1 Year ago Today Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham & Joe Lieberman Formed a Triumverate to Combat Climate Change: What Happened?

The triumverate: Lindsey Graham center with Joe Lieberman

at the far left and John Kerry peering over Graham's left shoulder

(courtesy of Time Magazine)

In his primary-campaign speech 2 years ago, Barack Obama declared that his adminisration would spotlight two main issues: climate change and health care. He said in a debate with John McCain. : "Energy [which includes global warming] we have to deal with today. Health care is priority No. 2."

A year ago today, October 29 2009, an unlikely alliance was formed between 3 senators whose goal was to pass a bill through congress that would control climate change.

Earlier that month in a New York Times op-ed column entitled Yes We Can, Kerry and Graham co-wrote..." climate change is real and threatens our economy and national security. That's why we are advocating aggressive reductions in our emissions of the carbon gases that cause climate changes.....We will develop mechanisms to protect businesses- and ultimately consumers- from increases in energy prices" via the "establishment of floor and ceiling for the cost of emission allowances....to safeguard important industries while they make the investments necessary to join the clean-energy era."

A house bill had the goal of reducing the 2005 level of carbon gases (in the atmosphere) by 17% by 2020!

They could not be a more unlikely group: a maverick republican from South Carolina (Lindsey Graham) with an avowed antipathy towards a liberal northeast senator and presidential and then high office hopeful (John Kerry) and his one-time presidential primary opponent a democrat turned independent, a chameleon with conservative leanings (Joe Lieberman).

A "grand bargain" was outlined by a senior White House official--a master strategy to bring together dynamically opposed business interests and congressional republicans and democrats (analagous to bringing Al Gore and T.Boone Pickens to sit down at the bargaining table).

In this bargain, the democrats would get their coveted 'cap and trade' legislation in return for ceding to their republican opponents much sought after business concessions.

Here was the deal: the blue party would get their 'cap and trade' and the red party would get a guarantee for increase in gas production (to placate the Pickens group), loan guarantees and subsidies for the development of nuclear power (an issue dear to Graham whose state has 4 active nuclear reactors, Catawba, Oconee, H.B. Robinson and Virgil C. Summer and 4 more proposed at a cost of up to $10 Billion each ) and assurances for continued exploration and drilling for offshore oil.

This epic saga of trial and failure has a cast of characters that includes senators Barbara Boxer, John McCain, Susan Collins, Olympia Snow, Scot Brown, George LeMieux, Lisa Murkowski, Evan Bayh, Debbie Stebanow, Blanche Lincoln, Congressmen Henry Waxman, Max Baucus, Edward Markey and various green group proponents such as Fred Krupp (of the Envrironmental Defense Fund), industry groups such as The Edison Electrical Institute and presidential appointees and advisors Carol Browner, Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod.

To learn more about the ups and downs of this historic effort to control global pollution and its attendant harm to our health, weather, seas, oceans and wildlife, national morale and international standing amongst the league of nations , etc--- please read the excellent article by Ryan Lizza, As The World Burns, in the October 11, 2010 issue of the New Yorker.

He will summarize in detail the reasons for this unfortunate failure: chief amongst them is the often bitter indifference of a burned out administration that turned against the historic triumverate. Obama (who in December 2009 met with and pledged to Graham to work with him on climate change: "Look Lindsey , I'm ready to play..") and his henchmen simple gave up on the issue after the mammoth fight of working with Congress, the medical, pharmaceutical and insurance industries to pass Obamacare, which was suddenly their Number One priority.

Image source (1)

Combating climate change : do we really have two strikes against us?

Over two years ago, in October 2010, I blogged about the implosion of the unusual triumvirate of Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman-- formed to combat global warming. (I suggest you glance at my comments.)

The issue is hardly dead with the release just a few weeks ago that level of carbon dioxide, the key warming gas, has hit 400 parts per million in our atmosphere.

The consequences are dire:  they include droughts, floods and rising ocean levels, and other disastrous consequences.

This past week, two prominent leaders have come forward to urge combating global warming.

Senator Barbara Boxer of California gave an impassioned speech on the senate floor urging our nation to unite on taking steps to curb climate change.

Christine Lagarde head of the International Monetary Fund, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal,  was asked about the magnitude of the economic risk posed by climate change. She responded:  "It's a massive risk and its a huge opportunity and for the moment, we are ignoring both risk and opportunity associated with it."

