It's a good thing that we're not Pakistan.  We still have an independent judiciary in this country.  That's a great thing.

Many of you may not have noticed, but last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco ruled that the Bush Administration  ignored the effects of carbon emissions and their effect on global warming when they rejected W's new CAFE standards for light trucks and SUVs.

Seems as if the administration's decision to have auto industry lobbyists set policy and then ignore or reject science is finally catching up on them.  That too is a very, very good thing.

I've been doing a lot of research related as to how the United States uses energy and the sources that we get it from.  We're the richest nation on earth and we use the most energy.  We can't fully supply our own needs so we have to look elsewhere - that's obvious.  

A partial solution to that problem is for us as a nation to invest in renewable energy resources.  Things such as wind power, solar power, hydroelectric power.  There's a bill right now before congress that is calling for just that.  It calls for 15% of our electrical needs to be satisfied by renewable resources by 2020.

So far, states have been taking the lead in this.  Right now half the states - 25 exactly - have instituted what is called RES programs.  That is Renewable Electricity Standards.  And there's some good news regarding them...

There's been a lot of action the past few weeks regarding the new energy bill that Congress will be voting on in a couple of weeks.  

This is an important bill.  In fact it's vital.  Two provisions in it are under attack.  Both deal with the crux of the problems we've had when comes to our use of energy.  Namely, pollution, cost, and, in the long run, national security.

One provision calls for an increase in the CAFE standard to 35 mpg by the year 2020.  The last time it was increased was 1985!  That's 22 years!  We've been in two wars in the Middle East since then, partially because of our reliance on Persian Gulf oil.

The second provision calls for what is know as a 15 % RES (Renewable Electrical Source).  That means that by 2020, 15% of the energy the US gets should be from renewable resources such as wind and solar.  That's a start in the right direction.
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There's been a lot of action the past few weeks regarding the new energy bill that Congress will be voting on in a couple of weeks. This is an important bill. In fact it's vital. Two provisions in it are under attack. Both deal with the crux of the problems we've had when comes to our use of energy. Namely, pollution, cost, and, in the long run, national security. One provision calls for an increase in the CAFE standard to 35 mpg by the year 2020. The last time it was increased was 1985! That's 22 years! We've been in two wars in the Middle East since then, partially because of our reliance on Persian Gulf oil. The second provision calls for what is know as a 15 % RES (Renewable Electrical Source). That means that by 2020, 15% of the energy the US gets should be from renewable resources such as wind and solar. That's a start in the right direction.

When you've got a very large, important piece of legislation, you often will get multiple provisions within it that in some way address host of issues.  Such is the case with the current energy bill before Congress.  There are two important provisions that are threatened with removal.

There's an interesting article today in AdAge entitled "Too Soon? Two-Year Prez Race Could Lead to Marketing Miscues, Burnout"

http://adage.com/article?article_id=1153 59

Two excellent quotes:

"I think the current process of spending an entire year running in order to spend an entire year running in order to get sworn in in January 2009 is stupid." - Newt Gingrich

"If you assigned the task of developing a political system to an insane asylum, this is what they would come up with." - Larry Sabato

But you wouldn't know that if you looked at the campaign websites of the major Democratic and Republican candidates for the presidency.  At least that's what I've noticed after a quick look.  Oh, there's an exception with this very short press release on Mitt Romney's site:

http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Rel eases/African-American_History_Month

Black History Month was started for a reason.  Because, to be blunt, outside of the Civil War and the civil rights struggles of the 1950's and 1960's, we as a nation have often overlooked how blacks have contributed to and been affected by our nation's history.

While I realize that many candidates have just put up sites within the past 30 days, I view the lack of any mention of Black History month itself as a missed opportunity.  Sure, Iowa and New Hampshire have relatively few blacks, but the candidates and their campaigns are spending a heckuva lot of time looking to raise money all over the place.

Scott Shields recently asked you readers of MyDD as to why Brian O'Dwyer is angry re the recent Amanda Marcotte/Edwards blogging fiasco.  I googled "Amanda Marcotte", saw the post, read it and decided to join MyDD.  So hi everybody.

I'll be upfront.  I'm not a liberal or a progressive.  I'm a moderate.  I'm not a Democrat.  I'm an independent.  I'm also a Catholic.  Just like Brian O'Dwyer, who, also like me, is of Irish descent.

I believe that a woman has a right to an abortion, although I'm not much for partial birth abortion.  I was once fuzzy on gay marriage, but when it came down to it...I proudly voted against the proposed state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage here in Virginia.  Unfortunately it passed.  I also was horrified by the pedophelia scandals.  And they had nothing to do with homosexuality or liberal bishops as people like Rick Santorum would tell you.  Oh, and I think Bill Donohue is a pompous bigoted blowhard.  You see, I'm able to disagree with the faith that I was raised.  OK?