My name is Jamie Friedland and I’m from Chicago.  I recently graduated from Duke University with a major in Public Policy Studies and a minor in Environmental Science and Policy.  I also play water polo, which has nothing to do with anything.  I am currently living in Washington, DC and have a political internship.

In 2008, I spent the summer interning at the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington DC.  The summer before that I interned in the Field and Finance departments of the Obama for America campaign headquarters in Chicago, where I also began my extended involvement with Students for Barack Obama.  I like Barack Obama.

That first summer in DC really opened my eyes to the political process and I found myself perfectly situated to put a finger on the legislative pulse of our entwined climate and energy crises.  I began working at NRDC right as the Climate Security Act (S. 3036) went to the floor of the Senate and I really had to hit the ground running.  My first major assignment was to read and catalogue every amendment to the bill and got quite familiar with the 500+ page document itself, which was quite an experience.  I did learn that I enjoy the wonkish policy material, though, and that bodes well for my career aspirations towards energy policy.

As a climate intern, I needed to be informed about political developments in environmental issues.  I began closely observing current events from a wide variety of sources as well as tuning in to the broader political scene in Washington.  The news-consuming habits I developed that summer, and continue to practice to an even greater extent today, put me in a position where I felt I was informed enough to actually contribute something via a blog.  I also have strong opinions and enjoy imposing them upon other people.

Aside from monitoring the mainstream media and a diverse group of blogs, I also began tracking opposition (read: industry front group/conservative think tank)  publications.  This experience and a more general frustration with the press coverage of global warming prompted me to pursue a thesis on “balance as bias” in the media coverage of climate change, which I have now finished and is briefly summarized in my most recent post.

In October 2008, I became a columnist for The Chronicle, Duke University’s daily independent newspaper.  I held that position until graduation and miss it.

Thanks for visiting my blog, please feel free to comment or email me, I appreciate you taking the time to read my posts and your feedback.