Opinion and Comments
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I usually don’t dignify poorly argued propaganda attacks on sustainable community planning with any response. But the latest attack appearing in the National Review Online begs for a rebuttal.Author Stanley Kurtz says President Obama wants to abolish the suburbs. Yes, that’s right. The article is headlined Burn Down the Suburbs? It says Obama is plotting to “get rid of” suburban communities all over America and that planning grants from the Department of Housing and...
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The following contains basic information on where the two presidential candidates stand on issues related to community sustainability. You are invited to state your opinions about the candidates and the issues. Join the dialog: Just scroll to the end and use the “comment” function to have your say.The presidential election has already received massive news coverage. But it’s understandable if you still feel you have no idea where the two candidates stand on key issues.The presidential...
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By Andre F. Shashaty The mortgage foreclosure settlement announced this week is being hailed as a lifeline for homeowners. But it’s equally important as a kind of Waterloo for the banks and their conquest of the U.S. government. The financial services industry has been pillaging and plundering almost continuously since former Republican Senator Phil Gramm championed deregulation and repealed depression-era banking laws in 1999. The banks celebrated what may have been...
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As we commemorate the 41st annual Earth Day this month, the strangest thing is happening. Politicians in Washington have been threatening to shut down the entire federal government because they say they do not want to leave a massive budget deficit for future generations to confront. But the very same politicians do not care one bit about the condition of the planet we leave for future generations. They have made it a top political priority to block the federal Environmental Protection...
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Thanks goodness I read George Will’s column, “High Speed to Insolvency,” in Newsweek (3/7/11). I had no idea I was a socialist.In an attempt to lambaste the Obama Administration’s efforts to reinvest in America’s passenger rail network, including high-speed rail, Will writes that “progressives” like trains because they get people out of cars, and progressives want that because cars reflect American individualism, which they hate.I had no idea when I took the train from San Diego To San...
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By Carl Pope, Chairman, The Sierra ClubU.S. politicians often lump India and China together as job stealers and looming global-warming heavies, but that vision is dangerously limited. China is on its way to becoming the world's largest economy, but rival behemoth India may soon surpass its neighbor's explosive growth rate. Both countries assume that their rapid expansion will continue but worry about the environmental consequences. Like the United States, neither is keen about a binding...
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After the Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections, Republican strategist Karl Rove told a crowd of oil producers that “climate is gone.” The Chicago Tribune reported that Republican leaders plan to investigate the Environmental Protection Agency in a bid to block any regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. That's to be expected. The Republicans insist that any efforts to reduce GHG emissions would be bad for the economy. What they really mean...
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Even when Democrats controlled the House, Senate, and White House, serious legislative efforts to address climate change and reduce GHG emissions could not be enacted. Now that Republican election victories have given that party a majority in the House of Representatives, environmental concerns will be tabled for at least two years. The GOP majority in the House might even block new funding the Obama Administration has initiated for transportation projects and regional planning to...
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In a test case that will reverberate nationwide, California voters are about to decide whether the oil industry has the power to block reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private vehicles. The oil industry is the primary supporter of Proposition 23, which would suspend implementation of Assembly Bill 32, which sets GHG emission reduction targets. If big oil succeeds, this success would also seriously undermine implementation of Senate Bill 375, which addresses the...
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Opponents of California's aggressive effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions say it will cost the state jobs, but the big money flowing into the campaign to suspend the program suggests another concern: oil company profits. Oil interests know that a successful effort by California to reduce GHG emissions and encourage cities to plan for compact, less car-dependent communities will set the direction for the nation, leading to less driving and reduced demand for gasoline...
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