Thursday, May 28, 2015

It's Now or Never on Climate


Two major weather events took place on opposite sides of the world this past week.

In Texas, torrential downpours dropped more than 11 inches of rain in just 6 hours, causing apocalyptic-type flooding not seen in more than 500 years.

The images from Houston and other surrounding areas are terrifying. Once sleepy streams have turned into raging rivers, washing away roads, bridges and anything else in their path. Cars and trucks float where streets once stood. Now they are stranded like relics of a bygone era, replaced by kayaks and canoes.

Thousands of homes have been damaged or destroyed. More than 20 people have been killed, with many more missing or unaccounted for. Volunteer emergency crews have been working around the clock to save people trapped in their homes.

In Wimberly, the Blanco River produced a 44-foot high surge, shattering the previous record of 32 feet, which was set in 1926. One official said the river rose 12-14 feet in just 30 minutes and grew 223 cubic feet per second, the fastest rate ever recorded.

Meanwhile, in India another extreme weather event is wreaking even more havoc. But it isn't a flood. It's a heat wave.

So far, more than 1,400 people have been killed in less than one week, mostly due to dehydration and heat stroke. The majority of the deaths came from "people who don't have access to air conditioning," namely construction workers, the poor/homeless and the elderly.

In Delhi it reached 113 degrees. In other areas, temperatures hit 122 degrees, just 1 degree shy of the all-time record. It's gotten so bad that people are being ordered to stay in their homes and not go outside. It's so hot that roads are literally melting.

While the historic flooding in Texas and the deadly heat wave in India are completely different forms of extreme weather, they are both products of the same root cause: climate change.


REDEFINING CLIMATE CHANGE

For years, climate change was framed through the lens of polar bears and rising sea levels. But now, thanks to an explosion of mega-storms, floods, droughts and blizzards, we are realizing that melting ice caps are only one part of the overall climate crisis.

The other part is extreme weather.

Hurricane Sandy was the wake up call, a seminal moment when humanity's eyes were opened to the undeniable fact that we had entered a new climate reality, one where old, predictable weather patterns were replaced by bigger, stronger, more violent weather events than ever before.

Since Sandy, it's only gotten worse. We've had record snowfall in the Northeast and an unprecedented drought in California. Now we have a 500-year flood in Texas and a sweltering heat wave in India.

The rise in extreme weather coincides with the fact that the planet continues to warm and carbon emissions continue to rise. (It may have gone largely under the radar, but the Earth reached a "global milestone" in March when CO2 emissions reached 400 ppm for the first time in recorded history).

As a result, any conversation about combating extreme weather must start with combating climate change. The two are intertwined.


SEARCHING FOR SOLUTIONS

Solars panels, wind turbines and electric cars are a step in the right direction but they're not enough. If we want to prevent environmental doomsday, we must keep the remaining carbon in the ground and completely reinvent the way we live our lives.

This means no more drilling. No more pipelines. No more flying on planes (air travel leaves a huge carbon footprint). No more steaks and cheeseburgers (the meat industry is one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gasses).

If the recent events in Texas and India teach us anything, it's that climate change can no longer be denied or ignored. It can't be wished away. It's happening right now, before our eyes.

We can either sit back and do nothing, accepting the fact that rising seas and extreme weather are the new normal, or we can make serious, bold changes to limit our emissions, cool the planet and prevent climate judgment day.

Years ago, conventional wisdom was that climate change and global warming are a slow moving disaster that won't affect us during our lifetimes, but could affect our grandchildren or great-grandchildren. But that's not the case anymore. It's here now. It's affecting us as we speak.

It's now or never on climate.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Osama Bin Laden, Seymour Hersh And The Truth About The Abbottabad Raid


I'll never forget the day Osama Bin Laden was killed.

It was May 1, 2011. Coincidentally, it was also my 24th birthday.

I remember sitting on the train, heading back to my Allston apartment after a long night of working in a restaurant by Fenway Park. I was listening to my iPod, as I always did, when rumors began to swirl online that President Obama was set to make a major announcement to the nation.

I got off at my customary stop- Harvard Ave- and raced back to my apartment, not sure what to expect.

Another war? A terrorist attack? A plane crash? An airborne toxic event? Aliens?

My friends, roommates and I gathered around the television, a big Sony flat screen that was usually reserved for sports and movies. Then, right on cue, Barack Obama made the long walk toward the camera and said "The United States has conducted an operation that has killed Osama Bin Laden."


For a few seconds, the room was silent. Everyone was shocked, their jaws hanging from their faces, their eyes staring blankly at the television screen as if to say, is this really happening?

A moment or so later, we all erupted in applause. But it wasn't just us. The entire city exploded at the exact same time, as if the Red Sox had just won the World Series. Soon, the streets of Boston were flooded with people holding American flags and climbing light posts. Everyone was hugging each other. People were singing "God Bless America" at the top of their lungs.

