Howard I Kay

Edina, Richfield Residents Take Climate Change Proposal to Congress

Concerned that climate change is making the world unlivable, volunteers from the Metro Twin Cities chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to ask members of the Congress to put a price on carbon that would phase out the use of fossil fuels.

Participants at the 2011 Citizens Climate Lobby International Conference in Washington, D.C. said the flooding along the Mississippi and the increasing number of severe storms in recent months are an indication that we’re running out of time.

Richfield's Kay Nelson, who was one of the volunteers who attended, said it was "very exciting and powerful to visit legislators on the Hill and make our cases known."

More than 80 volunteers traveled from as far away as Alaska and Canada to attend the CCL conference, where they heard from renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen and visited more than 140 offices in the House and Senate. Minnesotans included Nelson and John Howard III and Paul Thompson of Edina, along with four others from around Minnesota.

Despite the prevailing view that legislation to stop climate change won’t be taken up in the current Congress, volunteers pressed on in their efforts with a legislative proposal to price carbon, known as carbon fee and dividend.

The approach would place a steadily rising fee on carbon-based fuels, starting at $15 per ton of carbon dioxide, and return the revenue to all households in the form of monthly payments. The predictable price on carbon, CCL says, will send a clear signal to shift investments away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy and energy efficiency.

“In this Congress, obviously, legislation to address climate change will have to be introduced by a Republican if you expect it to go anywhere,” said Mark Reynolds, executive director of Citizens Climate Lobby. “If we keep saying ‘Wait ‘til the next Congress,’ eventually it will be too late to maintain a livable world. We need to take steps now.”

Well done Citizens Climate Lobby. We've all got to keep trying to persuade our governments that we need action on climate change. In Australia, the Labor government is battling to introduce a carbon tax while the opposition, the Liberal Party are against it. In England, the conservatives are bringing in a visionary scheme to bring down pollution. The way to success is determination.

We might start acting locally by promoting the use of smaller cars. Go to any Edina school or sports venue and see rows of very large SUV's. If you are looking for change start locally. Make Edina public facilities no idle zones especially where children are picked up. Encourage the city to buy smaller trucks including the fire and police departments.

HoCo Politico: The varying style of two central HoCo Politicos

What follows is (admittedly) a complete over-analysis of the political styles of two local politicians based on a few quotes in a recent Explore Howard article.  Though, it is over-analysis, it is an effective exercise to look at how our leaders talk and express their beliefs.  I'd like to argue that certain styles of talking and expression are more effective than others.  Shall we begin? It is interesting to compare Delegate Bobo and Councilwoman Sigaty, because they are both hail from a similar area of Columbia, and both represent the same party, but their political beliefs have differed on at least one occasion.  As much as I'd hate to pick at old wounds, it is hard to forget the animosity bred from Bobo's endorsement of Alan Klein over Sigaty in last year's Democratic Primaries. A few points before I analyze what the politicos stated.  First, I do not know what else was said to the reporter.  This is just the quotes and paraphrasings that the reporter chose to use.  Second, I do not know how the Explore Howard editors modified, or changed the article prior to it being published.  Third, clearly there was more written about Sigaty comments, and more quotes taken from Sigaty than from Bobo.  It is entirely possible that these quotes were taken out of context, or selected to present a certain view.  But, I have to say, my opinion is that Ms. McPherson is a talented journalist and would not try to insert her own personal perspective into an article and would make every effort to have all sides of an issue presented. Bobo stated, "It just looks to me like more is being done than is necessary."  Is Ms. Bobo an expert on the methods of clearing trees in order to improve gas-line safety?  She may be, but I don't think she is.  In order to better understand that issue, did she attend the on-site briefing given by Mr. Fowler?  The article doesn't say, but I'm assuming she did not.  So how does Bobo know that "more is being done than necessary?"  One word that comes to mind when I think of Bobo's quotes in this article is demagoguery .  Bobo is attempting to make BG&E look bad in order to make herself look better.  It is easy to make out BG&E to look bad, because we all have been on hold trying to work out some power-bill issue, and we all pay more than we think we should for power.

Alumni, OAC Review, v.45, no.3, Dec. 1932

Alumni con't, OAC Review, v.41, no.1, Sept. 1928

Tales of salty Sam

Against the Moon

A treatise on the law of corporations having a capital stock