I've maintained for several years that it is already too late to avert significant climate change resulting from human activity — specifically our energy choices.  We screwed around and did nothing for too long and now we (or our grandkids) are screwed.  With apologies to Will Rogers, if you like the climate humanity evolved with, just wait a minute. 

From Brad Plumer's Two Degrees. How the world failed on climate change:

The idea that the world can stay below 2°C looks increasingly delusional.

Consider: the Earth’s average temperature has already risen 0.8°C since the 19th century. And if you look at the current rapid rise in global greenhouse-gas emissions, we’re on pace to blow past the 2°C limit by mid-century — and hit 4°C or more by the end. That’s well above anything once deemed “dangerous.” Getting back on track for 2°C would, at this point, entail the sort of drastic emissions cuts usually associated with economic calamities, like the collapse of the Soviet Union or the 2008 financial crisis. And we’d have to repeat those cuts for decades.

Go read that article, look at the graph and ruminate on the consequences of trying to cut fossil fuel emissions as much, as fast, as would now be needed to stay below 2°C.  And consider the consequences of “pushing the whole climate system outside the range we’ve adapted to.”  That is “we” as in humanity and the ecosystem that provides us food, water and breathable air. 

It didn't have to be this way.  The United States could have led the world down a different — and safer! — energy path.  We almost did. 

Thirty-five years ago President Jimmy Carter did his best to put America on the track toward renewable energy sources instead of dino fuels.  In honor of Earth Day 2014, American Family Voices released this “Conservation Rap” of Jimmy Carter laying out his ambitious energy conservation plans back in 1979.  Had Carter's plan been implemented, our current climate crisis would be significantly more manageable.  Carter wanted to create a solar bank that would enable America to obtain 20% of its energy consumption from solar by 2000. Unfortunately his successors abandoned these goals. In 2013, less than 1% of American energy consumption was derived from solar.

   

Of course Carter's plans were not implemented because Saint Ronnie Reagan was elected in 1980.  He and his advisors set about reversing anything and everything Carter had done, whether it made sense or not, just because they could. 

Reagan dismantled not only the solar panels Carter had installed on the White House roof, but every part of Carter's plan to reduce fossil fuel consumption.  And in the decades since, the post-Reagan Republican Party has bull-headedly refused to acknowledge climate change even exists and routinely blocked any action to reduce emissions or move our society to renewable energy sources.  Why?  God only knows, but $$$$ probably enter into it.  It can't be all about GOP ignorance.

At this point let's just hope that our stubborn reliance on burning dinosaur fuel doesn't turn people into the next dinosaurs.  

Yesterday, in the jam-packed atrium of Birmingham's Harbert Center, former Alabama Democratic Party Chairman Mark Kennedy welcomed a new organization, the Alabama Democratic Majority, onto the state's rough and tumble political scene.  The large crowd was enthusiastic and hopeful — and diverse.  Although a number of SDEC members were present, this crowd was much more diverse (and roughly a generation younger) than the State Democratic Executive Committee. 

Below is the “highlights reel” of the event, featuring Alabama NOW President Shirley Ann Rawls, former First Lady Marsha Folsom and ADM Chairman Mark Kennedy who said, “we need a generation of enthusiastic Democrats to take our place.”

        

Rawls:  I think what he [Kennedy] has done is bold, brilliant and necessary.  So let's move forward in this Alabama Democratic Majority and take back our state in 2014.

Folsom: I am here proudly representing the Folsom Wing of the loyal, dedicated Alabama Democrats.  This is a new day in our beloved state.  A day we've all been crying out for in our own individual voices and now we have a leader who will bring our voices, our energy and our determination together to create a better future, not just for Democrats but for every citizen of the state of Alabama.   Today is a day that represents a turning point, a reset moment … We must now reset our focus from the past toward the future, establishing a future where all are welcome into the fold — red, yellow, brown, black, white, male, female, gay, straight, young, old, new Democrats, old Democrats, Independents and even free-thinking Republicans. …  This is about the future for all of us in Alabama. Today is not the day for Alabama Democrats to look to the accomplishments, or the failures, of the past.  Those days are gone and a new day is here.

