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Toy manufacturers push back against lead-safety rule

Toys marketed to the 12-under-set must either meet new lead standards or be off shelves by Feb. 10 — but many toy manufacturers and retailers don’t wanna comply. Citing the economic downturn, they’re pressuring the government to relax the requirement.

Shellenberger and Nordhaus smear Gore by making stuff up

Yes, I understand that Shellenberger and Nordhaus are desperate for any media attention they can get, which is why they go after Democrats and not Republicans. And everybody understands S&N don’t get global warming at all ever since Nordhaus made his amazing admission on this blog, “We have argued for five years now that efforts […]

The data show the planet still keeps warming

RealClimate has a great post, “Mind the Gap!” that explains some of the confusion about recent temperature trends. Two key datasets, from the U.K.’s Hadley Centre and NASA show warming, as I’ve noted before. But “there are no permanent weather stations in the Arctic Ocean, the place on Earth that has been warming fastest. The […]

Job shifts at Interior Dept. mean Bush appointees will stick around

Two former Interior Department appointees unpopular with environmentalists have been “burrowed” into senior civil service posts, giving them job security when Barack Obama takes the White House. “It is an attempt by the outgoing administration to limit as much as possible [the incoming administration’s] ability to put its policy imprint on the Department of Interior,” […]

Dems boot Lieberman from his EPW post

Senate Democrats decided this morning to let Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) keep his chairmanships of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and Airland Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee. But as punishment for his rigorous campaigning for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Lieberman will lose his seat on the Environment and Public Works Committee. By […]

Was there another breathless announcement of another phony record, and another quiet retraction?

(Part of the How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic guide) Objection: In October 2008, Al Gore’s science adviser, James Hansen announced yet another “hottest” month on record. After all the alarmist banner headlines sank in, yet another “correction” quietly contradicted this, and October was not particularly warm after all. This is yet another example […]

Schwarzenegger mandates 33 percent renewables by 2030

GreenTechMedia reports: California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed an executive order that would speed up renewable energy development and require 33 percent of utilities’ electrical power to come from renewable sources by 2030. The governor is aiming to use Executive Order S-14-08 to compel two state agencies, the California Energy Commission and the Department […]

Colombian vice prez chides cocaine users for rainforest destruction

Cocaine users get no love from Colombian Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon, who speechified to police officers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Tuesday: “Colombia has lost more than [5 million acres] of rainforest in the last 15 years to plant coca. If you snort a gram of cocaine you are destroying [43 square feet] of […]

‘Meet the Press’ takes on cars and energy independence

This Sunday, “Meet the Press” was devoted to the auto industry’s travails and to energy independence. (They decided to go totally counterintuitive and have … T. Boone Pickens as a guest. Isn’t that guy’s 15 minutes over yet?) Also, Thomas Friedman was one of the roundtablers. Here’s the video: [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.1011974&w=425&h=350&fv=launch%3D27751726%26width%3D400%26height%3D320]

Obama affirms commitment to climate change, but won’t be going to Poland

Barack Obama won’t be attending the next round of international climate talks next month in Poland, nor is he in Los Angeles today for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s conference on climate change. But the president-elect insists that his administration will be a leader in the effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions. “While I won’t be president […]