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EPA just doesn’t have time to make CO2 decision, says official

Remember how the U.S. EPA was instructed by the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether carbon dioxide should be regulated as a pollutant? And how that was more than a year ago? A senior EPA official said in a speech this week that “given the time frame available to the agency, it’s not realistic” to […]

True patriots would fight global warming

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

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As you'll recall, Barack Obama made a controversial sartorial decision last October about what he will and will not wear on his lapel. He declared he will not wear one of those American flag pins that have become so popular among politicians since Sept. 11.

"I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest," he said while campaigning in Iowa. "Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great. Hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."

His decision was instant red meat for a number of people who wear their patriotism on their sleeves as well as on their lapels. They questioned Obama's allegiance to his nation and to our troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Bag Monsters to educate shoppers on evils of plastic bags

Lunchtime shoppers, beware: if you’re toting your purchases in a plastic bag in one of twelve cities tomorrow, you might encounter a Bag Monster. From your worst shopping-related nightmares the “you can’t make this stuff up” file comes a creation of cosmetics company Lush to support the ban of plastic bags and to raise awareness […]

Snippets from the news

• Sea levels will rise even more than you thought, says new research. • The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an important Clean Water Act case late this year. • Tesla Motors sues the designer of a green-car competitor. • Japan may raise the price of whale meat. • Oil prices hit a new record […]

Chevron runs ad attacking Goldman Prize winner

I attended the Goldman Prize presentation last night, and it was, per usual, a spectacular celebration of uncommonly dedicated individuals working to make this world a better place. The stories of their struggles and triumphs wetted every eye in the house, and they serve as a beacon of inspiration to all who care about the future of planet Earth.

Unless you are Chevron.

This morning, Chevron ran a full-page ad in the San Francisco Chronicle attacking one of the recipients, Pablo Fajarado. "Mr. Fajarado is a front man for a group of Ecuadorian and American trail lawyers pursuing a claim against Chevron."

No! Not trial lawyers! Chevron would prefer that anyone bringing suit against them be represented by fishmongers, not trial laywers. Or something.

I've met those trial lawyers -- and they are, as you might expect, incredibly overworked and underpaid individuals doing this work not for love of lucre but desire for justice. And, if I may project some of my own feelings at this very moment, righteous anger against asshole oil companies.

The rest of the ad is unforgivable character assassination and innuendo.

American filmmakers arrested in Niger Delta

Four Americans working on the documentary Sweet Crude, about the impact of the petroleum industry on the economy and environment of the Niger Delta, were arrested in Nigeria this weekend and are still being detained. A Nigerian man accompanying them was also seized. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil exporter and the fourth-largest exporter to the […]

Coal victory in West Virginia

Virginia’s State Corporation Commission today rejected American Electric Power’s request to build a massive ($2.23b) new dirty coal plant in West Virginia. Why, you ask? The commission said the plant’s estimated price, which dates back to November 2006, isn’t credible. It also said AEP has no plans to provide a detailed, updated estimate until it […]

How to green your investments

This little piggy went earn, earn, earn all the way home. Photo: iStockphoto If you’re thinking green capitalism is one of the most powerful environmental forces in the world, you’re right on the money. Today, surprising as it may seem, some of the world’s leading financial institutions and biggest corporations are taking earth-positive actions — […]

McCain reveals cynicism, hypocrisy with call for summer gas-tax holiday, energy budget freeze

Any remaining glimmer of hope that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) might be the principled, non-cynical politician to transform our energy policy and avoid the dual calamities of peak oil and climate catastrophe died today. The Associated Press reported that:

John McCain called Tuesday for the federal government to free people from paying gasoline taxes this summer ... aimed at stemming the public's pain now from the troubled economy.

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To help people weather the downturn immediately, McCain urged Congress to institute a "gas-tax holiday" by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

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Among other proposals, McCain said he would ... Suspend for one year all increases in discretionary spending for agencies other than those that cover the military and veterans ...

Sad. In fact, doubly sad.

Skeptic stage dad to impressionable teen daughter: ‘MOTIVATION!’

This is the saddest, creepiest story I’ve seen in a long while.