I'm not quite so egotistical as to think that a post announcing that I've returned to the Campus Progress community to start blogging again is worthy of its very own space here. That being said--I'm back.

On to more important things.....

Very little confuses me more about the Republican Party than their refusal to engage with perhaps the most important issue of the day: making sure our earth remains inhabitable.

A strange coalition of Christians with what can only be described as weird theology joins forces with the traditional short-term thinking business interests to oppose progress to ensure future access to a healthy environment. And Democrats refuse to make this into the issue that it should be. The Republicans have had no problem scaring Americans into a war in Iraq, scaring Americans into tax cuts for the wealthy, scaring Americans into re-electing a President to save them from terrorists.

More after the jump....

So with the evidence as overwhelming as it is, and with the problem so clear and easy to understand, why aren't more Democrats talking like Al Gore?

In 15 years, Gore said, there will be no more glaciers on Mount Kilimanjaro. As for Glacier National Park in Montana, he said, "Within 20 years, this is the park that will be formerly known as Glacier." And the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland "is almost completely gone," he said.

He denounced critics who say global warming is not a serious threat.

"There are a lot of people, some in less responsible oil and utility companies, who say, 'Hey, what's the big deal,' " Gore said. "If we allow this to happen, it is deeply, ethically immoral in every way."

He showed photos of rapidly melting glaciers in Antarctica and said that if half of Greenland and half of west Antarctica melted away, it would have a devastating effect through rising sea levels. Parts of Florida would be covered in water, he said. New Orleans would be virtually nonexistent, and the future World Trade Center memorial in New York would be underwater, he said.

"Is it only terrorists that we're worried about? Is that the only threat that is worth our attention?" Gore asked. "We are witnessing a collision between our civilization and the Earth."

It could use some framing work, but this should be consistent and at the top of the list of our priorities. Jim Wallis talks about how changing politicians' minds is not the way to effect change--they are merely walking around with their fingers in the wind. The only way to truly effect change is change the direction of the wind.

The Democratic Party should take the lead on changing the direction of the wind on environmental policy. And we should use the Tsunami disaster and the hurricanes of last year as ways to indicate the sheer power of what can happen if we ignore the environment. (note: I do understand that the Tsunami disaster was not directly caused by any environmental problems we have caused, but I do believe it paints a vivid portrait of the environment CAN do to have a significant impact on human beings)

The environmental degradation that we're looking at is worse than a hundred 9/11s, and if it doesn't become a priority now, it will one day be too late. But in the meantime, it's also wonderful politics for us. The vast majority of the public is in favor of greater environmental protection, not less. And they also understand that the Democratic Party is the party that will protect the environment. The issue is a winner if it BECOMES an issue. And the way it becomes an issue is if we start talking about it.

So the deafening silence from the media and from Democrats about the latest Pew report linked above is unacceptable. It's time to change the wind.