Articles by David Roberts
David Roberts was a staff writer for Grist. You can follow him on Twitter, if you're into that sort of thing.
All Articles
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The history of House Republicans on energy in the 110th Congress
As you contemplate the House Republican spectacle today, wherein they protest the "Democrat five-week vacation" in the face of high gas prices, keep a few things in mind. The 109th Congress — the first session of Bush’s second term — worked the least, and accomplished the least, of any Congress since the original do-nothing Congress […]
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Should Obama consider compromise on drilling?
Obama is taking lots of heat for his softening on offshore drilling. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s extremely important to get the renewable tax credits passed, and Republicans have made it very clear they won’t allow that to happen unless they get some drilling. As usual, Dems don’t have the votes to […]
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Should low-probability, high-impact risks govern policymaking?
All due respect to Paul Krugman, but the Weitzman thesis [PDF] has always made me a little uncomfortable. The idea is that it’s human nature to disregard unlikely risks, but if the unlikely risks are catastrophic enough then legislators should build policy around them. If there’s, say, a 2 percent chance that global warming could […]
