Latest Articles
-
![]()
![]()
Here’s why renewable energy needs a boost from Congress
Ground was broken for what will likely become the largest wind farm in the country -- but overall, the news for renewable energy is not so good.
-
![]()
![]()
Raising appliance efficiency: A big win for consumers and the climate
Investing in energy efficiency is often far cheaper than expanding the energy supply to meet growing demand. Efficiency investments typically yield a high rate of return, saving consumers money, and can help fight climate change by avoiding carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from burning additional fossil fuels.
-
Blocking the Senate should be hard work
The Senate's not working because it doesn't take any work to stop it from working -- and that's what the Republicans are interested in doing. Current rules make stopping the Senate from doing its work the easiest thing in the world to do. That's got to change.
-
![]()
![]()
The Gulf's invisible villain: natural gas
You can't see or smell the methane that poured into the ocean with the oil, but experts say it's stealthily destroying marine life.
-
![]()
![]()
Will Frito-Lay's new traveling greenhouse really sell more potato chips?
Frito-Lay, the $13 billion business unit of PepsiCo, is spending millions to try and persuade people it's a simple, farmer-friendly company, and I haven't the faintest clue why.
-
Environmentalists say: stop ALL of Arizona's anti-immigrant law
Today, Arizona’s “show me your papers” anti-immigrant law SB1070 goes into effect. Across the country, July 29th has been declared a national day of action for Human Rights. Phoenix is ground zero for the collective outrage and protest that this bill has inspired. Here thousands of people are in the streets, many showing their courage […]
-
![]()
![]()
A plan to change the Senate's rules and make the Senate work again
The Senate clearly isn't working, and the frustration is being felt outside and inside the body. I challenge my colleagues and all of you to support my Constitutional option for changing the rules and making the Senate function again.
-
![]()
![]()
The filibuster undermines democratic accountability
The filibuster stands today as the single most important impediment to the significant reforms needed in America's climate/energy policies, its immigration policies, its labor law policies, and its need for a functioning judiciary. But beyond that, the filibuster has become a critical force undermining the workings of democratic accountability.
-
![]()
![]()
The filibuster is what enables the 'secret hold' in the Senate
Besides blocking legislation that enjoys majority support from coming to a vote, the filibuster lies at the heart of a number of disruptive and anti-democratic practices in the Senate, including the so-called "secret hold." The secret hold helped delay Senate action for so long that time ran out for a climate bill.
-
There is no constitutional right to filibuster
Debates about Senate procedural reform very often have constitutional undertones. Some claim that senators with strong, minority-held viewpoints have a constitutional right to prolong debate, even indefinitely. A related, more nuanced, argument begins by pointing out that our Founders envisioned the Senate as a careful, deliberative body that would check the rashness of the House of Representatives. Accordingly, some argue, the Framers intended that Senators be able to debate without limit. I am going to address and -- I hope -- refute each of these claims.
