Tea Partying with a Climate Denier Birther British Lord

It's unbelievable, isn't it? A movement named after the Tea Party rebellion against the British aristocracy has joined forces with a British aristocrat.

Lord Christopher Monckton, the 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley, spoke at a Freedomworks Tea Party event on Thursday in DC. But as David Weigel reports, he wasn't exactly on message, first making a birther "joke," then confirming he's a birther:

"I have no idea where he was born," said Monckton, who was working the crowd and signing autographs. "What I do find strange is that the public records of his Hawaiian birth have been sealed, and can not be obtained by the public. His lawyers have spent a lot of money trying to seal the records of his public life. All of those records should be open to the public, as they always were for previous presidents."

I pointed out to Monckton that the state of Hawaii released Obama's certification of live birth nearly two years and ago, and that the persistent challenges to his citizenship have inspired some members of the military to refuse to serve under Obama. "The effective classification of all of these documents of his early life is surely contrary to the spirit of freedom and openness in the Democratic west," said Monckton. "It's bound to raise questions in some peoples' minds. However! I have no idea where he's born, but it made a nice joke."

Monckton has made a career out of denying climate science, going so far as to call American youth climate activists "Hitler Youth." At the event, Monckton also reiterated his stance that all people with HIV should be quarantined.

Republicans try to paint birthers as being on the fringe of conservatism. But when a birther-spouting, global warming-denying, HIV-quarantiner is invited to speak at an event organized by Freedomworks, chaired by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey, the lines between the GOP & the Crazy get increasingly blurry.

Cross-posted from BlueVirginia.us; photo via Flickr's Matthew McDermott; story via Grist

Hurt's Shilling for Big Polluter Pays Off

Last month, The Green Miles asked "Is there anything State Sen. Robert Hurt (R-Chatham) won't do for his donors at [American Electric Power subsidiary] Appalachian Power?" Today, we're learning more about what's in it for Hurt as he tries to win the GOP nomination to challenge Rep. Tom Perriello (D-5th).

Hurt's shilling came into the spotlight as he made outlandish excuses to defend Appalachian Power's massive rate hike in December. When 5th district voters expressed outrage at the huge price spike in the middle of a recession, Hurt claimed Appalachian Power had no choice but to raise rates because of carbon pollution regulations. Just one problem -- those regulations don't actually exist yet. (Will Hurt next blame AEP's recent minor stock slip on financial reform that has not yet passed?) Hurt has also vigorously rejected mainstream climate science, sounding an awful lot like Tea Party favorite Ken Cuccinelli.

Hurt's first quarter fundraising report shows his efforts paid off handsomely, with AEP delivering a $1,000 donation. That's on top of the $3,250 Appalachian Power has contributed to Hurt's campaigns since 2001, just a fraction of the $64,717 Hurt has received from energy companies over that period, including $20,750 from electric utilities.

And if Hurt plays his cards right, there's a lot more where that came from! Don't believe me? Just ask Virgil Goode!

AEP gave then-Rep. Goode $10,000 in 2008 alone & $25,850 over his Congressional career, making AEP one of his top donors ever (just ahead of Altria/Philip Morris & RJ Reynolds Tobacco).

It's all part of a massive expansion of AEP's political contributions. As recently as the 1998 cycle, AEP's political action committee spent "only" $139,950. But AEP has already spent $875,048 this time around -- and the 2010 cycle's only half over.

Why is AEP suddenly so interested in politics? It may have something to do with those pesky Democrats (like Rep. Perriello) trying to hold polluters accountable for their pollution. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst named AEP to the Toxic 100 list, identifying AEP as the 35th-largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States, releasing roughly 88 million pounds of toxic chemicals into the air every single year.

So the bottom line is, I guess not every customer in Virginia's 5th district is so upset about all that extra money flowing into AEP's coffers & all that pollution going into our air, huh? For Robert Hurt, it just paid off.

Cross-posted from BlueVirginia.us

VoteVets.org Defangs the Deniers

On Wednesday night's edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," Bill played a new VoteVets.org ad for guest Dennis Miller. The ad points out that the money we pay to import polluting oil ends up in the hands of terrorists who targets our troops in Iraq & Afghanistan. It closes with a call for clean energy & climate legislation. 

Watch as Miller, a hardcore conservative & self-described global warming denier, refuses to say one bad word about it:

Foil vs. Wrap? How About Neither?

The Washington Post's The Green Lantern had a post this week comparing the environmental footprint of aluminum foil & plastic wrap. But nowhere in the article is mentioned that most mysterious of treehugger tools:

I store all my leftovers in Tupperware. Don't have to worry about leaks, spills or smells. And once the leftovers are gone, it gets washed & reused instead of thrown away.

As is so often the case, the environmental decision is also the best economic one. A few dollars worth of Tupperware has lasted me more than five years. (My previous set of Tupperware was lost in an unfortunate incident where my last roommate thought the broiler was a storage drawer. No, really. Kitchen smelled like melted plastic for about two weeks.)

I go through about one roll of aluminum foil every two years as liner for baking dishes. And I don't buy plastic wrap at all, partly because it's wasteful, but mostly because it's a pain. Even if you can somehow manage to get a sheet off the roll, then transfer it to the top of the container, it's a tossup on whether it'll actually stick to it. There's about a 75% chance you end up feeling like an idiot.

