Gore on the Government Shutdown and Climate Change: Congress is Pathetic

Former Vice-President Al Gore appeared on Pivot's late night talk show TakePart Live on October 22nd, to discuss the 24 Hours of Reality: The Cost of Carbon event and his on-going fight for worldwide climate issues and environmental awareness. The former Vice President also responded to questions about the government shutdown.

When asked about his thoughts on the recent government shutdown Mr. Gore replied:

"Congress is pathetic right now. There are some awful good people in Congress trapped in a bad system. The truth is our democracy has been hacked, big money now calls the shots. That my sound like a radical statement but less and less to people who have been paying attention to what's been going on there."

Government Shutdown: Environmental Impacts and Republican Extortion

Republicans held America hostage for 16 days and undermined efforts to protect America's air, water, food and natural resources.  They unsuccessfully sought to extort a ransom in the form a number of anti-environment riders.

This circus would be comical if the impacts were not so serious. Only at the eleventh hour was legislation passed that enabled the government to reopen and avert a debt default. However, these are temporary fixes and the same issues will have to be dealt with again early in 2014. 

The Koch Brothers and the Government Shutdown

After 16 days at a cost of 24 billion dollars Congress finally came to their senses. Now that Congress has passed legislation that reopens government until January 15, 2014 and extends the credit ceiling until February 7, 2014, many are asking questions about the forces behind this insane game of political chicken. Others are wondering if it will happen again in the new year. This article, written one week ago (October 9, 2013), explores the role played by the Koch brothers.
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Charles and David Koch are oil barons who have been accused of being behind efforts to shutdown government.  In a bid to keep America from transitioning away from fossil fuels the Koch brothers are leading a powerful cadre of conservatives in a coordinated strategy designed to subvert democracy. They have cultivated very close relationships with Republicans including GOP presidential candidates and they employ sophisticated methods of legislative control like ALEC. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to misinform the public and influence politicians. They have demonstrated considerable skill in the art of control and subterfuge.  One of their greatest accomplishments is their role in the creation of the “grassroots” movement known as the Tea Party.

Government Shutdown Adversely Impacts the Environment, Energy and Climate Research

In addition to being harmful to the economy, the government shutdown has a wide range of impacts on the environment, energy and climate research.

A number of departments are being prevented from doing their jobs including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the Department of the Interior and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Almost all of the EPA's 16,000 employees have been furloughed. The small number of staff who will stay on the job are funded outside the appropriations process. A few others will remain to ensure “the safety of human life and the protection of property,” as stipulated in the EPA contingency plan.

Government Shutdown Threatens America's Natural Resources

According to Michelle, a writer who works for the US Fish and Wildlife Services, the government shutdown is having deleterious impacts on America’s natural resources. The Department of Interior is no longer overseeing the complex web of ecosystems and habitats. America's National parks are not being cared for, habitats are being harmed and threatened species are at risk.

As Michelle explains, the biologists, civil engineers, educators, and regulators that are employed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service are being prevented from doing their work protecting a vast number of species and habitats. This group is already being forced to work overtime to manage staff reductions as a consequence of the sequester earlier this year. Now they are being furloughed while they wait for Republicans to come to their senses. Sadly, it might be a very long wait.

Republicans Shut Down Government Again Impacting the Economy and the Environment

As of midnight last night the fiscal year expired and the US government began shutting down. House Republicans are being intransigent and their attempt to tie the budget to Obamacare amounts to extortion. Led by the Tea Party extremists, the GOP has been steadfast in their refusal to pass the 2014 federal budget by the end of the fiscal year. Republicans are trying to derail the implementation of health care reform, even though US lawmakers voted for it in 2010 and the American people expressed their support when given the choice in 2012.

The Stark Partisan Divide on Global Warming

A huge gulf exists between Americans who accept the reality of climate science and those who do not. According to an October 15, 2012, Pew Research Center poll, Democratic voters are more than twice as likely to embrace the facts on global warming than their Republican counterparts.

A growing number Americans, including voters who identify as independents and those from both major parties, believe global warming is occurring. Predictably many Republicans continue to ignore the powerful body of evidence supporting the existence of global warming. This should come as no surprise as the GOP presidential nominee is now leading the climate denial train.

Environmental Implications of the Credit Ceiling Agreement

Republicans used the looming debt crisis to force their anti-environment agenda on America. The credit ceiling agreement passed by the House on August 1, makes the Tea Party the big winner and intransigence the winning tactic. Although widely referred to as a "compromise," the Democrats made most of the concessions including eradicating tax increases for the top 2 percent of Americans and big cuts to the EPA. There is also significantly reduced funding for important energy and water projects.