Repeat After Me: "Energy Reform"

Yesterday, we celebrated health care reform, and we talked about the bigger picture, in which I said we must take up the next challenge.

Today, you can check out my column explaining what that next challenge should be. (Yes, I'm back at the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, but only once a month.)

The challenge is energy reform. We need to be clearer about the words we use for this debate. When we talk about cap-and-trade or climate change, it tends to scare people away. It sounds big and complicated, and it gives the false impression that global warming is the only motivation for such legislation. But as my column explains, climate change is only half the problem. We also need to raise the price of carbon because of the economic and national security drawbacks of our dependence on foreign oil. And just like health care, the energy market has negative externalities that the government can reduce. Hence, energy reform.

If you follow the links in our "What to Read" series, none of the column should surprise you. If, on the other hand, you get most of your news from the mainstream media, it probably comes as a bit of cognitive dissonance. (That's what I aim for. If I didn't teach you something new, there wouldn't be much point to writing my op-ed, would there?)  

Here are my main sources:

• Massive moisture-driven extreme precipitation during warmest winter in the satellite record -- and the deniers say it disproves (!) climate science
• Global boiling: Freak storms on every continent
• We get more snow storms in warm years!
• Groundhog decade: We're stuck on a bad movie, where it's always the hottest decade on record
• Global cooling bites the dust: Hottest January followed by second hottest February. Now March is busting out.
• Red River rising: 18th consecutive year of flooding--why?
• The challenges ahead for world oil
• The future of intense winter storms
• A very productive Congress, despite what the approval ratings say
• Working harder and hard to keep oil production from falling
• Oil companies look at permanent refinery cutbacks

Some links are buried within those links. If, for example, you want to see exactly what the NOAA or NSO said, you'll find links to their reports within the Climate Progress posts above. And if you have no idea what the NOAA or NSO are, read the column!