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House members ask Bush to shill for clean coal in his speech

I suppose I should write some insightful comments about Bush’s upcoming State of the Union speech, which everyone expects to be sucky, since the guy’s a lame duck and everyone hates him. There are lots of emails and PR releases flying around, fact-checking previous SOTUs and promising to fact-check tonight’s. To summarize: Everything he’s said […]

U.S. sets low expectations for this week’s climate meeting

Leaders from the world’s major economies will fly big planes to Honolulu this week for a chat about reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions. Ironicalicious! Even better, the Bush administration, which is hosting the meeting, isn’t expecting much out of it. “I think these will be iterative discussions, which the initial goal will be to lay out […]

The candidates on clean energy

Politicians will always have an influence on the stock market, through regulation, tax policy, incentives, and more. This truism is only more certain in energy policy, where electricity markets and transport are highly regulated and the next administration is widely expected to enact some sort of carbon regulation, if not a tax.

This weekend, I heard the head of the Colorado Governor's Energy Office speak on what the state administration is doing on energy policy (PDF). Our current governor, Bill Ritter, ran on a three-part platform: working to fix Colorado's healthcare, transportation, and energy policies. Last year, the administration mostly focused on energy, and although healthcare and transportation will get more attention this year, there are already several energy bills on the legislative slate. This is because "Nobody is certain what to do about transportation or health care, but we do know what to do about Energy." This scenario may also be familiar to residents of California.

Since we do know what to do about energy, do the remaining U.S. presidential candidates? From the news coverage, I have to admit I'm far from certain. My impression has been that most of the Democrats and John McCain among the Republicans have been talking a good game, but repeated mentions of potentially problematic technologies and policies such as "clean coal," biofuels, carbon cap-and-trade, nuclear power, and even coal to liquids, leave me wondering if even the best of intentions might lead to bungled energy policy.

If I were president ...

If Gore’s endorsement could make the difference, will he give it?

I have predicted that Al Gore won’t endorse a candidate during the primary. I still think that’s probably true, and appropriate. But I’m starting to wonder. What if Obama’s momentum — from SC and his recent endorsements — gives him just enough juice to reach near-parity with Clinton on Feb. 5, where she’s long been […]

Wow

It’s getting difficult to tell the reality from the parody. Are Your Feet Green? New Eco-friendly Lifestyle Community Launches with Organic Sock Giveway Promotion encourages consumers to take small steps in adopting Greener lifestyle We’re down to socks now?

Put your economic stimulus stipend to green use

Photo: iStockphoto Psyched about the $300-$600 you may be receiving but worried about what it really means for the state of our economy how you’ll be able to spend it all? Never fear: I’ve crunched some numbers and put together this list of 10 ways to spend your gov-given green. 1 down payment on a […]

Efficacy of House of Reps’ carbon offsets questioned

Some greens and congressfolk are questioning the efficacy of the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent purchase of $89,000 in carbon offsets as part of their greening the Capitol initiative. “It didn’t change much behavior that wasn’t going to happen anyway,” said Joseph Romm of the Center for American Progress. “It just, I think, demonstrated why […]

Here’s your chance to be the Pollan of climate change

Kristina/Jason’s plea for a tagline here reminds me: check out this post over on the NRDC Switchboard blog. It notes the success of Michael Pollan’s already legendary aphorism — "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." — and wonders whether something similarly compact could be used to explain what people need to know about climate […]

Romney criticized McCain on climate, and more election news

In his victory speech after triumphing in the South Carolina Democratic primary on Saturday, Barack Obama called on Americans to come together to make “energy cleaner” — but environmental issues weren’t a notable factor in the state’s contest. Green concerns are more visible in Florida, where Republicans are currently duking it out in advance of […]

Bush admin unveils new plan for Tongass forest in Alaska, ticks off enviros

The Bush administration unveiled a new management plan on Friday for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which encompasses nearly 17 million acres of coastal rainforest. The Tongass is the largest national forest in the U.S., a rallying point for enviros who want to protect all remaining roadless areas in national forests. The new plan, […]