Latest Articles

Industry group’s radio ads target swing votes on climate bill

Don’t believe everything you hear …Photo: baboonThe industry group American Energy Alliance is trying to stir up opposition to the House climate and energy bill with new radio ads targeting key swing voters on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The ads, aimed at nine Democrats and one Republican, call the bill “an energy tax […]

Mysterious industry front-group affiliated with Ken Lay’s former speechwriter launches anti-Wa

Memo to Media:  Who the heck are these guys and what are they hiding by apparently misstating their origin? E&E News (subs. req’d) reports on a new advertising campaign from a “conservative organization”: The American Energy Alliance (AEA) campaign targets 11 key members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — all of them moderates […]

Senate Spoil Sports

Most of the news coverage in recent days, understandably has focused on the Markey climate hearings and speculation about when his subcommittee will actually start voting.  And now there is scrutiny of efforts by “moderate” House Democrats to gut the Waxman-Markey bill on behalf of Duke Energy, the Edison Electric Institute and other forces of […]

Climate news, all poetic-like

Hello, and happy Poem In Your Pocket Day! We thought we’d celebrate with a climate-news poem. Because this is also Katharine Is Really Busy Day, it’s not a long poem. However! There will be more climate-change poems coming your way soon. Only on Grist.org. Rep. Henry WaxmanThere once was a sponsor named WaxmanWhom critics described […]

To get support for a climate bill, offer cash back to Americans, argues Rep. Chris Van Hollen

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) thinks he’s got the key to passing a climate bill this year: send every American a rebate. It’s not a bribe, but a dividend — and one he thinks will help grow support for legislation to cap carbon. Van Hollen, an up-and-coming Democratic leader and chair of the Democratic Congressional […]

“The Goode Family,” a new cartoon, makes enviros cringe

As promised, The Goode Family, a new cartoon from the King of the Hill folks, is “an animated caricature of every Whole-Foods-shopping, hybrid-driving, African-orphan-adopting, vegan-dog-having do-gooder you’ve ever met.” Find out what’s so funny about trying to be Goode when the show premieres May 27 on ABC. Here’s a trailer:

Mr. King Coal's Neighborhood Comes to Washington

What does a Wyoming rancher, a Navajo elder, a Southern community organizer, a Latino immigrant organizer from Chicago, a young indigenous Ottawa woman from Michigan, and an Appalachian coal miner’s widow have in common? All of their neighborhoods are under deadly assault from King Coal. And all of these six American heroes have journeyed to […]

Do we need to build more coal plants?

I just put together a simple spreadsheet that will calculate how many pounds of coal any given electrical appliance in your house will burn depending on how long it runs and wattage. Feel free to save a copy (guaranteed virus free). Here’s a link that has run the numbers for some common appliances. According to […]

Obama: what swine flu?

Swine wha ….?From an Associated Press account of a Wednesday evening White House press conference: The news conference lasted an hour and covered topics ranging from the outbreak of swine flu — which Obama referred to as the H1N1 virus, evidently in deference to U.S. pork producers — to abortion and the recent flare-up in […]

Can you catch swine flu on the subway?

Sick transit?arvindgrover via flickrThis morning, Vice President Biden went slightly off-message about swine flu — just enough to freak out the White House, and potentially enough to freak out hypochondriacal Americans. Appearing on NBC’s Today Show, he responded to a question from Matt Lauer by saying he would advise his own family not to “go […]