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Agitprop, enemy of the human race edition

A nice roundup of the clean coal PR campaign over on Salon.

Limbaugh angry about being smarter than McCain

“It offends me that a man running for the president of the United States knows 10% of what I know about this. It offends me. In the case of Obama and Hillary, they know what they’re spewing is a bunch of BS. They know they’re spouting lies. I don’t know what McCain is doing here, […]

Last flight out

Richard Heinberg bids adieu to cheap flight:

The airline industry has no future. The same is true for airfreight. No air carrier has a viable plan to make a profit with oil at current prices -- much less in years to come as the petroleum available to world markets dwindles rapidly. That's not to say that jetliners will disappear overnight, but rather that the cheap flights we've seen in the past will soon be fading memories. In a few years jet service will be available only to the wealthy, or to the government and military.

Federal food-aid package promotes GMOs

A $770 million food-aid package proposed by the Bush administration may also aid U.S. agribiz, as the feds have slipped in language promoting the use of genetically modified crops in developing countries. Proponents of bioengineering say that GM crops are hardier in harsh climates and can produce higher yields; opponents say that just ain’t the […]

California concludes majority of emission reductions will come through regulation

No state has done more to study the nitty-gritty of reducing emissions than California, and the California Air Resources Board recently revealed some of its thinking on how to achieve the state’s ambitious emission goals. Its conclusions should spark some serious discussion among those who — like John McCain — think cap-and-trade is going to […]

Senate turns back sneak attack from climate action opponents

Opponents of climate action launched a surprise assault last Friday night. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) led an attempt to add an amendment to the budget bill that Congress should hold off on enacting cap-and-trade legislation until China and India take more action.

You'd expect Climate Security Act co-sponsors like Virginia's John Warner, Minnesota's Norm Coleman, Maine's Susan Collins, and North Carolina's Elizabeth Dole to oppose the amendment.

But then another surprise -- South Carolina's Lindsey Graham, New Hampshire's Judd Gregg, Florida's Mel Martinez, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, Kansas' Pat Roberts, Oregon's Gordon Smith, Maine's Olympia Snowe, Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, and New Hampshire's John Sununu also voted against it. In all, 61 senators voted to kill Sen. DeMint's amendment, with 12 Republicans joining nearly every present Democrat and independent (West Virginia's Sen. Robert Byrd voted for it).

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) then led a counterattack.

Corporate evangelical leaders cloak opposition to climate policy behind concern for poor

Those of you following Grist’s news feed (if you’re not, you should) are aware that last week a group of conservative evangelicals launched the "We Get It!" campaign, arguing against action on global warming. We’ve written a great deal on Grist about the split in the evangelical leadership between those who recognize the danger of […]

Chafee: ‘GOP genuflects before Old King Coal’

The former Senator from Rhode Island, Lincoln Chafee, plants his boot on the ass of his one-time Congressional colleagues: Indeed, “here we go again,” with the Bush EPA weakening environmental rules on building power plants near national parks. The environment is a key issue for many Americans but you would never know it by how […]

Wind power: a core climate solution

Wind power is a key climate solution. It is one of the few zero-carbon supply options that can plausibly provide more than one of the 14 or so "wedges" we need to stabilize below 450 ppm of CO2 (see "Is 450 ppm politically possible? Part 2: The Solution"). I plan to go through all of the major solutions this year.

The stunning new Bush administration report, 20% Wind Energy by 2030 (discussed here), convinced me it was time to write a long piece, which has just been published in Salon. The article -- "Winds of change: The U.S. can greatly boost clean wind power for 2 cents a day. Now all we need is a president who won't blow the chance" -- explains the more than 2,000-year history of wind power, how conservatives cost America the chance to be the world wind leader, and why the global industry is so successful in spite of our government's relative apathy:

Grist is cooking up a new site; what do you want to see in it?

I have exciting matters to discuss, but first, two apologies. First apology Lately, my blogging has been cursory, rushed, incomplete, and a little sucky. I haven’t been responding to emails, writing the longer pieces I’ve promised various people, or otherwise keeping up with my professional obligations. "What’s new?" you ask. What’s new is that I […]