Middlebury College professor Bill McKibben has a nice piece in the recent issue of The New York Review of Books about a collection of books on climate change.  You can also send McKibben a question via e-mail, and he’ll respond to them in early October.   

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming  by Bjørn Lomborg

Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger

What We Know About Climate Change by Kerry Emanuel

Climate Change: What It Means for Us, Our Children, and Our Grandchildren edited by Joseph F.C. DiMento and Pamela Doughman

If you’re a fan of Philip Roth’s novels, you know that he’s released his 9th and final book featuring the character Nathan Zuckerman.   Zuckerman first appeared in “The Ghost Writer”.  The new novel is titled “Exit Ghost.”  Here, Roth talks with NPR’s Robert Siegel.  Listen to Roth read from the new novel here. 

The Little Rock Nine along with President Bill Clinton, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Governor Mike Beebe and Mayor Mark Stodola honored the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.  Juan Williams has this op-ed in The Washington Post.  Last night, the Little Rock Nine Foundation hosted a gala to raise money for their scholarship and mentorship program.   Beginning tonight, HBO airs a new documentary from Craig and Brent Renaud (”Off to War”) titled “Little Rock Central: 50 Years Later.”  You can also catch a screening of the film tomorrow night at the Clinton School of Public Service (you have to RSVP) followed by a panel discussion with the Renaud brothers, Minnijean Brown Trickey, LR city director Ken Richardson and student Brandon Love. 

Here’s a link to a segment that appeared on NPR’s Talk of the Nation featuring University of Michigan professor Matthew Lassiter (The Silent Majority: Suburban Politics in the Sunbelt South)  and University of Vermont professor Emily Bernard (Some of My Best Friends: Writers on Interracial Friendship).   Here’s the segment from All Things Considered.  Slate has this photo essay. 

If you’re a movie geek like me, you’ve been paying careful attention the onslaught of films dealing with issues related to the war in Iraq.  Soon to be released is Paul Haggis’s “Crash” follow-up titled “In the Valley of Elah” starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron.  David Denby reviews it in this week’s issue of The New Yorker.  Brian de Palma (”Carlito’s Way”) directs “Redacted” which performed well at the Venice Film Festival.  Robert Redford directs “Lions for Lambs” out later this year about a reporter (Meryl Streep), a politician (Tom Cruise) and a college professor (Redford) each with a connection to the war.  John Cusack stars in the Sundance Film Festival hit “Grace is Gone,” about a husband who loses his wife in the war.  “No End in Sight” is the latest documentary to evaluate the war. 

Nancy Franklin reviews “The War,” a new documentary from Ken Burns in this week’s issue of The New Yorker.  The fifteen hour series will begin airing on PBS on September 23rd.   

“Obama proposed eliminating tax returns for some 22 million senior citizens, promising that no retiree making less than $50,000 would pay income tax. He said he would expand tax relief on mortgage interest for homeowners, targeting about 10 million people who own their homes. And he proposed reducing income taxes for 150 million workers, eliminating all income taxes for about 10 million of those.

Invoking the current mortgage crisis, Obama said he would provide some relief in the form of a “universal homeowners’ tax credit” that gave people tax credits even if they do not itemize their tax returns.

Obama has said he would pay for his tax cuts by rolling back part of the Bush tax cut, though he has also said that step would help pay for his health care program,” reports the Washington Post.   

“Like the plans put forth by former Senator John Edwards and Senator Barack Obama, her chief rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton’s proposal would try to strengthen and build on the existing, employer-based system, through which most Americans under 65 already receive their coverage. She would create new options for buying private or public insurance at affordable rates, require everyone to obtain insurance, and provide subsidies and tax credits to small businesses and individuals who could not afford it.

The plan, with an estimated cost of $110 billion a year, would be financed largely by rolling back President Bush’s tax cuts for Americans making over $250,000 a year and by savings in the health care system,” reports The New York Times. 

Democrats
Hillary Clinton - 36%
Barack Obama - 18%
John Edwards - 12%
Bill Richardson  - 10%

Republicans
Mitt Romney - 30%
Rudy Giuliani - 23%
John McCain - 14%
Fred Thompson - 8%

Source:  Franklin Pierce College/WBZ 

“A new study released this week found that young people are more likely to vote by 4.2 percentage points if they receive a text message reminding them to show up to the polls.

The survey found that most of the recipients, and especially Hispanics, found the message helpful — unlike their reaction e-mail. But here’s the result that could be the most compelling to the campaigns: Each additional vote generated by the text message cost an average $1.56.

