Of Pole Signs, Coal Plants, and Impractical Energy Plans.

by RLMiller

A local city bisected by a freeway has a number of fast food and fast gas outlets, all with large signs on poles to to attract weary travelers.  City officials and voters don't like eyesores.  A dozen years ago, the voters overwhelmingly passed an ordinance requiring all pole signs to come down in seven years.  

Naive voters thought that their ultimatum meant exactly that: in seven years, the signs would be gone.  However, to the fast food and gas franchises, the ultimatum meant something else entirely: seven years to hire lobbyists to determine how best to ignore the law.  

Which brings us to the Practical Energy and Climate Plan bill, S. 3464, recently proposed by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN).

continued at Daily Kos....

Clean Energy: an Unimpressive Response to Disaster.

by RLMiller

The nation is hungry for something to be done in response to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.  Support for offshore oil is dropping along with public perception of BP (still not as evil as Goldman Sachs, but for how long?).  Oilpocalypse consumes President Obama's time, and Tuesday he'll address the nation on the disaster.  Congress will continue to hold hearings.  Some legislation will come out of this...but what kind?  

The Gulf crisis has spotlighted the wrongs inherent in our fossil-fuelish ways.  The crisis deserves a mobilization of all resources.  Although reading tea leaves is an uncertain business, the Senate appears poised to take up a hodge-podge clean energy bill instead of the climate bill that would end, once and for all, our fossil fuel addiction.  Our leaders are wasting this crisis.  

continued at Daily Kos....