Virginia Attorney General Predicts All Americans to Die

The government will tax every building at $125,000 per year until no one has any money to buy food, at which point everyone will die out and there will be no people left.

I'm pretty sure that's what Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is saying here, although it's really hard to sort it all out -- and I say that as someone who works on environment & energy issues every day:

I think Cuccinelli starts with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations on mountaintop removal coal mining, confuses that with lies about a clean energy & climate bill that would actually create 1.7 million jobs & smushes it all together with lying about EPA global warming regulations under the Clean Air Act to say they'll apply not to industrial polluters emitting at least 25,000 tons of CO2 a year but instead to any building Ken Cuccinelli points to. I have no idea where he got $125,000 -- I think he made up a big scary number on the spot.

In other words, Ken Cuccinelli lies so much, even Ken Cuccinelli can't keep straight what Ken Cuccinelli is lying about at any given moment.

Cross-posted from BlueVirginia.us

"Coal Has Not Been Good for West Virginia."

West Virginia blogger Debra Dean Murphy has an op-ed in today's Charleston Gazette taking on the myth that her state owes whatever prosperity it has to coal:

Lest I be misunderstood, let me say, as clearly as I can, that I don't in any way denigrate the risky work that coal miners do, nor the sense of accomplishment they rightly feel in their vocation.

But here's the thing: I worry, at least a little, when generations of West Virginians - whether they're connected to coal mining or not - absorb this notion that they are beleaguered and put-upon, the most-derided in our culture, and then turn that woundedness into a kind of guarded bravado that refuses to reckon with some hard, uncomfortable truths.

To say we're proud of coal miners without acknowledging that for decades miners have been given the shaft - literally - by greedy coal companies does not serve the long-term well-being of those who do this dirty, dangerous work. And, sure, we should pray for the victims of this most recent tragedy, but we should also do the holy, pressing work of challenging an industry that enriches absentee corporate shareholders while sucking the life out of the people and places it needs for its pursuit of profit at any cost.

This latest disaster should not be one more occasion for West Virginians to turn their latent defensiveness into full-blown denial of what's really going on. Here's the truth: Coal has not been good for West Virginia. Coal has been good for corporations. After more than a century of extracting this valuable resource from the earth, the considerable profits it has generated have gone elsewhere.

Takes a lot of guts for someone to stand up to their state's status quo and call it like it is. Read more from Debra at her blog.

Cross-posted from BlueVirginia.us

A Harry Caray Moment in the Dairy Aisle

HEY! Why do the free-range eggs cost more than the cage-free eggs at the grocery store? If you were a chicken, wouldn't you rather be free-range? I know I would.

Actually, both "cage-free" & "free-range" seem to be a bit meaningless. The term "free farmed" seems to have some real standards. 

But as is so often the case, if you're really concerned about how the chicken was treated before it begat the egg, you're best off going to your local farmers market, where they'll be happy to chat your ear off about the chickens & how there's been too much rain this spring & here, try a piece of our cheese, it's the best & if you're ever up in Buckeystown you should stop by!

Progress on Virginia's First Wind Farm

It's going up in Highland County:

Plans call for 19 turbines that will produce enough electricity to power 12,000 homes.

Site preparation began in August, but work was delayed while 12 feet of snow accumulated over the winter. The work will pick up as soon as the remaining snow melts, [Highland New Wind Development's Tal] McBride said.

The 38-megawatt project, including a substation to connect with a nearby power line, should be operating by the fall, he said.

Virginia's wind resources have gone untapped for too long. Great to see this project nearing completion!

Why Can't Virginia's Attorney General Talk About Global Warming Without Lying?

You really have to wonder -- if Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's legal case against climate action is really as watertight as he claims, why can't he talk about it without lying repeatedly?

In an interview with the Roanoke Free Press, Cuccinelli repeats an old Republican lie about the results of an MIT study on the costs of clean energy & climate legislation. Strangely, Cuccinelli repeats the lie even though the MIT professor behind the study asked Republicans to stop lying about his research over a year ago.

How much would a bill like the American Clean Energy & Security Act that passed the House last year cost the average family? According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, about a postage stamp a day -- $175 a year. And low-income families would actually save $40 a year thanks to energy rebates. Pretty cheap for a bill that would create 1.7 million new jobs & curb the worst effects of global warming.

Showing that he must get his climate news from Rush Limbaugh, Cuccinelli also cites illegally hacked climate scientist emails as proof the Environmental Protection Agency should throw out decades of scientific research. Does Cuccinelli know the Associated Press had a team of 5 reporters comb through every word of those emails & found "none of the emails" changed the fact that "global warming is man-made and a threat"? Or is he happy to keep ignoring reality & instead live in a science-denying bubble?

ExxonMobil's Favorite Day of the Year: April 15

Why? Because ExxonMobil paid $0 in federal income taxes in 2009:

The most hilarious part is ExxonMobil still finds a way to bitch about its lot in life. The corporation's website includes an issues page on "industry taxes," which threatens that energy innovation is already on the ropes because of excessive taxes, and it will be forever consigned to the dustbin by any new taxes on windfall profits (or, we'd assume, plans like President Obama's to close the offshore earnings loopholes that saved ExxonMobil from the IRS this year). "While our worldwide profits have grown, our worldwide income taxes have grown even more. From 2004 to 2008 our earnings grew by 79 percent, but our income taxes grew by 130 percent," ExxonMobil's flacks wrote, presumably while playing the world's smallest—and most expensive—violin.

