French Perspective: The World's Planet Page

by A Siegel

This summer represented the longest vacation in a long, three weeks spent in the homes of relatives and friends in France driven, in part, by a serious illness in the family. This time, often with (extremely) limited web access, provided some breathing space, too much weight gain with excellent food, and provided some windows on France and French society that reflect back on what is (or isn't) happening in the United States.

To be clear, no society is perfect ... which makes it ever more important to be open to lessons and learning from others ... especially if one really is interested in the continuing struggle to form a more perfect union.

Several weeks in France provided a window -- however obscured or partial -- on how France is changing in the face of mounting energy and climate challenges (domestically and locally) on the governmental, societal, and individual level.  This is the first, of which will likely be several, posts providing some thoughts derived from glancing through that window.

continued at Daily Kos....

Can Wind Power Save School Budgets?

by ManfromMiddletown

This past weekend, Laura Tyson made the case for a second stimulus in the New York Times. Things, you see, are looking down, particularly for the states. State budgets are being strained, and the prospect of teacher layoffs is a possibility without continued federal aid. Yet.....

The situation would be even worse without the $787 billion fiscal stimulus package passed in 2009. The conventional wisdom about the stimulus package is wrong: it has not failed. It is working as intended. Its spending increases and tax cuts have boosted demand and added about three million more jobs than the economy otherwise would have......

But by next year, the stimulus will end, and the flip from fiscal support to fiscal contraction could shave one to two percentage points off the growth rate at a time when the unemployment rate is still well above 9 percent. Under these circumstances, the economic case for additional government spending and tax relief is compelling....

Two forms of spending with the biggest and quickest bang for the buck are unemployment benefits and aid to state governments.

continued at Daily Kos....

Bjorn Lomborg Now Thinks We Should Fight Global Warming

by Dartagnan

After years of making a name for himself as the fossil fuel industry's favorite Climate Change Skeptic, Bjorn Lomborg has apparently now seen the folly of his ways.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/...

The world's most high-profile climate change sceptic is to declare that global warming is "undoubtedly one of the chief concerns facing the world today" and "a challenge humanity must confront", in an apparent U-turn that will give a huge boost to the embattled environmental lobby.

Bjørn Lomborg, the self-styled "sceptical environmentalist" once compared to Adolf Hitler by the UN's climate chief, is famous for attacking climate scientists, campaigners, the media and others for exaggerating the rate of global warming and its effects on humans, and the costly waste of policies to stop the problem.

Lomborg, once a critic of methods to reduce carbon emissions, now appears to have done a turnabout and now espouses the idea of a carbon tax.  

continued at Daily Kos....

BP Catastrophe Liveblog Mothership: 98

by Gulf Watchers

Please rec the new Mothership #99 here. This one has expired.
The current ROV DIARY: Daily Kos Gulf Watchers ROV #348 - Waiting on Weather - BP's Gulf Catastrophe - peraspera

Rules of the Road

• We take volunteers for subsequent diaries in the sub diaries or ROV's as we have playfully coined them.
• Please rec this mothership diary, not the ROVs.
• Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos.

PLEASE visit Pam LaPier's diary to find out how you can help the Gulf now and in the future. We don't have to be idle! And thanks to Crashing Vor and Pam LaPier for working on this!

continued at Daily Kos....