That Lincoln Chafee’s presidential campaign gets noticed is largely attributable to the small field of five announced Democratic contenders. Just by the fact of inclusive blogger to-do lists, Chafee gets an article mention here and there… not unlike this one.
Maybe it would be best if Chafee became president and imposed his will on a disgruntled nation. “Dammit,” he might say, “we’re switching to the metric system, and that’s that.”
Not really. As Arlo Guthrie said, “we have to solve our problems the way we made them, inch by inch, and mile by mile.”
If Chafee has been to Iowa this year, it was a forgettable moment. When he speaks at the Iowa Democratic Party Hall of Fame Dinner in Cedar Rapids on July 17, Democratic eyes will be watching just by the fact of his being there. For my part, I hope the event is broadcast on YouTube or CSPAN, as I am already scheduled to volunteer at my local community town festival that night. Politics takes a holiday for that.
Chafee’s views are Democratic ones, according to his website. He hammers Hillary Clinton for her vote for the Iraq War, and as the only Republican senator to vote against authorization, Chafee has standing to do so. But what else Lincoln Chafee? What differentiates your campaign?
(Editor’s Note: This is a revised and updated post about solar power).
Climate Reality Leadership Corps founder and former vice president Al Gore gave his slide show, an updated version of the one used in the film An Inconvenient Truth, in Cedar Rapids on May 5.
It’s the third time I’ve seen him do so in person. There were differences in emphasis, but the big message of day one came from the panel on renewables and policy.
“Go solar,” said Warren McKenna, president of Farmers Electric Cooperative, Kalona.
In significant ways, these two words sum up what’s needed to meet world energy needs, replace fossil fuels, and move civilization toward sustainability.
In an hour, sunlight shining on Earth provides enough energy to meet our collective needs for a year. Whether we realize it or not, fossil fuels represent ancient sunlight stored for millennia in the ground. Which is more accessible?
According to multiple speakers at the conference, most of proven reserves of fossil fuels cannot be burned if we seek to retain Earth’s livability.
What makes solar an attractive solution to the climate crisis is the cost of installation is plummeting. At the point solar electricity generation reaches grid parity it will be an easy financial argument to make that fossil fuels should stay in the ground in favor of the less expensive alternative.
It’s not just me saying this.
The Way Humans Get Electricity is About To Change Forever is an article that appeared on Bloomberg Business last week. Author Tom Randall outlines shifts in electricity generation that will transform markets in the next 25 years. Randall predicts investments in solar will surge into the trillions of dollars, including distributed generation in the form of rooftop solar panels.
Companies such as Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE) already like solar, wind and other renewable energy generating capacity.
BHE accounts for six percent of U.S. wind electricity generating capacity and seven percent of solar according to Warren Buffet’s 2014 letter to shareholders.
“When BHE completes certain renewables projects that are underway, the company’s renewables portfolio will have cost $15 billion,” Buffet wrote. “In addition, we have conventional projects in the works that will also cost many billions. We relish making such commitments as long as they promise reasonable returns–and, on that front, we put a large amount of trust in future regulation.”
Solar is not without it’s problems. Natural resources must be exploited to make photo-voltaic panels, and the issue of conflict minerals continuously gets pushed aside. There are manufacturing, labor and transportation issues with solar. Problems notwithstanding, the argument for solar boils down to do we want a future, or not?
What we know is dumping 110 million tons of CO2 pollution into the atmosphere every day is not sustainable, and already we are seeing the impact of global warming and related climate change damage the lives of tens of millions of people.
There are no simple answers to solving the climate crisis. As industry demonstrates the viability of renewable energy, the only thing holding us back is a lack of political will to take unavoidable steps to mitigate the causes of global warming.
The economic argument provided by declining solar electricity generating costs will be a potent weapon in the political fight.
In high summer, garden harvest is it. We eat a lot of fresh foods not available the rest of the year, and purchase less from outside suppliers.
Just having garden produce in the house means we eat more of it. Our plates are filled out with green beans, sauteed kale, and other dishes—our cooking is not fancy, but the results are often delicious.
Some mornings, all there is to do is harvest the day’s meals.
