Red, Green, and Blue Named 'Red Hot Blog of the Day'

I am pleased and humbled to announce that the good folks over at RedOrbit have named Green Options' environmental politics blog, Red, Green, and Blue as the ‘Red Hot Blog of the Day‘ for May 23, 2008. As many of you already know, I've been the lead writer at Red, Green, and Blue since its inception in the Spring of 2008. I am proud of the place we have carved out within the niche thus far, and I look forward to the places it will go in the future.

RedOrbit provides mountains of wide-ranging content contained covering the vast ideological spectrums of space, science, health, and technology. Launched in in 2003, RedOrbit averages over 5 million unique visitors per month, “with subject matter a bit more intellectually oriented than most” (I love that last part).

Dems Name State Blogger Corps for Convention (and no, you're not on the list)

Several months ago, Democratic officials began the process of credentialing bloggers who cover state and local politics, as part of the DemConvention State Blogger Corps. More than 400 blogs applied for the program, and selections were largely based upon the degree to which bloggers have become experts on the political happenings in their states.

You’ll see a list below of the 55 blogs that will comprise the State Blogger Corps. They’ll be seated with their respective delegations at the Convention. Bloggers will have some of the best seats in the house and they’ll be the eyes and ears of local audiences online around the country (congratulations if you're blog IS on the list below - mine aren't. Maybe I'll be able to sneak in, security shouldn't be too tight!)

The DemConvention State Blogger Corps is listed below.

STATE - BLOG NAME - BLOG URL

ALASKA - Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis - http://divasblueoasis.blogspot.com
ALABAMA- Doc's Political Parlor - http://politicalparlor.net
ARKANSAS- Under The Dome.com - http://underthedome.com
ARIZONA - Ted Prezelski - Rum, Romanism and Rebellion - http://www.rumromanismrebellion.net
CALIFORNIA - Calitics- http://Calitics.com
COLORADO -SquareState.net - http://squarestate.net
CONNECTICUT -My Left Nutmeg - http://myleftnutmeg.com
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA- DCist.com - http://dcist.com
DELAWARE – TommyWonk - http://tommywonk.blogspot.com/
DEMOCRATS Abroad - Democrats Abroad Argentina - http://www.yanquimike.com.ar
FLORIDA - Florida Progressive Coalition - http://flaprogressives.org
GEORGIA- Tondee's Tavern - http://www.tondeestavern.com
GUAM - No Rest for the Awake - Minagahet Chamorro - http://minagahet.blogspot.com
HAWAII - iLind.net: Ian Lind Online - http://www.ilind.net
IOWA - The Iowa Independent - http://iowaindependent.com
IDAHO - 43rdStateBlues.com - http://www.43rdstateblues.com
ILLINOIS- Prairie State Blue - http://www.PrairieStateBlue.com
INDIANA- Blue Indiana - http://www.blueindiana.net
KANSAS - EverydayCitizen.com - http://everydaycitizen.com
KENTUCKY – BlueGrassRoots - http://www.bluegrassroots.org
LOUISIANA - Daily Kingfish - http://www.dailykingfish.com
MASSACHUSETTS - Blue Mass. Group - http://www.bluemassgroup.com
MARYLAND - The Center for Emerging Media - http://www.centerforemergingmedia.com
MAINE - Turn Maine Blue - http://www.turnmaineblue.com
MICHIGAN - Blogging For Michigan - http://bloggingformichigan.com
MINNESOTA - Minnesota Monitor - http://minnesotamonitor.com
MISSISSIPPI - The Natchez Blog - http://natchezms.blogspot.com
MISSOURI - Fired Up! LLC - http://www.firedupmissouri.com
MONTANA - Left in the West - http://www.leftinthewest.com
NORTH CAROLINA - BlueNC.com - http://bluenc.com
NORTH DAKOTA - NorthDecoder.com - http://www.northdecoder.com
NEBRASKA - New Nebraska Network - http://www.NewNebraska.net
NEW HAMPSHIRE - Blue Hampshire - http://www.bluehampshire.com
NEW JERSEY - PolitickerNJ.com - http://www.politickernj.com
NEW MEXICO - Democracy for New Mexico - http://www.DemocracyForNewMexico.com
NEVADA - Las Vegas Gleaner - http://www.lasvegasgleaner.com
NEW YORK - Room 8 - http://www.r8ny.com
OHIO - Ohio Daily Blog - http://www.ohiodailyblog.com
OKLAHOMA - DemoOkie - http://www.DemoOkie.com
OREGON - BlueOregon (blog) - http://www.blueoregon.com
PENNSYLVANIA - Keystone Politics - http://www.keystonepolitics.com
PUERTO RICO - Jusiper - http://jusiper.blogspot.com
RHODE ISLAND - Rhode Island's Future - http://www.rifuture.org
SOUTH CAROLINA - CracktheBell.com - http://www.crackthebell.com
SOUTH DAKOTA - Badlands Blue - http://www.badlandsblue.com
TENNESSEE - KnoxViews/TennViews - http://www.knoxviews.com
TEXAS - Burnt Orange Report - http://www.BurntOrangeReport.com
UTAH - The Utah Amicus - http://utahamicus.com
VIRGINIA - Raising Kaine - http://www.raisingkaine.com
VIRGIN ISLANDS - Democratic Party of the US Virgin Islands - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/democratvi
VERMONT - Green Mountain Daily - http://greenmountaindaily.com
WASHINGTON - HorsesAss.org - http://www.horsesass.org
WISCONSIN - Uppity Wisconsin - http://www.uppitywis.org
WEST VIRGINIA - West Virginia Blue - http://www.wvablue.com
WYOMING - Hummingbirdminds blog - http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com

Source: DemConvention.com
Photo: dbking via flickr under a creative commons license

The World According to the Blogosphere

This very interesting cartographic tool from L'Observatoire des Medias below creates flash cartograms that distorts the size of a particular size of a country based upon how much attention it received from various media outlets.