Kennedy:  Today I stand before you as an Alabama Democrat who supports Democratic principles and the hope for a new and improved Alabama Democratic Party.  … Today as the volunteer Chairman of the Alabama Democratic Majority Foundation, I remain committed to supporting progressive Democratic candidates who soon will begin to prepare for the journey to 2014. 

Let me be clear, the Alabama Democratic Majority is not a political party.  We do not stand in opposition to our state Democatic Party. We will stand with our party and ask them to support the pathway of inclusiveness, of fair representation, of working together, of creating opportunities for all of us to be involved, and for the notion that the number 'one' can never be a majority.  We will fight to make the Alabama Democratic Party more representative of a broader spectrum of all Alabama Democrats and we will support progressive candidates and ask them to stand for election in 2014 to the State Democratic Executive Committee.

We stand here to give notice to all that the Alabama Democratic Party is ready.  We are ready to take on the fight for public education, quality healthcare, rebuilding and creating jobs for Main Street Alabama, supporting teachers, state employees, law enforcement personnel and Alabama's working class families.  We will keep fighting for our children, for women's rights and the elderly and defeating the Country Club attitude in Montgomery that protects big corporations and lays our state to waste. 

Today, we stand to give notice to Bill Armistead and his Republican Party that the Alabama Democratic Majority is going to take to the streets and out-work, out-organize, out-talk, out-walk, out trick, out-think and out-fight for free and fair elections.

… We are citizens united.  We are African-Americans, whites, hispanics, native Americans, college students, young professionals, working men and women, lawyers, doctors, bankers, steamfitters, plumbers, Wal-Mart workers, teachers, government employees, the elderly and infirm.  We are single, and we are married, and we are straight, and we are gay. We are colorblind.  We are people of faith.  We love our country, we love our state. We are the fathers and mothers of soldiers.  We are parents who dream that their children will have opportunities that we never had.  We scream for our teams on crisp autumn Saturdays and we pray in church, temples and synagogues on our Sabbath.  We have black hair, we have blond hair, we have gray hair and we have no hair.  We are not quitters and we do not give up. 

We all dream for the day when Alabama can reach for the top rather than sink to the bottom.  We are Alabamians and we vote.  We will seek out, support, and elect candidates that want to restore faith in government, protect the least of these, support policies that protect and promote public education and economic prosperity, who stand for the notion of fair share taxes, prison reform and constitutional reform.  We are going to defeat the Legislative Supermajority in this state.  We are going to run qualified candidates for state office, keep control of our courthouses and beat the Republicans at their own game.

Both Folsom and Kennedy strongly urged all concerned Democrats to contribute their time, talent — and yes, money — to help the ADM achieve the goal of overturning the GOP supermajority in 2014.  The Donations table appeared to be doing a brisk business following the press conference.

The former staff of the ADP have resigned en masse, effective at noon yesterday and most of them will be working for the new organization.  Former ADP Executive Director Bradley Davidson will be the Director of the ADM.  Coincidentally, the ADM's Birmingham office will be located in what was the ADP's field office in that city, the very office the ADP's Executive Board recently directed Kennedy to close.  Kennedy also said the ADM will have an office in Montgomery.  He very pointedly said that the ADM is not a political party and “does not stand in opposition to our state Democratic Party”, but rather intends to augment and improve it.  Interim ADP Chairman Nancy Worley was invited to yesterday's press conference, but did not attend.  Worley told a reporter …

it was unfortunate that Kennedy decided to resign and “take his toys and go home.”

Given that attitude, it's no surprise that she wasn't among the enthusiastic crowd in Birmingham yesterday.

