A resilient guy

Never finished college. Politically incorrect at times. Doesn't mind whether or not people like him, or care what his approval level is.

I wish there were a few more folks like him in government.

(There'll have to be. We're going to need more and more of them, as this climate thing wears on. And, as I've said many times on this blog, you just can't spin this stuff.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/04/us/the-man-behind-femas-post-katrina-makeover.html?hpw

The cruel face of climate denial

There's a ferocious hurricane of angry words on the Internet and in the newspapers, as the various climate commentators and denialists vie with each other to place the outrage of Sandy in some vantage suited to their cause.

I'm not going to get into this, save to say that while no single weather event can be solely attributed to climate change, the models and records both show a significant increase in the energy content of the ocean and the atmosphere, all this new energy has to go somewhere, and the best current prediction is that somewhere is, in part, more intense tropical cyclones in the twenty-first century.

Denying these science facts is not only irrational at this point, it's increasing cruel, and those who do so should be deeply ashamed of themselves.

This may be too complicated a message for most ordinary people, who need help right now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/03/nyregion/in-public-housing-after-hurricane-sandy-fear-misery-and-heroism.html?hp&_r=0

Sustainability skills

The Guardian ran this article as a guide to other lists and resources on the emerging skill set required in green business. The piece is meant for UK graduates, not American ones, but some of the material translates.

You'll have to click through the various links to get to some of the skill sets.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/progress-your-career-sustainable-business

Obama's 2009 decision of silence on climate?

An interesting read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/01/obama-strategy-silence-climate-change

Leverage and center of gravity video for Physics class

Hannah and onshore wind and superstorms -- inconvenient facts

Actress Daryl Hannah, now become a climate activist, gives an impassioned attack on Big Oil and Coal in this editorial here, while the Guardian publishes an analysis of the cost of onshore wind in the UK.

Meanwhile Unity College faculty have reading to do (here and here) related to the impact of climate change on hurricanes and other storms. These readings are just a small part of a large portfolio given us by our college president Dr. Mulkey, who wants us all, regardless of discipline, to be "up" on such things.

(A viewpoint I agree with, and have done so for years, but one that wouldn't necessarily be popular at other colleges and universities, and indeed was not particular popular here at Unity years ago when it was first brought up. How the world turns!)

Now it's your turn:

How do you think we should power America, if we really wished to stabilize the climate at some humanly tolerable level?

And how long do you think it will take for the penny to drop, among America's public and still-burgeoning climate denier community (which seems to be able to maintain one of our two great political parties in their thrall)?

Finally, do you think college professors and their students have responsibilities in this long emergency we're currently calling climate change?

(Hint: if you choose to answer this particular essay question on your take-home exam, you'd do better to read some of these readings and think about it all first.)

Polling and surveys -- more on poll methods

We've been talking about public opinion polling and surveys in Ec & Quant.

This Guardian article by Harry J. Enten is interesting particularly for what it says about cell phone users versus land lines.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/31/other-2012-election-contest-pollster-polling