But I'm sure this should give us no reason to doubt Gov. Bob McDonnell's promises about how much revenue will be delivered by handing over our coastlines to Big Oil for drilling ... um, right?

Is the Smithsonian Selling Science to a Climate Denier?

Read much more at ClimateProgress.org:

DC's Mildest March Ever?

Given our heavy rains & strong winds last month, it's hard to think of March as "mild." But by one measure, DC broke a record:

Not once during March did the temperature fall below 33 degrees at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

This is the first time the area has had such a mild March in nearly 140 years of keeping records. 

And as Lowell reports over at Blue Virginia:

It turned out that this past heating season turned out warmer than normal. Today's Washington Post reports that "heating degree days"  ("an index of fuel consumption indicating how many degrees the average temperature fell below 65 for the day") this season are 3,622, compared to a normal of 3,711 and last season's 3,874.  Fewer degree days, of course, mean it's been warmer than normal this heating season.

As a result of the warm temperatures, DC's cherry blossoms are blooming earlier than usual. But what's "usual" for the cherry blossoms is changing thanks to global warming. According to a study by Smithsonian scientists, they're blooming about a week earlier than they once did.

Hearing on Metro Budget Proposals in Arlington Tonight

As Metro officials face a $189 million budget gap for the 2011 fiscal year, this is their paradox:

• If they propose service cuts, commuters will scream bloody murder.
• If they propose fare increases, commuters will scream bloody murder.
• If they ask for more funding, local politicians will scream bloody murder.

Metro officials are holding a public hearing tonight at 7pm at the Arlington County Board Office (2100 Clarendon Blvd, 3rd floor, above the Courthouse Metro). If you can't make the hearing, Metro has created an online survey to get public input about the budget options (note: the survey link didn't work for me just now, but I'm leaving it in the post in hopes it's a temporary glitch). The questionnaire only takes a few minutes & the results will be incorporated into the final staff report to the Metro Board later this month.

Both fare increases & service cuts are unfortunate options that will only discourage transit usage. So why is Metro even considering them? 

It certainly doesn't help that Metro has to ask three different jurisdictions for money, while most major transit systems are controlled by only one. That regularly leaves Metro short on cash, forcing them to squeeze resources from their riders & their budget (often cutting preventative maintenance funding). As today's Washington Post editorial points out, "Metro's ridership contributes about 55 percent of the system's $1.4 billion operating budget, more than the ridership of virtually any other major transit system in the nation. That contribution is set to rise as a result of stiff fare increases."

Looking at the big picture, local officials continually prioritize spending on new & existing roads over funding for Metro. Virginia officials have been practically begging Arlington to let them spend $75 million for "spot improvements" in hopes of improving traffic flow on I66, which carries only about 100,000 cars per day. But the Virginia General Assembly regularly balks at a dedicated funding source for Metro, which carries 1.2 million passenger trips per weekday at vastly lower costs to our public health & environment.

You get what you pay for. And if Virginia, Maryland & DC can't come together to give Metro the support it needs, the system will continue to struggle.

Photo via Flickr's ElvertBarnes

TV Weatherman Plays Politics with Science

The Green Miles used to work as a TV news producer. One night I was out for beers some coworkers when a weatherman with little formal scientific training started spouting global warming denier talking points -- solar cycles, etc. I wasn't all that surprised because it came in the middle of a rant about Big Government -- clearly his beliefs were based on his personal politics, not science.

So when I hear about local TV weathermen who are global warming deniers and are also prominent Republicans ... well, I'm not exactly shocked:

Tim Kelley, a meteorologist at New England Cable News who is married to Scituate Republican Town Committee Chair Janet Fogarty, told a crowd at a GOP St. Patrick’s Day breakfast this month “the forecasts that the alarmists have made are obviously not coming true.” Before a crowd of state officeholders and candidates, Kelley added, “We’re wasting so much time and so much money on that issue."

Two things here. First, Tim Kelley is flat wrong. As the World Meteorological Organization confirmed last week, the 2000s were the hottest decade on record as man-made global warming continues unabated. 

Tim Kelley is also not an expert on climate. He has no formal training in climatology and no advanced scientific degree. Kelley has a bachelor's degree in meteorology from Lyndon State College. He got his degree 23 years ago -- not just before climate science became so well understood, but even before Jim Hansen's landmark Congressional testimony that originally brought global warming into the public spotlight.

When TV weathermen publicly make false statements about science, they're putting their credibility on the line and they risk having their motivations called into question. In Kelley's case, his personal political motives are quite clear.

It's Hard Out Here for a Global Warming Denier

Climate activists are media whores! They just want to grab a piece of the spotlight during this fleeting “green” trend, get invited to all the best parties & hang out with all the biggest names! Also, they all have personal economic agendas! And the media rewards these celebrities with fawning profiles! Like that Leonardo DiCaprio getting on the cover of Vanity Fair’s green issue! Poseur!

Global warming deniers, on the other hand, are only in search of the truth! And for their effort, they’re punished with skepticism from that liberal media! Deniers toil in obscurity with justice as their only reward! Adventure? Excitement? A DENIER CRAVES NOT THESE THINGS.

In other news, here’s a fawning profile of global warming denier Marc Morano that glosses over how much he & his friends rely on polluter funding for their existence. It details how science denial has made Morano rich & famous, reveling in his posh jet-setting lifestyle zipping up the Pacific Coast Highway & planning to buy a big new house. Morano brags about all the great, uncritical media coverage he gets & how he loves palling around with celebrities like Rush Limbaugh.

