Alternative Energy News - December 16, 2006

• Alcan is launching an R&D initiative aimed at reducing the environmental impact of its aluminum smelting technology and has set a target of reducing energy use by 20 percent.


• BP and Old Country Roofing have signed an agreement to offer turnkey solar roofing solutions to more than 100 homebuilding companies and homeowners.


• Cape Cod's wind prospects and energy output get a boost.


• More renewable energy, more energy conservation, and less carbon emissions for Minnesota are the benefits from the Next Generation Energy Initiative announced by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

Interestingly, the above four news stories show how both private enterprise and government can work together to find solutions to our (in this case, energy) problems. It doesnt' have to be, like most Republicans insist, just the free markets. Government doesn't have to be part of the problem, or a hindrance to solving problems. The problems occur when you have people (read: Republican conservatives) running the government when their sole purpose and mission is to weaken government itself. That's why you have things like the Hurricane Katrina debacle under Bush's watch.

Angry Progressives Book Recommendation Part II

Back in October, we began our Angry Progressives Book Recommendation Series with the Chris Hedges book "War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning."

We are proud to continue our series of recommendations with Sam Harris's "Letter to a Christian Nation." The book's introduction perhaps best describes Harris's aim:

"Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.”

Friday Food for Thought

• Americans overwhelmingly say the growing gap between rich and poor has become a serious national concern. With the Democrats now in control of Congress, they have an opportunity, and a mandate, to start narrowing that gap. There are a variety of ways they can go about it, starting with...
• Helping the middle-class: Democrats are planning to use their new authority in the House and Senate to slash interest rates on need-based college loans in half — from 6.8% to 3.4%.
• According to a recent USA Today poll, Bush will be judged as a below-average or poor president, more than double the negative rating given any of his five most recent predecessors. In another poll, Americans overwhelmingly said that getting kicked by a horse is bad for you.

MS Governor Haley Barbour - a Friend (to Tobacco) Indeed

After Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco industry lobbyist, complained that Mississippi's anti-smoking program received its funding directly from the courts and that it needed legislative approval, the state legislature passed a bill to continue the funding. Barbour promptly vetoed the legislation and went back to the courts to withdraw all remaining monies from the program. Did you catch what he did there? Well, last week, Barbour won the long battle in court to withdraw all funding for the anti-smoking program.

Barbour's reasons? It wouldn't be the $3.8 million his lobbying firm was paid by its tobacco clients in 1998-2002, would it? Of course not! According to his office, Barbour vetoed the legislation that passed to continue the program's funding because of it's "lack of accountability," an accusation which was disputed by Sharon Garrison, Communications Director for the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, the organization that runs the program. "These accusations are untrue and unfair."

This is just another in a long line of stories that prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Republicans DO NOT CARE ABOUT PEOPLE. They care only about money and power. And who pays the price? The American people.

Bush and Cheney - So Much to Hide

The Bush administration asked an appeals court Wednesday to overrule an October order by U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina to release two years of White House visitor logs to The Washington Post, and instead allow the White House to keep secret any records of visitors to Vice President Dick Cheney's residence and office.

Visits by lobbyists, industry executives, Republican activists, and no telling who else. Why don't Bush and Cheney want anyone to know exactly who came through to buy influence at the White House? Hmm....

Justice Disappearing in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Along with many other things in post-Katrina New Orleans, justice has vanished.

Iraq: How We Got There, Can We Get Out?

Two very interesting articles from TomsDispatch.com:

The first is background on how the Bush administration fixed not only the intelligence that led us into the war in Iraq, but also the symbolism of how we would fight and struggle during battle. It gives further insight into just how overly confident these chickenhawks were that America could win simply by showing up, and how obsessed our "leadership" was with its attempts to mold the unrealistic outcomes of its greater agenda.

The second piece looks at how the mass media is failing to fully report on the underside of the Iraq Study Group - that it was writen by Establishment members who would not consider immediate withdrawl as an option, and how it very subtly threatens a coup d'état if the current leadership does not accept its suggestions.

-Guest blogger Chris Bloomfield

Alternative Energy News - December 14, 2006

• 80 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter this week to President Bush seeking substantially higher funding levels for renewable energy and energy efficiency.


• What's the hottest way to counteract global warming? Invest.


• New York City must take aggressive action now to meet increased demand for energy, housing and transportation as America's largest city faces population growth of nearly 1 million over the next 25 years.


