Just a few months from now, world leaders will meet in Paris to try and put together a plan to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions.

It's a big occasion, and given the state of the planet these days, a deal is absolutely necessary.

At the rate we're going, the earth's atmosphere is set rise 4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, double what scientists say is an "acceptable" level of warming.

And here's the thing, even that 2 degree Celsius benchmark of "acceptable warming" might be not be enough to hold off environmental devastation on a scale we haven't seen in millennia.

According to former NASA scientist James Hansen, 2 degrees Celsius is a recipe for disaster, no matter what public officials say.

He explained why in a recent interview with Australian radio.

Hansen now says we have to limit ourselves to 1 degree Celsius warming - a number we're already dangerously close to reaching.

So a lot is at stake at this year's climate talks, which makes the fact there won't be any discussion of carbon pricing all the more frustrating.

In fact, earlier this week, Christina Figueres, the head of the UN body in charge of the Paris talks, explicitly ruled out that possibility saying that it just wasn't possible at this moment in time.

Now, that may or may not be true, but in terms of pure policy, there's no question that putting a price on carbon is the single best way to clamp down on greenhouse gas pollution and stop global warming once and for all.

Right now, the fossil fuel industry is the only industry in the world that doesn't have to pay to clean up its own waste.

Instead, these guys pass the costs of that waste (carbon pollution) on to the rest of us in the form of what economists call "negative externalities."

Read more here.

-Thom

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... The Cybersecurity Bill May Make it Easier for Gov Spying (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

  

Community Square  

 ""New Planned Parenthood video: Doctor wants intact fetal heads for brain harvesting""  

    

Wednesday's Daily Stack 

Article: "South Carolina sheriff fires deputy seen manhandling teenage girl in video" by Alan Yuhas.

Article: "Sheriff Pulls The Ultimate 'But He Has A Black Friend' Defense Of Spring Valley High Deputy" by Matt Ferner.

Article: "FBI director tells police chiefs they can learn from Black Lives Matter hashtag" by Wesley Lowery.

Article: "Experts Continue To Debunk Right-Wing Media's "Ferguson Effect" Myth " by Cristina Lopez & Brennan Suen.

Article: "Jason Chaffetz Offers Bill to Impeach IRS Commissioner" by Joel Gehrke.

Speech: "A Rendezvous With Destiny", 27 June 1936 acceptance speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt. "An old English judge once said: "Necessitous men are not free men.""

Article: "Charles Koch's Frankenstein Problem: He Created the Tea Party Monster - and Now He's Horrified With the Results" by Sean Illing.

Article: "Club for Growth and Koch nurtured Freedom Caucus" by Isaac Arnsdorf.

Article: "GE to Shift Jobs to Canada in Ex-Im Bank Protest" by Ted Mann.

Article: "A New Low in Campaign Finance" by Robert Maguire.

Article: "Republican presidential candidates gather for third debate" by David Jackson.

Article: "Donald Trump asks Iowa: 'What the hell are you people doing to me?'" by Robert Schroeder.

Article: "National Census Of Fatal Occupational Injuries In 2014" by BLS.

Article: "Women's Rights and the candidates..." by BooScout.

Hour Two: GOP & the New Speaker Could Kill our Social Safety Net
- Gayle Trotter  

Article: "The real reason everyone should care about the next Speaker" by Gayle Trotter.

 

Book: "Agrarian Justice" by Thomas Paine.

Quote: "These are the times that try men's souls" - Thomas Paine, The American Crisis".

Article: "US banks hit out at collateral rules on derivatives trade" by Joe Rennison and Ben McLannahan.

Article: "Video Shows Officer Flipping Student in South Carolina, Prompting Inquiry" by Richard Fausset and Ashley Southall.

Book: Where's the Birth Certificate?: The Case that Barack Obama is not Eligible to be President by Jerome Corsi.

Law: "Glass-Steagall Act", 1933.

Article: "How the Chained CPI Affects Social Security Payments" by Emily Brandon.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief 

Article: "Trump Predicts CNBC Debate Will Be "Unfair"" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "Cruz rips compromise budget deal" by Burgess Everett.

Article: "Paul Ryan will support budget deal" by Jake Sherman.

Article: "Home State Paper Calls For Rubio's Resignation" by Justin Duckham.

Article: "GOP Squares Off In Colorado" by TRNS.

Article: "Will GOP hopefuls get rocky reception in Boulder debate?" by Naureen Khan.

Article: "Report: Iraqi Gov. Did Not Ask For U.S. Ground Operations" by Loree Lewis.

Article: "Ex-House Speaker Hastert pleads guilty in hush-money case" by Mary Wisniewski and Fiona Ortiz.

Article: "Discharge Petition In The House Forces Vote On Ex-Im Bank" by Juliegrace Brufke.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 10/27" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "TRNS News Notes- 10/26" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: What Have You Always Wanted to Ask About Social Security?
- Alex Lawson, Social Security Works  

Site: Social Security.

Article: "The Financial Services Industry Doesn't Want to Put You First" by Helaine Olen.

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

The Fight To Legalize Pot in Ohio - I'll be talking to former OH Gov.Bob Taft

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Free excerpt, read book for free at Truthout, buy the book!

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Thom

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Sincerely,