NY Times Only Sees Bright Side of Global Warming Deniers

The New York Times has an article out Tuesday talking about how some TV weather presenters are global warming deniers. Reporter Leslie Kaufman goes out of her way to avoid taking the shine off some of the denial universe's biggest stars.

First, there's Anthony Watts, whose two primary occupations are denying global warming and peddling small weather gauges. As Joe Romm explains on ClimateProgress:

Watts uses his blogs to try to convince people that government weather sites are faulty, that their data can’t be trusted, enlisting the unpaid help of countless people — and he makes money selling weather stations?

Kaufman also cites the Heartland Institute, one of The Green Miles' favorite front groups -- and by "favorite" I mean "most comically inept." Heartland has received $676,500 from ExxonMobil since 1998. While Heartland stopped disclosing its funding after 2006, SourceWatch reports Heartland received around $260,000 in 2007 from energy companies -- "coal, oil, natural gas, and nuclear." But Kaufman doesn't report any of that, merely calling Heartland "a free-market research organization."

And there's former weatherman John Coleman. A Columbia Journalism Review article on this same topic cast Coleman's denial not as scientific disagreement -- but as ignorance:

For the many Americans who don’t understand the difference between weather—the short-term behavior of the atmosphere—and climate—the broader system in which weather happens—Coleman’s professional background made him a genuine authority on global warming. It was an impression that Coleman encouraged. Global warming “is not something you ‘believe in,’” he wrote in his essay. “It is science; the science of meteorology. This is my field of life-long expertise.”

Except that it wasn’t. Coleman had spent half a century in the trenches of TV weathercasting; he had once been an accredited meteorologist, and remained a virtuoso forecaster. But his work was more a highly technical art than a science. His degree, received fifty years earlier at the University of Illinois, was in journalism. And then there was the fact that the research that Coleman was rejecting wasn’t “the science of meteorology” at all—it was the science of climatology, a field in which Coleman had spent no time whatsoever.

NYT's Kaufman touches on the same issue -- but where the CJR article boldly confronts it head-on, Kaufman merely tiptoes around the edges:

Resentment may also play a role in the divide. Climatologists are almost always affiliated with universities or research institutions where a doctoral degree is required. Most meteorologists, however, can get jobs as weather forecasters with a college degree.

“There is a little bit of elitist-versus-populist tensions,” Mr. Henson said. “There are meteorologists who feel, ‘Just because I have a bachelor’s degree doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s going on.’”

Those snooty climatologists! Thinking they know more about climate just because they've "studied it more" and "work in the field" and are "actual experts on the topic"! Weather presenters who aren't meteorologists but listen to Rush Limbaugh should be allowed to spout ignorance with just the same credibility!

UPDATE: Joe Romm responds to Kaufman's article, blogging NY Times once again equates non-scientists with climate scientists.

PolluterHarmony's Latest Lovebird: "Bob McD" from Virginia

See more at PolluterHarmony.com:

The Mudflats Previews Palin's New Show

Via Andrew Sullian, Alaska politics blog The Mudflats takes a sarcastic sneak peek at Sarah Palin's new show:

Look! It’s a polar bear. I sued the federal government to keep that guy and his ilk from getting an endangered species listing.

Check it out! It’s a moose. Chili anyone?

Wow! It’s a beluga whale! I sued the feds over that one too. There’s only 300 left, but they look like the other kind, so what’s the big dill? [...]

Check it out! This is the village of Shishmaref. Let’s set up a time lapse sequence and watch it fall off into the sea because of global warming snake oil science.

But hey, who needs Sarah Palin jokes here in Virginia? We have the McDonnell-Bolling-Cuccinelli era to provide plenty of material.

Miles vs. Dirty

I work for the National Wildlife Federation. While The Green Miles is my personal blog, I do like to share some of the fun things I get to work on ... and getting to debate a global warming-denying sock puppet definitely qualifies:

You can see all the weekly videos & subscribe at the Climate Capsule archive.

Saturday: ACE Green Living Expo

Ready for some spring greening? Here's a great event coming up on Saturday:

ACE Green Living Expo
Saturday, March 20, 2010
10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
4301 Wilson Blvd. in Ballston

On March 20, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment (ACE) will be sponsoring a Green Living Expo. The Expo will feature green suppliers, products from local and national businesses, exhibits and seminars from government agencies and nonprofits, and a free Going Green Guide for Apartment Renters! [...]

The Expo will also include seminars, a raffle, and plenty of activities for children. It will provide an important venue to showcase new technology and products available that can help soften our carbon footprints in Arlington. The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA), is located near the Ballston metro and several bus routes. The Green Living Expo is family-friendly and free and open to the general public.

Children's activities will include:

• Native seedling planting
• Crafts
• Nature games
• Naturalists with animals to meet

Wait, children's activities? What if certain adults are wildly excited to meet the wildlife?

GOP's Leading Voice on Energy & Environment is Incomprehensibly Crazy

Via the Consequence Campaign, here's Congress' top-ranking Republican on energy & environment issues, Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Ranking Member Jim Inhofe (R-OK):

It reminds me of the two boy ostriches chasing the two girl ostriches. They’re chasing them, the one girl ostrich said, ‘What do we do? They said, let’s hide so each girl ostrich stuck their head in the hole and the boy ostriches gallop up to the clearing and one of them said, ‘Where did the girls go?’ This is what we’re looking at here. They’re hiding their head in the sand and Gore’s writing this op-ed.

