9/19/2014::In other news

Preserving the ancient ruins of Utah’s Nine Mile Canyon

,,,Spangler continues to identify and preserve the canyon’s cultural history, which, he says, is at risk from industrial development and vandalism.

Utah’s energy boom is driving Spangler’s current preservation efforts. In 2000, massive natural gas reserves were discovered on the plateau above Nine Mile Canyon. Developing those gas reserves means driving thousands of semi-trucks through the canyon’s dirt roads.

“What we have is a perfect storm of one of America’s richest archaeological districts sitting right next to one of America’s greatest natural gas reserves,” said Jerry Spangler, “and a conflict happens when you have industrial development in a cultural landscape.”

Gore: Fracking Won't Solve Our Climate Crisis

"In his first term I expressed some considerable concern about what I thought he was failing to do," Gore said, adding that after the demise of cap-and-trade legislation in the Senate, "there was not the kind of energy and activity that I felt was appropriate." But Gore credited Obama for shifting course dramatically in his second term, and for going around the "logjam" in Congress by instructing the EPA to issue "historic regulations" on carbon emissions from power plants.

Gore did criticize some of Obama's policies, including the president's "all-of-the-above" energy strategy, which Gore described as the "prevailing code for 'let's keep burning fossil fuels.'"

"But it's not fair to just take those things out of context without looking at the totality of his policies," he added. "And the totality of what he's doing now in his second term is really historic."

Gore expressed skepticism about the fracking boom. He said he opposed the use of natural gas as a bridge fuel—something the Obama administration has supported—"until and unless they demonstrate the ability to stop the methane leaks at every stage of the process, particularly during fracking." (Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that some scientists argue can negate the climate benefits of burning natural gas instead of coal.) And he added that the increasing cost-effectiveness of solar and wind power was already posing a "threat to the viability of natural gas as a source of energy in the marketplace."

Want to be more like ISIS? Ban Evolution in Your Classrooms

Sometimes, rarely, but sometimes I think those of us who occupy the space to the left of center in American politics can be a little quick to put religious conservatives into the same box that the Taliban occupy. Hell, “The Newsroom” is a show many of we liberals adore, and Will McAvoy — the central character — outright called the Tea Party “America’s Taliban” at the end of the first season. It’s a fairly apt comparison when you consider the fact that both groups lean almost entirely on a less-than-mainstream interpretation of religious teachings to inform their decisions, and that both groups would clearly have zero problems with their religious texts being if not the sole law of the land, the sole basis for the laws of the land. I just think it’s smart to watch how closely you tie your friend Bob McChristian to the Taliban because there are still many cultural differences between the two groups, and just as we hate when conservatives paint us all with the “Anti-American” or “Anti-business” brush, we should be just as careful not to play the over-generalization game.

Then again, when you read stories like the one Rachel Maddow’s blog posted about ISIS banning evolution being taught in the schools that reside in regions they take over, you can’t help the comparisons. And you know, I don’t really feel bad for the right-wing religious zealots when they get compared to ISIS or the Taliban, because they’re the foamy-mouthed equivalents of each other,,,