Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green.

Any morally acceptable pathway to prevent catastrophic global warming includes broad access to affordable birth control for the world's women. The conservative war on birth control is a war on women’s rights, and thus on the rights of us all. Human-made global warming is one of the most troubling symptoms of economic and social injustice around the planet, and the "countries in the developing world least responsible for the growing emissions are likely to experience the heaviest impact of climate change, with women bearing the greatest toll." Researchers have found that empowering women to reduce unplanned pregnancies is one of the most cost-effective ways to combat greenhouse pollution, as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson discussed at the Durban climate conference last December:

Photo by Gage Skidmore.

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green.

Appearing on NBC’s Meet The Press this Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich attempted to shift blame away from oil companies for rising gasoline prices. Asked by host David Gregory how he would attack President Obama given positive news about the economy, Gingrich falsely claimed that the Environmental Protection Agency has a plan to “raise the price of gasoline by 25 cents a gallon”:

His policies have consistently, I think, weakened the country. He has an Environmental Protection Agency proposal that would raise the price of gasoline by 25 cents a gallon. There are very few Americans who want to see the price of gasoline raised by government to 25 cents a gallon.

New York insurance companies are preparing for increased risk of flooding in the future. (Photo by Dave Bledsoe.)

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green.

Following the most damaging year of climate disasters in the United States in history, the insurance regulators in three states -- California, Washington, and New York -- announced that all major insurance companies operating in their states will be required to assess and publicly disclose the climate change-related risks they face, both in their underwriting as well as in their investment activities.

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green.

Congressional Republicans are now openly acting as advocates for foreign oil interests, colluding with TransCanada lobbyists to push their tar-sands agenda. House and Senate staff for Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and GOP Sens. John Hoeven (N.D.), Dick Lugar (Ind.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and others gathered Monday afternoon for a conference call with TransCanada lawyers “to plot out how to push the Obama administration on the Keystone XL pipeline,” Politico reports:

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. On Jan. 24, President Obama will address Congress and the nation on the state of the union, with the chance to stir this country to action on the existential threat of climate change. Obama has the responsibility to seize the moment and finally explain to the American people the great mobilization of resources and will that protecting our homeland from a poisoned climate requires. In a tweet to ThinkProgress Green, White House Director of Public Engagement Jon Carson promised that he would personally tell Obama that people believe he needs to talk about the science of …

Awesome idea, Tom!Photo: MerrionSt.ie Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. Thursday morning, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue argued that "free enterprise" requires a future of accelerated, unending global warming. Supporting expanded fracking, shale oil, and tar-sands development, including the Keystone XL pipeline, Donohue said that the United States should burn hundreds of billions of tons of fossil fuels for hundreds of years: We have 1.4 trillion barrels of oil, enough to last at least 200 years. We have 2.7 quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas, enough to last 120 years. We have 486 billion tons of coal, enough to last …

Charles and David Koch.Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. Five senators and 39 representatives received a perfect 100 percent score from the Koch brothers' astroturf group Americans For Prosperity (AFP) for the first half of the 112th Congress. AFP judged Congress on their votes to protect the Koch brothers' right-wing petrochemical empire on such issues as the repeal of President Obama's new health care law, preempting EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases, Chairman Paul Ryan's budget to end Medicare, ending ethanol subsidies, several Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval to overturn new regulations, and the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bills. The Koch …

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. GOP leadership in Congress has decided to use must-pass payroll tax cut legislation as a vehicle to push key polluter priorities, despite a veto threat from the White House. House Republicans have attached a rider to extend a Clean Air Act loophole for the coal industry, daring a White House veto. The coal-powered poison pill, inserted into Title I, Section B of H.R. 3630 as the "EPA Regulatory Relief Act," would establish a five-year delay in Boiler Maximum Available Control Technology (MACT) rules, striking down four Environmental Protection Agency rules. Section A is Rep. Lee Terry's …

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. During the two weeks of the international climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, millions of people have been affected by extreme weather disasters. Our poisoned climate is fueling more extreme and dangerous weather, as the super-heated atmosphere brings heavier rains, harder droughts, and fiercer storms. These eight climate disasters that took place while the world's governments debate whether to address climate pollution have killed dozens of people, displaced tens of thousands of people, and disrupted the lives of millions, and yet are far from the most damaging of 2011: 8. Canada weather bomb Dec. 8: Hurricane-force …

It's just a guidepost, guys. No need to panic.Photo: US Mission GenevaCross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. China limits commitments This week, China's top climate envoy said that the nation would be open to signing a formal treaty limiting emissions after 2020 -- but laid down conditions for doing so that are unlikely ever to be met. Xie Zhenhua, the head of the Chinese delegation, has refused to confirm that China would, as he had suggested, accept a binding international obligation to slow the growth in its emissions. U.S. stance on climate risks increasingly absurd The limit of 2 degrees C [3.6 …