Michael Idov and Matt Taibbi on Obama’s Foregone Historic Win, and the Morass It Will Land In’Rolling Stone’ columnist Matt Taibbi and ‘New York’ writer Michael Idov discuss why John McCain is “one of the worst” presidential candidates ever, Russian glee over American’s problems, and what happens after a possible President Obama is hammered for what he doesn’t manage to achieve.
instant politics
Matthew Yglesias and Garrett M. Graff on the Election’s Generational DivideThink Progress blogger Matthew Yglesias and Garrett M. Graff, author of ‘The First Campaign’ and editor at large for the ‘Washingtonian,’ discuss the generational split among voters, how our economy might be transformed for the better, and why, in the election, technology and innovation is the elephant in the room.
Obama and McCain Keep Trying on EnergyOverall, the candidates’ energy proposals are falling flat — either too flip-floppy, too craven, or just plain unhelpful.
in other news
Except for at Bloomberg, It’s Not Easy Being GreenAnother day, another company going green: Today it’s Bloomberg LP (which, frankly, was a bit of a surprise; we’d assumed Mike’s moneymaker has long been running on, oh, let’s say discarded trans fats). It was only a matter of time, then, before we’d see some sort of backlash from the “traditional” utility forces. In California, L.A.’s Department of Water & Power (yes, the corporate villain of Chinatown) has pulled the plug on Gore Vidal’s home solar-power plant, literally ripping out the wires and taking down the panels. Supposedly the system was improperly installed; now Vidal is back on the grid like a good little customer.
in other news
The Parks Department Will Save Us All From Any Inconvenient TruthsIt sounds pretty sci-fi, but as City Limits reports, our own New York City Department of Parks and Recreation is in final talks to put a one-of-a-kind power facility on Randall’s Island: The plant’s turbines will harvest wind, solar, and tidal energy at once (that’s right: earth, wind, and fire). Not only will the newfangled contraption power pretty much the entire island — including the lighting for its ball fields — but it could be doing so as early as 2008. So let us quickly just say, Wow. Who knew the Parks Department was even in the alternative-energy business? Apparently, very few: The project has been so hush-hush that even the City Council member representing Randall’s Island says she hadn’t heard about it until now. The secrecy is almost enough to make us paranoid about other city agencies. If Parks sneaks underwater turbines into the city, who knows what Health and Mental Hygiene is up to?
Underwater Power Generator Could Be Wave of City’s Future [City Limits]
