Fireflies have always been one of nature’s most beautiful and intriguing miracles. I could still spend hours and hours on a hot, dark summer night tracing the paths taken by the fireflies in my parents’ backyard. The fun, of course, comes from tracing the path between “blinks”, when the firefly fades to black and you are left guessing as to where they’ll appear next.
Perhaps this nostalgia explains why, when I saw the “Firefly Watch” site from the Museum of Science, Boston, I was both transported and transfixed.
The debate over the aerial killing of wildlife in Alaska rages on with Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife president Rodger Schlickeisen appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live last night.
Judd discusses why she so vehemently opposes aerial hunting (and later name-drops Van Jones and the Green Collar Economy) while Schlickeisen responds to Palin’s labeling of Defenders of Wildlife as a “fringe group.”
It is reprehensible and hypocritical that the Defenders of Wildlife would use Alaska and my administration as a fundraising tool to deceive Americans into parting with their hard-earned money.
The website, accompanied by a new advertisement starring Ashley Judd [below], will feature a tracker of headlines regarding Palin’s treatment of wildlife in Alaska. For instance, the discussion right now is focused on her willingness to ANWR to drilling.
It was often highlighted after the infamous tragedies of September 11th that terrorism was hardly discussed or barely even mentioned during the campaigning that led up to the 2000 election (Al vs. W). Searching for a way the horrible acts could have been avoided led to a lot of finger pointing and mudslinging on both sides (that I won’t get into again here).
I bring this up only because I see a similar looming issue (crisis in some areas of the US) that is not being given the attention that I am confident it deserves. An issue that I see us looking back on–as we did terrorism–and thinking: “How could this have been prevented?” or “Look at the campaign of ‘08. The two candidates hardly mentioned water pollution and conservation issues.”
The two most notable offerings were answers to specific questions–one from Science Debate 2008 and one from DISCOVER.
When asked by DISCOVER contributor Thomas Kostigen,
Ensuring an adequate water supply is a huge issue, arguably a bigger challenge than energy. Recent estimates say we are going to have to increase our supply of freshwater by 20 percent in the next 20 years to meet world demand. Two-thirds of the world’s population will experience water shortages by 2025. Meanwhile, the Clean Water Act hasn’t been updated since 1972. What plans do you have for addressing the freshwater issue?
I got an e-mail today from an unknown author that is worth passing on. Parts of it are copied here, alongside my own personal thoughts.
I don’t know how much you know about the Law of Attraction or if you’ve ever heard of it. But surely you’ve heard of the phrase, ‘What you resist, persists.’ The more we don’t want something, the more it finds us. For example - the more we resist forming relationships with a certain type of person in our lives, the more we attract that same kind of relationship over and over again. The more we resisted President Bush, the more he stayed in office. I truly believe that the reason he won two terms as President is because everyone from all sides was so intently focused on him– Democrats with negative energy and Republicans with positive energy.
So, what do you know about Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s energy and environmental policy proposals?
Probably the basics: Obama supports spending $150 billion over ten years to kick-start the “green economy.” Both support cap-and-trade systems to address climate change. McCain’s become a strong proponent of opening up more offshore areas to oil and gas drilling.
Now, what do you know about their records on these issues? Their past statements, writings, and votes?
Probably not nearly as much. The candidates have had ample opportunities to present their proposals, but few media outlets are providing details on how each of these men has approached energy and environmental issues in the past. As these issues are tied directly to the US’ economic health, they’re now front and center in this last month of campaign season.
So, are you willing to wait for the mainstream media to provide such details? If so, good luck. If you’re not, why not join us in digging for the specifics.
Yucca Mountain, “Yes”; transport waste through my state?, “No”; what Grand Canyon?
It’s hard to tell if Senator McCain’s age is catching up with his memory, or if he’s just trying to ride a lot of fences when it comes to nuclear power.
The Sierra Club sent out a release today, pointing out the Senator’s love affair with nuclear power, revealed a YouTube clip of McCain saying he would not approve of shipping 77,000 tons of dangerous nuclear waste through his home state of Arizona, but felt it would be ok to move it through 44 other states.
With this in mind, let’s examine his stand on drilling for uranium in the national parks surrounding the Grand Canyon.
In the darkness of twilight or the soft glow before dawn, stars seem to blink and drift about in the air. While crickets chirp, cicadas croon, and various creatures scurry about, strange yellow-green speckles light up the night. What you are witnessing is no choreographed prelude to a Pink Floyd concert, no moviemaker’s special effect, no computer-generated mindbender. Instead, you are beholding yet another bit of natural magic: the lightning bug, a.k.a. the firefly.
One of my fondest memories from childhood is getting together with friends and going out to catch lightning bugs. From late spring until early autumn, you could find us careening through the darkness, ignoring all matters of property rights and curfews, armed with jars, bottles, or other containers. Sometimes the old folks would get caught up in our youthful enthusiasm and lumber around after us…after the bugs. And after hours of gleeful bug chasing, we returned home to watch the little stars twinkle, twinkle before our rapt eyes. What fun! Then, the next day, we would release them–now much less exciting because no longer twinkling, now just simply bugs.
Why do nearly all children share this fascination with lightning bugs, making it seem almost instinctual, a human trait passed on in our blood? I think Dan Aykroyd said it best in The Great Outdoors: “Their butts light up!”1
For a lot of years, I’ve respected and admired Arizona Senator John McCain, and even though he is a Republican, he seemed to be more moderate than his right-wing compatriots.
That changed today when I read that he has proposed construction of 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030. Adding insult to injury, he told a Missouri State University audience that he’d pledge $2 billion a year in federal funds to make clean coal a reality. All in the name of reducing dependence on foreign oil and fostering a cleaner environment.
