David Roberts' Sabbatical and the Decline of the Free-Range Blogger

Grist's David Roberts, who blogs on the best policies to solve our climate & energy challenges and the politics that perpetuate our problems, has announced he's taking a one-year sabbatical from blogging, reporting & tweeting. I'll miss his work while he's gone but understand his motives - what's more disappointing is the void he leaves behind.

When I first started blogging here at The Green Miles, David's writing challenged me to improve. It's easy to make fun of climate science deniers, but it's much harder to figure out why they reject it. When I later got to meet him at Netroots Nation, I was struck by his work-life balance (he calls it The Medium Chill) and ability to keep his eye on the climate prize - to maintain his passion without becoming too embittered by small setbacks & petty disputes.

Knowing he values that balance, I wasn't surprised by his decision to step away. If you spend a lot of time working on the climate crisis OR interacting online OR reporting, burnout is a major problem. David does all three. With President Obama having already rolled out his plan to act on climate and Congress in gridlock, now's the best time in years for a climate activist to take some time off.

But what bugs me is that in David's absence, there are few great climate bloggers to fill his shoes. It's a reflection of how much of blogging has evolved from free-range to factory farming:

• Blogging as career. While pioneering bloggers like Markos "DailyKos" Moulitsas, Duncan "Atrios" Black, and Heather "Digby" Parton still blog independently, many of the next generation of bloggers have been hired by emerging progressive news websites (i.e. Huffington Post & TPM), by mainstream media blogs (i.e. the Washington Post's WonkBlog) or by organizations in need of online help (I got hired by the National Wildlife Federation). Which is understandable because ...
• Blogging for free sucks. It's a lot of work for very little reward. I can understand why many first-generation bloggers gave it up and why younger folks choose to use Facebook, Twitter & Tumblr instead. But combine these first two points and now we have ...
• The blanding of blogging. Many of those who do blog spend less time trying to break the mold and more time trying to impress the Beltway establishment that might hire them. What Dave Grohl said about American Idol destroying the next generation of musicians applies here - they spend less time trying to find their own voice than trying to make their voice sound like everyone else's. I read lots of nibbling around the edges and "smart takes," but who'll stand up when necessary to say shit is fucked up and bullshit? And their middle manager editor at a newspaper website - they're going to run that?

So who are the climate must-reads? Here's my list (add any that I overlooked in comments):

• The Washington Post WonkBlog's Brad Plumer
• Huffington Post's Kate Sheppard
• National Journal's Coral Davenport
• Andrew Freedman & Heidi Cullen of ClimateCentral.org
• Joe Romm of ThinkProgress.org
• Tim McDonnell of Mother Jones & Climate Desk
• RL Miller of DailyKos

Enjoy the break, Dave. And don't worry - unless a secret alien wizard breaks the spell of climate denial currently hanging over Congressional Republican leadership, shit will still be fucked up and bullshit when you get back.

Mild Temps, Bad Storms: MA's Climate-Changed Winter

As yet another brutal winter storm hammers Massachusetts with snow, wind and coastal erosion, there's a lot of talk about what a rough winter it's been in Massachusetts. But our temperatures have actually been mild, and climate scientists say this type of winter is exactly what we can expect in a warming world.

First, the temperature data from NOAA's National Weather Service Boston office:

• Boston: December: +3.7, January +2.5, February  -0.5, March (thru 3/6): +2.5
• Worcester: December: +4.7, January: +2.7, February +0.4, March: +1.5
• Providence: December +4.1, January: +2.1, February:  -1.0, March: +3.0

While Boston is close to its seasonal snowfall average of 43 inches, Providence has gotten a foot more than usual and Worcester has been absolutely hammered with over 86 inches so far, nearly three feet more than average.

The National Wildlife Federation reports climate change is bringing more oddball winter weather:

Global warming is bringing a clear trend toward heavier precipitation events for the simple reason that warmer air can hold more water. Even with a greater fraction of precipitation falling as rain, many areas are still seeing big and intense snowstorms, especially in the upper Midwest and Northeast, where temperatures typically remain below freezing in winter. At the same time, global warming is shifting storm tracks northward. The last few years have brought several unusually heavy snowstorms as warmer and moister air over southern states has penetrated further north, colliding with bitter cold air masses.

As ClimateCentral.org's Andrew Freedman details, this winter storm has also highlighted the impacts of global warming-fueled sea level rise:

Higher sea levels provide a higher launching pad for storm surges from hurricanes and nor’easters, making it possible for relatively weak storms to cause major damage.

According to research by Climate Central scientists, on Nantucket Island, where coastal flooding is occurring from this storm, the sea level has risen by about half a foot during the past 50 years.

According to the draft National Climate Assessment report released in January, even without any changes in storms, the chance of what is now a 1-in-10-year coastal flood event in the Northeast could triple by 2100, occurring once every 3 years, due to rising sea levels.

In a sane world, cutting carbon pollution and building out clean energy would be at the top of our national agenda. Instead, Congressional Republican leadership is committed to creating one new phony crisis after another, trying to decide whether to punish the old, sick, young, or all of the above as they fight to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and oil executives.

Fortunately, President Obama doesn't have to wait for Congress to act - he has authority under the Clean Air Act to limit industrial carbon pollution. Tell President Obama you want the strongest limits possible - and if you want to do even more, join Reality Drop.

Wall St. Journal Continues Political Attacks on Climate Science

Great post from Andrew Freedman at Capital Weather Gang. Wish more people who devoted their lives to science were willing to stand up & call out political attacks on scientific fact.