Comments on: Obama: Climate Pessimism More Dangerous Than Climate Deniers

By: John Boucher

John Boucher — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:46:48 +0000

Despair is the operative word. “Green” is just a marketing concept used to sell cars and the efforts of utility companies, and the SB 375 style solutions coming out of Sacramento are just payoffs to the development and realor lobbies. The notion that you can cut greenhouse gas emissions by vastly increasing urban density is science fiction at best.

There is nothing our government is doing that will alleviate these problems. Its roots are not in stopping global warming but rather lobby generated money. That is what’s driving the vast tidal wave of greenwash.

By: ubrayj02

ubrayj02 — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:21:45 +0000

What is not to despair about when this president is doubling down on the mid-20th century “American Dream” with bailouts, suburban home loan guarantees, cash for cars, cash for more cars, highway subsidies that only require 20% of the funds to come from the locals, a farm bill that deeply subsidizes food that is making us sick and is despoiling our arable land … I mean, if that is not a precondition to despair, what the hell is?

The only thing I’m hopeful about is our ability pick up where our grandparents left off, and start growing and creating more of what we need locally. Washington D.C. seems further and further away by the month.

By: DJB

DJB — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:17:34 +0000

It’s true that despair can kill people’s motivation to act constructively on a problem. It’s also true that the Republicans and even the Democrats have given the American people a cornucopia of reasons to be skeptical of their willingness to take action on climate change.

The most flagrant example is the bipartisan failure to ratify the Kyoto protocol during the 1990s. Also disappointing is the degree to which money from big oil, big coal, and big nuke have penetrated the campaign coffers of our two dominant parties.

Will they bite the hand that feeds? I hope so. But don’t expect any premature adulation from me. Show up at Copenhagen with something solid, or it’s all just talk and a few token investments in the ARRA.