Next up for today—

>> Live Chat at Slate/washingtonpost.com at 12:30 ET today. <<

>> Followed by JK LIVE on The Ed Schultz Show at 1:30 PM ET. <<

Check for local affiliates or listen to live streaming on the web.

JK just completed his book chat at Firedoglake. You can check it out here. There were some good questions and answers.

katymine says:

There should be grave concerns about the plastics containing estrogen. There has been a increasing lowering of the age of puberty for girls and I wonder since so much of our food come packaged in plastic containers if this is related.

My own grand daughter is going through puberty at 7yrs old. They were told to stay away from beef and milk that might have hormones. Now I wander if this a lifetime of exposure to plastics from the baby bottle to food containers? John Kerry says:

katymine : what a great observation! More and more people are asking the same question and as we point out the experiment done by scientists showed that even the phalates in the test tube changed the outcome of the experiment. It produced cancer before they even introduced the carinogenic test!

Twisted Martini says:

Senator-Given the billions in profit at stake for maintaining the status quo, what steps can be taken to neutralize that money and its influence on policy?

Thank you so much for your leadership on this and many other issues!

John Kerry says:

Twisted Martini : the money issue remains the biggest challenge of all. Yet last year we proved with a lot of grassroots organizing that there are limits to its influence. The key is people taking the issue into the voting booth. I also think that the internet and blogging has provided accountability to the media which has been absent.

old gold says:

Senator Kerry, I think the best way to get the Republicans to embrace this is to emphasize that the green revolution can put green in their wallets.

John Kerry says:

old gold : we put a lot of emphasis in the book on the ability to make money. It’s a legitimate incentive- especially because the opponents put such emphasis on the economic argument. They always claim everyone will lose their job and it will kill the economy. As we point out in the book the experience of the Clean Air Act in 1990 contradicts that. The industry said it would kill them and cost 8 billion. We did it in less time and at way less cost and the economy grew like wild fire!

Muzzy says:

Sen. Kerry – JF’s question above about how to enlist ‘red state’ people into the effort to preserve global climate change reminds me of a view you described during the last presidential campaign: that improving energy efficiency is a matter of national security.

Clearly it’s more than that, but I think this is an important point that can be understood by all Americans including our more hawkish brethren. Have you elaborated your thoughts along that line of thinking in the last few years as a way to enjoin more people?

John Kerry says:

Muzzy : It’s even more of a security issue now. We’re working on a project to make sure more people understand the security implications. What folks need to focus on is that dealing global warming brings multiple benefits: better security, better health, more jobs, better environment, and we live up to our generational legacy obligations.

One comment that came after the chat was over may be of interest to some:

Professor Foland says:

Senator Kerry–

I’ve been a physics professor at a school in Cambridge, and have been in your office with some of our compatriots here talking with Jon Jennings, which I’ve appreciated the chance to do.

I just wanted to reinforce something I think you’ve clearly understood about science, from my own experience. Which is that every scientific understanding comes with a lot of pain, and backtracking, and confusions along the way. Long after the conclusion is understood, those confusions and errors remain in the record. But that doesn’t mean there is, at the end of the day, any actual doubt.

I also think that James Hansen’s recent article for the scientific community might be helpful to you when speaking to scientists and understanding how we think about making firm statements. My own summary might be, that we like to be 100% sure even when timely action only really requires 90% certainty…

And finally, Pachacutec weighed in with this one!

Pachacutec says:

Welcome, Senator. I’m sorry I’m late. I’m visiting my father in NY and I’m afraid he had me watching a DVD replay of Mookie Wilson’s ground ball to Buckner in game 6. I’m glad the Sox finally won, though, and am excited about your book. Thanks so much for joining us today (and the Yankees are in last place today. . . good times!).

John Kerry says:

I read with glee that the Yankees are in last place and Boston in first but it’s early!!!!!

Hop on over to Firedoglake and read the whole exchange. Then say hi to the nice people at FDL who hosted this chat.

UPDATE @ 3:30 PM ET:

Here’s the Ed Schultz show audio:  

Ed Schultz

John Kerry discusses Dick Cheney and the war in Iraq with Ed Schultz – April 25, 2007

And here’s the Ed Schultz show transcript.