I will leave it to you to psychoanalyze how Sen. Inhofe's brain managed to twist a simple head-in-sand analogy into some kind of horrifying teen ostrich orgy.

Image via MarioPiperni.com

A Quick Green Beer Guide for St. Patrick's Day

The Green Miles will be at the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Clarendon tonight. But what to drink? Here are a few quick tips for enjoying the holiday sustainably no matter where you are:

Drink Sustainably. Choose a beer from a Brooklyn Brewing & New Belgium Brewing get 100% of their power from renewable energy. California-based Anderson Valley Brewing & Sierra Nevada get significant chunks of their energy from solar power. Bison Brewing, Peak Organic & Wolaver brew organic beer. Among the heavyweights, Anheuser-Busch InBev got the top score in the most recent ClimateCounts.org assessment, making Bud & Bud Light the top big brand choices. Local Options: You can't go wrong at Restaurant Nora, America's first certified organic restaurant. Busboys & Poets, with two locations in DC & one in Shirlington, has Peak Organic on draft.

Drink Locally. Look for beers that were brewed in your area instead of trucked or shipped over long distances requiring large amounts of fossil fuel. Local Options: Dogfish Head, Yuengling, Old Dominion.

Drink Where It's Brewed. Cut your beer's carbon footprint even further by drinking at places that brew their own beer on-site. Local Options: Shenandoah Brewing, Capitol City Brewing, Rock Bottom.

Drink Draft: If all else fails, go with what's on tap. Most bars & restaurants don't recycle, so if you're drinking out of a bottle, it will likely end up in a landfill. But kegs & pint glasses can be reused hundreds or thousands of times.  

For a more detailed rundown, check out my 2009 St. Patrick's Day post. And as always, read Chris O'Brien's Beer Activist blog.

Snow Removal Rule Melts Memories, Makes Meteorologists

The Arlington County Board took action on sidewalk snow removal yesterday, passing a 60-day ordinance until a permanent can be considered this spring:

“With today’s action, Arlington for the first time formally establishes the expectation that sidewalks are to be cleared following snowfall,” said County Board Vice Chairman Christopher Zimmerman, who presented the motion. “This is fully consistent with our commitment to be a walkable, transit-oriented community.”

The emergency ordinance applies to areas zoned for commercial use throughout the County. It requires the owner, occupant or other person in charge of properties in such districts to remove more than two inches of snow from their sidewalks within 24 hours after the snow ceases to fall. The ordinance also applies to commercial rental properties with more than four units and condominiums with more than four units.

Persons more than 65 years old, or who are disabled or otherwise determined to be physically incapable of meeting the requirements are exempt. Violators shall be assessed a civil penalty of $50 for sidewalks less than 200 linear feet long and $100 for sidewalks longer than 200 linear feet.

The Board acted after noting that historic snowfalls this winter resulted in sidewalks in some areas remaining impassable for days or even weeks, making it difficult or even impossible for persons to walk safely to transit, schools or shops.

The emergency ordinance does not apply to residential areas. The vote was 3 to 2.

Major thanks to Chris Zimmerman, Mary Hynes & Walter Tejada for voting to pass the temporary ordinance, and I look forward to the Board passing a permanent law in the months ahead.  

Barbara Favola said the temporary rule wasn't needed because we won't get any significant snow in the next 60 days. But that's a roll of the dice -- for just one recent example, Arlington got about 9" of snow on March 9, 1999. And as a friend commented on my Facebook page, "If it doesn't snow, then this ordinance isn't used. Nothing gained, nothing lost. But if it does snow, then everyone will be really glad they enacted it. Everyone except for lazy business owners, that is."

Business opposition to the ordinance was led by Arlington Chamber of Commerce:

The Chamber also took issue with Zimmerman’s assertion that many owners of commercial property failed to adequately clear their sidewalks of snow and ice.

“The vast majority of Arlington business and commercial property owners performed exceptionally well,” the letter to Fisette said.

It's ridiculous to claim the "vast majority" of commercial property owners cleared their sidewalks. Why do they think citizens are pushing for an ordinance in the first place? Did any Chamber members attempt to walk Wilson Boulevard or Columbia Pike in the wake of this winter's storms? Do they think people were walking in the street just for fun?

One question for you as we look ahead to the permanent ordinance: Should it apply to residential properties? I understand sidewalk snow removal isn't as much of a concern on back streets (some of which may not even have sidewalks to begin with). 

But then again, there are plenty of single-family homes on busy pedestrian streets like Washington Boulevard. Shouldn't they have to clear their sidewalks? Let me know what you think in comments.

A Thank You Note to My Neighbors for the Gift of Free Heat

I woke up the other morning and thought, "It's too warm in here, better lower the heat." When I went to the thermostat, it turned out I'd forgotten to turn it on the night before. Even though it had been in the 40s that night, my apartment was still too warm for comfort.

The Green Miles lives in an apartment building in Ballston. A great deal of the apartment's efficiency comes from the building's design -- 10-story, densely-packed, concrete & brick, double-paned windows & doors, lots of natural light & bonus heat from the sun. That design gives it a great deal of temperature inertia -- it stays warm in the winter & cool in the summer.

