Coyote Gulch

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act

grist: "A coalition of corporations, green groups, and unions issued a joint statement to senators yesterday declaring their support for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, which will hit the Senate floor on Monday. Among the endorsers is General Electric, one of the five largest companies in the world -- definitely a big pick-up for the legislation."

Be sure to click through for the list of organizations.
"cc"
8:38:38 AM

? for President?
The Moderate Voice: "So are we now close to the endgame in the seemingly endless Democratic primaries? Or will it go all the way to the Denver convention in August, with supporters on each side of the nearly evenly divided Democratic party continuing to be increasingly irritated and frustrated with the other side as Republicans watch the spectacle with bigger and bigger smiles?

"Yesterday's decision at the DNC which gave the Clinton campaign some of what it wanted in terms of Michigan and Florida delegates but not its actual demands ended up being the decision that many on the DNC reportedly actually wanted.

"And now the predictions and questions have started. Will Clinton start to ease her campaign to a close or suspend it this week? Will she withdraw? Will she fight on in Denver? Will Obama make a big victory speech this week if, as expected, he's within a hair of the nomination or over the top by the end of the week in pledged delegates and more superdelegates come out for him? Or will he make a more modest pitch?"

Oliver Willis: "Watch Out, Johnny Mac: This is a good overview story from the AP about how the Obama campaign studied the nomination process and strategized their way to the nomination versus the sort of brute force strategy the Clinton camp tried. In some ways it looks like the more strategic approach Bush took versus Kerry in 2004. So far the McCain camp seems to think that it is still 2004 and that they can win using the same attacks Sen. Clinton did (they're almost line for line identical).

"This will not work."

Andrew Sullivan: "How Obama Won: Playing by the rules - and being extremely smart."
"2008 pres"
8:31:31 AM

Access to water: Human right?

Access to clean drinking water is a human right? Correct? Not if you're one of the large multi-nationals lining up to sell it to the highest bidder. Here's some background from The Environmental News Service. They write:

Water, Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew Liveris told the World Economic Forum in February, "is the oil of this century." Developed nations have taken cheap, abundant fresh water largely for granted. Now global population growth, pollution, and climate change are shaping a new view of water as "blue gold." Water's hot-commodity status has snared the attention of big equipment suppliers like General Electric as well as big private water companies that buy or manage municipal supplies -- notably France-based Suez and Aqua America, the largest US-based private water company. Global water markets, including drinking water distribution, management, waste treatment, and agriculture are a nearly $500 billion market and growing fast, says a 2007 global investment report.

But governments pushing to privatize costly to maintain public water systems are colliding with a global "water is a human right" movement. Because water is essential for human life, its distribution is best left to more publicly accountable government authorities to distribute at prices the poorest can afford, those water warriors say. "We're at a transition point where fundamental decisions need to be made by societies about how this basic human need -- water -- is going to be provided," says Christopher Kilian, clean-water program director for the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation. "The profit motive and basic human need [for water] are just inherently in conflict."
"colorado water"
7:41:37 AM