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In Copenhagen, it’s the same old business

Actress Cate Blanchett tried to warm business leaders’ hearts on the subject of global climate change.Copenhagen Climate Council If Al Gore and Ban Ki-moon weren’t able to get the job done, you might have thought Cate Blanchett would saved the day. But even an impassioned and remarkably erudite speech by the Oscar-winning actress failed this […]

In the House, a nine-way tie for climate swing vote

The House Democrats who could determine the fate of the American Clean Energy & Security Act: (rear, from left) Baron Hill, Earl Pomeroy, Artur Davis, Rick Boucher; (front, from left) Mike Ross, Charlie Melancon, Jason Altmire, John Tanner, and Gene Taylor.Photo illustration by Tom Twigg / Grist Imagine the 435 members of the U.S. House […]

22 more House Democrats who hold the keys to Waxman-Markey

In addition to the Carbon Nine, research by economists Matthew Kahn and Michael Cragg shows these 22 Democrats could play a key role in passing comprehensive climate legislation this year, based on the per-capita carbon emissions of their respective congressional districts. Most of the lawmakers listed below have stayed mum about their opinion of the […]

Ask Umbra on public peeing

Send your question to Umbra! Q. Dear Umbra, What, in your opinion, is proper flushing etiquette when using public lavatories? Or, indeed, those belonging to your friends? At home we follow the if-it’s-yellow rule, but only occasionally am I bold enough to do this in a public restroom; in general it feels rather antisocial unless […]

Waxman-Markey giveaways pit consumer protection against climate protection

Waxman-Markey supposedly requires a large percent of the savings from free permits to be passed along to consumers. The intent is that they act as protection against price increases rather than a source of profits for large companies. Unfortunately, to the extent this works, it is likely to dampen the price signals that are supposed […]

Seattle film fest highlights environmental flicks

In darkened theaters across the city, cinephiles, AV nerds, and the otherwise overly critical are silently salivating over their annual flick fix: Seattle’s International Film Festival. The 25-day festival, the largest in the U.S., is about a week in, and movie-goers are still siffting through the packed schedule of almost 400 films and more than […]

Obama Supreme Court pick has small but solid record on environmental rulings

President Obama today selected Sonia Sotomayor as his first nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, she would become the first Latin American and only the third woman to sit on the highest court in the land. The hot topic of conversation surrounding her nomination is affirmative action, but over in Gristland, we’re wondering, […]

The United States of waste

The U.S. economy is incredibly energy inefficient, a key reason even strong climate action has such a low total cost — one tenth of a penny on the dollar. This inefficiency is summed up best in one remarkable statistic that I first learned at the U.S. Department of Energy and then reprinted in my 1999 […]

Judge Sonia Sotomayor on energy & environment

President Obama has chosen federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.  The African American Environmentalist Association has an extended discussion of her energy and environmental views, reprinted below: Judge Sonia Sotomayor [above] wrote an opinion in Riverkeeper v. EPA, 475 F.3d 83 (2d Cir. 2007), that the EPA was not permitted to engage […]

Deforestation in Waxman-Markey

I really like Title VII Part E of the Waxman-Markey bill, which puts aside some pollution permit value to reduce international deforestation. (It’s separate from Part D, Offsets.) There are plenty of set-asides in the bill for energy producers, industrials, refineries, all sorts of private interests. VII-E is one of the few set-asides for public […]