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Gallup: Americans Prioritize Energy Over Environment for First Time

So incredibly sad. Seems all that right wing propaganda has met it's goal.

PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are more likely to say the U.S. should prioritize development of energy supplies than to say it should prioritize protecting the environment, the first time more have favored energy production over environmental protection in this question's 10-year history.

(snip)

The current data represent a continuing shift in opinion toward energy production. Since 2007, when Americans' preferences for environmental protection were the greatest (58% to 34%), Americans' opinions have shown significant movement each year in the direction of prioritizing energy production. This change has been evident among nearly every major demographic subgroup, although self-identified liberals have remained relatively steadfast in saying the environment should be a higher priority.

At the same time, Americans continue to advocate greater energy conservation by consumers (52%) over greater production of oil, gas, and coal supplies (36%) as a means of solving the nation's energy problems. Americans have always come out in favor of greater consumer conservation, though this year marks the highest percentage favoring production (by a percentage point) in the last 10 years.

VIDEO- Ex-Bushie: Offshore Oil Drilling Will Be Unlikely To Win Over Any GOP Votes

By GottaLaff



Dan Bartlett, that good ol' BushCo spokesperson, confirms that The Party of No will continue to say no, regardless of any effort the Obama administration will make to try that thing called "bipartisanship" again:

One possible reason for the administration’s policy shift may be that it is seeking Republican votes for comprehensive energy reform.

There will be no drilling on the west coast, but there will be drilling elsewhere, as well as investment in nuclear energy, "clean" coal, and more. That's what he calls "compromise":

“If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage — I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

But the No Party immediately said that Obama didn't go far enough.

Exhibit A, OilyTweet McDrillHappy:

Sarah Palin responds with a pair of tweets. In the first, she writes, "Drill, baby, drill." In the second, she praises Boehner's response and admonishes Obama for trying to win over conservative votes for an energy overhaul:

Think Progress has much more.

As I see it, this is health care reform redux. President Obama is playing chess, the GOP is playing, too, but with fire. With lives. With themselves, if you will.

Obama is doing his centrist thing to accomplish goals that nobody else could, in his position. We may not agree with some of his compromises, but it may be necessary to get where we need to go, just as health care reform was.

Thom Hartmann just now, slightly paraphrased: "He's knocking the knees out from under the GOP, taking the oomph out of their arguments, and will make Drill Baby Drill tee shirts obsolete. This is a martial art, taking the Republicans greatest strength and using it to flip them over his shoulder."

Chess v. checkers. Foresight v. blindness. Wisdom v. foolishness.

Live Streaming Video- President Obama discusses decision to allow offshore oil drilling

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Obama To Expand Offshore Oil Drilling

I just don't get this, haven't they figured out by now that nothing they do will appease the R's? Ugh.

President Obama will propose "to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time," the New York Times reports.

"The proposal -- a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations -- would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean."

First Read: "The announcement is stunning for those of us who paid close attention to the presidential race. And it will be yet another test for Obama's Democratic base -- in this case, environmentalists."

Environmentalists question coal's place in Obama policy

By GottaLaff

The Monroe Power Plant in Monroe, Mich., with four coal-fired generating units built in the early 1970s emitted 19.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2008, the ninth largest amount among U.S. power plants. | Renee Schoof / MCT

Environmentalists are right. There is no such thing as clean coal.

Maybe Prez O should read this:

On the face of it, making the nation's abundant supply of coal less polluting is alluring. Keeping coal in the energy equation preserves jobs, and a way of life.

However, some scientists, clean-energy advocates and electricity producers are questioning Obama's approach. Instead, some argue, the world should phase out coal, use natural gas more efficiently and put more emphasis on renewable energy.

Critics of the administration's coal strategy also say it will be too expensive to retrofit existing plants with new technology, capture the carbon dioxide, compress it and pipe it to underground storage. More coal also would be needed to run the capture equipment.

What's more, the process wouldn't reduce coal's other pollution problems: smog, mercury, and the toxic metals such as lead and selenium in coal ash. Continuing to rely on coal also would do nothing to end the environmental damage of mining the coal itself. [...]

The Sierra Club has said it likes the president's overall energy plan, but disagrees with him on coal.

And while we're at it, until there's a safe way to store nuclear waste, ix-nay on the ukes-nay, too.