A number of elected officials attended the press conference, including Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham and Reps. Rod Scott, D-Fairfield, Richard Lindsey, D-Centre and Johnny Mack Morrow, D-Red Bay, along with Jefferson County Treasurer Mike Miles, Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Houston Brown, Birmingham Municipal Court Judge Cornella Green Norman and former Judge Deborah Bell Paseur of Lauderdale County.

 

What happened in Oklahoma City eighteen years ago this morning is important.  Many of us may have said at one time or another “I would do anything to achieve” some cause near and dear to our hearts, but the vast majority of us wouldn't really do ANYthing.  That is the difference between normal people and fanatics. 

We wouldn't kill.  We wouldn't blow up buildings.  We wouldn't murder little children.  We respect the bounds set by society, by decency, by our humanity.  We would stop at SOMEthing.

This anniversary is a reminder that there are a (thankfully) few people out there, like Tim McVeigh, who are literally willing to stop at nothing to make a political point — even to the point of murdering 168 people.  Even to the point of blowing up a day care center full of little children.

I visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial, on the site of the Alfred P. Murrah Buliding, a couple of years ago.  At right and below the fold are some photos from that visit.  The eerie serenity of that field holding 168 empty chairs, including the heart-rending nineteen child-sized ones, is absolutely unforgettable.  So are the gates of time standing at either end of the memorial.  The east gate represents 9:01 am on the morning of April 19, 1995 and the innocence of the city and nation before the attack.  The west gate is inscribed 9:03.  From that moment, we were changed, forever.

The cards and letters posted on the fence outside the memorial moved me to tears, especially the ones from family members and survivors who live with the pain of their loss every single day:

“Your first Great Grandbaby is due … We are so happy and excited about this little girl coming but it breaks our hearts that you're not here.  Although she will never get to meet you, she will know what a wonderful and loving, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, and friend you were.”

“On April 19, 1995, we were in the second grade when the bomb in Oklahoma City went off.  That was the first time that we learned about terrorism, about bad people, and about the hurting of innocence.”

“Another year has come and gone, oh how time flies.  Since last year our family has grown by two little boys: born two days apart.  You now have four adorable grandsons …  I sit back and watch them play nad imagine you are here down on the ground having the time of your life with them.  I sure miss you and would do anything for a hug from you.”

168 people died.  For all the survivors, life changed forever at 9:02 am, 18 years ago.

Please reflect on these images on this, the anniversary of America's worst act of homegrown terrorism.  For my part, as much as I believe the death penalty is not an effective crime deterrent and often flawed in its application, Tim McVeigh's willingness to “do anything” to make a political point is still a very compelling argument for capital punishment.

Tolerance is a virtue.  I practice it.  I preach it.  But there is no place in our society for fanaticism of this sort.  Unfortunately, it is still with us.

The Survivor Tree, a 90 year old American elm.  The inscription reads: “The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; pir deeply rooted faith sustains us.”

Innocence gone.  Just blown away.

And Jesus wept.

Please remember.

Spring is just around the corner and if you haven't been studying seed catalogs/seed packets you must not be a gardener.  WARNING: Read the seed catalog descriptions with the same skepticism you would apply to political promises. 

For example, vigorous means it will take over your property, taste like no other means it probably won't taste anything like you expect and, as like as not, melt in your mouth is a warning to expect soft fruit.  Crack resistant sounds good, right?  But it could just as well mean tough-skinned, which doesn't sound nearly so attractive.

Our seeds are already in hand, including onion and leek transplants from a family business in Texas, Dixondale Farms.  I've ordered from these folks for years and the service and plants are always excellent — they even offer organic fertilizer and weed and feed options, important since onions are heavy feeders and not good competitors.  This year I ordered a bundle of leeks, nominally 60 transplants.  Out of that bundle, we planted 88 leeks and still have a bunch left over.  They were similarly generous with the onions we ordered — plenty for all our beds and some left over for sharing with neighbors. 

Which brings me to the point of this post, the YouTube video from the Dixondale Farms home page about how to select onions to thrive where you live.  As with so many things in life, a little basic knowledge and planning are absolutely essential for success.

