Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) wrote to me today to let me know that she intends to do something about global warming. Me and tens of thousands of her closest friends, probably. Still, I was glad to hear from her. She’s been bringing up the subject of climate change often since the election–and before, though now she has a chance to be heard.

An Earth Day Network poll conducted in October showed that

Americans are worried about global warming - 58 percent say it will have a “great to extreme” impact on their children’s future and two out of three agree it will adversely impact the U.S. economy over the next ten years.

My worry is surely strong enough to count double in any nationwide poll. And what are the other 42% thinking? They’re probably still believing the Inhofe vacuity (R-OK). A few years ago in a speech on the Senate floor, he perpetuated conservatives’ war on science. He wrote of his speech,

I called the threat of catastrophic global warming the “greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” a statement that, to put it mildly, was not viewed kindly by environmental extremists and their elitist organizations.

I wonder if he has changed his mind, whether he thinks Al Gore made it all up, or what. I know. He’s still calling it a hoax. Get that man out of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and get Boxer in! What a relief.

Now that climate change is going to be a serious issue, it will help to understand the what and how of it. There are so many important stories on climate change that I don’t know where to start.

• Truth Out has a long list of climate change stories.

• John Mohawk on Prophecy and Survival has several years of climate change news excerpts with an emphasis on what peoples have learned in the past that might help us to navigate the future.

• Of course, you could see An Inconvenient Truth. I’ve heard of frequent community showings and house parties presenting the movie in Salt Lake City lately.

• The recent review of 866 scientific studies on climate change makes compelling reading.

• If you doubt that warmer temperatures are causing harm, look at the images from Tuvalu, an island nation in the Pacific (several small islands and atolls). The highest point is 16ft above sea level. Actually, it may not be that high any longer. The people will need to be evacuated soon (those not yet gone) because the sea level is rising. Warmer temperatures = melting ice = rising seas.

• For general coverage and an overview of climate change, should you need it, I find the BBC more helpful than US news sites. The British have acknowledged the problem, being an island nation themselves, and they are addressing it more directly.

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The Iraq Study Group Report. It has dominated the news today. Who says what? What are the comments? How was the book published? What does the report itself say?

It says Iraq is in the midst of a grave and deteriorating crisis. It says Bush policies have failed. According to polls, Americans agree. (All but the red blogging Americans, apparently.) Gore assures Bush the people’s opinions are not about him. Peter Hart of FAIR encourages the media to broaden the debate during the inevitable week of prime time coverage. I haven’t read the report yet, so I don’t know if the report considers the real costs of the war.

The report is downloadable on NPR or for sale in book format on Amazon. There are even reviews on Amazon. The readers bought, received, and read the report already? It was only printed Saturday night and delivered to stores on Monday morning.

Of course, the content of the report blends perfectly with the hearings and Senate vote on the nomination of Robert Gates to be the new Secretary of Defense. I listened to the Armed Services Committee hearings yesterday. As many noted, the committee embraced Gates (even though the Democratic Underground didn’t). I think I heard Hillary Clinton blow him a kiss.

All of the Senators were certainly senatorially polite. Several of them thanked him for his candor. I’m sure that does create a completely shocking new tone to be able to even dream that a Republican nominee would admit that Iraq is a violent mess and staying the course is not a viable option, while all other options remain on the table.

As I listened to him, I wondered if George Bush, a famously stubbon president, would listen to Gates if he made the same observations to Bush. As I listened to coverage of the Iraq Study Group Report, I wondered whether he would actually and personally read it. And, if he does read it, will he genuinely consider the recommendations of his close allies? Given the responses and the insistence that the administration hasn’t used the phrase “stay the course” for three weeks nows (wow, three whole weeks), it seems possible.

Nevertheless, call me skeptical.

Tomorrow the Armed Services Committee will hear testimony on the Iraq Study Group. Hugs and kisses all around.

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I’m not sure I can pass the new naturalization exam, even with a graduate degree in the general areas covered.

As of Thursday, November 30, 2006, there is a list of 144 sample questions that emphasizes concepts and meanings rather than simple answers. Some say the test increases the burden of new immigrants who want to become citizens.

My spouse, a non-U.S. citizen, just took the test. Of 144 questions, spouse got the following seven answers wrong.

.

22. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

A: 435

54. What is one thing only a state government can do?

A: Provide schooling and education
A: Provide protection (police)
A: Provide safety (fire departments)
A: Give a driver’s license
A: Approve zoning and land use

55. What does it mean that the U.S. Constitution is a constitution of limited powers?

A: The federal government has only the powers that the Constitution states that it has.
A: The states have all powers that the federal government does not.

90. When was the Constitution drafted?

A: 1787

100. Name one of the writers of the Federalist Papers?

A: James Madison
A: Alexander Hamilton
A: John Jay

114. Who was President during World War I?

A: Woodrow Wilson

132. What is the tallest mountain in the United States?

A: Mt. McKinley
A: Denali

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I think it’s safe to say that we can’t rely on the federal government (especially any part of the government administered by the executive branch) for accurate science.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt choose a physician with experience in Christian pregnancy counseling (no contraceptives and discouragement of abortion) to oversee federal reproductive health programs. That’s just the kind of horrible irony they are so good at.

We face a serious environmental situation, both from peak oil and from global warming. You know that, and I know that. Yet, in August the Environmental Protection Agency closed their libraries in order to be fiscally responsible. They didn’t just close the libraries to the public but to their own employees. Now that is selective fiscal responsibility. The whole situation is difficult to fathom. The EPA even claims that they that they have no authority to regulate emissions. Fortunately, twelve states, several cities and more than a dozen environmental groups are challenging the decision. This case will be heard by the Supreme Court. That may not fill you with hope, but it’s better than no hearing at all.

I know, the war between the Bush Administration and science is not new. These have just been a few stories in the news over the past couple of weeks. Here are a few more from the past few years.

• August 2003, Committee on Government Reform Minority Office
  Investigating the State of Science under the Bush Administration
• February 18, 2004, Wired News
  Bush Distorts Science, Kristen Philipkoski
• February 19, 2004, The Nation
  The Junk Science of George W. Bush, Robert F. Kennedy Jr
• March 15, 2004, CSICOP
  The New Science Wars, Chris Mooney
• March 22, 2005, The Guardian UK
  For Bush, science is a dirty work, Tristram Hunt
• June 30, 2005, US News & World Report
  Scientists and Bush Administration at Odds, Thomas Hayden
• June 30, 2006, CBS, 60 Minutes
  Rewriting the Science

Update 12/2: A BuzzFlash alert notes that the new House Democratic leaders are already addressing the EPA’s library closings, at this point through a relatively strongly worded letter to cease destruction and disposition of library holdings.

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