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One error retracted, 99 to go

Superfreaknomics authors will, in future editions, correct their claim that Caldeira believes “carbon dioxide is not the right villain”

Do we need nuclear and coal plants for baseload power?

On Friday, Matt Yglesias made the point that only socialist state control seems capable of creating a robust nuclear power industry. After all, the only countries building nuke plants these days are the ones where governments are making the decisions. David Frum replied with a series of wildly overbroad assertions ranging from false to highly […]

Ask Umbra on climate-skeptic teachers, low-flow toilets, and more

Q. Dear Umbra, I know it’s a little early, but I had this great idea for a New Year’s resolution. Every month in 2010, I pick a certain eco-area of my life and focus on that for a whole month. So far I have: reduce energy consumption; reduce water consumption; reduce material waste; reuse; recycle; […]

To unlock wind power, put a price on carbon

A stone marker in Rugby, N.D. identifies the town as the “Geographic Center of the North American Continent.” No marker identifies the state as one of America’s top two or three in wind-power potential. Yet North Dakota’s vast expanses and steady winds endow it with the capacity to generate more than half as much electricity […]

Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) [UPDATED]

Arlen Specter Sen. Arlen Specter is considered a fence sitter on climate legislation, though on Nov. 5 he sided with all but one of the Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee in voting to move forward with the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.  As Darren Samuelsohn of Greenwire reported: Specter bemoaned his inability to offer […]

EPA demands attorneys remove video critical of cap-and-trade

Laurie Williams and Allan Zabel are EPA attorneys who have taken up advocating against cap-and-trade on behalf of rebated carbon taxes, most recently in a Washington Post op-ed. They also posted a video to YouTube making many of the same arguments at somewhat greater length. Now the EPA has instructed them to take the video […]

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

Dianne FeinsteinSen. Dianne Feinstein is expected to vote in favor of the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In a November 2009 letter to a Grist reader, she doesn’t explicitly endorse the bill, but she does say it “represents an important step”: Dear [Constituent]: Thank you for writing to express your views about the “Clean Energy Jobs and […]

Senators opposed to Clean Energy Jobs Act are ignoring bill’s benefits to Americans — Part 2

Read Part 1 here. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (CEJAPA), by an 11-1 vote. Since this was the third day of a boycott by Republicans on the committee, the absence of minority members prevented senators from voting on any amendments to the bill due […]

Cautious optimism for Copenhagen deal as Barcelona climate talks end

Is that the sun we see?The mood was markedly improved on the final day of the Barcelona climate talks, as delegates, observers, and non-governmental organizations all brushed off the pessimism that dominated much of this week and announced that there is still hope for a global deal at the Copenhagen COP15 summit. News that the […]

Another coal plant bites the dust

This post was co-written by Mary Anne Hitt, deputy director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. We’re celebrating great news out of Minnesota and South Dakota this week: After almost five years of planning and permitting efforts, the participating utilities in the proposed Big Stone II Project announced … Monday that they will end […]