http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/27/world-warming-faster-study

The New York Times reports on concerns among some environmentalist on Obama’s committment to climate action.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/us/politics/11protest.html?_r=1&ref=earth

http://www.salon.com/env/feature/2009/07/10/robert_stavins_interview/

An article about the politics and science of climate change and James Lovelock.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/141081/the_dark_side_of_climate_change%3A_it%27s_already_too_late%2C_cap_and_trade_is_a_scam%2C_and_only_the_few_will_survive/?page=1

It is not unusual for me to read journalistic articles and come away wondering ‘who the h…. are they talking about’. I’ve attached one of those articles from The Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062504133.html?sub=AR

I also read some polling this morning that says 75 percent of the American public thinks we need to act on climate change legislation and over 50 percent are in favor of the legislation even if it adds $10 per month to their energy bill.

It also seems obvious that lobbying -in the case of the energy bill…. agricultural lobbying – potentially troubles the legislative process. What could be a sincere debate between legislators, between legislators and their constituents (informing the process) becomes a ‘paid’ debate between legislators and ‘constituent representatives’. In the case of the energy bill, we end up with compromises that are not only ineffective but do not even represent ‘the will of the people’.

Below is a link to a recent Wall Street Journal article on climate change science. From their perspective, significantly more scientists are becoming skeptical of climate change.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124597505076157449.html

The House Ag Committee has won a major argument on who is to administer the offset program in the new energy bill.

http://www.nytimes.com/cwire/2009/06/24/24climatewire-farm-groups-prevail-as-house-climate-bill-pu-24287.html

http://downloads.globalchange.gov/usimpacts/pdfs/climate-impacts-report.pdf

From the New York Times:

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/18/oil-industry-blasts-house-climate-bill/?hp

My Illinois farmer friend, John Phipps, has been spending a lot of time worrying about cap and trade legislation. He recently blogged about this survey concerning the public’s understanding of the issue.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/environment/congress_pushes_cap_and_trade_but_just_24_know_what_it_is