Progressive News Feeds

The New York Times announced late Friday that it will discontinue its Green blog, less than two months after dismantling its environment desk. The paper insists that despite these changes it will “forge ahead with our aggressive reporting on environmental and energy topics,” but coverage of crucial environmental stories is likely to suffer. When The Times closed its environment desk in January, many expressed concerns that the quality and quantity of the paper’s environmental coverage would be compromised

Tags: climate-change, economy, education, environmental issue, foreign-policy, government, security, technology

An analysis by the Checks & Balances Project finds that 60 major newspapers frequently quote fossil fuel-funded think tanks on energy and environmental issues without disclosing their industry ties. Further research by Media Matters finds that the Wall Street Journal ‘s lack of disclosure has been especially glaring.

Tags: christian, climate-change, environment, environmental issue, feeds, industry, media matters

by Amanda Peterson, via Climate Access School is back in session for high schools all across the country and the one thing on every student’s mind is, of course, climate change. OK, maybe in most schools who’s dating whom, getting into college and the elections are getting a bit more play.  But as we, the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), start back up, we’re getting climate change to top of mind, too. Since 2009, we’ve been working with high schoolers – with an assembly, student action programs and leadership trainings – in climate science and solutions

Tags: action, california, climate-change, economy, election, environmental issue, global-warming, health, lgbt, progressive news

by Matt Kasper On Thursday, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) introduced a bill that would force fossil fuel producers to pay for their carbon dioxide emissions

Tags: conservatives, deficit, economy, election, environmental issue, feeds, global-warming, lgbt, murder, progressive news, science, war

The head of North America’s leading association of environmental journalists and several environmental journalism professors with years of experience in the field are criticizing The Wall Street Journal editorial page’s decades-long history of undermining scientific facts and consensus to dismiss environmental threats. Using phrases like “disingenuous,” “misleading,” and “dangerous,” some of the nation’s top scientific news instructors and veteran reporters weighed in with harsh comments on the Journal’ s practices.

Tags: economy, elections, environmental issue, foreign policy, news, opinion, science, war

A major U.S. energy company, AgriSol Energy, is accused of engaging in land grabs in Tanzania that would displace more than 160,000 Burundian refugees who have lived there for decades, according to a report by the Oakland Institute, an organisation focused on environmental issues. An ethics complaint from the Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI)

