Climate Politics
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Why we need a World Environment Organization
With climate change manifesting itself in the melting of Arctic glaciers and the drowning of small Pacific islands, in widespread species extinction, forest loss, desertification, and impending water shortages, the scope of environmental problems has changed. Long-term alteration of the earth’s climate is moving us into terra incognita that’s difficult or impossible to reverse. Recently, […]
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Optical Delusion
Republicans ask oil firms to “do their part” to ease pain at the pump Oil companies and their GOP backers in Washington face a somewhat awkward situation: The oil industry is awash in record profits, but Republicans continue to shovel them millions in subsidies. Meanwhile, Americans stagger under the weight of soaring gas prices. This […]
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Just Another Woeful Wednesday
Congressional committees approve a pile o’ drilling and mining Congress worked hard on Wednesday to ensure America a clean, secure energy future. Ah, we kid! Actually, the House Resources Committee approved a measure that would weaken the federal ban on new offshore gas and oil drilling. And both House and Senate resource committees approved provisions […]
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Shake, Rattle, and Bankroll
Hillary calls for Big Oil to fund a cleaner energy future Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) says the oil industry should pony up for a multibillion-dollar “Strategic Energy Fund” that would invest in clean-energy technologies and help folks struggling with spiking heating costs. At the Cleantech Venture Forum in D.C. yesterday, Clinton called for Big Oil […]
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Oil drills getting closer than ever to the Arctic Refuge
The future of the Arctic Refuge? “The threat to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has never been greater than it is today,” according to Brian Moore, legislative director for the Alaska Wilderness League. And, though the battle over the refuge has a Groundhog Day quality to it — haven’t we heard this same alarm sounding […]
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O Tidings of Comfort and Anti-Enjoyment
Latest national-parks policy draft drops worst of proposed revisions The Bush administration has released its proposed revision of National Park Service management policies for 90 days of public comment. An earlier draft, written by Deputy Assistant Interior Secretary Paul Hoffman and leaked to the press in August, would have required park managers to prove an […]
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Oh No You Mittn’t
Mass. governor may weaken power-plant rules as winter approaches Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) is the latest lawmaker looking to sacrifice environmental protections in the face of sky-high energy prices and what looks to be a frigid winter. He’s considering weakening some air-emissions restrictions on oil-burning power plants in his state, saying it may allow […]
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Junket in the Trunk
ESA foe Pombo took two trips paid for by anti-animal-welfare foundation The ever-widening net of Republican-corruption busting may have snared a green bête noire: Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.). It seems Pombo took two trips, to New Zealand in 2000 and Japan in 2002, underwritten by a nonprofit foundation notable for opposition to environmental and animal-welfare […]
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The Ballast’s in Your Court
Enviro-backed Great Lakes bill stalls, industry-backed bill advances Following this summer’s massive Detroit News series on threats to the Great Lakes, a key protection measure is … wait for it … stalled in Congress. Officials from Great Lakes states and conservationists back the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act, which would force shippers to use stronger […]
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And the Land Played On
Judge rules Oregon’s Measure 37 unconstitutional Oregon’s voter-approved Measure 37, which would mandate that private landowners be compensated for changes in their property value brought about by state land-use decisions, has been ruled unconstitutional by Marion County Circuit Judge Mary James. Oregon was widely seen as a national model in land-use planning, pushing new development […]
