Climate Politics

Grandchildren, Schmandchildren

Congress holds hearings, realizes climate change is upon us It’s official: Congress has red-hot climate-change ants in its pants. As climate-related hearings in the House and Senate got rolling this week, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) demanded White House documents that could show scientific interference. With a new report by two NGOs citing more than 120 […]

Leader Hosin’

Bush State of the Union address offers tepid energy initiatives Today we have the high privilege and distinct honor of blurbing the State of the Union address. It was largely a muted, desultory affair, reflecting the fact that President Bush is trapped in a foreign quagmire, his Republican congressional bootlickers are abandoning him, and the […]

Why federal farm support deserves a fresh look

Note: Over the course of three weeks, as Congress begins discussion of the 2007 farm bill, Victual Reality will be devoted to analyzing the political economy of farming and teasing out an agenda for a socially and environmentally sustainable farm policy. It’s more exciting than it sounds, we swear! [Read the first installment below, the […]

Coolio

Here’s an interesting bit from a Q&A with Reid and Pelosi: I have a couple questions about global warming. First, to Mr. Reid, does the Senate plan to follow Ms. Pelosi’s plan to create a new select committee? Will you actually create a new select committee? And then for both of you, I’m curious, you’ve […]

The Neverending Tory

Canada’s leaders bring back green program, announce rainforest fund When Canada’s Conservative Party took power a year ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper put a variety of environmental programs on hold — only to find out that, oops, his constituents actually want a livable earth. Under pressure from citizens Canuck, Harper’s cabinet is hyping green initiatives […]

A Speechwriter Behind Every Bush

Content of State of the Union speech remains a mystery — kind of Will President Bush crack down on climate change in his State of the Union address? The world may never know — until, of course, he gives the speech next Tuesday. Mutterings that the administration would embrace a cap-and-trade carbon-reduction scheme were flatly […]

Is This What the Kids Call Progress?

A slew of new climate legislation heads to Congress What a difference an election makes. After years of see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, be-really-evil, Congress is abuzz with forward movement on climate change. No less than four bills on climate look poised to go before the Senate, with big names like Sens. McCain, Obama, Boxer, and Feinstein jostling […]

Enviros delighted with House Democrats’ energy bill

“I can’t find anything wrong with it. Really, there is no catch. It’s all good.” Is the sun setting on some oil industry tax breaks? Photo: iStockphoto Let the record show that these contented words were spoken by an environmentalist — Jim Presswood, a top lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council to be exact. […]

An account of one scientist’s testimony

On Friday, I participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill on the use of science in policy debates. Other panelists were Don Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science magazine, Juliet Eilperin, environment reporter for the Washington Post, and David Goldston, formerly chief of staff of the House Science Committee and now a lecturer at Princeton.

In my presentation, I made two points that will not surprise long-time readers.

Everything Goes Better With Barack

Obama joins McCain, Lieberman to push Senate climate bill If you follow politics, the phrase “McCain-Lieberman” might make you throw up in your mouth just a little. Since 2003, U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) have worked to pass a bill that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions, to no avail. But wrap your […]