Latest Articles

Biotech industry group alights on La Gloria to test backyard pigs

Hogs in a CAFO. The good news is that bloggers and other hysterics aren’t the only ones taking seriously La Gloria, Mexico, as the possible origin of the swine flu pandemic. From an extremely interesting AP article: Scientists are returning next week to La Gloria, a pig-farming village in the Veracruz mountains where Mexico’s earliest […]

House committee approves landmark (bipartisan!) clean energy and climate bill

NOTE:  Unexpectedly, Rep. Bono Mack (R-CA) voted “yes” — and the bill passed 33-25!  She later said, “While I still have significant concerns about this bill, particularly with regard to its cost and its failure to recognize innovative technologies like advanced nuclear energy, I believe this is the right direction for our district, for our […]

Smokey Joe Barton (R-TX) throws in the towel to the Dems

“You should have a tremendous celebration tonight for your effort on this bill.” House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking minority member Joe Barton (R-TX) said that to Jay Inslee (D-WA) at a little after 7 PM EST. Barton also said to Inslee, “you have been an indefatigable proponent of the bill.”

The new auto fuel-efficiency standards — going beyond the headlines

On My 19th, 2009, President Obama announced new Federal fuel-efficiency standards for motor-vehicles that would make the current standards — known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy — or CAFE — standards significantly more stringent. These CAFE standards measure compliance as the average of a company’s entire fleet of cars, and so are more flexible and […]

Have a happy (and green) Memorial Day weekend

Take a bite out of summer.It’s Memorial Day weekend! Say hello to the long, hot days of summer and goodbye to all the rest. However you celebrate this seasonal turning point, we’ve got advice for making it just a bit greener. First, we hoist the flag with Umbra, who tells us how to be proud […]

In landmark vote, House committee approves climate bill

After months of grueling hearings and deliberations, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill by a vote of 33-25 on Thursday evening. It’s a landmark occasion, the first time a serious climate bill has made it this far in the House. The bill would cut greenhouse-gas emissions about 17 […]

Defending coal in climate legislation

We saw how years of accumulated habit, chummy political relationships, and a regulatory model that all-but mandates big central power plants have left coal utilities betting their futures almost entirely on “clean coal.” They’ve told their legislators that it’s the only way to go low-carbon in the South and Midwest. Their legislators, who have long […]

The Climate Post: The House at the center of the world

Lately, every week is the most consequential in the history of climate change. This week was no exception. A House of Representatives committee slogged through its potentially game-changing climate bill. The White House struck a deal with auto manufacturers and California to raise fuel efficiency – and consequently reduce carbon emissions. Uneven signals from China […]

Waxman-Markey bill would do more for climate without cap-and-trade provision

Waxman-Markey is a big split personality of a bill. Its efficiency and renewable requirements would make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions, even if not a very big one. But the cap-and-trade at the heart of the legislation is another story. Why do we need cap-and-trade or a carbon tax or something similar? If we […]

‘Regular people’ cheer on climate action at Seattle rally

Climate organizer K.C. Golden stood with his back to a sparkling Elliott Bay in Seattle today, hushed the elementary-school students crowding a stage with him, and pointed to the glass wall of the convention center next door. “Here’s what’s transformational,” said Golden, of Climate Solutions. “The Environmental Protection Agency is in there working to be […]