      

See, if you're an onion, priorities change dramatically when the number of sunny hours (day length) hits a genetically determined magic number.  This magic number varies from variety to variety, of course.  Anyone who wants to grown onions, as opposed to onion tops had better know both the day length for their locale and the magic number for the onions they intend to plant because, when that number rolls around, those skinny, green leaved plants will absolutely stop making leaves and start making bulbs.  Doesn't matter if they have 3 leaves or 13 when their number comes up, those onions are shifting into bulb gear.  There's no turning back at that point, even if they don't have enough leaves to turn out a decent bulb. 

Plant a short day variety where the days get long early and it will start bulbing before it gets enough leaves to ever amount to anything.  Plant a long day onion where the days never get long, it will be all leaves forevermore, no bulb.  Get it right and life is good, get it wrong and you'll be left wondering why your crop is dismal.   

The same thing can happen to a political or social movement if the timing isn't right.  A longstanding advocacy program that attracts followers, but never quite closes the deal to turn that advocacy into policy change is much like a long day onion planted in south Florida.  It's all top and no bulb, no matter how long you wait.  Or the reverse can happen, if a movement jumps prematurely into a policy fight before their organization is ready and suffers a crushing loss — they needed more leaves in place before trying to bear fruit.  Balance is critical, for both onions and activists.  All the parts need to be in place when the magic number comes up.

What I find rewarding these days is that progressive groups seem to be getting this right more and more often.  Progressive messages on economics (47%!!) and women's issues — especially reproductive rights — were big winners in the last election.  After decades of politicians on the left being afraid to talk about abortion, it suddenly morphed into a losing issue for the right.  I'm convinced that the right is also poised to discover their knee-jerk support of the NRA's agenda will become a losing proposition going forward, just like their anti-immigrant rhetoric has become.

We've finally grown a sufficient number of progressive leaves to start turning out policy changes — progressive bulbs, if you will.  Let's make the most of this growing season! 

Congress could vote today to preserve tax cuts for income of $250,000 or less, except for two little snags:

• The Republican leadership won't let the bill come up for a vote
• John Boehner's Congress only works 2 days a week and they've already put in their time this week.

To address the first point, Nancy Pelosi challenged her fellow House members to sign a discharge petition Rep. Tim Walz filed on Tuesday to force a House vote on extending the middle class tax cuts — that's the only way to get around Boehner's roadblock.  So far, 178 members have signed.  No Republicans yet, so please keep the pressure on your GOP congresscritter.

            

“So, today on the floor of the House, the Democrats have proposed a discharge petition, which if it receives 218 signatures – that’s only a couple dozen Republicans joining the Democrats – would automatically come to the floor and I predict, would receive the overwhelming support of the House of Representatives.

“The American people want us to work together. We are in agreement on this subject. Why? Why, my Republican colleagues, can we not vote on something where we have agreement? Where we have fairness? That will work to create jobs, to reduce the deficit, and will again, have fairness. This is the heart of the matter that is holding us here as the public watches – what is this about? This is about the $250,000 line that the President said in the campaign that he would honor and that this legislation today brings to bear.

“I urge my colleagues – out of 435 Members of the House, we only need a couple dozen Republicans to sign the discharge petition. Each one of them holds the key to a $2,000 tax cut for the middle class. Either sign the petition, urge the Speaker to bring the bill to the floor, or explain to your constituents why you do not want them to have this $2,000 tax break if they are – for 100 percent of the American people. Please sign the discharge petition. Let’s get this done this week. We could bring this bill up under unanimous consent – the message would be clear to the American people: we heard you in the campaign, be fair, do something that works, work together. This gives us that opportunity.

