Los Angeles Times: Clean Hair or Clean Air

- May 23, 2008 10:49 AM

UPDATE: Featured on NPR's Bryant Park Project. Check out www.theproblemwithpalmoil.org for more information.

By Glenn Hurowitz

While showering a few weeks ago, I realized I had run out of conditioner. So I reached up and grabbed my wife's bottle -- Clairol Herbal Essences Rainforest Flowers, "with essences of nourishing palm."

The label caught me slightly by surprise. As an environmental journalist, I've been writing about the ecologically destructive effect of palm oil for some time now.

Whether it's used as an additive in soap, cosmetics or food, or processed into a biofuel, palm oil is one of the worst culprits in the climate crisis. Most of it comes from the disappearing, ultra-carbon-rich rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, of which a whopping 25,000 square miles have been cleared and burned to make way for palm oil plantations.

That burning releases enough carbon dioxide into the air to rank Indonesia as the No. 3 such polluter in the world. It also destroys the last remaining habitat for orangutans, Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other endangered wildlife. So what was this deadly oil doing in our otherwise ecologically friendly apartment?

I started to inspect other items on our shelves. Despite our efforts to keep our family green, we'd admitted into our home several products containing palm oil: Burt's Bees soap, chocolate truffles from Trader Joe's, Kashi breakfast bars, Whole Foods water crackers and many others.

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Victory! Scott Kleeb Win Makes Democratic Courage Three for Three

- May 14, 2008 10:04 AM

U.S. Senate candidate Scott Kleeb, the first of Democratic Courage's Daring Dozen candidates, won his primary last night with 69 percent of the vote. Democratic Courage president Glenn Hurowitz wrote the following message to Democratic Courage members:

Dear Supporter,

I have some great news to report: Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Scott Kleeb, the first of Democratic Courage's Daring Dozen candidates, won his primary last night with 69 percent of the vote! Thanks to everyone who contributed to help make this victory possible.

This is a great win for progressives. Scott is a champion in fighting the climate crisis, expanding health care, and bringing the war in Iraq to a responsible end. His victory in a conservative state (while being outspent) shows that his brand of courage can work anywhere (it also makes Democratic Courage three for three in congressional primaries!).

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Hillary's Popular Vote Problem

- May 7, 2008 11:53 AM

Wharton professor Gregory P. Nini and author Glenn Hurowitz (Fear and Courage in the Democratic Party) have updated their widely covered studies of the popular vote and the popular will in the 2008 Democratic primary nominating contest and the Michigan and Florida vote.

Among the conclusions of the update:

* Because of dramatically lower turnout in caucus states, caucus state residents are underrepresented in national popular vote tallies by a factor of 6.

* Even if primaries had been held everywhere, caucus states would still favor Obama, albeit by a smaller margin, based on demographic characteristics. Giving all states equal representation in the popular vote by holding primaries everywhere (and accounting for demographic differences between caucus and primary voters) would boost Obama's current popular vote margin by approximately 600,000 votes.

* If Michigan and Florida's current vote totals are included, Clinton would need to win only about 53 percent of upcoming primary votes to claim a popular vote lead. However, if vastly lower turnout in caucus states is factored in, Obama's lead returns to 689,000, an almost insurmountable advantage.

* 1/3 of Floridians and 60 % of Michiganders stayed home during their primaries because they didn't think their votes would count. Based on demographic projections from the results in other states, regular primaries there would have produced a Clinton win in Florida and an Obama win in Michigan.

The study is available for download at http://www.dcourage.com/Popular%20Vote%20Study.pdf.

Glenn Hurowitz is available at 202-552-1828. Professor Nini is available at 215-898-7770 or 202-285-0652.

The Daring Dozen

- May 5, 2008 9:43 PM

Democratic Courage today announced the first two members of its "Daring Dozen" congressional candidates - chosen for their progressive values and their backbone. Democratic Courage will be asking its members to contribute to their campaigns and take part in grassroots efforts on their behalf.

Scott Kleeb, Nebraska Senate, primary.

Scott Kleeb is taking on Tony Raimondo in the May 13 primary.

"Although he's running in one of the most Republican states in the country, Scott Kleeb has the courage to say what he believes and say it proudly," said Democratic Courage president Glenn Hurowitz. "He's fighting for progressive solutions to the climate crisis, for America's economic anxiety, and the lack of affordable health care, and Nebraskans are responding."

Raimondo was a lifelong Republican until five months ago.

Bob Lord, Arizona-03

Bob Lord is running to represent Arizona's Third District against Republican John Shadegg.

"It takes someone with real backbone to take on John Shadegg and the Republican machine, but Bob Lord's got it," Hurowitz said. "Bob is standing up against Shadegg's legacy of corruption, oil industry influence peddling, and bankrupt ideas, and that message is resonating in this conservative district."

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Ft. Worth Star-Telegram: Wall of Contempt

- April 21, 2008 9:20 AM

Originally Published April 20, 2008
By Glenn Hurowitz

The concrete wall rising along the Mexican border is supposed to help keep illegal immigrants out of America. But it's precisely because it will do nothing of the sort that its politician defenders are willing to throw billions of dollars and hordes of political capital into constructing it.

Those politicians know something they hope their constituents won't figure out: Walls don't work.

A 10-foot wall does nothing to stop someone with an 11-foot ladder. The Border Patrol has admitted that there are dozens of tunnels under the wall. People fly over in small airplanes. More than 40 percent of illegal immigrants to this country come here legally and then overstay their visas.

There are ways to reduce the flow of illegal immigrants: more border security guards, deployment of a high-tech "virtual fence" (though technical glitches are slowing this down), vehicle barriers and (above all) enforcing America's immigration laws, including penalties against employers who hire undocumented workers. Indeed, according to border mayors and law enforcement officers I interviewed, the wall will perversely weaken our border security.

"We're fortunate that right now Mexicans have positive feelings about America and have provided invaluable assistance to the United States in several criminal investigations," McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez told me while I was investigating the wall for Grist Magazine. "But if you really want a security problem, have Mexicans hate the United States, and I'll show you a security problem."

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Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus

Author Rick Perlstein's book should sit on the shelf of every aspiring progressive activist working to take over the Democratic Party. The book shows how a small, committed band of extreme right-wingers were able to take over a weak, divided Republican Party by articulating their values and working hard to mobilize people behind their candidate. When they were done, these right-wingers controlled the Republican Party and had transformed it from permanent minority status into the juggernaut that elected Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich, and George W. Bush. To purchase the book, click here.

After a difficult 2007, Nancy Pelosi has once again found her groove and her backbone. I was really blown away by her show of support for the Dalai Lama - given all of China's economic power, it would have been easy to avoid the meeting or just say something tepid.

But that's just the beginning. She also refused to give President Bush the power to wiretap Americans without a warrant and passed an energy bill that will significantly reduce oil usage and global warming pollution, standing up to several powerful Democrats still toadying up to the auto industry. She's found her courage and she's using it to get results.

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