Author Archives: Kit Stolz

Palin: “A String of Cliches” or “A Figure of Historic Consequence?”

The Economist on Sarah Palin's book: On policy, Mrs Palin’s book is negligible. Her call for “commonsense conservatism” is a string of clichés. She favours free markets and a robust defence, but other than that she offers few specifics about how she would grapple with the big problems America actually faces. She sometimes says thingsContinue reading “Palin: “A String of Cliches” or “A Figure of Historic Consequence?””

On “Climategate”

Those who refuse to believe in climate change have ginned up the so-called Climategate scandal to obfuscate the inescapable reality of global warming; for more, see David Roberts at Grist, or RealClimate, or (my favorite), a letter writer to Andrew Sullivan (below).  In a recent post, you get to the true insanity of the wholeContinue reading “On “Climategate””

Tracking Stimulus Funds in Ventura County

Here's my cover story on the stimulus package here and its work in Ventura County in the Reporter… "If you ask county administrator Sue Hughes how much money from the massive economic recovery bill, passed in Washington in February of this year, is going to Ventura County, she will direct you to the county website,Continue reading “Tracking Stimulus Funds in Ventura County”

Climate: Too Big a Problem to Get Excited About

Last week the Democrats in Congress agreed with no apparent debate to forget about trying to do anything to preserve climate stability this year, and, in effect, to move the issue to the back burner.  In the widely-quoted words of Senator Claire McKaskill: After you do one really, really big, really, really hard thing thatContinue reading “Climate: Too Big a Problem to Get Excited About”

Global Warming: Top Phrase of the Decade

So alleges The Language Monitor, which claims results based on a "proprietary algorithm that tracks words and phrases in the media and on the Internet, now including blogs and social media (such as Twitter). The words are tracked in relation to frequency, contextual usage and appearance in global media outlets, factoring in long-term trends, short-termContinue reading “Global Warming: Top Phrase of the Decade”

Climate Stability to Vanish in the 2020’s: Dr. Jeff Masters

Dr. Jeff Masters, a scientist, hurricane watcher, founder of a national Internet weather site, and as respected as any meteorologist in the public eye known to this journalist, predicts when climate stability will collapse: There were 88 presentations on arctic sea ice at the 2008 AGU [American Geophysical Union] conference. None of the presenters expressedContinue reading “Climate Stability to Vanish in the 2020’s: Dr. Jeff Masters”

Acorns Abundant This Fall: El Nino On the Way?

According to climatologists, it's going to be wet this winter. Experts on El Niño, the well-known global weather circulation pattern that often brings warm winters and heavy rain to the West Coast, recently released a chart showing the El Niño Southern Oscillation  (ENSO) strengthening across the Pacific. This is good news for those of usContinue reading “Acorns Abundant This Fall: El Nino On the Way?”

Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Smoke Enviromentalists in Congress

Before criticizing enviros too harshly for their ineffectiveness, as I did yesterday, and numerous others have as well, perhaps I should have looked at the numbers. The Center for Responsive Politics  has done just that, and the results are sobering. Here's how it looks for the environment in the 3rd quarter: ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTA high-profileContinue reading “Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Smoke Enviromentalists in Congress”