This week has been a challenge of work. When I began at the warehouse 18 months ago, accepting the work was partly predicated on shifts beginning at 10:30 a.m. to enable my writing.
Since our supervisor left employment about a month ago, two of us have been filling in while the corporation seeks a replacement. I don’t like the newer, 8:30 a.m. start because it pushes out creative time. It may be a temporary problem, so I’m cranking it out, writing as much as I can in the wee hours of morning before heading to the garden for the harvest.
And that’s where I’m heading as soon as I make this post.
Jim Webb announced his campaign for president via email to supporters July 2, cross posted it on his web site and social media, then spent the Independence Day holiday weekend with family in his home state of Virginia.
When the Des Moines Register posted an article titled, “Presidential hopefuls discuss patriotism on July 4th,” the Webb campaign submitted the Marine Corps seal as his response. There was a caption referring to Webb’s combat service in Vietnam, but the seal was the submission according to the Register.
If Webb has a natural constituency, I am part of it. We share common roots in western Virginia, we both felt a duty to serve our country in the military, we both had ancestors who served on both sides of the Civil War, and we both believe the Scots-Irish heritage is an important American legacy that continues to be influential. Because his campaign is so different, I’m not sure what to make of it.
I expect to find out.
What we know is the East Coast liberal establishment has not taken to Webb as a Democratic candidate for president.
Barbara Morrill of Daily Kos had eight words for Webb, “Good luck Jim, You’re going to need it,” and posted a link to polling that showed Webb at the back of the heap at 1.2 percent, ahead of only Lincoln Chafee who was at zero.
David Corn of Mother Jones took umbrage with Webb from the git go.
Confederate flag loving Democrats who don’t want to do anything about climate change just got a candidate: Jim Webb announces he’s in.
Perhaps the most favorable East Coast establishment liberal article came from Alex Seitz-Wald of MSNBC, who wrote,
The former senator, author, decorated Marine combat veteran and Navy secretary is a true maverick. He’s a rebel who refuses to play by Washington’s rules, and he has excited some liberals with his anti-conformist ethos.
Webb’s refusal to play by the rules, and his willingness to break with convention, is considered refreshing in an age of deep dissatisfaction with politics. But it also means he often ends up alone, as when he defended the Confederate flag after the shooting massacre last month at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
By throwing out the political playbook and letting seven months pass by without building a real campaign infrastructure, Webb went from being the first potential candidate to declare an exploratory committee to being the 15th candidate to officially enter the race.
And his ideological heterodoxy and refusal to comport to anybody’s doctrine makes it unclear where he stands in a Democratic field that has so far broken down cleanly along ideological lines.
In a canvass of likely caucus-goers in the Peoples Republic of Johnson County over the last few days, I found a lot of people have established camp with a candidate. By that reckoning, Webb’s delay, from last November when he formed his exploratory committee to his announcement, cost him support in this and probably other liberal centers of the state.
Webb 2016 has a steep climb to get a share of Johnson County delegates, but it may not matter much. Johnson County is an island in a sea of disgruntled Iowa voters and that’s where Webb’s opportunity to pick up delegates may be.
Among Iowa Democrats, delegates matter most in the caucuses, and the smart money is on activating people so as to maximize delegate count. Webb could target historically neglected and disaffected Democrats, including those in conservative areas, as a tactic to garner delegates. There may be a winning path, but at this point, who knows what Webb has in mind for strategy and tactics given his close to the breast style?
I spoke to both Joe Stanley, Webb’s Iowa campaign coordinator, and Craig Crawford, his communications director in Clinton June 26. Both Stanley and Crawford are long-time friends of Webb. Crawford summed up the situation, “We will need people, lots of people.”
Webb surrounded himself with people he can trust for the campaign, but in Clinton, the focus was on whether, when and where to announce. In the audience were cousins from Cedar Rapids, and three former Marines, including at least one who was in his Vietnam combat unit.