'Cash for appliance' plan being finalized

Anything that spends money and has us using less energy is okay with me.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A "cash for appliances" program of giving U.S. consumers rebates for swapping old appliances for new, efficient ones should be finalized soon, officials say.

Supported by $300 million from the economic stimulus package, the program will offer consumers rebates for buying energy-efficient refrigerators

, dishwashers, air conditioners and other appliances to replace older, energy-wasting models, The Washington Post reported Friday.

(snip)

Much of the cash-for-appliances money won't be available until February, March or April, officials said. The program will be run by state governments, which must identify and enact their rebate plans with federal government funding and approval.

Video- The Rachel Maddow Show: Stealth Campaigning

Via Heather.

Palin Weighs in on Cap-and-Trade in WaPo Op-Ed, Revealing Her Own Ignorance, Arrogance and Self-Absorption

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash:

Soon-to-be-ex-Alaska-Governor Sarah Palin just had to get an op-ed article into a national newspaper while she could still conclude her piece with the words "The writer, a Republican, is governor of Alaska."

Her target in today's Washington Post opinion section is the cap-and-trade proposal being debated in Washington. After cashing in to the tune of $200,000 in SarahPAC contributions in the 10 days after announcing her impending resignation, perhaps she's hoping to get some contributions from Big Oil before leaving office July 26? Or maybe she's looking for a lobbying job?

Of course, part of this is simply a continuation of the GOP's effort to distort the debate over climate change in general and President Obama's plan to combat the problem specifically. Remember, we're talking about the party that grossly misquotes the per-person cost of cap-and-trade, multiplying the amount by approximately 30 times, according to Environmental Protection Agency estimates. [...]

It should come as no surprise that that national politician who has the least understanding of the dividing line between public and personal life should jump into the climate debate, with its worldwide implications, just to talk about herself. [...]

Palin clearly sees cap-and-trade as a personal affront to her and to Alaska at large. "Noooo!" I imagine Palin whining. "I want to control the nation's energy supply!!"

Have fun reading the rest.

House passes the American Clean Energy and Security Act

Kagro's got the goods.

In a squeaker, the House passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, by a vote of 219-212, with one super-courageous Dem voting no at the very last possible minute, just for fun!

44 Dems voted against the bill, and 8 Republicans crossed the aisle in support.

Where the Senate takes this, no one yet knows. Then, in all likelihood, conference. So there's a long road ahead yet, with plenty of opportunity for the bill to turn in either direction (though we know what direction the Senate usually turns).

Video- President Obama discusses energy at Nellis Air Force Base 5/27/09

These KLAS vids are great, but they made me crazy to start with, they take a bit to show up on the blog.

Inside the Transition: Meeting with the Green Group

VIDEO FIXED**

I love it when I catch these. This just went up at 2:32EST- No views as of yet on YouTube.

Our Energy and Environment Team sat down with a group of energy and environmental leaders known as the "Green Group" who gathered to air their concerns and offer their suggestions for the Obama-Biden administration on these important issues.

**Looks like the Obama team took the old vid down, renamed and redescribed it and then put it back up.

The Obama Transition: Five Queasy Pieces

By GottaLaff

Via Ambinder:

[F]ive things to watch:

1. Which comes first? Climate change legislation or health care? Obama has certainly thought about this, and his advisers don't really agree. [...] The impetus to do health care early is coming from some of the party's most prominent voices, like the SEIU's Andrew Stern, as well as from a lot of the corporate types that Obama consorts with. On the other hand, Obama has said that we're in a post-consumer spending economy and that the future economic growth will be predicated on establishing energy independence and new sources of energy. [...]

2. China. No one's watching China. We're borrowing more and more; the budget deficit might approach a trillion dollars this year. [...] [W]hat if China decided what the U.S. was no longer creditworthy? What if they expect more from the U.S?

3. Obama and technology. [...] What Obama's government-wide chief technology officer will be empowered to do and who'll get the position are probably the subject of more speculation and outside-the-Belway interest than any cabinet position save for Treasury. Will there be an attempt at standardization? A White House blog with more content than just press releases? A White House blog with comments enabled? A petition forum? How will the administration manage the trade-off between transparency and efficiency?