The Discharge Petition, which would force a vote on ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2%, only needs 40 more signatures. Is your Representative on the list? So far the only Alabama Rep. to sign is Terri Sewell (D, AL-07).  She is onboard at number 105, so if you live in her district, call to thank her.  If you live in any other district in Alabama — anywhere outside of the light yellow area on the map — call your Member of Congress — and get everyone you know to call — and pressure them to sign the discharge petition to extend middle class tax cuts. Remember, a Congressional member's voicemail box getting full because so many constituents called and asked them to sign something can have an incredibly strong impact.

Nancy Pelosi also had something to say about the Boehner House's two day workweek at a press conference after Boehner sent the House home for the week.

Q: Madam Leader, the Republicans have left town, they’re not here, you haven’t mentioned it yet but there is no Congress, I mean there is no House because the Republicans have left town. What’s your response to that?

Leader Pelosi. No, we most certainly should be here and it came as quite a surprise. And I’m really surprised that the Republicans would leave – we came in Tuesday and we left Wednesday at twelve o’clock noon – with all that needs to be done, avoiding the conversation – sounds like people don’t want to be in town for some reason. And the reason is, is because we are asking them to sign the discharge petition to urge their – if they don’t want to sign it – to urge their leadership to pass middle income tax cuts, which is the liberation, which is the freeing from the hostage taking, which is the setting the table for what can come next once we understand that we’re holding the middle class harmless as we go forward.

These folks get paid $174,000 a year.  Why are our Representatives only working 2 days a week?  They work for you.  Be sure to ask them to get back to work, NOW, when you call your Member of Congress — and tell them to keep working as long as it takes to take care of business.  If the discharge petition gets 218 signatures the earliest the vote can be held is Christmas Eve.  That will be inconvenient for Members of Congress (blame John Boehner's intransigence) but preserving the $2200 per household middle class tax cut is a better Christmas present to the American people than anything Santa has in his bag.  Congress needs to get this done, with or without John Boehner.

Are public subsidies to corporations a smart way to encourage development (and jobs) or just taxpayer-funded corporate welfare?  Louise Story has addressed this question in an excellent three part series for the New York Times, “The United States of Subsidies.”

A Times investigation has examined and tallied thousands of local incentives granted nationwide and has found that states, counties and cities are giving up more than $80 billion each year to companies. The beneficiaries come from virtually every corner of the corporate world, encompassing oil and coal conglomerates, technology and entertainment companies, banks and big-box retail chains.

 

The cost of the awards is certainly far higher. A full accounting, The Times discovered, is not possible because the incentives are granted by thousands of government agencies and officials, and many do not know the value of all their awards. Nor do they know if the money was worth it because they rarely track how many jobs are created.

So much for accountability.  States (including Alabama) don't have information on how many jobs these subsidies bring in and how much new tax revenue they generate.  And of course, the corporations aren't about to answer the basic question of would you have created these jobs here even without the subsidies?

The NYT has created a searchable database of all the subsidies they were able to identify.  For Alabama, that amounts to at least $277 million — $58 per Alabamian or 4% of the state budget.  The biggest recipient of our largesse is Airbus (EADS) at $158 million.  The company is locating a new assembly plant in Mobile.  Would they have come to Alabama without the subsidy or with a lesser amount?

We'll never know, but we do know that EADS North America boasts of facilities in 10 other states.  Of those 10, only Kansas admits to providing a subsidy, in the amount of $23,200.  The SubsidyTracker database, from Good Jobs First, also finds no Airbus subsidies from states other than Alabama and Kansas.

Did Alabama overpay for the Airbus jobs — or the Toyota jobs — or the ThyssenKrupp jobs? 

[Recently] The Wall Street Journal reported that ThyssenKrupp, a German manufacturer, decided to sell the largest, and newest, steel plant in America. It cost $5 billion to build and has been open for less than two years. The state of Alabama gave the company $1 billion in subsidies — most of which is now gone for good. That’s a lot of money. That’s crazy money. Which raises the question: How much crazy will it take for this kind of silliness to stop? 

Concern over out of control subsidies is not a liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican issue. For instance, the preceeding paragraph was penned by John E. Sununu, a former Republican Senator from New Hampshire.  This is a common sense, pragmatic, taxpayer issue, not a partisan one.