Fox news is the only media outlet quoting an unnamed source saying Webb planned to announce his bid for the presidency at the Clinton County Democrats Hall of Fame Dinner. For those who understand Iowa Democratic politics, that makes no sense. Even if it were true, county party chair Jean Pardee’s reading a letter from Bernie Sanders to those gathered, and Senator Amy Klobuchar devoting half her 23 minute speech to advocating for Hillary Clinton were both very predictable at a high visibility county party event.
Where does that leave Webb 2016? His campaign tag line is “Leadership You Can Trust.” One has to believe he’s serious about running, given his personal character. From here the path leads to gaining enough trust among Democratic caucus-goers and primary voters to win some early states. If the liberal establishment has been dismissive of Webb’s campaign, he may be relying on family, friends, veterans and an extensive personal network to secure the nomination. It should be engaging to see how he expands his network and gains trust, and if that’s possible.
Webb’s campaign strikes me as pure Appalachia. To understand him we may need to get back to his roots, and keep on the sunny side.
Before we knew it the year turned. Society’s distractions obscured it from time to time, yet the facts of days getting shorter, the planting season turning to harvest and second crops, and the humidity of summer are elemental, inescapable.
The construct of a year is artificial only from society’s view. Nature’s evolution in trips around the sun, with its changing angularity of light, formed deep expectations from which cultural patterns sprung. Patterns and culture are coming unhinged from human exploitation of the natural world. There have been unintended consequences for the biosphere just in living our lives.
Yet we go on living.
Today is the American holiday celebrating our independence from England. When I look at my life, the least benefited are descendents of the first people—who saw discovery, that loathsome word, genocide, and the great migrations from Europe, Africa and eventually from every habitable place on the planet.
At my workplace I hear the melodious, and sometimes harsh resonances of a dozen languages every day. We were never a melting pot, another loathsome phrase, but a garden of peoples who migrated and have taken to the land in its post settlement construct.
The name of our township is Big Grove, and what trees may have been here to warrant such appellation were mostly gone before the Civil War. It’s settled now, and to grow crops the soil must be augmented with chemical fertilizers. The rich topsoil, and that natural balance are mostly gone.
There is debate about whether to preserve, or recreate the oak-hickory forests that once dominated the landscape. What may have been here for thousands of years, has been relegated to parks and preserves, and not many of those. There’s no going back.
To say we understand nature is a lie, one I refuse to tell. Yet as the procession of days continues, I can’t help but notice things.
Like the wild blackberries I used to pick this holiday. The season is now finished, my favorite blackberry patches removed for development.
Like the cool damp days that have been good for garden lettuce, which by now had in previous years bolted.
Like the view of countless boats on the Coralville Lake as I crossed over the bridge under construction to North Liberty, despite warnings of underwater debris from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “Be careful out there” said one official, knowing little could prevent the overcrowded scene from developing on the high holiday of independence.
Like the nascent hope that despite these patterns, change is possible. Not hope against an inevitable reality, but something tangible, a path to preservation of culture that is eroding like the topsoil that was once so abundant.
One goes on living as best we can, making as light a footprint as possible in the dust of summer days. Our best hope is of crossing over into something more than a new bridge over old habits—to a better way of life clothed in fabric made of our past, over bodies naked and new like this place once was.
This is where I find myself this Independence Day.
The energy and excitement of Hillary Clinton’s Iowa organizers is very high. On a scale of 1-10, it’s a 16.
In May I met with Clinton campaign organizer Janice Rottenberg at the North Dodge Hy-Vee in Iowa City. She was busy on a conference call when I arrived ten minutes early.
Her handshake was firm, her voice confident, her manner enthusiastic. Rottenberg is an experienced political activist who demonstrated ownership in the Clinton campaign. From past campaigns I recognize one or two others like her in Clinton 2016. Between those I know personally and those I know through social media, they are sunlight diamonds who put on their wings to engage in politics. They seem to like the work very much.
If people like Rottenberg are the face of the Clinton campaign, Hillary will be hard to beat in the Iowa caucuses. They represent the polar opposite of what Iowa Democrats had become, bringing a positive, youthful energy to what otherwise have been desultory meetings among aging party operatives. They bring the party with them, and in doing so have the potential to elevate the Iowa Democratic Party.