Fascinating stuff.

The State of Blog Relations is Not Strong

Question: Do public relations professionals effectively communicate with bloggers?
Answer: That depends upon who you ask.

The public relations trade association Council of Public Relations Firms and APCO Worldwide have just published the results of a survey they conducted last year with PR pros and bloggers. "The State of Blog Relations" reports that bloggers perceive their medium to have unique properties that most PR professionals just don't get.
The survey indicates that there is a considerable gap between how PR folks perceive their communication with bloggers and how bloggers perceive it. In short, "PR professionals who understand the blogger 'culture' are having more success in communicating in this online channel than those who do not." With that said, some public relations professionals do get bloggers. And I appreciate those that make the effort to communicate more effectively with this unprecedented medium. I also appreciate that, instead of releasing the findings in a standard format, David Wescott of APCO and his colleagues published them on a new interactive wiki, that allows anyone to help choose the questions that will be asked the next time the trade group conducts the survey.

Three Cheers for the Red, Green, and Blue

I am proud to announce my position as the lead writer in an exciting new endeavor on the Green Options Media network. Red, Green, and Blue will focus on "environmental politics from across the spectrum."

I cannot think of a better time to be launching a niche blog that is focused on environmental politics. Record numbers of people (especially young people) have already turned out to vote in their state’s primaries and caucuses. Nearly everywhere we go and virtually everything we consume is being infused with green hues (or attempting to be infused with green hues). With that said, politics are as natural as the trees, oceans, and mountains.

This blog is not intended to be only about American environmental politics. In computer parlance, “Red, Green, and Blue” refers to three color model that is used to create a broad spectrum of colors from just those three primary colors. And that is what we are aiming for as a blog. By welcoming and encouraging thoughtful and informed discussions about American and global environmental politics from across the political spectrum, we hope to fill a gap in the blogosphere which is critically underdeveloped.

Read more...

BlogNod: Climate Science & Policy Resource Guide

The science has spoken. The debate is over. Climate change is real and human actions are contributing to the acceleration of the buildup of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide. Well, that is at least what the American public is being spoonfed by the media, presidential candidates, pundits, and each other. Despite the doom-and-gloom forecasts and the daily stories about threatened polar bears habitats, bleached coral reefs, melting ice caps, rising sea levels and the ultimate demise of our planet, I think this new awareness is largely a good thing. But before we start high-fiving each other and dumping tubs of Gatorade on the scientists contributing to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, we have a little unfinished business to take care of.

Although it would be nice to, we don't need to convince everybody on the planet that climate change is real and that humans are causing it. But we do need to make sure that the deniers and delayers don't gain any more traction in the public discourse about climate change than they already have - and below are a few bloggers who are doing just that.

• A Siegel at the Energy Smart blog wrote a piece today about General Motors' Vice Chairman Bob Lutz who said "global warming is a crock of $#!T," adding that, "I’m a skeptic, not a denier. Having said that, my opinion doesn’t matter." Well, actually Bob, your opinion does matter, it matters to your stockholders, your machinists, your sales people, your parts suppliers, and to the discourse in general.
  
• If you want some sound data and real science to back up your climate change arguments, I suggest heading over to the Climate and Energy Project blog (CEP), where Maril Hazlett has assembled a noteworthy collection of links and snippets from some of the most authoritative scientific organizations on the planet and their official positions on climate change.
  
• Relatedly, Maril Hazlett has also been doing a remarkable job at the CEP blog of tracking the debate in the Kansas legislature about the landmark Holcomb case. Kansas' legislators are attempting to overturn the Kansas Department of Health's denial of a permit for a coal-fired power plant expansion.
  
• Finally, Craig Rubens at earth2tech has put together a worthy summary of the seven different carbon bills currently being considered in Congress (I know that this is less science than it is policy, but what else would you expect from a wonk like me?!).

Illustration: Biology Science Fair Projects

The Birth of CleanTechnica

As some of you may already know, I have begun to publish some of my work on the Green Options network. While this has been mostly at Jeff McIntire-Strasburg's long-running, sustainablog, I have also done a few posts at Planetsave. While I will continue contribute to these and other GO projects, one of the blogs that I was brought on board for has finally launched, and I am very excited to be a regular contributor at CleanTechnica.com, where I will publish every Friday (and as timely news rolls in). The folks at GO have assembled a collection of authoritative voices on clean energy technologies, the cleantech industry, renewable energy policy, and more. There should be lots of good stuff going on at CleanTechnica, and I am happy to be a part of it.

Here at ecopolitology, business will carry on as usual. I'll still provide the same brand of comparative ecopolitical analyses and continue with my less formal takes on the (re)emergence of the global green energy movement (and probably more regularly, too).