Tags: environment, environmental issue, progressive news

David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin’s book  The New Leviathan  promises “thoroughly researched and amply documented” evidence proving how progressive foundations and organizations are destroying America’s future. In reality, Horowitz and Laksin only add more proof that conservative smear artists traffic in lazy falsehoods and easily disproved assertions. Here are ten of them. Leviathan  Falsely Claims Defunct Organization ACORN “Today Runs” Obama Training Programs Leviathan  Falsely Claims DNC Official Gaspard Worked For ACORN Leviathan  Botches Basic Research On Al Gore’s  Inconvenient Truth Leviathan  Attacks Environmental Education Non-Profit That Was Honored By Bush-Era EPA Leviathan’s  Dubious Claim About Annenberg Grant Leviathan  Pretends Obama Didn’t Focus On Economy In First Presidential Address To Congress Leviathan  Promotes False Andy Stern Story, Repeatedly Contradicts Itself Leviathan  Relies On Widely Discredited Spanish Study To Attack Environmental Groups Leviathan Uses False Comparison Of Federal Employees To Private Sector Employees Leviathan  Attacks Muslim Scholar For “Involvement With Terrorist Organizations”    Leviathan  Falsely Claims Defunct Organization ACORN “Today Runs” Obama Training Programs Horowitz And Laksin: “ACORN Today Runs A Training Program Called Camp Obama.” Memorializing its special relationship with Obama, ACORN today runs a training program called Camp Obama. In the camp, aspiring community organizers are trained in the tactics that Obama learned before them. Another program, Obama Organizing Fellows, is designed to train would-be activists in how to “organize in a community, working in conjunction with grassroots leaders and campaign staff.” In addition to getting an introduction to community organizing techniques, trainees learn how to incorporate them into successful political campaigns. [David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin,  The New Leviathan:   How the Left-Wing Money Machine Shapes American Politics and Threatens America's Future,  p. 39]  ACORN Does Not Exist “Today.”  As Horowitz and Laksin themselves note on the page immediately preceding their claim about Camp Obama, ACORN no longer exists. Its well-merited reputation for corruption had garnered ACORN so much bad publicity by the summer of 2010 that the organization was moved to change its tarnished name to Community Organizations International. [David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin,  The New Leviathan , p. 38]  Camp Obama Was Reportedly Run By The Obama Campaign, Not ACORN Or Community Organizations International.  Numerous news organizations covered “Camp Obama” and noted it was run by the Obama campaign during the 2008 elections. [Associated Press,  2/3/10 ]  USA Today  Article Acknowledged That Its “Analysis Did Not Consider Differences In Experience And Education.”  The  USA Today  analysis compared the average pay and compensation for all federal employees to that of all private employees. The analysis did not attempt to determine if a private sector worker earns more or less than a federal worker with a similar job.  USA Today  noted that its analysis of private and federal pay “did not consider differences in experience and education”: The average federal salary has grown 33% faster than inflation since 2000. USA TODAY reported in March that the federal government pays an average of 20% more than private firms for comparable occupations. The analysis did not consider differences in experience and education. [ USA Today ,  8/13/10 ] Bureau of Economic Analysis: ”Skill Levels And Educational Attainment Tend To Be Higher” For Federal Workers.   A PolitiFact Georgia article on federal pay reported that the BEA — the source for  USA Today’s  data — said that the numbers used by  USA Today  ”do not tell the complete story,” in part because in recent years, “the federal government is hiring more highly skilled workers who tend to make more money.” From PolitiFact Georgia: The BEA notes that its private-sector data includes employees of all professions. That means everything from minimum-wage jobs to the salaries of chief executive officers. Federal employees typically work in professional occupations that pay more, such as accountants, attorneys and economists, according to Congressional Budget Office research. The BEA also noted in recent years that the federal government is hiring more highly skilled workers who tend to make more money. Many of the lower-paid positions, the BEA found, have been contracted out to the private sector. [PolitiFact Georgia,  8/18/10 ]  Leviathan  Attacks Muslim Scholar For “Involvement With Terrorist Organizations”   Horowitz And Laksin: Muslim Scholar Tariq Ramadan “Banned At The Time From Entering The United States Because Of His Involvement With Terrorist Organizations.” Joan Kroc later established an Institute for International Peace Studies in her name at the University of Notre Dame, which sparked controversy by offering a faculty position to Tariq Ramadan, grandson of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was banned at the time from entering the United States because of his involvement with terrorist organizations. [David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin,  The New Leviathan , pp. 46-47]  Attack Relies On Tenuous Links . Ramadan — who was never charged with any crime — denied knowing that a charity to which he donated was alleged to have ties to Hamas, and media reports noted that he was “denied admittance” during the Bush administration “after making statements counter to U.S. foreign policy.” [ Media Matters ,  4/9/10 ] State Dept. Concluded That Ramadan Did Not “Represent A Threat” To U.S.  In a January 20, 2010, State Department briefing noting the decision to overturn the Bush administration’s ban on Ramadan and Adam Habib — a deputy vice chancellor at the University of Johannesburg — from entering the U.S., assistant secretary Philip Crowley stated, “[W]e do not think that either one of them represents a threat to the United States.” Crowley also stated: “[T]he next time Professor Ramadan or Professor Habib applies for a visa, he will not be found inadmissible on the basis of the facts that led to denial when he last applied.” [ Media Matters ,  4/9/10 ]

Tags: budget, chicago, congress, democratic party, director, environment, environmental issue, feeds, global-warming, political, president, war

Fox News is attempting to gin up outrage over how the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculated that there are over 3 million green jobs in the U.S. because it included bus drivers, janitors for solar facilities, and other workers. But the BLS was transparent in its definition, and its figures are consistent with previous studies on the clean economy. In a hearing, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) chastised BLS’ John Galvin for, among other things, counting mass transit jobs as green jobs. Fox has hyped the hearing even giving it ” News Alert ” treatment. Issa has been holding hearings about the fact that mass transit jobs are counted as green jobs for a while now . But it’s not clear what’s so outrageous: mass transit significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions and directly employs over 200,000 Americans. Fox also echoed Issa’s suggestion that it is faulty to count someone “sweeping the floor in a solar panel production facility” as a green job. However, as BLS’ Galvin pointed out, “if you asked me for the number of health care jobs in the United States, I’ll give you the employment from the health care industry.” So of course, anyone employed by a solar company has a green job, according to the BLS’ industry-based definition.

Tags: breakfast, breaking news, color, economy, environmental issue, feeds, lies, media, media matters

By Callen Harty, May 17, 2012 When I arrived at home today I was greeted by a letter in my mailbox from the Scott Walker campaign, looking for a donation. Here’s my response. read more

Tags: democratic party, digital, environmental issue, feeds, governor, planned parenthood, the progressive, wisconsin

From: Leslie Savan Leslie Savan Three questions to determine whether America is in a dysfunctional marriage with the GOP.

Tags: aide, author, environmental issue, function-load, george-bush, obama, ron christie, social issues, technology, united-states