She went on to urge governments not to encourage massive consumption of fossil energy. "The opportunities are huge, with the spending that is saved re-orientated  toward infrastructure, education, health, you name it."

 Congress has failed to pass tough legislation to curb atmospheric pollution.

Yet, a recent editorial in the New York Times suggests that all is not hopeless.

The President can take executive action to execute a "robust climate strategy."

He can "invoke the E.P.A.'s authority under the Clean Air Act to limit pollution from stationary industrial sources, chiefly the power plants that account for almost 40 percent of the country's carbon emissions."

He can also have the E.P.A. curb the "enormous leakage of methane, a potent global warming agent, from gas wells and the pipes that bring natural gas to consumers."

In addition, "he can order the Energy Department  to embark on a major program to improve the efficiency of appliances and commercial and residential buildings which consume a huge chunk of the country's energy supply. And he can ramp up investment in basic research."

It's high time we get started on an climate changing program-- and especially in concert with other industrially polluting nations.

Our State of the Union on the eve of our President's address to our nation.

As our President counts down to the 3 final years of his second term, here are three major issues that we as  a nation must begin confronting ASAP:

Our 44th President, Barack Obama
courtesy of Wikipedia 

1. Our  Elementary to High School educational system  is imploding

 Specifically, in a prior blog, I discussed why the urban student need not fail.

 I have come out in favor of our government mandating universal free pre-kindergarten education. Where tried, this has boosted student passing rates significantly, which in turn has increased student moral and motivation. Fewer students, do indeed drop out never to get their degree. 

   

 We then can direct more motivated students to careers in health, informational technology and science where vacancies are being filled by recruiting candidates from other countries.

2. Immigration reform and border control is direly needed. 

 First, we are a nation of immigrants.

 When there are tens of millions of  undocumented illegal residents  living, working and raising families in our cities, it is time for both parties to bury their hatchets and seek compromise. Ways must be found to allow these workers the opportunities and responsibilities that come with becoming American citizens. 

3. We must deal with Climate Change.

 From the devastating aftermath of  hurricane Sandy to our present day arctic vortex weather plunging over 90% of our nation in subfreezing temperatures, we are being forced to build up defenses against future occurrences.

 But these measures are only dealing with the consequences and not with root causes.

 I have recently  blogged  about the need for President to take unilateral executive action in the absence of getting congressional bilateral unity. (See: Combating Climate Change: do we really have two strikes against us? )

AND IT WORTHWHILE REREADING THIS ARTICLE TO GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS AT STAKE HERE--THE OVERALL HEALTH of OUR NATION AND THE PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL THAT OUR CONSTITUTION WAS SET UP TO PROTECT. CLICK HERE TO LINK TO THE ARTICLE. 

Good luck, Mr. President, in getting these tough issues in front of the American electorate.

You may not win passage of bills--during your term--on ANY of these three issues. 

But, above all, you will have started an important dialog with the American people, EVEN AS THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE GRIDLOCKED,  that will continue to be debated in future administrations.

Hopefully, they will be destined  for passage--BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

   

Our President Under Fire

 

These past few weeks have been very trying times for President Joe Biden. 

  Grave issues facing our country seem to have piled up to weigh heavily on the moral and leadership responsibilities that our POTUS faces.

  Our exit from Afghanistan has been replete with images of thousands at the airport clamoring to  secure a seat on one of the Air Force C-17 transport planes. Though over 100, 000  people have been carried to safety, hundreds of American citizens and friendly allies have been left behind. 

 And who will be able to forget the 13 U.S. marines and scores of Afghanis who gave their lives in the suicide attack at the airport?

Back home forest fires are out of control in the California's Dixie and the Caldor fires,the latter now threatening thousands of acres near Lake Tahoe. 

Hurricane Ida has just struck the east coast with a vengeance leaving millions without power, homes and streets flooded and dumping over 8 inches of rain in some metropolitan areas.

The delta variation of the corona virus is taking a strong toll of those in states where citizens refuse to take the vaccine such as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. As of today, only 57% or about 189.9 million people have been fully vaccinated. To achieve herd immunity a majority of the remaining 43% unvaccinated people need to receive the two jabs. 

Finally, though the house  has passed the 3 billion dollar infrastructure bill; the senate is the big hurdle where the bill faces a filibuster. 

