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‘To Those Influencing Environmental Policy But Opposed to Nuclear Power’

Hawai’i Leads the Way with Cutting-Edge Solar Energy Policy

I see climate silence as a failure of the mainstream media; a politico-media complex too enthralled by the story lines pitched to them by the campaigns to force either to address an infinitely pressing issue that falls outside its comfort zone. There were no efforts at all to examine the candidates' positions on climate policy in light of the record drought and heat temps, to press either for substantive answers. Climate silence is a product of failed leadership, to be sure, but also of our professional information gatherers and storytellers.

are the Native Peoples of the Western Hemi

el environmental policies of the Inca, the managed sub-climax forest successions in the Eastern Woodlands and the Three Sisters method of high-output low-soil-loss agriculture exemplified in the Finger Lakes area by the Haudenosaunee people. The European conquerors and immigrants paid little attention to the land management skills of their victims and it was only in the 1980s that modern science began seriously investigating the Native achievements and their relevance for the wider society.

Challenges & Competitions Challenges and competitions enable the Federal government to tap into the expertise and creativity of the public in new ways. Challenges and competitions are high-risk, high-reward policy tools that can foster collaboration and participation in government activities through the process of co-creation.  As an inducement of participation, challenges and competitions may offer a variety of “prizes”, including cash, recognition, or the deployment of a winning solution.Why Challenges & Competitions?Challenges and competitions are important mechanisms for spurring innovation, solving tough problems, and helping agencies to advance their core missions.

Senate Approves Kerry for Secretary of State

elow you can see my two-slide Powerpoint explanation for the presidential debates’ resounding #climatesilence (that’s the Twitter hashtag for the failed push to get global warming on the debate agenda). Try to find slide one — depicting the online tussle over climate science and policy — within slide two, which places the first issue in the flow of the moment’s news (via the fascinating newsmap.jp Web site):

As I write this, President Obama and Governor Romney are preparing for their final pre-election debate in Boca Raton. Though Governor Romney has used climate change as joke material, it is no laughing matter in Florida, a place that has been called "ground zero when it comes to sea level rise." More than 120 city and county officials, scientists and concerned citizens are calling on the candidates to discuss their policies on this issue, so it's safe to assume that both candidates are rehearsing a response to the climate question.

By Monday night, the debate about "climate silence" was in full voice. Al Gore weighed in, tweeting during the course of the debate: "Where is global warming in this debate? Climate change is an urgent foreign policy issue."The Green party's presidential candidate, Jill Stein, who went so far as to label Obama a climate change denier in an interview with the Guardian for his failure to discuss the issue on the campaign trail.Other commentators argued allowances should be made for Obama's failure to discuss climate on the campaign trail, and his middling support for environmental concerns while in the White House.Since the rise of the Tea Party conservatives in 2010, energy and climate change have emerged as among the most contentious issues dividing Republicans and Democrats.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was the latest to get arrested after she brought supplies to activist treesitters attempting to block construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas. Stein issued a statement criticizing both President Obama and Governor Romney for their policies on fossil fuels:

For oil traders, a vexing new risk: U.S. politics