Weekly Mulch: Would You Eat Bugs to Fight Climate Change?

Weekly Mulch: Want to Combat Climate Change? Ignore Congress.

Joe Miller, Sarah Palin’s choice candidate for one of Alaska’s Senate seats, does not believe in climate change. That didn’t bother Alaska voters: this week, Miller bested Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the state’s Republican primary. If that weren’t worrisome enough, it also emerged that the fossil fuel industry spent eight times more than environmental groups on lobbying in 2009, the year the House passed the climate change bill. It’s been a bad year already for environmental causes, and as the November election edges closer, progressives might want to start working overtime to regain momentum on climate and energy issues.

The Chinese government has announced an aggressive program to close older manufacturing plants that are sources of pollution.

Weekly Mulch: Kicking Our Addiction to AC—Why DC Needs to Step Up

by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger

This summer, Americans are cranking up their air conditioning. At the same time, Senators are letting climate legislation cool its heels in Washington. Ultimately, both of these summer trends are contributing to climate change. Air conditioning dumps greenhouse gases into the environment, and without climate legislation that caps the country’s carbon emissions, America’s share of global carbon levels will only continue to grow.

It’s time to change from the Reagan-Bush era. We should either trust individuals to make responsible choices, or we should have direct government investment where the public commons makes more sense than private property.

By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger

Seven months out from the midterms, electoral anxieties are hampering potential climate change legislation. Election years are a time to pass easy, politically popular policies, and climate change legislation does not fit that bill. For the Senate’s climate change legislation to have a chance, Congress has to sweep through the financial overhaul faster than any bill in its history. Otherwise, politicians’ focus will shift to the midterms before they pass a climate bill.

By: Inoljt

Conservatives often moan about the inefficiency and waste that comes with big government. A lot of times they have a point; government can sometimes be mindnumbingly bureaucratic (or far worse). Anybody who’s had a bad experience with the DMV can probably attest to this.

Nevertheless, this does not mean that every single government program is evil. The “Cash-for-Clunkers” rebate program was a prime example of an effective, helpful government program.

As Vermont seethes with radioactive contamination and the Democratic Party crumbles, Barack Obama has plunged into the atomic abyss.

If you are trying to increase energy efficiency of your living unit on a tight budget, your best ‘first dollar’ investment is caulk and a caulking gun. Now do it NOW.