There are many who believe that Biden is simply incapable of dealing with so many burdens at one time and I can understand their point of view. He does, at times, show the effects of stress.

In my opinion, he is up to the task of leading America today and into the future. 

On the home front, if President Biden can turn the corner on controlling  the pandemic and secure passage of the infrastructure bill (which includes measures to stem climate change), he will show he has the fortitude and courage to lead America forward. 

He has 49 years of solid experience in national politics and has built a solid reputation for compromise and  working across the aisles to get important legislative programs passed. 

May he continue to lead America forward and God give him the strength, wisdom and purpose to continue his mission of securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. 

The Thirteen Top News Stories for 2013 and who will be our Citizen of the Year....

Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg, 13 May  2008

Courtesy of Wikipedia

From a letter to Winnie Mandela in Kroonstad Prison, dated 1 February 1975

 Mandela,Nelson, Conversations with Myself,  Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2010,
Pages 211-212

1. Nelson Mandela dies and leaves a rarefied legacy demonstrating an amazing transformation during his 27 year jail sentence. He metamorphosed from being a radical and violent protester to one who seeks and then effects reconciliation and compromise. What is notably praiseworthy and unusual is that he worked his MOJO, not only on his adversaries, such as de Klerk, but particularly with his supporters whom he convinced to lay down their ammo and negotiate. He spearheads the end of apartheid.

FW de Klerk and Mandella (File, AFP) 

The two shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. 

De Klerk named Mandella one of the world's greatest

3. Sports Wire: Events surrounding Lance Armstrong (stripped of 7 titles) and A-Rod (suspended for 211 games), both who have taken PED’s, show that various sports authorities have not been able to police and enforce a consistent anti-doping policy.

   The NFL shells out  nearly $800 million to settle SOME concussion lawsuits.

4. Issues concerning the disastrous effects of climate change continue to plague us and thus loom large a year after Hurricane Sandy struck the east coast. New York and New Jersey are still prone to massive displacement/uprooting of its loyal denizens and massive power outages.

5. Two fifty year milestones were remembered with a media blitz including fantastic coverage in magazines, newspapers, C-Span, the History Channel, the major networks and radio.

View from the Lincoln Memorial to 

The Washington Monument on August 28, 1963

(courtesy of Wikipedia)

The March for Freedom and Jobs was led by Dr. Martin Luther King on August 28, 1963, 100 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation and King asserts that despite the passage of  5 score years, "the negro is still not free." He will only be free when "justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like  a mighty stream". His speech culminates with his resounding cry of "Free at last, free at last, free at last." Click here to hear his speech.

The march also heralded the powerful message of Rabbi Joachi Prinz, the Rabbi of Berlin before World War II, who addressed the marchers and condemned not those who harbored hatred and bigotry, but those who remained silent in the face of injustice, brutality and mass murder.

Rabbi Joachim Prinz speaking at the March for Freedom and Jobs

Click here to hear his speech

50 years after the assassination of JFK, the country still struggles with whether his short tenure as President merits to be called the reign of Camelot or reign of mediocrity. Can we trust Jacqueline’s assessments?

6. The President continues to be vilified by his Republican political enemies despite an S&P that has soared nearly 30%, an unemployment rate that continues downward, with more and more people signing up for the Affordable Care Act and despite the fact no American blood has been spilled --through our diplomatic overtures-- and black ops, no doubt-- in the Middle East.

7. Pope Benedict XVI announces his retirement and is replaced by a little known cleric who is getting good press for the Vatican--which, unfortunately, desperately needs it! 

8. Atmospheric carbon pollution is to be attacked on two fronts. First, the President has the Executive authority to impose stricter standards and controls on mid western coal- fired industrial plants. Meanwhile, the Eastern States have petitioned the E.P.A to improve the air quality coming from the Rust Belt. Kudos to Governor Daniel P. Malloy of Connecticut who is leading the Eastern governors in the petition.

Coal-fired industrial pollution

Courtesy of joinmosaic.com

9. In a bold radical move designed to reform and improve our faltering and embarrassing early education system, the President calls for universal pre-kindergarten education. Serious debate must be forthcoming as America's education system fall further behind those in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.  
(A MUST READ: Why Other Countries Teach Better)

Isn't it time for a bottoms up overhaul, fellow citizens?

10. Volcker rules are enacted to stem the proprietary trading by financial institutions.They are enacted to protect the rights and trust of innocent investors in these institutions and to avoid problems of TRANSPARENCY.

