In a time of year when it can be hard to go into public

without being overwhelmed by Christmas carols, the sound of jingling bells can sicken many of us. And, it is hard for many to associate this season and carols with any form of religiousity due to the mass commercialization of across the spectrum of holidays of Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanza, and …  

And, basically every single religious song has been parodied or spun off in multiple ways so that any idea of purity seems dead.  Thus, it surprised me that I was shocked at the latest parody of a set of Christmas Carols courtesy of the coal industry’s mouthpiece, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE): the “Clean Coal Carolers” with a set of lyrics that take their truthiness and deception to a whole new level of depravity.

There are many greenwashing efforts for gas guzzling McSUVs, seeking to put a green shine on polluting behemoths.  Normally, these come from well-paid hacks and company publicity machines.  Sometimes, however, you have to ask yourself, “What were they thinking?”  

This is truly the case with the naming of the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid as the Green Car Journal’s Green Car of the Year.  Amid the overall absurdity of naming a 20 mpg, 5500 pound, $50,000+ light-duty vehicle that will mainly end up in suburban drive-ways (typically with just one person in them when driven) somehow green, one has to wonder at the “names” associated with the award. These include Carl Pope, Sierra Club’s executive director; Christopher Flavin (Worldwatch Institute), Jonathan Lash (World Resources Institute), and Jean-Michel Cousteau (Ocean Futures Society).  

Let’s be clear, the Tahoe Hybrid is less bad for the environment and less problemmatic for America’s oil addiction than the traditional Tahoe behemoth, but ‘less bad’ doesn’t mean “green”.

Barack Obama is speaking of the necessity to move toward a better energy future, of energy efficiency, and the potential for a green stimulus package creating 2.5 million jobs. Congress is looking toward working in the two weeks between their swearing in and President Barack Obama’s inauguration.  One thing to expect in those two weeks: Legislation to green the nation’s schools.

Taking aggressive action to green schools is about one of the smartest steps the nation can take, action that should go beyond bipartisanship to true unity of action as it is a win-win-win-win strategy along so many paths:

And, well, other benefits.

When faced with such an opportunity, “The Bush White House threatened a veto, saying it was wrong for the federal government to launch a costly new school-building program.

For much of this year, the US Chamber of Commerce has been engaged in a public campaign related to energy issues.   Early in the year, the Chamber aligned themselves with the National Association of Manufacturing in battling against any meaningful action on global warming, including running ads against action strongly reminiscent of the infamous Harry and Louise anti-health care advertising.  In mid-2008, the Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy, under the direction of General James Jones, USMC (retired) began to take a more prominent role in energy discussions.

To put it simply, the USCOC’s 21st Century Energy’s work lays out a path and recommendations that are recklessly dangerous in the face of the energy, financial, and global warming perfect storm.

That might as well be the title of the Wall Street Journal article Surprise Drop in Power Use Delivers Jolt to Utilities.  

An unexpected drop in U.S. electricity consumption has utility companies worried that the trend isn’t a byproduct of the economic downturn, and could reflect a permanent shift in consumption that will require sweeping change in their industry.

OH NO!!!! Americans using less electricity and this might be something permanent rather than simply a lousy economy.

Now, as for the ‘lousy economy’, as we have yet to hit bottom and have a long way to go, hard to assert (yet) that it is not economic distress that is driving reduced energy use.  Perhaps people are ‘turning off lights’ to save pennies in the face of economic distress. And, patterns begun in economic turmoil could become life’s new patterns.  Thus, unlike what the WSJ‘s coverage might suggest, there is much to hope for as to a start in a shifting of American culture toward more energy efficient patterns.  

Do you love those displays of Christmas (or Hannukah or Kwanza or …) lights?  Are you awed by those so impassioned that they string up 1000s of lights in awesome displays worthy of a city center? I once did, pausing on cold winter nights, white clouds issuing from my mouth, enjoying being in the glow of beautiful displays.  And, in a way, I was inspired that they would spend $1000s (or $10,000s) on displays and the electricity to power them so that others could enjoy the sight on those cold winter nights.  

