Climate Politics

Do you know where your candidates stand on climate change?

With growing numbers of scientists declaring that the global climate crisis is approaching a point of no return, there is a huge and bewildering disconnect between our physical world and our political environment. Our government’s response to the prospect of runaway climate impacts is one of paralysis. The negligence of the Bush administration is understandable. […]

Don’t Hook Now

Senate passes bill to strengthen fisheries oversight The Senate passed a bill this week that would ramp up fisheries oversight, require annual catch limits, develop a uniform environmental review for fisheries management plans, and boost the role of scientific advisory committees. The legislation, passed unanimously, renews and improves the 30-year-old Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management […]

Muddy Waters

Supremes divided on wetlands protection under Clean Water Act The Supreme Court ruled yesterday neither to sharply restrict the Clean Water Act nor to leave its current broad interpretation untouched. Instead it did … something else. Spurred by two Michigan property-rights cases, the high court’s contentious decision states that wetlands must at least be adjacent […]

A geo-green third party?

Thomas Friedman -- la moustache de la sagesse -- has a column up (NYT $elect; reprinted in full here) suggesting that his "geo-green" shtick would be a good basis for a third party presidential candidacy. God love The Mustache for bringing energy issues to a broad audience, but this column is dopey.

Let's start with this:

What might a Geo-Green third party platform look like?

Its centerpiece would be a $1 a gallon gasoline tax, called "The Patriot Tax," which would be phased in over a year. People earning less than $50,000 a year, and those with unusual driving needs, would get a reduction on their payroll taxes as an offset.

Putting aside the rather paltry size of the tax and the difficulty of determining "unusual driving needs," this seems sensible enough, though a broad carbon tax would be preferable. But:

The billions of dollars raised by the Patriot Tax would go first to shore up Social Security, second to subsidize clean mass transit in and between every major American city, third to reduce the deficit, and fourth to massively increase energy research by the National Science Foundation and the Energy and Defense Departments' research arms.

What a bizarre list. Social Security is fine. If it's deficit-killing expenditures you're after, why not start with healthcare? And I'm all for mass transit, but is it more important than getting alternate sources of energy online? If reducing the deficit is so important, why does Friedman -- and virtually every other pundit -- insist that a gas tax be revenue neutral?

This, however, may be the most extravagant claim:

Bryant Terry, food-justice activist, answers questions

Bryant Terry. What work do you do? I’ve committed myself to feeding people; illuminating the connections between poverty, malnutrition, and institutional racism; and working to create a more just and sustainable food system for everyone. b-healthy gets teenagers cooking. In 2001, I founded b-healthy (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth), a New York […]

Touched by an Angelo

Bush admin weakens water-pollution rules after oil exec intervenes When Clinton administration regulators announced they were working on a rule that would require special EPA permits for oil and gas drilling sites, to prevent water pollution, the oil and gas industry lumbered into action, lobbying furiously to thwart the rule. Then the Bush administration came […]

All Right, Heartland, You’re Up

Western governors resolve to combat climate change Western states need to reduce greenhouse gases while meeting growing energy demand, says a resolution passed unanimously yesterday by members of the self-explanatorily named Western Governors Association. However, the pact neglects to prescribe specific actions. “My friends,” California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) chided the group, “it’s long past […]

Democrats jockey for attention with their latest energy plans

As GOP leaders bluster about gay marriage, flag burning, and the “death tax,” Democrats are struggling to get a word in edgewise about the bevy of proposals they’ve been drafting to address more substantive national concerns — namely, soaring gas prices, dependence on oil from an increasingly volatile Middle East, and global warming. These are […]

An interview with Dick Lugar, GOP crusader for energy independence

If you had to name the foreign-policy heavyweight who has brought more political muscle to the energy-independence crusade than any other, it would be Dick Lugar. Republican from Indiana and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Lugar is no stranger to superlatives: Named one of the “10 Best Senators” in a recent issue of […]

A Penny Saved Is a Penny Spurned

Bush admin looks to cut funding for energy efficiency To fund long-term research into speculative future energy sources, the Bush administration wants to cut guaranteed present-day energy savings: The proposed 2007 Energy Department budget would eliminate $152 million (roughly 16 percent) from its energy-efficiency programs. A program to improve the efficiency of heavy-duty trucks would […]