11. Putin continues to play the strongman TSAR, posing at times like a bare chested Charles Atlas. Is he trying to reconstitute and rebuild the old empire now that Russian population stands at only 180 million?  Is he only trying to prevent the Ukraine’s (45M population) entry into the EU, or is this only a power play to serve as a diversion as he casts his eyes over all the other former republics of the USSR?
Putin's latest move is a $15 billion bailout which was accepted by beleaguered Ukrainian President Yanukovych.

12. Relief at the pump:  the US stands to surpass both Saudi Arabia and Russia in oil production as early as 2015.  Gas prices are coming down at the pump with regular selling in NJ for $3.20 per gallon.
In 2014, Toyota will be introducing a car that runs on natural compressed gas to cost about $1 a gallon to run. T. Boone Pickens has been seen driving a Honda Civic GX, available in 35 states and he wants you to know it.(click here).

Honda Civic GX, Third Generation

courtesy of Wikipedia

      Is the gas car the wave of the future? 

Stay tuned.

There is one caveat: The pros and cons of fracking are a hot issue and won't simply evaporate!

Courtesy rebellesociety.com

Excerpts from Malala's speech at the UN

13. Kudos must go to an unsung teenage heroine: to 16 year old Malala Yousafazi raised in the Swat Valley of northwestern Pakistan. She was shot in the neck and head by the Taliban in a school bus as she left school for daring to flout and publicly denounce their orders banning girls from getting an education, going to the market, watching TV, listening to music, etc. The Taliban has leveled school after school killing students, teachers and innocent bystanders in the Swat Valley because the Taliban have embraced the violent interpretation of Sharia. Despite the Taliban’s threats, Malala continued attending her dad’s school for girls in Mingora. In 2009, she began “The Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl,” a blog for a BBC website. 

Congratulations are in order for Malala: In October, she was awarded the European Union's top human rights award, the Sakharov Prize and then named one of 6 recipients of the coveted United Nations Human Rights Award. The latter is granted every 5 years and counts Nelson Mandela and Amnesty International as prior honorees. 

COMING NEXT:  THE NOMINATION FOR CITIZEN OF THE YEAR. SOMEONE WHO EXEMPLIFIES AND ELEVATES CIVIC VIRTUES TO THE HIGHEST LEVEL. I SOLICIT YOUR SUGGESTIONS 
 Please respond by posting  your comment  within the next 72 hours. It's a formidable task, but with your help, I think we can whittle our task down to ONE CLEARCUT CANDIDATE. 

Indra Nooyi, a force of nature, leads Civility in American into its 11th year

 Wow!.......Awesome!......

That’s how I have to describe last night’s dialog conducted by Bob Dilenshneider and hosted by Stamford’s Ferguson Library in front of a live socially distanced audience and a remote one on zoom one as well. 

Bob, one of the initiators of this series (along with other sponsors) was very much in command as he ‘peppered’  Ms. Nooyi  with a series of short questions. All were based on her book, Life in Full: Work, Family and our Future.

Indra Nooyi

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia 

Miss Indra Nooyi, born in Tamil Nadu, India rose to become the CEO of PepsiCo, the first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 Company. 

The program will be posted shortly on the Ferguson Library Website.

Here’s  my brief  takeaway in what was a ‘whirlwind’ covering many subjects. 

!. To be a leader (she teaches a course in leadership at U.S Military Academy at West Point)one must be a follower.  To listen to others requires a large dose of humility. 

2. Company strategy must emphasize sustainability in the workplace as well as in the environment. Companies must seek out and foster talent that is rooted in integrity. She discussed the Pepsico acquisition of Quaker Oats (including gatorade and its emphasis on natural foods), the company shift to solar, and  the recycling of plastic waste and employing hybrid vehicles. 

3. Above all, she kept emphasizing the primacy of the family structure. Parents must find the time, harness the energy and resources on rearing their kids.

On a more personal note, I chatted briefly with Bob before the program and he remarked how much Stamford has grown with so many young professionals moving in as well as saying  ‘we are all young’ meaning he plans to continue this program for many years to come. 

At the end of the meeting I chatted with former Connecticut congressman  Chris Shays who was eager to hear the question I wanted to ask. I told him I wanted to know her opinions on what, if any, corporate responsibility should be for arresting the serious global climate change. His comment: ‘great question.’