4. What Obama's going to do with his list of names, emails and numbers. Who administers it. What the DNC becomes. This is the subject of intense discussions among very senior people. Steve Hildebrand, one of the architects of the campaign's field strategy, favors an independent entity.

5. Obama versus the Congress. We all want to know: what will their first confrontation be about? Ethics? The CR? Strings attached to an auto industry bailout? A nominee? Earmarks?

Ponder away.

Al Gore group urges Obama to create U.S. power grid

By GottaLaff

More and more names are popping up in every area now that Obama won (Obama won!!!): So far we've seen them in posts about the economy, health care, and energy; naturally, Al Gore's input was inevitable:

Al Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection has some environmental advice for the incoming Obama administration: focus on energy efficiency and renewable resources, and create a unified U.S. power grid.

On Thursday, the group Gore founded rolled out a new media campaign to push for immediate investments in three energy areas it maintains would help meet Gore's previously announced challenge to produce 100 percent clean electricity in the United States in a decade.[American jobs, end our addiction to dirty coal and foreign oil and solve the climate crisis."]

Gore has said he's not interested in an official government position.

The environment, global warming, and ending our oil dependence are all so vital to the health and safety of this country. I hope they're front and center a.s.a.p.

Obama's Big Fat Problems

By GottaLaff

This is what is facing President Obama:

TALKING TO IRAN

LEAVING IRAQ

The

WAR ON TERROR

NEW COLD WAR

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Health care, the environment, energy, the Congo, Darfur, North Korea, Burma...

This is who we will need to deal with all of that:

IWRC* Palin unaware of Russian energy meeting in Alaska

By GottaLaff

All IWRC* Palin had to do was look out her window. I guess she had the curtains drawn:

The campaign of vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said the Alaska governor was unaware of a visit by Russian energy officials to Anchorage on Monday.

Eight high-level officials from Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled energy conglomerate, traveled to Anchorage earlier this week to meet with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the chief executive of ConocoPhillips to discuss energy projects and the possibility of expanding into new markets.

[...] Palin raised eyebrows last month in an interview by saying that Putin “rears his head” by dispatching Russian jets into Alaska’s airspace.

Palin has argued that her state’s proximity to Russia, as well as trade missions between Alaska and Russia, have helped give her the foreign policy experience necessary to be Vice President. But the campaign said the governor did not know that the Gazprom delegation was meeting with the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, who is a Palin appointee.

This just gets more embarrassing by the minute. We could find better veep material in a petting zoo.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

IWRC* Palin wrongly suggests Congress bans oil exports

By GottaLaff

All that energy expertise, and for what, huh IWRC*?

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, touted by GOP presidential candidate John McCain as his expert on energy, seemed to have problems Thursday explaining whether the government bans oil exports — especially from her state's North Slope fields.

A questioner at a town hall-style meeting in Wisconsin said he had heard that at least 75 percent of the oil drilled in Alaska was being sold to China and said, if true, he would like to know why.

"No. It's not 75 percent of our oil being exported," Palin said, suggesting some of Alaska's oil, in fact, may be going abroad but not that much.

"In fact," she added, "Congress is pretty strict on, um, export bans of oil and gas especially."

No Alaska oil has been exported since 2004, and little if any since 2000, according to the Energy Information Administration and the Congressional Research Service.

And Congress has never imposed outright bans on oil exports. Congress prohibited exports of Alaska oil in 1973 when the Alaska oil pipeline was built. But that ban was lifted in 1996 when there were large volumes of Alaska oil coming down from the North Slope and U.S. demand was soft.

The Alaska ban has never been reinstated.

But she can probably see oil bans from her kitchen window.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

IWRC* Palin's Policies as Governor Reveal No Energy Expertise

By GottaLaff

So much for what IWRC* Palin brings to the energy table:

In an early exchange with Sen. Joseph Biden during the vice presidential debate in St. Louis on Thursday, Palin called energy her “area of expertise.” She talked about her deep energy experience throughout the evening. [...]

A close examination of Palin’s energy background, however, reveals that the GOP vice presidential candidate has only a relatively short history of studying and working on this issue. Palin served as chairwoman of a state energy board, a position reserved for a private citizen, for 11 months. A year before running for governor, Palin joined a group of other Republicans in TV ads advocating an all-Alaska gas pipeline route, though she eventually didn’t support this in office. As governor, Palin made a series of distinctly populist energy decisions that yielded short-term political gains, rather than policies designed for the long-term benefit of Alaska.

