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Polar bears against Palin

A website to lighten your day. Don’t miss the hilarious point/counterpoint debate between Palin and a surprisingly articulate and snarky polar bear. This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Snippets from the news

• Stephane Dion would give big money to green up Canadian farmers. • Permafrost may stay intact despite global warming. • Australia goes big with “clean coal.” • House passes bill that would triple funding for Great Lakes cleanup. • West Coast LNG terminal approved. • Sierra Club gives out awards. • Nature Conservancy buys […]

Senate settles on a grab bag of political favors in place of an energy policy

Next week, the Senate plans to consider the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, a hodgepodge of subsidies and tax credits that reflects the vacuum of long-term strategic thinking in U.S. energy policy. The bill is a classic Senate Christmas Tree, bedecked with tax breaks and loopholes for just about every energy-related industry under […]

The one clean-tech breakthrough that could lead to a core climate solution: Thermoelectricity

The buzzwords of the day: TE with high TZ. The world doesn’t need a major technology breakthrough to cost-effectively cut carbon emissions in half by mid-century. Indeed, most such breakthroughs would be difficult to deploy fast enough and on a large enough scale to make a large difference in that time frame. Other key medium-term […]

A little noted provision of the new Farm Bill

The federal Farm Bill that was passed and signed into law in June contains a little noted provision directing the USDA to establish a framework that would facilitate participation of farmers and landowners in emerging environmental services markets. At a time when the American market system seems to be collapsing all around us, how should […]

Two reasons climate/energy policy assessments frequently undercount benefits

I forgot two other things I wanted to note about the CARB study showing that California’s climate program will positively benefit the economy and public health. First, and crucially, the press release notes that "the bulk of the economic benefits are the result of investments in energy efficiency that more than pay for themselves over […]

Hazardous substances still a mainstay for Big Chemical

The good news: some companies are moving toward nontoxic chemicals and products. The bad news: many aren’t. In a 2007 report, consultants hired by Big Chemical concluded that the industry’s eco-initiatives are “reactive, not proactive,” and that it “has a very short-term focus and discounts long-term issues.” There is, wrote the consultants, “a lack of […]

House holds hearing on MMS scandal; Kempthorne recommends ethics training

On Thursday the House Natural Resources Committee held a hearing on the MMS scandal currently providing humorists with so many drilling puns. Pelosi’s blog has an account of the hearing. (See also E&E News, $ub req’d.) The most amusing part was the righteous performance from Rep. George Miller, particularly this exchange with Interior Secretary Dirk […]

An interview with Wikia’s Jimmy Wales about his new green venture

Jimmy Wales. Jimmy Wales, best known as a cofounder of Wikipedia, is now channeling some of his energy and ambition into the environmental realm, aiming to build “the world’s handbook for going green.” Wikia, Inc., Wales’ for-profit company (not to be confused with Wikipedia, a project of the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation), announced this month that […]

A weak economy brings a diminished appetite for curbs on carbon emissions

The Freakonomics blog offers up a long-ish but lucid discussion of the ongoing financial crisis. I recommend the whole thing, but in a nutshell: Financial institutions borrow money all the time to fund their investments. When the real estate bubble burst, a lot of those investments lost value rapidly, leaving banks such as Bear Stearns […]