But this afternoon it's 55 degrees & cloudy -- and with the heat off, my apartment is 73 degrees. Clearly, I'm getting a major boost from neighbors whose love of paying to keep their apartment extra toasty is spilling over into my unit. My apartment gets a similar boost of cool air in the summer from their ravenous air conditioning consumption.

I could complain about how much money they're wasting. And I could brag about how keeping an eye on the thermostat in this efficient apartment has kept my heating bill at a ridiculously low $20-30 per month this winter. But instead, I'll just say thanks for helping me save a few dollars that I can then spend on something I enjoy.

Appalachia Activists Ask Webb to Help End Mountaintop Removal

Dozens of activists with the Alliance for Appalachia visited Sen. Jim Webb's office this week, asking him to join their efforts to end mountaintop removal coal mining. The Virginians pictured here were part of a much larger group from across America that was lobbying for change this week on Capitol Hill (more details in the great video at the bottom of this post).

As investigative journalist Jeff Biggers writes at Huffington Post:

Webb's state of Virginia stands on the frontlines of the clean energy and climate debate--and Webb, born fighting for progressive causes in Appalachia and America, now must decide whether he will come to the forefront of the battle for clean energy and an end to deadly coal mining and burning, or quietly watch the fate of his state decided by outside interests.

Every Virginian--and American--needs to call Sen. Webb today to not only support desperately needed clean energy and climate legislation, but to sign on as a co-sponsor with Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of the Appalachian Restoration Act to end mountaintop removal at Virginia's climate ground zero.

Biggers then quotes from Webb's book, Born Fighting: How the Scots-Irish Shaped America:

The ever hungry industrialists had discovered that West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia sat atop one huge vein of coal. And so the rape began. The people from the outside showed up with complicated contracts that the small-scale cattle raisers and tobacco farmers could not fully understand, asking for "rights" to mineral deposits they could not see, and soon they were treated to a sundering of their own earth as the mining companies ripped apart their way of life, so that after a time the only option was to go down into the hole and bring the Man his coal, or starve. The Man got his coal, and the profits it brought when he shipped it out. They got their wages, black lung, and the desecration of their land.

You can reach Sen. Webb's DC office at (202)-224-4024.

Tom Brady for Earth Hour

Let's hope ol' Tommy Boy doesn't go into acting when his NFL career is over ...

New Ad Airing in Virginia Connects Oil Addiction & America's Enemies

From Huffington Post's Sam Stein:

A progressive veterans group is making a fiery push to get comprehensive energy reform passed into law, going up on air with a new ad tying oil consumption to Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. troops.

In a spot set to air in eight key states, the group, VoteVets.org (with an assistance from the energy independence group Operation Free) splices footage of highly developed improvised explosive devices being used against U.S. soldiers alongside Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Narrated by Iraq War veteran Christopher Miller, who earned a Purple Heart as the result of an IED explosion six years ago, the ad makes the case that passing energy legislation is a national security imperative.

You can be sure organizers are hoping the ad moves Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), who voted with 2008's Climate Security Act but since then has expressed discomfort -- if not outright hostility -- at efforts to promote clean energy & curb climate pollution.

Here's the ad:

Will Robert Hurt Say Anything To Cover For His Donors?

Is there anything State Sen. Robert Hurt (R-Chatham) won't do for his donors at Appalachian Power? How about blaming their high rates on laws that don't actually exist? Yup, Robert Hurt is happy to do that:

Appalachian Power had implemented a 12.8-percent rate increase on Dec. 12, an adjustment that was pending before the State Corporation Commission. Virginia law had allowed utility providers to raise rates that were pending approval before the SCC.

However, Gov. Bob McDonnell signed House and Senate bills Wednesday forcing APCo to suspend the pending increase to provide relief for power customers in the commonwealth. The bills were sponsored by Del. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson County, and Sen. Phillip Puckett, D-Russell County. [...]

Sen. Robert Hurt, R-Chatham, said state and federal environmental regulations have played a role in rising energy rates. The federal “cap-and-trade” passed by the House of Representatives last year is an example of the “devastating policies” that affect people’s lives, forcing companies to raise rates to revamp their facilities to follow environmental rules.

For some reason, reporter John Crane of the Danville Register Bee doesn't make this clear, so I will: Carbon regulations do not actually exist yet. Just because something passes the House doesn't make it a law, and so far, the Senate has failed to act on clean energy & climate legislation. This is like blaming your high medical bills on the health insurance reform that hasn't passed yet.

But it's not surprising that Robert Hurt is willing to say anything to cover for Appalachian Power. The polluting power company has contributed $3,250 to Hurt's campaigns since 2001. That's just a fraction of the $64,717 Hurt has received from energy companies over that period, including $20,750 from electric utilities.

Whether you agree with Rep. Tom Perriello's policy positions or not, at least you know what he stands for. Can anyone claim they really know what Robert Hurt stands for -- or do we just know what he'll say to please his donors in hopes of getting elected?

Cross-posted from Blue Virginia

New Documents Reveal Top Climate Skeptic Well Funded by Polluters

Few climate skeptics get as much attention as Patrick Michaels. Virtually all climate scientists agree our climate is in crisis & we need to reduce our carbon emissions as quickly as possible -- so opponents of climate action treat Michaels, who thinks the crisis is overblown & carbon pollution isn't so bad, as a conquering hero.

