President Obama's first 100 days

i appreciated this 100 day report over at Great Lakes Law. the urgency of this planetary emergency can sometimes feel like no one gets it. and it's good to have a feeling the really smart person we elected is in fact really smart and is bringing the fight. thanks to Noah Hall, author of Great Lakes Law blog

April 28, 2009
Environmental law and policy highlights of Obama’s first 100 days
George W. Bush spent 8 years in the White House undermining environmental protection, eventually leaving office with the worst environmental record of any modern president. His regulatory rollbacks and refusal to enforce environmental laws were most immediately apparent, but history will judge him even more harshly for his total lack of leadership in meeting the national and global clean energy / climate change challenge. President Obama could have come into office and done nothing more than put in a few LED lights around the White House and been a huge improvement. But simply being better than Bush II would not be enough – our environmental problems demand immediate and strong presidential leadership. Overall, this is exactly what Obama has delivered in his first 100 days. Here are my three highlights:
1. A commitment to open and accountable government. As Obama said soon after taking office, “a democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency.” Open government is the foundation for good environmental policy, and Obama and the new EPA leadership made a strong commitment to the letter and spirit of the Freedom of Information Act and public participation in their first week after taking office.
2. Highly qualified appointees with scientific and legal integrity to lead the federal government. Some of Obama’s high profile appointees are already well known for their scientific and legal credentials, such as Dr. Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize winner appointed as Secretary of Energy. But in every key agency, Obama has made excellent appointments with superbly qualified individuals. Two deserve special mention. Dr. Jane Lubchenco, one of the most highly cited marine ecologists, an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, and recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (the “genius” award), was appointed Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, responsible for a range of scientific and regulatory functions from climate monitoring to fisheries management. Professor Lisa Heinzerling, lead author of the brief in Massachusetts v. EPA that persuaded the Supreme Court that the EPA has the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions pursuant to the Clean Air Act (and co-author of our casebook Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society) was appointed as a special advisor to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on climate change issues.
3. Presidential leadership and comprehensive solutions to meet the clean energy / climate change challenge. President Obama appears to be well ahead of most of Washington DC in moving forward a clean energy / climate change agenda. Most recently, his EPA issued a proposed endangerment finding for greenhouse gas pollution that would trigger a new regulatory process for carbon dioxide emissions and other climate change pollutants. In addition to new regulation, Obama has also shown in his first 100 days a total commitment to transforming the American energy, transportation, and building sectors, investing in smart-grid technologies, high speed rail, and home weatherization programs.
President Obama and his administration have been understandably focused on these major issues in their first 100 days, but let’s not forget some items still on Team Obama’s to-do list for the Great Lakes:
1. Direct the EPA to regulate ballast water discharges and stop the spread of invasive species immediately (fulfilling a key Great Lakes campaign promise).
2. Repeal the EPA’s recent rule exempting water transfers and interbasin diversions from Clean Water Act regulation (if the rule isn’t stuck down in federal court first).
3. Drop the U.S. Army Corps’ ridiculous interpretation of the Clean Water Act that allows tons of mining waste to be dumped into lakes and rivers as “fill” (even if the Supreme Court would allow such an interpretation).
I expect President Obama will take care of these lower profile issues in due time, while keeping his focus on the big picture issues of clean energy and climate change. Based on what he has already accomplished in the first 100 days, the next 1,000 days should produce the type of transformative changes in environmental law and policy that his campaign promised.

blog post here

Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs

"a master crafter of songs and her great band"

congratulations you guys..!!!!! a great review at Twang Nation

MUSIC REVIEW - Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs - The Only Thing That Matters (self-released)
Remember that girl you met at the bowling alley? The one that chews gum, drinks several pitchers of beer, wears painted on jeans and tells you about French philosophy then winks at you as she gets strike after strike? She later on she goes and breaks your heart but you don’t care, you’re just glade to have been there to enjoy the time you had with her. No? Well Star Anna reminds me of that girl.

Well maybe not Star Anna personally but her music. It’s equal parts trashy Americana-laced rock mixed with sophisticated storytelling and charm that raises Anna and her band, The Laughing Dogs, to the a gritty level of greatness. It’s a gazing at the starts from the gutter kind of thing…

......As heartbreaking as many of the songs are this is not a sad album, and though there is an element of moving on it’s not a chick therapy album. It’s a cathartic jubulation that stands as another exceptional release from a master crafter of songs and her great band.

full review

and one of my favs....

just for fun...Lucinda

yikes!!

will this pieris survive?

this pieris (probably at least 30 years old) will be moved this year for the solarium.... i went to Kents Garden and Nursery today to get a good sized pieris so i would not be without next year. this bee show is too great! i got a nice new pieris and some good advice from the team. so we shall see......

pictures and video taken april 4 th

susan

unbelievable !!!!

Susan Boyle - Singer - Britains Got Talent 2009 (With Lyrics) "no one's laughing now."

an evening with David Suzuki

i had the pleasure last evening of attending the evening with David Suzuki and a very large, enthusiastic crowd at the Mount Baker Theatre. He read from the chapters of his new book co-authored with David Robert Taylor and then delighted, informed and rallied us all to work as if our lives depended on it to save our beautiful home, planet earth.

Village Books Presents AN EVENING WITH DAVID SUZUKI
David Suzuki points the direction we must take as a society if we hope to meet the
environmental challenges we face in our still-young century. The Big Picture not only identifies the problems we face but proposes solid, science-based solutions, and examines the forces that are preventing real change. These essays tell the story of a species struggling to come to grips with its own biological nature, a nature we must ultimately embrace to live in balance with the systems that sustain us. David Suzuki is an award-winning scientist, environmentalist, and broadcaster, who has written 42 books, and received countless degrees and honors. He is renowned for his radio and television programs that explain the complexities of the natural sciences in a compelling, easily understood way.
Proceeds will benefit Sustainable Connections.

MBT

a couple of my favorite moments from the Q & A.....


and a call to action on October 24th (happy birthday mom ..i wish you could appreciate and participate)


24 October 2009
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CLIMATE ACTION

check it out

and this very funny moment..



full Q & A