We got him! It's finally over! 

I had never experienced such a powerful, collective sense of patriotism in my life. It wasn't like singing the national anthem in unison at a crowded sporting event. Or watching fireworks amidst a sea of red, white and blue American flags on the 4th of July.

It was different in a way I can't fully describe. I'd like to think it felt something like V-Day in Times Square, 1945, when the US had just defeated Japan in WWII.

I felt more American in that moment than I ever had in my entire life.


WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

Some four years later, the legend of the Abbottabad raid and the killing of Osama Bin Laden has become almost a mythical tale.

Popularized by the movie Zero Dark Thirty, the story goes something like this...

After years and years of tireless intelligence gathering (combined with information secured by torture), the CIA was able to track down Bin Laden's courier, who led them to his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

However, despite the information from the courier, it still wasn't 100% certain that it really was Bin Laden. And if it was him, doubts existed that he would actually be there. Nevertheless, President Obama made the gutsy call to go through with the mission.

After flying in on a set of helicopters, SEAL Team 6 evaded detection from the Pakistani military, broke into Bin Laden's Abbottabad complex, and, after an exchange of gunfire, shot and killed the most wanted man on the planet. Bin Laden's body was then flown to the USS Carl Vinson and buried at sea.

But according to a recent bombshell report by Seymour Hersh, much of the story is a lie.

According to Hersh, Bin Laden wasn't hiding out in the Abbottabad complex, he was being held prisoner there by the ISI, the Pakistani version of the CIA, and had been for years, possibly since 2006. Bin Laden was under house arrest, unable to leave the premises. He was being monitored and surveilled 24/7.

And it wasn't a courier who led the US to Bin Laden, instead it was a former senior Pakistani intelligence officer. According to Hersh, he walked into the US Embassy in Islamabad in 2010 and told the US where Bin Laden was.

"He betrayed the secret in return for much of the $25 million reward offered by the US... The informant and his family were smuggled out of Pakistan and relocated in the Washington area. He is now a consultant to the CIA."

So the "gutsy" decision by Obama wasn't really gutsy at all. Bin Laden was a sitting duck. He was handed to the US on a silver platter. It wasn't a result of years of intensive work, it was a stroke of luck. If not for the informant, who knows if Bin Laden isn't still alive today, safely hidden in that same Abbottabad complex.

Also, according to Hersh, there was no firefight. Bin Laden didn't have a suicide vest. He didn't even have an AK-47, as previously reported. He was an "old, sick man, who was going to be murdered."


THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

Since Hersh's report surfaced, a major debate has erupted over what really happened in the Abbottabad raid.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the story was "riddled with inaccuracies and outright falsehoods." Others have attacked Hersh's character, calling his journalistic integrity into question.

However, despite the blowback, Hersh is sticking to his story.

In the end, we are left with the ultimate postmodern conundrum. There is no black and white, only gray. We must come to our own conclusions about the Abbottabad raid.

If you ask me, I tend to believe Hersh over the Obama Administration.

Hersh has won a Pulitzer. He has been a well-known, well-respected investigative reporter for 50 years. He exposed the My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War. He sounded the alarm on abuse at Abu Ghraib in 2004.

Why would he publish a false or fake story, knowing that if it was proven wrong his entire career would be diminished? No sane person would take such a gigantic risk unless they were supremely confident in the story they were reporting.

As for the government, they have a vested interest in making sure the narrative doesn't change.

The killing of Bin Laden is one of the signature achievements of Obama's presidency. To admit that the CIA had little to do with finding Bin Laden diminishes the story. So does the fact that there was no firefight and Bin Laden was a sitting duck, gifted to the US by a stroke of luck thanks to a Pakistani informant. Also, it doesn't help Obama's legacy if it turns out his decision to carry out the mission was a relatively safe, no-brainer, not a gutsy call worthy of being mythologized.

In the end, the killing of Bin Laden will live on forever. It was a seminal moment in American history. But was the story that the government fed to us real? Or was it a dramatic embellishment used to elevate President Obama's status and help him get re-elected?

At this point, my money is on the latter.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Ready For Bernie


Conventional wisdom says Hillary Clinton is a shoe-in for 2016.

She has a resume that is unrivaled, with decades of experience as a lawyer, first-lady, senator and secretary of state. Of course she has her haters, but Hillary is a true political rock star, arguably the most famous woman on planet Earth.

In the polls, she is light years ahead of just about every Democrat in the field. A recent Real Clear Politics poll had Hillary at 62.2%- more than 49 points ahead of her closest challenger, Elizabeth Warren (12.7%).

Anytime word surfaces that a Democrat might challenge Hillary, they are more or less laughed at. You can't beat Hillary. Stop wasting your time. Why are you even trying?

I admire Hillary. She is smart, qualified and a great leader. If she wins the Democratic nomination for president I will gladly vote for her over whomever her Republican opponent might be.