If one doesn’t know where Hillary Clinton stands on an issue, the problem is likely with that person. For goodness sake, she has been around so long, and everywhere in the media. She has been part of the public conversation on a wide range of issues since the 1996 publication of her book, It Takes a Village.
That may be the flaw in the Clinton campaign: people feel they know her too well. In Iowa we like to survey the whole field before caucusing for someone, and while we know Hillary, we are also curious about the others.
It was with some regret I told Janice that Hillary was my second choice. I’m confident she entered that in a database soon afterward, probably before she left Hy-Vee.
As I returned to my car to drive the nine miles home, I thought about how my views on political campaigns had changed, and about the Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion).
Hey hey, hey, come right away,
Come and join the party every day;
Hey hey, hey, come right away,
Come and join the party every day.
One has to credit former governor Martin O’Malley—he listened.
After a lackluster and downright dull answer to a question about reducing greenhouse gas emissions at a house party in Mount Vernon last month, he now has a clearly defined plan to act on climate.
An audience member in Mount Vernon asked O’Malley what he would do as president about CO2 and methane emissions. The answer should have been easy.
President Obama presented the U.S. plan for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris this December. The plan relies on the Clean Power Plan advanced by the Environmental Protection Agency for most of the proposed reductions. All O’Malley had to say was, “I support the Clean Power Plan” to satisfy climate voters. He didn’t.
Instead of a simple answer, he changed the question to one about “climate change.” He enumerated 15 things he did as governor to address climate change. It was an admirable punch list, but reducing CO2 and methane emissions is not the same thing.
He missed the point of the question and gave an answer that muddied the water on his climate change position.
Since then, he went into his fortress of solitude equivalent and came up with a plan to combat climate change focused on transitioning the U.S. electricity generating capacity to renewable sources by 2050. He is visiting Iowa this weekend to roll out his plan.
If you don’t think bird dogging candidates in the early caucus and primary states makes a difference, O’Malley’s adjustment reminds us of why being first in the nation matters.
Or does it?
O’Malley polled at three percent among likely Iowa Democratic caucus goers in today’s Quinnipiac University poll—less than the margin of error. While he may be doing the right things in Iowa—securing commitment cards, listening and adjusting positions, shaking hands, and answering questions—it doesn’t matter unless he can generate more buzz around his campaign.
He’s fighting a battle to gain recognition and create excitement that may not be winnable given his personality. He’s an excellent story teller, and I heard he sings and plays the guitar. It seems clear people don’t like the O’Malley narrative enough to commit to his campaign, even if they have heard it.
It’s still early, and people could line up behind his policy positions, which are mainstream Democratic. But a big shell from the Clinton-Sanders artillery could easily take him out, leaving him behind to lament:
Most millennials I know don’t subscribe to cable television or read many books. That’s not to say they are uninformed, just that with the explosion of the Internet after the mid-1990s, there is so much to occupy one’s attention and keep current, and not all of it is reading.
That progressives read, and who we read, makes a difference. Here is my list of people to consider. Maybe readers will find something new to add to yours. If I’m missing someone important, please comment below.
Reading local newspapers is a must. I subscribe to the Iowa City Press Citizen (digital version), and the Solon Economist on newsprint. Whatever arguments one may have with the editorial viewpoint of a specific newspaper, understanding what is going on in the community has few better sources. Always of interest are the opinions, obituaries, front page and community calendar sections.
If readers haven’t dozed off, there are some more progressive-sounding things to consider reading.
Des Moines is a cornucopia of political writing. While steering clear of capitol city politics most of the time, it would be a disservice to omit them completely from a progressive reading list.
The Des Moines writer to whom a subscription is essential with reading high on the list is Ed Fallon. Not because we agree with every word that comes out of his mouth, we don’t, but because of the range of his topics. Find him and links to his other publications here.
There are more in Des Moines, I suppose. John Deeth continues to highly recommend following Craig Robinson’s blog to stay apprised of the competition, but progressive competition is more with Netflix, craft beers, vintage clothing, restaurant food and other distractions from politics, so I take a pass.
