Climate Politics
All Stories
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EPA says race, income shouldn’t be environmental-justice factors
It may surprise some people to hear that the Bush administration’s EPA just drafted a strategic plan on environmental justice. Insidiously, and perhaps less surprisingly, advocates say, the move threatens to redefine that term into irrelevance. The agency’s new plan defines environmental justice as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of […]
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New nominees for top spots at EPA worry enviros
While the green community and the press fixate on the energy bill that’s finally wending its way to President Bush‘s desk, a changing of the guard under way at the U.S. EPA is sliding by virtually unnoticed. Who are these three jokers? When Stephen Johnson assumed his post at the head of the agency in […]
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Beach Blanket Politico
Green activist Donna Frye leading in race for mayor of San Diego San Diego may soon get a jolt of green in City Hall. Veteran surfer chick and longtime environmental activist Donna Frye (D) took 43 percent of the vote in the city’s mayoral election on Tuesday, far ahead of the 27 percent earned by […]
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Dirty Financing
Dirty-energy tax breaks total over $8.5 billion in energy bill Highly profitable dirty-power industries may be treated to even fatter bottom lines thanks to the energy bill that emerged this week from congressional conference committee. It would dedicate more than $8.5 billion in tax breaks over the next 10 years to oil, natural gas, coal, […]
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Brown vs. Sword of Education
Law students help eco-groups for free and get educated in the process When a nonprofit environmental group with a shoestring budget seeks to confront big government or corporate foes in court, where can it turn? Increasingly, the answer is: law students. Some 30 law schools around the country now host environmental law clinics (nearly half […]
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On the Gutting-Room Floor
Clean-energy measures dropped as Congress reaches energy-bill compromise Working into the wee hours Tuesday morning, House and Senate negotiators finished crafting a compromise federal energy bill, in the process killing two provisions intended to curb America’s fossil-fuel addiction. A Senate measure that would have required the president to find ways to reduce oil use by […]
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Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Lawsuits
Lawsuit shield for MTBE makers dropped from energy bill One of the last remaining roadblocks to the passage of the energy bill has reportedly been removed: According to Senate Energy Committee Chair Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), a provision to shield manufacturers of groundwater-polluting fuel additive MTBE from lawsuits has been dropped from the bill. A similar […]
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John G. Roberts’ enviro record not so green, but also not provoking a lot of protest
John G. Roberts (left) and President Bush. Photo: The White House/Eric Draper. Not only are the far-right Family Research Council and the biz-friendly U.S. Chamber of Commerce raving about President Bush’s nominee for the Supreme Court, but plenty of liberals have glowing words for John G. Roberts Jr. too. Georgetown law professor Richard Lazarus, a […]
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The Pernicious Effects of Hollywood Liberalism
Californians believe global warming is real and want state to act Most Californians believe their state should take action now to regulate human activities that are heating up the planet. According to a survey conducted by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, 86 percent think global warming will affect them or their descendants, and […]
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Brussels Pouts
European Union commissioners duke it out over green legislation Today’s meeting of the E.U.’s European Commission is a make-or-break moment for the union’s sustainable-development policies, according to eco-advocates. Since taking office last November, commission president José Manuel Barroso has delayed initiatives on pesticides, the marine environment, air quality, and more, saying they might prevent the […]
