davidconnell.net

Via Reuters More Americans believe world is warming:

Unlike many other issues that divide Republicans and Democratic voters, such as healthcare or how to deal with the deficit and debt, a majority of Americans from both major parties agree on global warming, the poll found. Some 72 percent of Republicans believe global warming is happening and 92 percent of Democrats do, it found.

Global warming could be an important issue in next year’s election, because some 15 percent of voters see it as their primary concern, said Krosnick, who is also a university fellow at the Resources for the Future think tank.

If President Barack Obama, a Democrat, can define himself as the environmental candidate, he could have a large advantage over a Republican, Krosnick said. If however, a Republican softens his or her stance on climate and Obama, who has failed to pass a climate bill in his first term, moves more to the center, it may not be a factor in the election.

Clearly there is a silent majority problem on climate change — every poll I’ve ever seen says the vast majority of Americans believe it is happening and believe it is man-made. The struggle seems to be with communications and getting the message out there that we can combat climate change and adapt to the effects we are experiencing right now.

By being defensive about climate science and dwelling on defending that science, we’re playing  into the hands of the noisy 17 percent of Americans who have rejected reality, reason and the majority of the population. The more we talk about the science of climate change, the more the denialists can play smoke and mirrors with the science.

If we move beyond “why it’s happening” and start talking about the actions needed to address it we’d be framing the conversation in a way Americans can support — because it will be one framed in action not in fear. And, by the way, we would have a much more fruitful debate — the debate over cap-and-trade versus a carbon tax, for instance is a worthy debate to have.

Photo: Climate Change action in Boise, Idaho, by Flickr user The World Wants a Real Deal. Used under a Creative Commons License.

Policy Changes Under Two Presidents – NYTimes.com.

It’s the fourth of July, so here’s a little modern American pride to light your fireworks. Four reasons America still kicks everyone’s ass:

We’re still smarter than everyone else
We hear a lot these days about how China is eating our lunch. But the last time I checked we still invented the  automobile, the telephone, the personal computer, the internet, Google, Facebook, Twitter, the iPhone, Android and pretty much everything else modern society is built on. America invents, China makes and I’ll take that deal any day of the week.

Our black president and the tea party
For all the talk of how sophisticated and forward thinking Europeans are, they still have a bunch of white people running around their castles. We were the ones who finally got around to electing a black man as the leader of the free world. You can disagree with Obama’s policies, you can dislike his compromises with the Republicans, and be an idiot about him being a socialist or whatever conspiracy theory you’d like; but you have to acknowledge the greatness of his only-in-America story.

Speaking of only in America: I don’t like the Tea Party and I don’t like what they stand for, but I love a country where even the whackiest of whackos can have a voice and a candidate for president. The Tea Party is our wonderful cost of freedom.

American arts and culture
You can squawk  all you want about Americans being too fat, watching too much TV and playing too many video games. You can complain about our junk culture and reality TV. But the fact remains that anything that means anything in culture — whether it’s music, TV or film comes from America. We gave the world Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, The Twilight Zone and Martin Scorsese — so just pay your admission at the door.

Our big wide-open spaces
From Yosemite to Acadia, America has lots of land to roam and discover — and we’ve done a decent job of keeping it that way. Thirty percent of America is Federal Lands — that means it belongs to you and me and anyone else who hangs out here and pays their taxes. The vast majority of this land is ours to enjoy and recreate in. We can hike, camp, kayak, canoe, surf, fish and hunt to our hearts’ content — all we have to do is fill out a little paper work and pay for parking.

(Photo: Fat Smitty’s Burgers, by Flickr user Wonderlane. Used under a Creative Commons License.)

The Bin Laden/Obama memes flew fast and furiously this week. The subtle velociraptor version above happens to be my personal favorite. Time and The Atlantic have the rundown on some of the more popular memes this week.

In other Bin Laden news, he was apparently growing some pretty sick weed in his million dollar (or $460,000) compound right next to his cabbages and potatoes. But The Huffington Post assures us it was probably for medical purposes only.

SHOCKING! Fox News produced a misleading piece about climate change, weather and tornadoes, taking clips out of context and not including all the facts. The Wonk Room has the takedown, and The Nature Conservancy’s Sarene Marshall gives an inside view on what happened in Cool Green Science (see comments).

Starbucks or a hot meal? Coffee prices hit a 34-year high this week, meaning it’s going to cost you more to get that morning fix. Planet Green says heavy rains in South America, coupled with increased demand are driving up prices. I’m blaming the Trenta.

And finally, Clean up Your Mess! Daniel Higginbotham of Flying Machine Studios has a great eBook as website (or website as eBook) guide to visual design that is a must-read for anyone who cares about that sort of thing. Must-read for the awesome Aikido example he uses if for nothing else.