Stephan: In Trumpland climate change is not such a big deal, as the Gallup Organization discovered after polling the country. This is true in spite of the dramatic damage that part of the U.S. has already sustained as a result of what is happening. The truth is these people stand in willful ignorance behind Trump even when it means damaging their own self-interest. You cannot protect people against their own stupidity.
Climate demonstrators in Washington, D.C.
Southerners, Midwesterners less likely to say global warming has begun
Worries about global warming higher in the East and West
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The premise of the Green New Deal being debated in Congress is that the window to combat global warming‘s imminent effects on the U.S. and the world is closing. But not all Americans are equally convinced of its immediate threat. Americans living in the Northeast (67%) or the West (67%) are more likely than those living in the Midwest (60%) or the South (53%) to believe climate change is now occurring.
Beliefs About Global Warming’s Imminence and Seriousness, by U.S. Region
Believe global warming has already begun
Believe seriousness of global warming is generally correct or underestimated
%
%
Northeast
67
70
West
67
67
Midwest
60
62
South
53
60
Figures represent aggregated data from 2017 to 2019
GALLUP
These regional differences also bear out in how dire Americans believe the issue is. Close to seven in 10 residents in the Northeast and West versus closer to six in 10 in the Midwest and South believe that […]
Stephan: I think it is important to observe closely how the Congressional Republicans are responding, or not responding, to the devastating Mueller Report. Here's an example. Joni Ernst is so cretinous and ethically bankrupt that you have to ask: Is there something wrong with the voters of Iowa? How could you elect someone like this, Iowa?
Republican Iowa Senator Joni Ernst
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Monday shrugged off special counsel Robert Mueller’s report that extensively chronicled President Donald Trump’s efforts to obstruct his investigation — and she said the report didn’t tell us anything about Trump that we didn’t already know before.
“I think we all know who the President is, he has a brash demeanor, that’s about all I can say,” Ernst said about the behavior revealed in Mueller’s report, according to CNN’s Manu Raju.
Ernst also dismissed calls to have Mueller testify before the Senate by saying Senate Republicans already had more important work to do.
“Really, the House seems all over this, I know that we will continue to work on judges as a primary concern in Judiciary,” Ernst said. “I don’t know that that’s necessary, we have the report so we can go from there.”
For far, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) has been the only GOP senator to explicitly condemn the actions taken by the president and his campaign as described in the Mueller report — and he […]
Stephan: This is what happens to a country where profit is more important than even a society's survival. Greed is mesmerizing, it consumes your brain, your spirit.
Growth in natural gas consumption was a big factor in the United States’ record energy use in 2018. Credit: Shutterstock
The US Energy Information Administration dropped some troubling new data this week: US energy consumption hit a record high in 2018 in large part due to the growing use of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels provided 80 percent of total energy used in 2018. Consumption of natural gas and petroleum grew by 4 percent, while coal consumption declined by 4 percent compared to the year before. Renewable energy production also reached a record high last year, climbing 3 percent relative to 2017.
US energy consumption hit a record high in 2018. US Energy Information Administration
The growth in energy use is largely a function of the growing US economy. More goods, more travel, more […]
MOIRA FAGAN AND CHRISTINE HUANG, - Pew Research Center
Stephan: This is the first data I feel we can trust on how climate change is now viewed. Notice once again how poorly the U.S. places. Thirty nine percent of us see climate change as either no threat or, at best, a minor one. Those numbers I think can be directly traced to Donald Trump and the Republican Party, and their aggressive disinformation campaigns.
Protesters are seen holding a banner during a protest calling for increased efforts to stop climate change. Credit: Helen Paroglou/SOPA /LightRocket/Getty
April 22 is Earth Day, an annual event that highlights environmental concerns and encourages civic action. This year’s Earth Day comes amid widespread global concern about climate change.
Here are five facts about how people globally see climate change, drawn from a 2018 Pew Research Center survey on how people evaluate eight potential threats, as well as other polls conducted by the Center. (For more on how people in the United States see climate change, see our companion post, “How Americans see climate change in 5 charts.”)
1Majorities in most surveyed countries say global climate change is a major threat to their nation.In fact, it’s seen as the top threat […]
Ellen Brown, Chairman of the Public Banking Institute - truthdig
Stephan: Here is some good banking news. Yes, it is possible to have good banking news
Credit: 401kcalculator.org
As public banking gains momentum across the country, policymakers in California and Washington state are vying to form the nation’s second state-owned bank, following in the footsteps of the highly successful Bank of North Dakota, founded in 1919. The race is extremely close, with state bank bills now passing their first round of committee hearings in both states’ senates.
In California, the story begins in 2011, when then-Assemblyman Ben Hueso filed his first bill to explore the creation of a state bank. The bill, which was for a blue-ribbon committee to do a feasibility study, sailed through both legislative houses and seemed to be a go. That is, until Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed it, not on grounds that he disapproved of the concept, but because he said we did not need another blue-ribbon committee. The state had a banking committee that could review the matter in-house. Needless to say, nothing was heard of the proposal after that.
So when now-Sen. Hueso filed SB 528 earlier this year, he went straight for setting up a state […]
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