Finally, there is Twitter, the source of all things banal and some profound, trending toward the former. Today’s Blog for Iowa faves include:
Editor’s Note: Trish Nelson is taking time off and will return to regular posting on Blog for Iowa after Labor Day. Here is my first offering in an effort to fill her shoes as we enter high summer in the land of corn, conversation and caucuses).
For those who remember the political environment before Blog for Iowa’s humble beginnings in 2004, politics has changed. Enter Bernie Sanders for president.
David Corn of Mother Jones recently wrote about Sanders’ long-time relationship with Tad Devine of Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, and his strategy to win the Democratic nomination for president. The article is worth a read.
“Sanders has survived and thrived in politics by neutralizing negative ads and resisting the urge to attack,” Corn reported. Resisting negative attack ads has been a hallmark of Sanders’ previous campaigns.
Progressives have the 2016 presidential election to lose if the primary turns into a frenzy of negative publicity. Corn asserts Sanders has a proven way of approaching the electorate in a positive manner. Sanders’ methods seem similar to what Iowa Republicans did to elect Senator Joni Ernst: bypass the television and go directly to voters with a strong narrative.
Some of us recall political consultants James Carville and his rapid response operation, and Joe Trippi and his book The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: Democracy, The Internet, and the Overthrow of Everything. They seemed revolutionary at the time, even if their stars have faded. Rapid response and use of the Internet in campaigns have been assimilated as boilerplate campaign tools, and to a large extent have been eclipsed by the power of unlimited money in politics.
Sanders has disdain for unlimited money in politics and rejects super PACs, successfully focusing fundraising efforts on smaller, individual campaign contributions. Progressives like Sanders because of it.
All five Democratic presidential hopefuls agree there is a problem with Citizens United and the influx of unlimited money from a small number of donors. They differ in approach to solving the problem, and the bottom line is, as Elisabeth MacNamara, president of The League of Women Voters of the United States said recently in Des Moines, there is no political will to amend the constitution regarding Citizens United.
Sanders’ opposition to super PACs has done little to stop them from forming to support his candidacy. In a Burlington Free Press article, author Nicole Gaudiano quoted Sanders:
“I have not sanctioned any super PAC,” Sanders said in an interview. “A major problem of our campaign finance system is that anybody can start a super PAC on behalf of anybody and can say anything. And this is what makes our current campaign finance situation totally absurd.”
His comments notwithstanding, PACs like Progressive Democrats for America and Bet on Bernie 2016 hope to raise millions to support Sanders’ campaign. The former designed a two-fold, web-based donation platform where a donor can contribute directly to Sanders’ campaign and to the PAC with a few easy clicks.
Will the nuanced approach Sanders used previously regarding going negative in campaigns be possible during the Democratic primary/caucus season? How will he parse the tendentious issue of money in politics when his campaign must raise about $50 million for the primary campaign?
Sanders’ supporters I know have not thought much about this. There is social buzz about Sanders where his every word is like a drop of wine. Will Sanders still be standing after his supporters drink a case?
The kale is mulched and ready for a long season of production. I harvested a bushel today and most of it went to friends at the library. We already have more than enough in the ice box, and with so many plants this year, we can be picky about what we eat.
Underneath the grass clippings is a layer of newspaper. Once it is dampened down and moistened, weeds will have trouble poking through. It should be worth the extra effort because the way the plants are growing, with the pick leaves from the bottom strategy, we should be in kale through November.
Broccoli Seedlings
Since rabbits got to my broccoli, I planted more seeds for a second crop. I put the starter tray outside and the seeds are germinating more normally than they did in the bedroom window. There is something to the idea that light is the key to growing broccoli and I’ll re-think how I do it next year.
Yesterday I got out the ladder, climbed on the roof and cleaned out the gutters. While up there I noticed how many pears were forming at the top of the tree. It is going to be a puzzle to harvest those when ready. They were growing higher than my head while standing on the roof.
There’s more to life than gardening, but the green beans for dinner last night, and the promise of carrots, kale and fresh tomatoes keeps me working at it steadily.
It’s all part of sustaining a life in a turbulent world.
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