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The silver-lining of Lieberman-Warner’s demise

The demise of the Lieberman-Warner climate bill may not be a bad thing if it spurs environmentalists and politicians to ask: Is this the best way to cap carbon?

Let's be clear what Lieberman-Warner was. Yes, it contained a carbon cap. But mostly it was about spending or giving away trillions of dollars. It was, as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) put it, "the mother and father of all earmarks," and every lobbyist in town was at the trough.

Words of wisdom from 40 years ago

Robert F. Kennedy, 1968:

We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break them. The Gross National Product includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads ... It includes ... the broadcasting of television programs which glorify violence to sell goods to our children. And if the Gross National Product includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry, or the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials ... the Gross National Product measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile, and it can tell us everything about America -- except whether we are proud to be Americans.

Hat tip: The Oil Drum. Read their entire post. Do it now.

House ponders investment in multilateral clean tech fund; greens argue it isn’t all that green

Last week, the House Finance Committee’s Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology (the HFCSDIMPTT for short) held a hearing about whether the United States should invest in a multilateral fund to support the deployment of clean energy technology in the developing world. There’s been talk of World Bank investment in clean […]

Maybe there’s hope after all

Unicorns!

Airline industry takes small steps to offset high fuel prices

To offset the impact of rising fuel prices, the airline industry is doing the obvious: retiring less-efficient aircraft, flying slightly slower, and plugging into electrical systems when parked at the gate. But even smaller steps, multiplied over a large fleet, can have a significant impact. Various airlines are carrying less water for the facilities and […]

Wait, they’re not the same?!

In the Boston Globe, Carol Browner and Bob Sussman construct a short and powerful critique of McCain’s climate/energy positions, tacking against the kind of foolishness that has addled the brains of the folks over at the L.A. Times.

Tomato salmonella scare hits the big time

Insert everything I said in this post, except now the salmonella-tainted tomato scare has gone nationwide, whereas before, the FDA had been limiting its warning to Texas and New Mexico. Here is Associated Press: Federal officials hunted for the source of a salmonella outbreak in Connecticut and 16 other states linked to three types of […]

Vaccine, nut oil may cut cow belching’s contribution to climate change

The worldwide race to quell livestock belching is on! Earlier this month, New Zealand researchers came one step closer to developing a vaccine that would reduce the methane emitted from belching livestock. Ruminant livestock burp and fart significant quantities of methane — a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. “Our agricultural research organization […]

It’s long past time to assign responsibility for stymied climate legislation

In an otherwise insightful piece on the failure of the Lieberman-Warner bill, Eric Pooley says this: It would have taken a truly great floor debate to begin resolving some of those difficult areas — a half dozen thorny deal-breakers (how to contain costs, what to do about China) that need to be figured out before […]

A ‘sense of the House’ resolution to adopt 350 ppm as America’s official climate target

This may seem hokey, but I'm so far beyond frustrated with the legislators of this country that I've gone and written my own piece of climate change legislation. My bill is simple. Once you get past all the "whereas" and so forth, it simply calls for the United States to aim toward stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at 350 ppm and to lead international negotiations on the successor to the Kyoto Protocol toward the same goal.