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What will it take to make 2008 great?

The following guest post is by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), originally published on Climate Progress. He is the co-author of Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy.

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Now that our New Year's Eve party hats are put away, it's time to look to the next year in the battle against global warming. In the year 2007, some good things did indeed happen on this front. Measures significantly improving car mileage standards and promoting the growth of renewable fuels were signed into law. But if 2007 was a year that could be considered in some ways good, then 2008 needs to be a year that will be great.

Nothing else will do. The cataclysms of one million square miles of ice melting in the Arctic, a several-fold increase in the rate of melting tundra, and the acceleration of melting in Greenland, foretell possible feedback mechanisms that demand a faster and more aggressive clean energy revolution than we even envisioned a year ago. Whatever we thought necessary on New Year's Day 2007 needs to be doubled in 2008.

So what will it take to make '08 great? Three things will do the trick.

Why not Eilperin?

After four separate posts bashing Peter Baker’s craptastic WaPo piece, I come to a simple question: Why did they have Baker write this piece instead of their environmental reporter Juliet Eilperin? She’s incredibly sharp, one of the best green reporters working today. I doubt she would have gone along with the spin as easily as […]

Compact fluorescents can cause health problems, say groups

As Australia, Britain, and the good ol’ U.S. of A make plans to phase out traditional energy-sucking light bulbs, health concerns are being raised about compact fluorescents, the most popular alternative. The British Association of Dermatologists says CFLs can cause rashes on folks with photosensitive skin, the U.K. Migraine Action Association suggests that the bulbs […]

Dodd and Biden drop out of race for Democratic presidential nomination

After getting trounced in the Iowa caucuses yesterday, Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.) and Joe Biden (Del.) dropped out of the presidential race. Dodd was the only candidate who supported a corporate carbon tax as a means to fight climate change; both Dodd and Biden supported a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 80 percent […]

Seed-and-chemical giant sees its profit triple

In a gold rush, the firms that supply the gold diggers with tools — not the gold diggers themselves — make the highest and steadiest profits. That’s a platitude, but it’s also usually true. And it’s now playing out in the boom in corn-based ethanol. Don’t waste much time envying corn farmers. Sure, they’ve seen […]

Tom Carper totally knows the president

(An on we go, in a series on the WaPo piece so bad it required numerous separate gripes.) Tom Carper would like you to know that he’s a) committed on global warming, and b) tight with the president: People find all sorts of ways to lobby President Bush. Sometimes it comes in the form of […]

IBM sued for dumping chemicals in upstate New York

A group of 94 plaintiffs has filed suit against IBM in New York’s state Supreme Court seeking damages for the company’s role in dumping toxic chemicals near a former factory that allegedly contributed to residents developing cancers, heart defects, and other problems. According to attorneys, the main pollutant is trichloroethylene, which was first found drifting […]

Judge orders restrictions on U.S. Navy’s use of sonar off California coast

A federal judge yesterday ordered the U.S. Navy to adopt specific restrictions on its use of sonar in order to protect whales and other marine mammals off the California coast. Mid-frequency sonar has been accused of causing a wide range of problems when it’s used within proximity of marine mammals, such as temporary deafness, beachings, […]

An interview with Carol Moseley Braun about her biodynamic food company

This election season, Carol Moseley Braun isn’t gunning to become the first black president or the first female president. (Been there, done that.) Instead, she’s trying to break ground in another arena, one she considers vastly more satisfying than politics: food. Healthy, organic, biodynamic food. Carol Moseley Braun. Photo: AP / Seth Perlman In 2002, […]

Will climate wash out as an issue or help the greener candidate?

If we end up with an Obama v. Romney/Giuliani/Thompson race, the green dynamic will be simple. The guy who wants to do something about global warming vs. the guy who prefers the energy status quo. But if, as I’m now (wildly and irresponsibly) predicting, it’s an Obama v. McCain race, the dynamic shifts in some […]