Compare that to some phone calls, which, for the same level of effectiveness, cost about $20 a vote. Door-to-door canvassing, which can increase young voter turnout by 7-to-9 percent, comes in at around $30 a vote,” reports The New York Times.

I missed it the other night, but The Washington Post has full coverage.   Here’s a video link. 

I haven’t commented about Al Gore’s impressive and thoughtful book “The Assault on Reason”.  I read the book several weeks ago, and found many of his ideas provoking, especially his predictions related to the web and how user generated content will change the the way we talk to each other.  I’ve argued this point for sometime, and people intimately connected to the web, whether it’s through blogs, podcasts, webcasts or whatever are certain to agree.

Michael Tomasky reviews the book in this week’s issue of The New York Review of Books.  

This weekend, Matt Smith’s Market Street Cinema in Little Rock begins showing “The 11th Hour” a documentary produced and featuring Leonardo DiCaprio about the state of the planet in the time of global warming.

Conservation guru and all around good guy Rob Fisher invited me to a screening on Tuesday night that I unfortunately had to miss.  Rob is the Executive Director and co-founder of an environmental action and habitat preservation non-profit in Little Rock, as well as an adjunct professor at the Clinton School of Public Service.  He reviews the film in this week’s issue of the Arkansas Times.

Rob notes,  “Before viewing the documentary, I worried that it would be too depressing for the average viewer and that it would cause a sense of helpless despair. I left the screening feeling more educated and motivated than anything. I returned to my office to convey the documentary to my friends and found myself almost lecturing on climate change. If this is the response from viewers, I believe “The 11th Hour” will be a huge success - an important contribution to a more encompassing education for the general public on climate change. ”

Rob was recently appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Global Warming - an importantventure for Arkansas to truly address the pressing issues related to climate change.

Take a look at this film.  It features commentary from Bill McKibben (a Middlebury College professor! and author of “Deep Economy”), Kenny Ausubel, Sylvia Earle, Paul Hawken, Andrew Weil, Wallace J. Nichols and others.

Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, long considered to be atop a short-list for VP for any of the likely Democratic Party presidential candidates, appears to be close to announcing his intent to run for the Senate seat being vacated by long-time Republican Senator John Warner. The Virginia Pilot reports, “ Former Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat, is widely expected to announce his candidacy for the U.S. Senate on Thursday, pledging to bring a spirit of bipartisanship to Washington.”

Warner, who served a term as Governor of Virginia, left office with approval ratings in the mid 70’s. Credited with passing a $1.4 billion dollar tax increase to fund education, public safety and health, Warner was seen by many as a likely VP choice because of his popularity in Virginia, a state unfriendly to Democratic presidential candidates.

But with a Republican seat now open, Warner is the obvious choice to fill it, leaving a gaping hole on the Democratic Party VP short list.

My way-too-early prediction remains Senator Evan Bayh from Indiana (if elected, he’d leave mid-term and a Republican would appoint his successor - a big argument against, of course), but here’s a list (in no particular order) of other folks that should be considered by any nominee:

Ted Strickland, Governor, Ohio
Tom Vilsack, fmr. Governor, Iowa
Mike Easley, Governor, North Carolina
Ed Rendell, Governor, Pennsylvania
Mike Beebe, Governor, Arkansas
General Wesley Clark (ret.)
Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator, Florida
Bill Ritter, Governor, Colorado
Harold Ford, Jr., fmr. U.S. Rep., Tennessee

On the other side, the Republican nominee is going to take a very hard look at former Florida Governor Jeb Bush for the #2 spot, although I think Rudy Giuliani has to be a strong contender if he isn’t at the top of the ticket.

Democrats

Iowa
Hillary Clinton - 28%
John Edwards - 23%
Barack Obama - 19%
Bill Richardson - 10%

New Hampshire
Hillary Clinton - 35%
John Edwards - 16%
Barack Obama - 16%
Bill Richardson  - 8%

South Carolina
Hillary Clinton - 45%
Barack Obama - 27%
John Edwards - 7%

Republicans

Iowa
Mitt Romney - 28%
Fred Thompson  - 16%
Rudy Giuliani  - 16%
Mike Huckabee - 8%

New Hampshire
Rudy Giuliani - 28%
Mitt Romney - 23%
John McCain - 12%
Fred Thompson - 11%

South Carolina
Fred Thompson - 26%
Rudy Giuliani - 23%
John McCain  - 15%
Mitt Romney - 9%

Source:  Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg