By Jamaica Pond, in Boston, Dominic Luberto comes close to defining excess when it comes to lighting.   Having spent over $10,000 on lights, just this year, he will have over 250,000 lights up.  Estimated electric bill of $2000 per month (although, to be honest, this sounds like an embarassed understatement of actual costs).

"But, when you see the smiles on the kids ... every penny is worth it."

But, he's hoping to cut into those costs.  Now, he isn't planning to go energy efficient, with LED lights.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. I have try mixing my own rants and ideas, with national issues, news items, and some very local groups and events in an attempt to both help shape debate and to help people find their own ways of getting involved.

This week I discuss holiday shopping to match your values (alonovo.com), why nuclear energy is NOT a solution to Global Warming (a sort of preview of a review I will write about Paul Brown's new book on Global Warming), and discuss Pretty Bird Woman House woman's shelter on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. I also do a roundup of local progressive events for places where I have had the most readers over the last couple of weeks, including ways you can help win two special elections this coming Tuesday: OH-5 and VA-1. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. So I have bene doing this almost exactly three years. And boy are my arms tired! (sorry!) Having organized protests against the Republican Convention, I found I had a core of activists who needed some encouragement after Bush "won" re-"election". My carefully thought out suggestions as to where we could go from that defeat led to this more-or-less weekly newsletter.

This week I discuss Global Warming (mainly with references to Daily Kos diaries) and a neat little way you can help feed people while building vocabulary. I also do a roundup of local progressive events for places where I have the most readers over the last couple of weeks. Don't forget to visit an advertiser or two and if you want more, please visit Culture Kitchen.

I have often discussed the various actions we can do as individuals to help mitigate global warming. But today I am realizing that I have often left out one thing. Investing. I started investing in alternative energy in a very tentative manner years ago...with mixed success. I had avoided wind and solar because I felt other things looked more promising (e.g. geothermal). Honestly, I seldom put much in and the overall result was so-so.

But recently I have started investing more aggressively in alternative energy stocks, this time primarily wind and solar. I know from my scientific reading that really both are pretty well current technologies, with wind ahead of solar in terms of practicality. But I also figure if we are going to address global warming in the next ten years we had better start treating alternative energy stocks more seriously. Since I started investing in such stocks early this year, I have made LOTS of money on alternative energy. I am proud to say I am profiting off being a part of the solution.

When discussing any particular disaster and its relationship to Global Warming, one needs to be cautious, to avoid saying "Global Warming caused X" as it is quite difficult to show a direct cause and effect relationship with a global trend to any particular activity. Thus, stronger storms are correlated with rising temperature which correlated with a storm like Katrina.  Did Global Warming cause Katrina?  Who knows?  Was Katrina's strength, differentiation from past storms, within what Global Warming analysis/modeling suggests could happen? Yes.

Well, be careful if anyone says that Global Warming "caused" the California fires.  On the other hand, it seems clear that Global Warming is a contributing factor to the conditions in which the storms have occurred.

I am writing to report a response from Kalee Kreider (VP Al Gore's communications director and environmental adviser) to a pair of Washington Post articles on British High Court judge Michael Burton's ruling concerning Gore's movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

Please find the response here: An Inconvenient Truth: Team Gore responds, which links to the preceding posts at the Post which Kalee was responding to.

The world we inhabit is a beautiful place.  And, there are tremendous things that are improving with, virtually every minute such as, well, our ability to communicate via tubes.  

Yet ...

We live in a troubled world.  From wars, to disease, to economic inequalities, to ... There are many areas where, if we act right, tomorrow could be better than today.

Yet, humanity's very future, the ability to make that choice is at risk, our very own actions and pursuit of economic strength are imperiling the ability to make those choices.

Global Warming ... Peak Oil ... These fundamental issues intertwine to threaten the opportunity to pursue and achieve a progressive vision for tomorrow.  Facing these must, MUST be core to progressive politics or, well, every other progressive cause is doomed to failure.

British Government released the movie, An Inconvenient Truth, to be shown in schools.

One man, Mr. Dimmock, a school Governor, challenged that in court, making of course, outrageous claims of the movie.

Representative John Dingell (D-auto industry?) has put out his thoughts re a potential carbon tax and is asking for comments.  Dingell stated that

Because of the complexity and importance of the issue, this is the right time to open up a public discourse on a carbon emissions fee bill.

Representative Dingell has, well, been far from a friend to sensible energy policy, fighting CAFE standards and many other elements that would move the nation toward a better energy policy.

Yet ... yet ... let us take Dingell at face value (for a moment) and examine his concepts.

NOTE This are first draft reactions to the proposal ... so help out in the comments.

Fell behind on this last week. This is the fourth week in a row I am doing my "Articles They Don't Want You to See" feature. This week I want to highlight science...the science they don't want you to understand. Specifically Evolution, Global Warming and the HIV/AIDS connection. I write about the first two topics a great deal and will draw from earlier diaries I have written. The HIV/AIDS connection is something I only recently realized had a denial lobby associated with it that needed countering. I am a scientist and have been a scientist during the bulk of the history of AIDS research. Almost took a job in Seattle working on an AIDS vaccine (moved to NYC instead). I knew that there were deniers in South Africa and that is a major problem in Africa, but now I have encountered HIV/AIDS deniers on dKos and realize I can suggest some articles regarding that issue as well.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. After much pressure from readers, this email newsletter is now going the blog route. I update the blog once a week focusing on both national issues and issues of interest to particular regions or states. In general, NYC, California, New Jersey, Virginia and the Midwest get special attention simply because those are the areas where I seem to have the most readers. However, these days I am too busy to give each region the attention I used to. As my readership on Daily Gotham and Culture Kitchen goes up, I have to spend more time on those sites. So this newsletter is fading a bit. I hope it is still usefull to you, though.

This week I discuss Nuns calling for impeachment and withdrawal, and some scary indications that global warming may be happening faster than we thought. I also discuss some local stuff for Florida, NYC, New Jersey, and California. I also continue a new feature that started with an unexpectedly recommended Daily Kos diary some weeks ago.

The Progressive Democrat Newsletter grew out of the frustration of the 2004 election. After much pressure from readers, this email newsletter is now going the blog route. I update the blog once a week focusing on both national issues and issues of interest to particular regions or states. In general, NYC, California, New Jersey, Virginia and the Midwest get special attention simply because those are the areas where I seem to have the most readers. However, these days I am too busy to give each region the attention I used to. As my readership on Daily Gotham and Culture Kitchen goes up, I have to spend more time on those sites. So this newsletter is fading a bit. I hope it is still usefull to you, though.

This week I am disucss the growning power of bloggers in NY State, STRONGLY urge all of you to fight global warming but helping plant trees worldwide, talk alot about Iraq and cowardly Chickenhawk Republicans, and discuss local elections in Michigan and Washington State. I also continue a new feature that started with an unexpectedly recommended Daily Kos.

J'Accuse Robert J. Samuelson of facilitating inaction in the fact of Peak Oil.

J'Accuse Robert J. Samulson of peddling of false information about options to deal with Global Warming.

J'Accuse Robert J. Samuelson of putting this nation, humanity, my (and your) children at greater risk.

Robert J. Samuelson, J'Accuse ... J'Accuse

In Collapse Is Latest Fight for Coal's Best Friend, the Washington Post gave front-page prominence to Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy which co-owns the Crandall Canyon mine where rescue workers desperately seek to rescue the trapped miners.

Murray has coal in his blood and has worked his way up the ladder to be CEO (and owner) of a $260+ million/year corporation.  

And, he is a battler, sadly for the wrong causes.

Global Warming is a massive challenge. It requires serious commitment for change toward a better tomorrow, change from government and from individuals.  Government action can help drive (and facilitate) individual action.  And, well, individual action -- individuals acting in concert -- can help drive government action.

That second, individuals combining to drive a government response, is the core to Step-It-Up.  And, after a massive set of actions earlier this year (1400 rallies across the nation), Bill McKibben is organizing another day of citizen engagement for 3 November 2007.   This is something that everyone (EVERYONE) should engage with ...