Eric Massa NY29: Global Warming and People-powered Politics

First, let me extend another heartfelt thank you to the netroots community for the support my team and I received in the Democracy for America Grassroots All-Stars Contest. Circumstances prevented me from responding directly to many of your comments and questions to diaries posted during the week as I was constantly traveling from one event to another, all the while feverishly making phone calls in my free time during the competition. But today I am here and will be answering questions for the next few hours.

Today I want to talk about Global Warming and Climate Change and how it relates to people-powered politics. During this past week we talked a lot about people-powered politics. One important goal is to speak truth to power when power is threatening the liberty of the people and/or working against the best interests of the people. This is especially true with respect to Global Warming where we the damage we are facing is not just to a singular group but rather to the entire planet.

As I thought about what I wanted to communicate about Climate Change hundreds of facts and statistics came to mind. We’ve all seen them before and, depending on what references you read, all the numbers tell a story that is both exceptionally compelling and deeply disturbing. I am not a climatologist and thus I would only be restating what others, many of whom are Nobel Laureats, accomplished scientists, and men and women who have spent decades studying this reality, have said. I would like to discuss Global Climate Change from a different perspective. I believe that we must understand the connection between a corporate-controlled Congress and People-powered politics.

Truth to Power: Our President has been a paid shill for Big Oil

While the man who actually won the popular vote in 2000 has been out single-handedly forcing an informed discussion of Global Warming, the man who lost the popular vote but acquired the presidency has been saying what the oil industry wanted him to say. With the help of many in Congress (link, link, and in the interests of big oil and against the interests of the people, President Bush has downplayed the effects of global warming. There are books and more books and articles and still more articles with plenty of documentation of the collusion between certain politicians and big oil to downplay Global Warming.


A Victory for the people: Big Oil admitting the truth about Global Warming

Because of the overwhelming evidence and the tireless efforts of Al Gore and others and perhaps partially due to the fact that Democrats won control of both houses of Congress in November (link), big oil (even Exxon Mobil!) is backing away from the fake science it helped create and admitting that Global Warming is indeed a problem. (link) Score one for the people!

This is just one area where blogs, which are often the mouthpiece for people power, have helped put forth stories that the more traditional media have not been covering as they should be. With some notable exceptions, before the changes in November, Global Warming was often discussed in the he said/she said version all too common in journalism meant to entertain rather than inform. Critics of global warming were often presented as equals rather than minority voices. Some discussion of that can be found here or here).

A more recent success of stories driven by blogs has been the change seen in the White House’s official story about progress in Iraq. (link) We need to keep telling the truth on Climate Change and keep pushing the truth that President Bush’s plan for victory in Iraq is to merely run out the clock until it becomes someone else’s problem. (link)


Practicality: Innovate in response to Global Warming

People-powered politics not only involves speaking truth to the powerful who are working against the interests of the people but also involves leadership to help the people identify and address problems. In this case we need to look at Global Warming, and the resulting need for Alternative Energy Sources, as an opportunity. As discussed earlier this week here, we need to fight to protect jobs at home and fight to help create the jobs of the future, so that those who want to work can find a job and achieve financial security.

Practicality: Build Greener Cars

The first thing I want to talk about here is the American Automotive Industry. Better Fuel Standards are an important part of revitalizing the American Automobile Industry. The Center for American Progress recently had a good discussion of that here. This week came the news that Toyota had passed GM to become number one in sales of automobiles. (here.[br />

Practicality: Solar and Wind Power

We have a chance to do something that both creates jobs and helps respond to Global Warming. And this isn’t just in the automobile industry. We have a great solar power industry here in the US but most of what we make is exported to other countries because we have not placed a premium on alternative energy. There is an ad on dailykos now asking for support of an extension of tax credits for solar and fuel cells. (link) We need to put more emphasis on alternative energy and this seems one way to do that. Wind Power also provides opportunities for change, but it has not received the national attention and support it deserves. A good diary on that is here.


Practicality: Switch Grass? Other alternatives?

Here in NY 29, I have been talking a lot about switch grass as an alternative energy source. Near here in Buffalo, a landfill will be hosting a Biodiesel plant. (link) Elsewhere in the news, recent developments might make coal clean enough to make it useful. (link)


Conclusion: Global Climate Change and Making jobs for the future

All this discussion of alternative energies, and more, represents ways to plan for the long term in response to the challenges of globalization, which was discussed earlier this week here. People-powered politics should not only be working to protect the people from abusive corporate practices but also working to inform the people about the challenges and possibilities we face and to help lead them into a better and brighter future. We need for the blogs and the netroots to help us spread the word about these and other opportunities, just as they have done with Global Warming and the Iraq War. The discussions in this diary are incomplete. They are just a start for the discussions we need to be having as a nation.

Sometimes corporate interests will try to deceive us about the challenges and possibilities. We need to be ever watchful and always willing to speak truth to power, Only by studying and carefully sorting through what we read and hear can we recognize where the truth lies. It is in the interests of the people, through true people-powered politics, that we can achieve the results that we need, results-oriented responses to global climate change that simultaneously provide jobs for the future.

Again, thank you to everyone for your support and your dedication to people-powered politics.

Sign on and sail with me,

Eric Massa

http://www.29united.com">29United.com
http://www.massaforcongress.com"> MassaforCongress.com