In a more than a dozen interviews over the course of a month with Alaska insiders and close observers of state politics, most say Palin does not have a deep understanding of energy policy as she has claimed on the presidential campaign trail. In fact, she’s regularly described, even by those who support her policies, as having little expertise in the area.

There are a number of specific criticisms. Palin’s been accused of taking credit for the work of her predecessor, Gov. Frank Murkowski, in pushing through oil tax policy changes; promoting policies that may not actually further her pro-drilling mantra; hiring a personal friend and college drop-out to head a $40-billion oil revenue fund; calling the gas pipeline project a success, though it may never be built, and ignoring the root causes of the state’s consumer energy problems.

On the campaign trail, Palin has frequently touted her experience in standing up to big oil by supporting a windfall profit tax as an example of her energy experience. Though Palin now praises the plan, which has filled the state’s coffers with billions in additional revenues, she opposed the measure when running for office in 2006.

Oliver Scott Goldsmith, economics professor and director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska, Anchorage:

“I see her as the person who’s taken a hard stance with the [oil] industry — when it’s been politically attractive to do that.”

The article goes into some detail. Here are more excerpts:

Now that Palin is running for national office, it’s difficult to imagine how her rebate policy would play out across the country. Palin made the energy program successful in her state because the relationship between oil and the economy is so closely tied, unlike the rest of the country or even any other state or region.

“It’s not the sort of thing you can make work on the national level,” said Cliff Groh, an Anchorage attorney who oversaw taxes for the state in the 1990s. “Alaska is so different it’s hard to extrapolate to the other 49 states. I don’t think there’s quite that much money.”

Even Palin’s explicit national policy – or mantra – “drill baby, drill,” is contentious.

During the vice presidential debate, Palin insisted that her experience in Alaska can help the United States move toward energy independence.

Palin implied that her most successful drilling project is well underway in Alaska. “And we’re building a nearly $40 billion natural gas pipeline,” Palin said, “which is North America’s largest and most expensive infrastructure project ever to flow those sources of energy into hungry markets.”

The only problem is: the project is at least a decade away from completion. [...]

An even bigger problem for the project is that no clients have signed on to use the pipeline. In fact, the three largest oil producers in the state, BP, Conocco Phillips and Exxon Mobil, have already said they will not use the pipeline and would prefer to invest in their own.

Dan Dickinson, a consultant to the state legislature on energy:

“Can I think of anything she did to increase energy independence?” Dickinson asked himself. “No.”

Deconstructing IWRC Sarah.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

CNN allows Gramm-pa McCain's lies to continue unchallenged

By GottaLaff

Gramm-pa McCain in a Colorado speech on CNN:

We suspended our campaign, we stopped advertising.

Obama has voted to raise taxes 94 times.

The clip from the speech was just now aired. Both of these are outright lies that have already been completely refuted. Nobody called him on it.

IWRC* Palin is now saying, in a clip from a speech from Columbus, Ohio (paraphrased):

Joe Biden is against clean coal.

However, in the debate, Joe Biden listed clean coal as one of the components of their alternative energy plan. I even remember commenting on it in the open thread. But TBPNTOTV!!!'s** Bill Schneider said nothing to correct the record.

"CNN: The Most Trusted Name in News."

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"
**THE BEST POLITICAL NEWS TEAM ON TELEVISION!!!

VIDEO-- Palin on ABC: I didn't blink

By GottaLaff



This is a longer clip, about 10 minutes, that includes the "I didn't blink, Charlie" moment, reform, Charlie, and unfortunately, another look at the "my security credentials = energy" declaration, the Bush Doctrine blank-out , the Pakistan-blinkiness... and, yes! ::fanfare:: The ever popular "war may be necessary with Russia" quote.

PALIN: But.. but.. don't lose sight of the fact that... and Charlie I... because... And did you know, Charlie, that we can actually see Russia from Alaska? I'm ready to be president right now! I don't blink!

She believes that Russia was "unprovoked" when they invaded Georgia. This is someone running for vice president? She hasn't so much as learned that Georgia started this?

See how many non-answers you can find! It's a game the whole family can play!