• Eritrea aims to become the first country in the world to turn its entire coast into an environmentally protected zone to ensure balanced and sustainable development, officials have said.


• Wind-power companies received an early Christmas gift over the weekend when Congress tucked a provision that extended tax credits for green power inside a year-end spending bill.

A Message to Goldman Sachs Employees

Other than what is listed here, be sure to use a small chunk of your bonus to fund every Democratic, Left and Progressive cause you can think of prior to the 2008 prez election.
Why, you ask? Because the current folks in charge are about to make things even worse for our country and the world and if we want the US and other economies to allow for record profits to be made (like you did this year) then don't help the Repubs in any way. Give back to your country in the biggest way by supporting anything but Bush.

Finally, you can accuse Democrats (this site) of campaigning via scare tactics - it's about time.

Harold E. Ford, Jr. Considers Another Run

AP's fan favorite Harold Ford, Jr. appears to be considering another run for Senate in TN. It's early, to be sure, but this makes alot of sense. President Bush is flat out isolated and delusional about Iraq --- and his reaction to the I.S.G. report indicates that nothing is changing. Our ongoing military involvement in Iraq in 2008 will still be a grim reminder of the administration's mishaps. Though it's hard to imagine a worse political environment for the GOP 2 years from now, it's certainly possible. Run Harold, Run!

The Devil Wears Coulter

Just so our ads stop picking up on the wrong vibe from this blog and asking folks if they want to read her column or books for free, we need to make it clear:
We dislike Ann Coulter's work!
We do not like Ann Coulter's comments!
We disagree with Ann Coulter's views!
Anne Coulter is not an angry progressive - she is a divisive and rude conservacon!

P.S. - The funniest thing is that right after this was posted, we started running an ad that links to a site on how to deal with difficult people.

Telecommunications Industry Loses: Web-friendly Congress Saves Net Neutrality (for now)

Update from Savetheinternet.com - big Telco bill dies in Congress, unfortunately, Senator Stevens is still around.Check out some other recent articles, etc. on the topic and do not forget this issue because if we do not stand up for net neutrality then one day you will have to pay a fee (beyond your ISP monthly charge) just to read aprogs.com (not to mention what you will have to pay to search Google and any other huge ["free"] site you frequently visit).

Alternative Energy News - December 10, 2006

• ForestEthics announced that Limited Brands, parent company of Victoria’s Secret, revealed a new forest protection policy that ensures that the pulp for the company’s catalog paper will not come from Endangered Forests.


• Solar industry preparing for California Solar Initiative.


• DuPont Fuel Cells and SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG announced the U.S. Department of Defense has completed a successful initial review of its program to introduce a reliable, lightweight, portable fuel cell power system for soldiers in the field.


• A new study indicates that mixtures of native perennial grasses and other flowering plants provide more usable energy per acre than corn grain ethanol or soybean biodiesel and are far better for the environment.

Sunday Links

A mishmosh of things to make you angry and (hopefully) active:

• "The annual number of reservists and National Guard members who say they have been reassigned, lost benefits or been fired from civilian jobs after returning from duty has increased by about 30% since 2002." Do Americans know that supporting our troops means more than putting a sticker on your car? This is disgraceful.

• Four in ten U.S. college graduates — including more than half of African-American and Hispanic borrowers — are burdened with an “unmanageable level of debt.” Debt Hits Hard is a campaign to end corporate welfare for lenders that wastes billions of taxpayer dollars; ease the debt burden on students and families by cutting student loan interest rates in half; and make financial aid more effective by raising the minimum Pell Grant to $5,100.

• Of all the shameful things that the Bush Administration has foisted upon this country, the Military Commissions Act of 2006 that limited habeas corpus was perhaps the worst of all. However, this past week Senators Patrick Leahy and Arlen Specter introduced the "Habeas Corpus Restoration Act of 2006," which would reinstate federal court jurisdiction over Guantanamo detainees and other suspected enemy combatants. Yet another reason to be glad that Democrats are in charge.

• Republicans are always so peeved about how they don't get any credit for a great economy, evidenced by the surging stock market. Well, maybe the fact that the supply of affordable housing has continued to dwindle this year has something to do with it. See, affordable housing is something that affects every American much more directly than the fortunes of Wall Street. Hard to fathom for people whose only consituency is the rich.