Ah politicians....

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=7895507

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=7997309

I just love when politicians contradict themselves. Even more so when they do it within the same month. First Herbert came out earlier this month stating that he doubts the impacts that humans make on climate change, and suddenly today comes out saying that we should all turn off our engines if we are idling for more than ten minutes to reduce carbon emissions. Umm….Governor I thought you doubted human impact on such things. If humans don’t drastically impact the environment then why are you suddenly promoting a “very liberal” position? Someone make a better campaign donation than your energy donors? This debate is asinine. Anyone can look outside and see that humans DO drastically impact the environment and we ARE changing our climate because of it. What I think a lot of people who argue against climate change don’t understand is that climate is the LONG TERM patterns of weather and as such changes aren’t always noticeable in the short term. Unseasonable rain for a few weeks doesn’t mean that a region’s drought has ended. Also, climate change doesn’t mean that everywhere will be affected in the same ways. A drastic rise (2 or 3 degrees) in temperature in one region can be happening at the same time another region is getting colder or wetter. Climate change is real and at this point it’s a matter of trying to not make it worse. We have the ability to clean up our act so lets do it so we don’t further change the environment for future generations. Just imagine the GLOBAL impact of the “bread-basket of America” getting a lot wetter, hotter, colder, or drier. Even subtle changes can drastically alter crop yields which in turn affects the food supply. What would happen to the world if the Mid-West’s food yield dropped by half or even a quarter. Not a pretty scenario when you consider ALL the consequences. We need to clean up our act NOW, and its time deniers such as Herbert realize this.


http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13388802

Why am I not surprised that the majority party would object to a proposal to make redistricting more fair. I am not picking on just the Republicans they just happen to be the majority in this state. Any party who has a majority is against nonpartisan redistricting. Now gerrymandering is technically illegal in this country already but that hasn’t stopped both parties from creating districts where they know their party will almost always win in every state of the union. Now for those who don’t know, gerrymandering is where you draw district lines so that you include voters that benefit your party and try to exclude those who don’t. A very recent example of this happened in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District. Jim Matheson (D), has repeatedly beaten Republican opponents and during the last census, the Republican controlled state legislature redrew the 2nd district to try and increase the number of Republican voters which they hoped would cause Matheson to lose his seat in the next election. Needless to say it hasn’t worked yet but it often does get results. I believe redistricting should be overseen by a nonpartisan group (at both state AND national levels) because gerrymandering has and always will hurt the voter and the legislative process. It allows for polarization in politics to run rampant and reduces the appeal and influence of moderation.