But … no longer … not for awhile. Far too often nowadays, my winter evenings I can wear short sleeve shirts rather than bulky coats and gloves. And, energy is no longer a question simply of money. I’ve reached the point of feeling like a Scrooge; feeling outrage over the tons of C02 going into the atmosphere via neighbors’ 10,000 light displays rather than feeling ‘joyous’.

But, a compromise does exist; a path to cut sharply those CO2 emissions while still putting out those lights:  LED lights.  But, far too many are unwilling to spend the money upfront to cut their electricial use, reduce their pollution, and — actually — save quite a lot of money.

In his second substantive, issue-focused discussion since the election, President-elect Barack Obama spoke to the bipartisan governors’ meeting on climate change, with an extensive international audience. I recommend reading the speech (after the fold) and watching the video, but there are some key points worth calling out and perhaps just one important issue to raise.

This is a clear statement that Barack Obama’s discussion of energy and global warming issues during the campaign will translate directly into the White House and is core to the Administration.

I promise you this: When I am President, any governor who’s willing to promote clean energy will have a partner in the White House. Any company that’s willing to invest in clean energy will have an ally in Washington.

Obama makes a strong point about science and the view of it from the Oval Office come January 20th: “The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear.”   In the new ‘bipartisan’ era, can we hope that denialists need not apply?

More on Obama and clean energy below…

For the politically aware, on a Veteran’s Day it is hard not to consider Saxby Chambliss’ shameful attacks on Max Cleland six year’s ago. Cleland. Winner of the Silver Star and the Bronze Star, Cleland served with great distinction in Vietnam and in our United States Senate. When running for re-election in 2002, Republican Saxby Chambliss attacked Senator Cleland with ads using the picture of Osama Bin Laden to attack the patriotism of a war hero who left three limbs on the battle field.   Even John McCain found this to be too much:

“I’d never seen anything like that ad. Putting pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden next to the picture of a man who left three limbs on the battlefield — it’s worse than disgraceful. It’s reprehensible.”

— Sen. John McCain, quoted by CNN, on the campaign ads used by Saxby Chambliss (R) against Sen. Max Cleland (D-GA) in the 2002 U.S. Senate race.

Note that ever-so noble John is planning to campaign for Saxby in the coming weeks even as Saxby has been just as disgraceful this time around.  Again, draft-dodging Saxby is facing a Vietnam veteran in an election. And, this Veterans’ Day, you have the opportunity do it for Max and send Saxby back to Georgia for good.  

While we should remember this disgraceful attack, we should not ignore the implications of that shameful campaign on national policy over the past six years with six years of blind and whole-hearted support for the Bush-Cheney Administration.  While no one would claim Max as the nation’s greatest environmentalist, Saxby Chambliss has consistently turned to the Energy Dumb side of the equation over the past six years, whether we look to environmental votes or embracing of the shameful truthiness of “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay [maybe a Penny] Less [about 20 years from now]”.  

One measure of Saxby when it comes to Energy and the Environment: the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) rates him a zero. Perhaps that is just the hippy radicals and we should look to his fellow Republicans for perspective: Chambliss’ rating from the Republicans for Environmental Protection (an oxymoronic name, isn’t it?).  For 2007, a score of 14 out of 100.  At least that was an improvement, as his 2005-2007 average:  a 6 of 100.  Hmmmm ….

And, Georgia voters face an opportunity to redress the wrongs that Chambliss made against Cleland and has done against them and the nation. On December 6th, there will be a runoff between Chambliss and Jim Martin.  When it comes to sensible energy policies, Jim Martin is unlikely to rate a 0 or, with grading on a curve, a 6.  He sees how moving toward a sensible energy policy is connected to improving our environmental situation and our economic situation.