The mid term elections were not at all kind to Florida. We have a new Governor who comes to us as the largest fraud indictment and prosecution in the history of Medicare. His proposals are already despair invitation. We gained Marc Rubio for a state Senator. My district has to weather whatever nastiness new Rep. Alan West manages to make happen... every one of these mentions will not just ignore our direst needs for environmental protection and assisting the poor... they have proclaimed their vows to work against any kind of resolution to these blights'. Corporate America won the state of Florida in the mid term elections of 2010 and as far as I can tell, it's the largest hit global climate change re: issues local, took. Consider the healthy new infusion the mega big banks just took with a renewed 'rocket docket' for foreclosures in Tallahassee... with a proven corrupted Governor coming to take up a four year run...fresh from the uproar of trying to pay off his employed election staffers with bogus gift cards. Geeze.
We've just endured the hottest (by temperature) year on record in the 130 years since these records began being kept with accuracy.
While Haiti, our neighbor!, started out the year with a nation destroying earthquake, the rest of the year witnessed unprecedented humanitarian disasters throughout Asia.
The worlds' gravest 'hot zone' traveled from the LA Cali coast deep into the heart of Russia. Fires there were due to its hottest summer on record and massive drought. The crop failures and human hardship and death that resulted are, unfortunately, a sign of things to come if we don’t clean up our act fast.
Heart broken, I have to acknowledge that the Climate Change AND the Clean Energy bills have both been overwhelmed into a death FIRSTLY because of the inaction and weakness of Obama's leadership on this front and the partnership of Republican obstructionism. Fuckers, both. It's shameful that intelligent people are sucked up by corporate Earth. But the evidence is compelling our awareness to grasp that this President is a corporate hack. The Rethugs even opposed their own strategies for combating climate change.... I mean the American political reality has gone mad!
We witnessed an event of unprecedented environmental disaster man made with the Gulf / BP Oil Spill. Six months of highest attention via the media, the resulting calamities to man and his nature while the lame, lack of cause, lack of action White House further screwed the pooch as it drew out.... resulting in the destruction of bathos in the Gulf of Mexico. There is no diminishing this. It's dire. And equally ignored. While the Obama White House has filed suit again BP, FINALLY, the damage is done and it will, if it follows past experience, hang fire til perdition boils up. This President has failed as an environmental leader... probably the most vital leadership we really do require at this time.
Climate Science Finds a Ton More Evidence that We’re Screwing Ourselves (or, more accurately, our children and grandchildren), Even Worse than Previously Thought
From the finding that global warming can be blamed for a 40% decline in the ocean’s phytoplankton to the finding that future temperatures could exceed human livability to the finding that sea levels could rise 3 times faster than the IPCC has estimated to the possible creation of astounding, decades-long droughts to the fact that soils are emitting more CO2 as the world warms to the possibility that we are causing the largest mass extinction in the fossil record and currently have put about 1/5 of all animal species at risk of extinction to the fact that we could increase temperatures 13-18°F over most of the U.S. and 27°F in the Arctic in the next 50 years, the top climate science stories of the year are not uplifting. Lovely, eh?
(from Planetsave:)
And here’s one stimulated by Joe Mohr’s answer to my question “what are the top environmental stories of the year so far” in the middle of the year. Joe said:Same as it is every year; the creation of cheap useless crap. Our economy (based on chrematistics) creates phony needs for useless junk. We then deal with the environmental outfall of producing, transporting, consuming, and wasting said junk. The whole process is a toxic mess that poisons our air, water, and soil. Until we can really discern between needs and wants with our own critical minds, this environmental, economic, and social disaster will perpetuate.I would add onto this our irresponsible addiction to and daily dependence on automobiles, coal, and a meat-based diet. These are the drivers of the environmental problems that damage our health, quality of life, and future livability on our planet.
China wins the award for considering and implementing the solutions to global warming, pollution and green technology. They are ahead of every other major industrial nation in working towards manifesting solutions.
I found the video of Gary singing Suicide is Painless, because I can't find anyone who did not have a difficult year. My pic for most difficult .... Mother Earth.
This year has watched Corporate America take a foothold, once again, and seems to have a strong ally in the White House. Corporate Earth is doing it's collective best to destroy our home. And we allow it by voting for asshatts or not voting at all. We allow by not getting up and out and making a demonstration against the wrongness of corporate profiteering over the sanctity of our HOME! So, I picked Gary and his song to drive home an awareness that we a committing species extinction! Why do so many think that
Suicide Is Painless?
Let's do better next year?
