A new sun on the political horizon

I was getting pretty depressed about the Democratic candidates, because they all seem to have relegated environmental issues to a back burner, which was confirmed by an email from Environmental Defense today:

Partisan politics -- Global warming is quickly emerging as a top issue on the campaign trail. Some political operatives are advising candidates to delay action to maximize the impact of this issue in the presidential contest. As each party maneuvers to claim ownership over climate action, the net effect could be no action at all.

But then I also got an email today from the Chris Dodd for President Campaign. It looks like we do have sun in the polical sky. He is running on a strong platform that Energy Independence and fighting Global Warming together are the most important issue facing us at this time.

But whether he can get his message across and into the media is another question. Dennis Kucinich, who has a lot of good ideas himself, is relegated to the media swamplands, and even John Edwards, who also is not afraid to mention the environment, isn't making much headway against Hillary and Obama in the media.

We have to put them there.

Sun cloud play off Waikiki

Sun cloud play off Waikiki
Originally uploaded by pelleb.

Pelle sent me this as a birthday card. It reminds me of the Baroque Shadow and Light paintings.

It certainly suggests a greater being shining its light down on us. Or rather, giving light to us to guide our way, and provide us energy and food.

Waimanalo Bay

Waimanalo Bay
Originally uploaded by pelleb.

My son took this picture at about 4 pm, so it qualifies for one of the incredible pictures of sun coming in under the clouds in late afternoon. It has a 3-D quality about it and appears luminescent!

I can't think of anything much to say about it, except that the beach reminds me of what will happen with rising sea levels and the ocean warms up. At least the volcanic islands of Hawaii rise so steeply that they will still be around for a long while, but the beach might be gone before I get a chance to visit it.

Certainly the coral reef islands are in much greater danger of flooding, and the reefs themselves are bleaching as the sea gets warmer and the tiny animals that inhabit them can no longer live under those conditions,

But it's nicer to dream about lying on the beach!

Golden Pipes

Golden Pipes
Originally uploaded by Chris Inside.

I found this picture of St Joseph Catholic Church in Macon, Georgia (by Chris Inside,) while browsing Flickr pictures. The sun can also provide uplifting inspiration shining through stained glass, or coming in low under clouds in the late afternoon, when everything takes on a golden shimmer.

The sun also provides life by raising our spirits. All that sun-bred food isn't enough to sustain us. We need food for the spirit, too. Now I'm not religious exactly, but I am sure that I would feel some sort of exultation viewing this window in the sunlight.

I remember several years ago when we had experienced several days of gloomy weather ("June gloom" maybe, which seems to have moved up to May this year.) We finally got the idea that we could drive up the mountain and through the clouds to the sun, which we did. It was amazing how our grumpiness melted away under the glorious blue sky!