But it turns out Michaels hasn't just sold out politically as a senior fellow at the ExxonMobil-funded Cato Institute. Newly uncovered documents reveal Michaels' research has been directly & lavishly funded by polluters:

Greenpeace recently obtained an older copy of Michaels' curriculum vitae via a Freedom of Information Act request that shows that the Western Fuels Association, a coal and fuel-transportation business group, gave him a $63,000 grant in the early 1990s for "research on global climatic change." He also received $25,000 from the Edison Electric Institute, an association of electric utilities, from 1992-95 for "literature review of climate change and updates." And a 2006 leaked industry memo revealed that he received $100,000 in funding from the Intermountain Rural Electric Association to fund climate denial campaigning around the time of the release of An Inconvenient Truth. Reporter Ross Gelbspan wrote in his 1998 book The Heat is On, one of the earliest works documenting industry funding for climate change skepticism, that Michaels also received $49,000 from the German Coal Mining Association and $40,000 from the western mining company Cyprus Minerals.

Makes you wonder who Patrick Michaels was really working for all those years he was going around claiming to be "Virginia's official state climatologist."

Cross-posted from Blue Virginia

Hurt Puts Dirty Energy Donors Ahead of 5th District Voters

Republicans have a long history of doing battle with science, from evolution to tobacco to stem cells. The latest to step up to the plate to claim science is a sham? State Sen. Robert Hurt (R-VA), who's running for the GOP nomination to challenge Rep. Tom Perriello in Virginia's 5th district. Hurt is running against a large field of teabaggers in the GOP primary, so he's desperate to out-crazy them:

A question about “Climategate” produced agreement among the three candidates who answered it.

Hurt said Climategate is “scientists who have given us something that is not true. It is faulty information and it has real consequences in the 5th District, in the loss of jobs and in power bills from Appalachian Power Co.”

How convenient that Hurt is standing up for Appalachian Power, which has contributed $3,250 to his campaigns since 2001. That's just a fraction of the $64,717 he's received from energy companies over that period, including $20,750 from electric utilities.

Hurt's climate position puts him clearly out of step with the 5th district. Only 25% of voters there oppose a cap & trade system to regulate global warming pollution. While Hurt is cozying up to Appalachian Power, Virginians say they're getting screwed by our energy status quo:

"I'm tired of my head being buried in the sand and my butt up in the air," says Montgomery Co. resident Margie Hatcher. "That's what we've all been doing, much too long."

Look, the science of climate change is settled. The only thing that seems to be unsettled is Robert Hurt's opinions and even his biography, which can change from moment to moment. 

As for Rep. Tom Perriello? Even his opponents call him "a man of principle."

Front Group, Fake Members, Polluter Money Target Virginia's Air

Who's attacking the Clean Air Act in Virginia? Why are they hiding behind a front group that was just created two weeks ago? A little detective work turns up an unsurprising answer -- but one with some comically bad cover-up work.

Ads began running in Virginia & several other states today attacking the Environmental Protection Agency for trying to do its job & protect our air as mandated by the Clean Air Act -- passed by a Democratic Congress, signed by a Republican president, and approved by a conservative Supreme Court.

The announcer in the ad never says who paid for them. In tiny, semi-transparent type at the bottom of the ad are the words "Paid for by the Coalition for American Jobs." If that name sounds about as credible as the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem & Howe, you're on the right track.

The next major red flag: The "Coalition" won't say who's in the coalition. Its website just makes a vague reference to "businesses, industries and others." And its "resource" page is completely blank. I showed the link to my dad who laughed, "All out! Sorry, folks! We expect another shipment in on Thursday!" At this point, I'm imagining the offices of the "Coalition" are in the back of a pickup truck with the engine running.

Who's the website registered to? The "Coalition" doesn't want you to know, having hidden its registration information. And why not? The website is as flimsy & phony as the group itself. Here's a photo from the site:

 

A "Coalition" supporter? Not exactly. More like a stock photo:

You'd think front groups would have learned from Big Coal's embarrassing "FACES of Coal" stock photo scandal. Guess not. In fact, the entire Flickr account of the "Coalition" appears to be stock photos.

What about the group's phone number? It's a cell phone that goes straight to voicemail ... but a search shows up as having it registered to "Chemis American." Is that the American Chemistry Council, based in Arlington? Considering the "Coalition" ads are prominently featured on the Chemistry Council's front page, it looks like we have a winner!

Why wouldn't the American Chemistry Council want its name attached to the ads? Given that the ExxonMobil Chemical Company is a member, I can see where the Council would want to distance itself from, well, itself. And it turns out the website was created by a public relations firm called v-Fluence, whose clients include the American Petroleum Institute. (The firm didn't return my call asking who'd paid for the "Coalition" site.)

Frankly, it's insulting that the American Chemistry Council & other big polluters think Virginians can be fooled by phony front groups with fake members. I hope shenanigans like this help convince Senators Mark Warner & Jim Webb to stand against any polluter efforts to gut the Clean Air Act.

Even more bizarre is that certain conservative websites mindlessly posted the ad without ever asking who was behind them. Those same bloggers will put a big "Don't Tread on Me" banner on their website -- but have footprints all over their backs from polluter front groups.

Cross-posted from Blue Virginia

Arlington Takes First Step Towards Sidewalk Snow Removal Policy

The County Board voted yesterday to begin moving forward on a new sidewalk snow removal ordinance:

In the end, board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman carried the day, winning support for a proposal that:

* Sets a March 13 hearing to potentially adopt a 60-day measure putting temporary snow-removal requirements in place.

