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McCain promotes eco-cred, while his advisers push for more Bush-style policies

In honor of John McCain’s eco-week, both the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee have launched sites where folks can make personal pledges to protect the planet. The McCain campaign has also put out a line of “eco-friendly” swag — shirts, hats, tote bags, etc. Meanwhile, McCain adviser Kevin Hassett, who is also the […]

Big increases coming in electric costs

From the "Things Grist readers already knew" file comes this report from ClimateWire ($ub. req'd) that price shocks are looming for power plant operators, even before the costs of carbon are factored in.

A few excerpts below the fold:

Polar bear decision expected today from Bush administration

This just in from Associated Press:

The Interior Department has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to announce a decision on whether to list the polar bear as threatened and in need of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed such protection 15 months ago because of the disappearance of Arctic sea ice, which is a primary habitat for the bear. Last September, scientists said up to two-thirds of the polar bears could disappear by mid-century because of sea ice loss due to global warming.

However, it's not certain the bear will be listed as threatened. Recently the United States and Canada agreed to conduct additional research into the future survival of the bear. That memorandum did not mention global warming.

You can read that memorandum of understanding signed by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne here [PDF]. It was signed back on May 8 but I haven't seen it reported anywhere. Weird.

The science couldn't be more clear -- the polar bear is threatened by climate change and could be gone from U.S. soil (and ice) by mid-century. It's hard to imagine a decision not to protect the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, even from the Bush administration. That would completely contradict evidence presented by the administration's own biologists and show that obstruction on climate action is more of a priority than protecting the polar bear.

WV Supreme Court chief justice and friend to dirty coal loses reelection bid

Remember Spike Maynard? He was the chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court, the one caught canoodling around the Caribbean with mountaintop mining executive Don Blankenship — and some young women to whom, suffice to say, they were not betrothed — while Blankenship’s company, Massey Energy, had a case before the court. Maynard said […]

Melting Arctic ice poses security threat, says Pentagon

Waterways made navigable by melting Arctic ice pose a security threat to the northern U.S. border, says the Pentagon. The shrinking ice cap has led to increased interest in tourism and energy development in the Arctic, and the extra traffic makes the Pentagon wary. “The Arctic is a new area that is important to us […]

Wal-Mart tightens safety standards for toxics in toys

Wal-Mart, the world’s largest toy retailer, has told its suite of suppliers that they must meet new safety standards for toxics in toys by later this year. Some 25 million toys were recalled by toy makers last year in the United States, many due to high lead levels. Wal-Mart’s new standards apply to a range […]

Thinking beyond technology to mitigate climate change

If we quit adding carbon to the atmosphere, it won't stop global warming any time soon. That's why people are hoping there are ways to get the extra carbon out of the atmosphere, and that we can put billions of tons of it somewhere safe.

Breaking apart carbon dioxide -- or extracting carbon dioxide from the air -- takes work. Work means energy. It's the reverse of combustion. There's a triple problem here: the technology itself, the disposal, and the energy to do the work.

It's a common saying that you can't unscramble an egg. Once scrambled, the egg proteins won't go back to their raw configuration when they cool, and even if they did, it's impossible to wield a fork in such a way as to separate the yolk from the white. Roomfuls of the latest and greatest laboratory equipment, the best Google algorithms, or even all the king's horses and all the king's men would not unscramble our egg. The mixing and cooking are irreversible processes.

It's a familiar impasse. Can we change the way we see the problem?

McCain’s gas-tax holiday plan is at odds with his new climate strategy

Sen. John McCain made a climate speech Monday in which he argued that doing something about climate change is a "test of foresight, of political courage, and of the unselfish concern that one generation owes to the next." His timing is curious. "Ignore that man behind the curtain," his speech seemed to be saying. "You know, the man who is beating up on Sen. Barack Obama for refusing to support his gas-tax holiday proposal; the one who will be making it easier for Americans to consume greater amounts of carbon-rich fossil fuel." Of course, it is hard to ignore the man behind the curtain.

Whitehouse and Boxer want answers from EPA’s Johnson on Gade ouster

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson today, calling for information about the circumstances surrounding the ouster of Mary Gade, the administrator of the agency’s Midwest regional office. Gade was allegedly fired after attempting to force Dow Chemical to clean up dioxin pollution around the […]

Dems and GOP agree to stop filling Strategic Petroleum Reserve

The Senate today approved legislation to temporarily suspend deliveries to the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, by a vote of 97-1. The measure was inserted as an amendment to a flood insurance bill, and was opposed only by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). The Energy Department sends 70,000 barrels of oil to the reserve every day, a […]