Are the jobs worth the cost to taxpayers?  We'll never know because Alabama has no evaluation program in place to show what we get in exchange for $277 million in corporate gifts.  A recent Pew Research Center report indicates that most states, like Alabama, don't properly evaluate the effectiveness of tax incentives and other “job creation” giveaways.  Our public officials are blindly throwing money at corporations and thankful to get any crumb of economic development in return … plus a photo-op at the groundbreaking ceremony.

This is important.  Every dollar spent on tax incentives, infrastructure or other giveaways to attract business and jobs is a dollar local and state governments can't spend on education, health care, transportation for the rest of us and critical government services.  As the recent Medicaid funding crisis illustrated, Alabama doesn't have any dollars to spare.  Incentive programs ought to be monitored to make sure taxpayers are getting a good deal, not just giving free money to corporations.

Instituting a monitoring/evaluation system to track corporate giveaways would be a much better use of our Legislature's time in the next few months than another legislative session devoted to probing ladyparts and making life miserable for immigrants.

 

Congressional Republicans are refusing to even consider a plan that would extend tax cuts for everyone but the wealthiest Americans immediately.  Instead, they are holding middle class tax cuts hostage in an attempt to lock in historically low rates for top 2%.  Here in Alabama, 6 of our 7 “representatives” are siding with the wealthiest Americans, no matter how harmful it will be to the vast majority of their constituents and to the state as a whole.

Here's what Alabama is looking at if Republicans continue to reject the Obama plan — which has already passed the Senate and which our GOP representatives oppose — and let the middle class tax cuts expire:

• An Alabama family of four earning the median income of $63,400 would see its income taxes rise by $2,200 starting next month. 
• The retail industry, which employs 230,200 people in Alabama, will get a kick in the teeth just as consumer confidence and spending has started to pick up.  And the longer the “fiscal cliff” posturing goes on, the more it will hurt retail jobs and bottom lines.
• Per a new report (“The Middle-Class Tax Cuts’ Impact on Consumer Spending and Retailers.”) from the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, the resulting consumption decline if middle class tax cuts are not extended could slow the growth of Alabama's real GDP by 1.8 percentage points.  The report estimates consumers in Alabama would spend nearly $2.9 billion less than they otherwise would have in 2013 just because of higher taxes. 

99 percent of Alabama families make less than $250,000 a year and would see no income tax increase under the President’s plan.  98 percent of all Americans, and 97 percent of all small business owners, won’t see their income taxes go up a single dime under the Obama plan.  But will our Republicans vote on it?  No.  Alabama's GOPers, along with their leadership, are holding the middle class tax cuts hostage so the top 1% won't have to pay their fair share. 

Last week Oklahoma Republican Tom Cole said, “I think we ought to take the 98 percent deal right now.”  Predictably, House Speaker John Boehner (R) shot down Cole's suggestion.

Republicans are on a course to hurt Alabama's already fragile economy and cost Alabama families an average of $2200 more in taxes next year.  Who are they representing, you or a handful of millionaires and billionaires?

Call your representative today and let him or her know you want them to end the tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans and extend them for all the rest of us.  The Senate has already passed this bill.  The President has said he will sign it.  The House could pass it today, removing all the uncertainty for 98% of Americans and an even greater percentage of Alabamians — except that Republican leaders have already sent them home for the week. 

I know, how many average Alabamians get a 2.5 day work week? But that's OK.  While you have your representative on the phone, tell him or her to go back to work, and stay there this time, until they get the people's business done.

Make the call.  Do it now.

 

Republican leader John Boehner refused to pose for a holiday pic with President Obama because … WAAHHHHH.  No standing in front of the Christmas tree for a we're all adults here, trying to resolve our differences for the good of the nation holiday photo with the President for crybaby Boehner.   

Bipartisanship.  It doesn't work with cranky 5 year olds — or House Republicans.