* Sets a hearing, likely in April, to consider a broader and more permanent measure.

* And requires the county manager to take steps to make sure the county government itself is clearing snow from its property.

Great work by Chris Zimmerman leading the charge towards filling a major gap in Arlington's walkability! Thanks also go to the Arlington Civic Federation, Arlington Young Democrats & all the individuals who wrote in to ask for action.

Still, it's strange to hear that some board members don't see a need to enact a policy quickly. One asked, "What is the urgency?" 

The urgency is forecast to arrive late tonight. We could get up to 6" of it.

Like NoVA Has So Many State Parks To Begin With?

So much for campaign promises:

When Bob McDonnell wanted to tout his commitment to land conservation last year, the Republican gubernatorial candidate singled out Mason Neck as part of "the Virginia I will preserve and protect as governor."

Less than a year after his Earth Day statement, the new governor is proposing to close the southeastern Fairfax County park as a cost-cutting measure to close a $4 billion shortfall.

The McDonnell administration is trying to justify the closure in part by saying "potential closures are spread across the state." But there's one major problem with that argument: Virginia's State Parks aren't evenly spread across the state -- not even close. 

Northern Virginia is shortchanged on state parkland even with Mason Neck. Check out this map of Virginia state parks:

It's a similar story for Virginia Natural Area Preserves -- only one in the entire northern third of Virginia (Bull Run Mountains). As Rep. Gerry Connolly points out, Mason Neck "is the closest state park for approximately 2 million Northern Virginians." Buying parkland on the cheap in distant corners of the state looks great to Richmond bureaucrats -- but it creates a perverse system where the most parks are located the furthest from Virginia's biggest population center.

Keeping Mason Neck open would cost just $101,904 -- or less than 0.1% of the revenue that would be brought in by re-instating the estate tax on Virginia's biggest inheritances, estimated to bring in over $100 million a year. But as the Staunton News Leader editorialized over the weekend, last November voters chose tax cuts over progress -- "Welcome to the new Virginia. Looks a lot like the old West Virginia."

UPDATE: Join the Save Mason Neck State Park Facebook group

Arlington County Board Hints at Action on Sidewalk Snow Removal Policy

It ain't easy bein' an Arlington County Board member. Arlington County did a great job of clearing the roads in the wake of February's Snowpocalypse's #2 & #3. So what did the County Board hear about at today's meeting? The sidewalks & trails have been a mess. You just can't win.

I've heard community listservs in neighborhoods like Lyon Park have been buzzing with complaints about icy sidewalks, blocked crosswalks, and pedestrian areas generally being used as storage for snow plowed from roads. In addition to The Green Miles' call for a sidewalk snow removal policy, Steve Offutt and Jess Dillman have pointed out major issues on commuter paths like the Custis Trail.

Clearly, voluntary efforts aren't cutting it. At today's Arlington County Board meeting, two speakers in the public comment session called for an ordinance or law requiring sidewalk snow removal. Longtime Arlington County Democratic Committee leader Carrie Johnson was followed by Arlington Young Democrats President Gordon Simonett:

Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fisette said the board is listening closely to the community's concerns & talking to county staff about a workable solution. The board plans to talk more about a potential policy at Tuesday's meeting. I hope the board will implement a policy that mandates sidewalk snow removal for residential, commercial & government property and includes penalties for noncompliance (with provisions for residents with health issues).

In the meantime, you can report problems with snow removal at snow@arlingtonva.us, or you can reach the Department of Environmental Services Call Center at 703-228-6570.

How To Deal With Snowpocalypse Climate Deniers

Via Grist

Why Doesn't Arlington Have a Sidewalk Snow Removal Law?

At last night’s Arlington Young Democrats meeting, there was lots of grumbling about sidewalks that haven’t seen a shovel since Snowpocalypse #2 began two weeks ago. Here’s a typical scene:

We all pay higher rents, property taxes and mortgages to live in Arlington in large part because we love its walkability & enjoy not needing to drive in the snow. While it’s understandable roads need to take priority in snow emergencies to clear routes for ambulances & fire trucks, why are sidewalks near the bottom of the totem pole?

Incredibly, Arlington has no ordinance or law for clearing snow from sidewalks. Instead, the county hopes to guilt trip you into doing it: "It is the civic responsibility of residents and business owners to clear snow from sidewalks/entryways around their property." 

One big question: Then why isn't it Arlington County government's "civic responsibility" to clear around its property? I've heard from people reporting particularly bad sidewalks in front of the Wilson School and around North Quincy Park. (Three years ago, I wrote about how the county never cleared the sidewalk in front of Mosaic Park.) 

Arlington's lack of any policy stands in contrast to Alexandria, which has a law with a mild fine: "Snow and ice must be cleared from all paved sidewalks abutting your property within 24 hours of the end of the snowfall. Failure to clear sidewalks may result in the City having the work done and charging the cost to the property owner, or fining the property owner $50."

It's not like citizens don't want a law. In 2000 and again in 2007 (PDF) the Arlington Civic Federation asked for a sidewalk snow removal zoning ordinance (with an exemption for people who are either physically unable or out of town during the storm). I realize you can't make policy based on one record-breaking winter. But it seems like a good idea in general, especially in a community that prides itself on walkability. 

Anyone know why Arlington doesn't have a sidewalk snow removal requirement already?

UPDATE: Via Twitter's @JDillman, check out this epic fail on the Custis Trail (be sure to click picture #2).