Want better laws? Use better tools
Software code has many similarities to legal code, as others have noted. In this diary, I argue that version control-- an essential and ubiquitous tool for writing software-- can easily be adopted to...
View ArticleWanted: Legislative Version Control
There is an easy way for Pelosi and friends to bring unprecedented transparancy and accountability to the legislative process. The trick is to adopt a common programming tool called "Version Control."...
View ArticleEnergize Suburbia: Tax Energy Not Property
Many suburban towns raise essentially all of their revenues from local property taxes. This is unfortunate-- if they taxed energy use instead, they could raise the same amount of revenue while...
View ArticleENERGIZE AMERICA: Planning the Smart/Net Metering Act
As A Siegel wrote in Re-Energizing ... ENERGIZE AMERICA, theEnergize America team (and all of Daily Kos) has been asked by a senior member of Congress to develop elements of a plan for introduction as...
View ArticleENERGIZE AMERICA: Net Metering and Risk Mitigation
There is a little story that goes something like this: Modern society is utterly dependent on the constant availability of electricity. Since you can't build a reliable system from unreliable parts,...
View ArticleENERGIZE AMERICA: Selling Power in Sodom
The Bible tells us that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their immorality. Christians often interpret this as sexual immorality (and homosexuality in particular). Jews interpret this...
View ArticleENERGIZE AMERICA: Join the Grid Act Draft
As A Siegel wrote in Re-Energizing ... ENERGIZE AMERICA, theEnergize America team (and all of Daily Kos) has been asked by a senior member of Congress to develop elements of a plan for introduction as...
View ArticleENERGIZE AMERICA: draft 2 of Net Metering Bill (w/ poll)
Its crunch time for Energize America. As requested, in just over 60 hours, we will deliver our proposed Acts to our sponsor in Congress. So we need help from dkos more than ever.Below the fold is a...
View ArticleCambridge, MA Launches $100mil (!!) Energy Intiative
When the national government fails to lead, cities and states can pick up the slack.Yesterday, Cambridge, MA announced the Cambridge Energy Alliance, a $100m energy efficiency program. Gov. Patrick...
View ArticleGlobal Warming: When Jan Karski met Felix Frankfurter
Jan Karski was a Catholic in the Polish underground who infiltrated a concentration camp in 1942 dressed in the stolen uniform of a Camp guard. He also infiltrated the Warsaw ghetto, and learned of...
View ArticleIPCC: Global Warming to Devastate My Hometown. Yours, too?
I live in a smallish town in the Northeastern US. For years, I have wondered how we would be affected by Global Warming. Obviously, it will get hotter. But will it get dryer? Wetter? More storms?...
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Global Warming: An (Auroral) Ray Of Hope?
This is a picture of the Northern Lights (the Aurora) high over Alaska. :See those vertical lines? They are the key to a clever idea that might solve the problem of Global Warming.
View ArticleNegawatts! How I slashed my electricity use
Negawatts (reducing energy use through conservation) is the cleanest and often the cheapest energy source, beating wind, solar and nuclear. Since early 2006, my family has reduced our electricity use...
View ArticleSilver Bullets are Rare. Golden Bullets are Everywhere.
If you want to shoot a werewolf, you'd better use a silver bullet. Regular bullets just won't do the trick. But that's about all silver bullets are good for.The term "silver bullet" has come to mean...
View ArticleRail Trails! Burn Less Gas, More Calories
This is a plea for help masquerading as an environmental diary. If DailyKos can help Mem from Somerville get on TV, I'm hoping it can help me out with a local political/environmental issue.Rail Trails...
View ArticleLike Nude Mice: Why We Are Losing Our Freedoms
Cancer is a terrible disease. And yet, most cancerous cells are destroyed by the immune system before they grow into a life-threatening tumor. But sometimes, for reasons we still don't understand,...
View ArticleConservatives vs NASA on Global Warming (Update II)
"The only thing Antwan ever touched of mine was my hand, when he shook it at my wedding... But when you little scamps get together, you're worse than a sewing circle." Mia Wallace in Pulp FictionThis...
View ArticleCities of Bikes
I'm going to tell you about a quick and easy-to-implement program that will reduce both oil use and city traffic, bring large benefits to public health, and get people where they need to go faster than...
View ArticleSocial Capital: Why YOU Should Stop Lurking
There are several hundred, maybe a few thousand, diarists and commenters here at DailyKos. Some are brilliant writers.This diary is not aimed at any of them. Rather, it is intended for the lurkers--...
View ArticleElection this Tuesday. Send Callers, Canvassers and Money.
The 50 state strategy includes blue states, too.Been helping out with Jamie Eldridge's congressional campaign recently. (MA-05 special election to replace retiring Marty Meehan.) The "Democratic...
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