the middle of it all, the debate touched specifically on climate change with a question from an audience member that produced very different answers from the candidates.” (10/07/08)

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/7/204758/718

“When we speak of economics, we are not referring merely to financial matters. We understand that beyond a modest level of prosperity, more money does not buy greater satisfaction. Rather, fellowship, a sense of community, and a wholesome environment trump material wealth. Which institutions foster these values? Which threaten them? How can spiritual and moral leaders advance this process? One way is for religious leaders to understand the important role institutions play in fostering social wellbeing and environmental progress.” (10/08/08)

http://www.free-eco.org/articleDisplay.php?id=635