But the presidency is not a birthright. It must be fought for. It must be won by someone who proves to the country that they are the best person for the job. It is not a crown reserved for the next in line just because it's their turn.

The challenges we face today are daunting. Income inequality is out of control. The middle class is being wiped off the map. Climate change is threatening our very existence.

We must elect a leader in 2016 fit for the times, a FDR for the 21st century who will stand up to the millionaires and billionaires who've hijacked our democracy, protect the most vulnerable and save us from environmental doomsday.

That leader isn't Hillary Clinton.

It's Bernie Sanders.


SEARCHING FOR AUTHENTICITY

Watching Hillary on the trail, I must admit that I have been impressed. She has taken on a more populist tone and focused much of her attention on helping the middle class, ending mass incarceration and fighting for marriage equality.

All of these positions are commendable. But one must wonder, is this truly what Hillary believes? Is it really her? Or is she capitalizing on a growing populist movement, doing her best Elizabeth Warren impression?

This is the problem with Hillary. Despite all of her great qualities, she never seems authentic. She comes off as scripted, eternally swayed by the political winds, tweaking her tone and words based upon the crowd she's speaking to and what's popular at the time.

In many ways, Bernie is the anti-Hillary.

Unlike Hillary, you always know where Bernie stands. He is not secretive or wishy-washy. He is consistent in his views and beliefs. He does not flip flop, even when it's politically advantageous.

As Matt Taibbi wrote recently in Rolling Stone, "[Bernie] is the rarest of Washington animals, a completely honest person. If he's motivated by anything other than a desire to use his influence to protect people who can't protect themselves, I've never seen it."

It's great that Hillary has adopted a populist message recently, but Bernie has been preaching it for decades. He's was decrying income inequality before it was trendy. He was lobbying for a single-payer health care system back when it was taboo. He's been railing against big banks and the consolidation of wealth in the hands of a select few since the 1980s when he was mayor of Burlington.


In a similar vein, I'm glad Hillary is fighting hard for marriage equality, but it's important to remember that she used to be against it and only "evolved" her views recently. Not Bernie. He voted against DOMA and has always been a staunch supporter of LGBT rights and marriage equality.

Recently, Bernie told the New York Times, "I'm not evolving when it comes to gay rights. I was there!" 

And, oh yeah, Hillary voted for the disastrous Iraq War. Bernie voted against it. 


TAKING ON THE BIG ISSUES

Two weeks ago, at a campaign round table in Iowa, Hillary unveiled the four goals of her campaign.

1. build the economy of tomorrow
2. strengthen families and communities
3. fix political dysfunction by getting money out of politics
4. protect the US from threats like terrorism

All four goals are commendable. Unfortunately, she didn't leave any room for fighting climate change.

In fact, Hillary rarely, if ever, discusses climate change or global warming. She won't even take a position on Keystone XL. It's an issue of monumental importance yet she gives it almost no attention.

Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is a long-time champion of the environment and a staunch opponent of Keystone XL. He is one the few politicians who has consistently shined a light on climate change and the threat is poses not only for America but for mankind.

In addition, he's crusaded against the Koch Brothers for profiting off the destruction of our planet. He's also gone after climate deniers like Senator Jim Inhofe, calling his know nothing stance on climate change "dead wrong." 

Standing on the precipice of climate doomsday, do we really want to elect a leader who rarely ever broaches the subject of climate change? Are we really going to put our faith in someone who largely ignores the greatest threat to humanity? And offers no solutions to fix it?

Absolutely not.

Instead, we must elect a leader who understands the severity of the climate crisis we face, a leader who will take serious, bold action to prevent environmental doomsday. As Bill McKibben wrote recently, that leader is Bernie Sanders.

But it's not just Bernie's environmental stance that puts him ahead of Hillary. It's his economic agenda as well.

At a time of unprecedented income inequality, do we really expect Hillary Clinton- a longtime Wall Street supporter and sympathizer- to take on the big banks and push for real, meaningful reform?

After all, as Ezra Klein recently pointed out, Hillary's biggest donors are all banks, while Bernie's biggest donors are all unions. Is Hillary going to break up the big banks after accepting millions of dollars from them? No way.


BERNIE 2016

The middle class is dying. The planet is in peril. We need a leader fit for the times. A leader with a backbone of steel who is consistent, authentic and always says what they believe, even when it's not popular or politically advantageous.

In any other election, Hillary Clinton would be a fine candidate.

But today's challenges are too big, too daunting and too severe to simply hand the presidential crown to the next in line.

We can't afford to elect a pro-Wall Street moderate who is swayed by the political winds and turns the other way in the face of climate doomsday.

We need a bold, progressive thinker with a proven track record; a leader with real integrity who never wavers in their defense of the most vulnerable and has the courage to take on the Koch Brothers, break up the big banks and fight climate change head-on.

We need Bernie Sanders.