A Daily Reminder
Mrs. F and I just watched the Daily Show from Wednesday (thanks to the help of our friend, TiVo), where they had a report on the meeting between British Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush. I was salivating, hoping that they'd go for the jugular on the Downing Street Minutes/Memo, but with Colin Powell as their guest, they decided to play bunt with that issue. Still, it was a hilarious report (you can check it out on the Daily Show video clip page--just select "London Calling"), especially the bit about the difference in opinion of the two leaders about global warming/climate change:

Blair: On climate change, I think everyone knows that there are different perspectives on this issue. Stewart: Blair added, "For one, I believe it exists." Now as far as the President is concerned, you may remember, the issue of global warming came up as far back as the debates in the 2000 Presidential race. Bush (clip from 2000 debate): I think it's an issue we need to take very seriously, but I don't know the solution to global warming yet. And I don't think we've got all the facts before we make decisions [sic]. Stewart: Year 2000, we needed to know more about it. Now in the intervening five years, the President has learned enough about stem cell research, cloning, war, and supply-side tax reform to make those decisions. So in those five years, what's his position now on global warming? Bush (clip from yesterday's news conference): We want to know more about it. It's easier to solve a problem when you know more about it.

Good lord. Look, I try not to run my pottymouth off around this place (for the kids, you know), but what a f***ing idiot. (Ahhhh, that felt better, even with the asterisks.) This whole notion of greenhouse gases upping the temperature of the globe and changing weather patterns and whatnot seems only debated within this administration. And there are other politicians in this country who are solving problems while still learning more about this issue:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order today committing California to major reductions in global warming emissions, demonstrating yet again California's leadership role in a vacuum left by federal inaction to avert dangerous levels of climate change. The Governor's Executive Order establishes the following targets for reduction of global warming pollution: By 2010, California emissions will be reduced to 2000 levels, or by 11 percent By 2020, California emissions will be reduced to 1990 levels, or by 25 percent By 2050, California emissions will be reduced to 80 percent below current levels [...] As one of the largest economies in the world and the most populous state in the nation, California is the 10th largest carbon emitter in the world. If met on schedule, the Governor's targets will lead to greater emission reductions over the next five years than will be achieved in the larger economies of either Britain or France. Recent scientific studies identify California's particular vulnerability to the impacts of global warming, including increases in extreme heat and heat-related mortality, severe water shortages, challenges to agricultural production, and coastline threats due to sea-level rise.

And then there is US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (led by Seattle's own Gregg "Hoss" Nickels), which brings together 164 municipalities (as of this blog post) who will agree to adopt the Kyoto Protocol:

Under the Agreement, participating cities commit to take following three actions: Strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities, through actions ranging from anti-sprawl land-use policies to urban forest restoration projects to public information campaigns; Urge their state governments, and the federal government, to enact policies and programs to meet or beat the greenhouse gas emission reduction target suggested for the United States in the Kyoto Protocol -- 7% reduction from 1990 levels by 2012; and Urge the U.S. Congress to pass the bipartisan Climate Stewardship Act, which would establish a national emission trading system

After watching this DS segment with our heads shaking from shame and laughing in an attempt to stem the pain, Mrs. F had a great idea--why not send President Bush a postcard a day with a fact about climate change/global warming, and ask if he now knows enough to start solving the problem. I'm going to kickstart this program with a bit of news from the London Guardian:

Lakes in two large swaths of Siberia are shrinking in size and 125 of them have disappeared altogether, a US study revealed yesterday. Scientists have examined satellite photographs of 190,000 square miles of Siberia, two areas stretching south between the Ural mountains and the Arctic mining town of Norilsk. They claim the disappearance of the lakes is a consequence of global warming. [...] While there were 10,882 lakes larger than 40 hectares (100 acres) in 1971, there were only 9,712, in 1997 - a decline of 11%. Published in the journal Science, the study concluded: "The ultimate effect of continued climate warming on high-latitude, permafrost-controlled lakes and wetlands may well be their widespread disappearance." It said: "Our study reveals a widespread decline in lake abundance and area, despite slight precipitation [rain and snowfall] increases". The study also said the total surface areas of lakes in the region had dropped by 6%, while 125 lakes of this size had disappeared completely. The study said the way the lake disappearances were spaced out "strongly suggests that thawing of permafrost is driving the observed losses". It said that in northern areas where there was continuous permafrost - a thick layer of frozen soil that rarely melts during seasonal changes - the total surface area of the lakes grew by 12%. But in the southern regions, the patchy permafrost cover meant that water could drain away, leading to a considerable reduction in lake area.