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Pelosi hears from enviros on climate change legislation

Last Wednesday, Speaker Pelosi held a roundtable discussion on climate change in San Francisco, followed by a press conference.

She said -- no news here -- that she's determined to introduce an energy and climate package on July 4th, (energy) Independence Day. In preparation, she's instructed relevant committee chairs to move their bits of legislation through their committees by early June.

She got a lot of advice -- some of it, given that this is the environmental community, conflicting.

How do you choose yours?

I had nightmares after reading Nicolas Kristof's gruesome description of the Guinea worm -- a two-foot worm that eats through people and pops out of their bodies in the most unpleasant places -- in his editorial on Jimmy Carter's work to eradicate the disease. Beside the sleepless night, the article helped to solidify two things for me.

This is huge

Holy sh*t! This is huge: Under a proposed $45 billion buyout by a team of private equity firms, the TXU Corporation, a Texas utility that has long been the bane of environmental groups, will abandon plans to build 8 of 11 coal plants and commit to a broad menu of environmental measures, according to people […]

Taking pointers from Schwarzenegger on talking about global warming.

Not only is Schwarzenegger leading California to many firsts in climate policy, he's also leading the way when it comes to talking about global warming.

Any savvy politician knows you can't get policy on the books without first winning over your colleagues and constituents. And Arnie is surely one of the savviest politicos around. Here's how he's doing it:

First, he taps into Californian pride and shared American values, stressing leadership, innovation, and a call to make history:

With love

Dear Tom Vilsack, Why did you tempt us with your progressive energy plan (PDF) and then turn your back on us so quickly? Sure, you had no chance of winning, but you could have at least pushed your energy agenda and greenhouse-gas reduction strategies a little longer, driving the debate among candidates who might actually […]

Fun with evolutionary psychology

Let me enthusiastically recommend this essay on The Oil Drum by Nate Hagens. It’s about human beings’ discount rate, its evolutionary origins, and its implications for climate change and peak oil. In psychology, "discount rate" refers to the fact that we value events/rewards/dangers less the more distant they are in the future. We, less than […]

The pre-Oscar buzz is green, all green

Anyone who sneaks a guilty peek at Access Hollywood or Extra after dinner knows that it is officially Party Week in Hollywood. Everybody and her over-pedigreed dog is in town, boozing and schmoozing it up before the Academy Awards on Sunday. So when I scored an invite to the Global Green pre-Oscar party, I was pretty pumped.

This is the third year the organization has thrown the blowout, complete with a plethora of hybrids and alternative energy vehicles in the parking lot, chic sustainable building materials on display inside, and a long list of big names in attendance. Among the biggest: Petra Nemcova and James Blunt, Diane Kruger and Joshua Jackson, Orlando Bloom and his new spiky haircut, and Oscar nominees and event co-chairs Leonardo DiCaprio and Penelope Cruz.

Unfortunately, I and the rest of the print media were stationed in front of the fans on the street and after a looong line of photographers. So many of the stars didn't stop to chat, either because they were suffering from sheer media fatigue or because they mistook us for a gaggle of screaming autograph seekers. (I'm sure my shrill cries of "Orlando! I want to ask you about the environment!" didn't help.)

A new report

"The Carbon Neutral Myth: Offset Indulgences for your Climate Sins" (long PDF), a report from Carbon Trade Watch by Kevin Smith, is a new critique of the idea of carbon neutrality.

The press release says:

Carbon offsets are the modern day indulgences, sold to an increasingly carbon-conscious public to absolve their climate sins. Scratch the surface, however, and a disturbing picture emerges, where creative accountancy and elaborate shell games cover up the impossibility of verifying genuine climate-change benefits, and where communities in the South often have little choice as offset projects are inflicted on them.

The report also deals in more depth with an issue Grist has covered in passing -- the energy-saving CFL bulbs Climate Care paid for in the South African urban township of Guguletu.

A journey on China’s controversial new train to Tibet

Each night, the Qinghai-Tibet train leaves Beijing at 9:30. A mere 48 hours later, it rolls into Lhasa, 2,525 miles away. Waiting to depart from Beijing. Photos: Erica Gies Shortly after 9 p.m. one warm night last fall, my travel companion and I raced through the sprawling West Beijing train station, weaving our way through […]

Did your pick win?

With over 20,000 people participating, the votes have been cast for the 2007 Global Warming Globie Awards. And the winners are:

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels (Best Performance by a State or Local Official)

US-CAP (Best Performance in the Corporate World)

An Inconvenient Truth (Best Film, Documentary, or Website Focusing on Global Warming)

ExxonMobil (Worst Performance by a Corporation or Corporate Official)

Senator James Inhofe (Most Egregious Contribution to Public Ignorance and Denial)

Check out the site for more details and honorable mentions.