Climate Politics
All Stories
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Charlie’s Angles
Prince Charles sends veiled message to White House on climate change Britain’s Prince Charles has made it clear he views global warming as the direst problem facing the world community. The $6 million question has been: Would he say as much to the notoriously intransigent George Bush during a state dinner this week at the […]
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Better Dead Than Red-Legged
Bush admin plans to gut critical habitat for red-legged frog The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed slashing critical habitat for California’s threatened red-legged frog by over 80 percent, from 4.1 million to 737,912 acres. Why, you ask? It seems protecting the beleaguered amphibian just costs too darn much: The agency says projected economic […]
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Senate votes to keep Arctic Refuge drilling in budget bill
The campaign to keep oil drills out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has just been dealt what could be a fatal blow. Yesterday, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced an amendment to drop refuge-drilling language from a filibuster-proof federal budget bill; today, the Senate voted down that amendment, 48 to 51. "This is too important a question to slide into the budget bill," Cantwell said yesterday. "We are setting a very, very dangerous precedent." But Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) is psyched. "America can't afford $3-a-gallon gasoline and we can't afford to depend on sources hostile to the United States," he said today, though he failed to explain how drilling in the refuge would solve either problem. The Senate budget bill is expected to pass later this week; the House version, which also includes the drilling language, will be voted on as early as next week. The fate of the final compromise budget bill is unclear.
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The Rend Is Near
Senate votes to keep Arctic Refuge drilling in budget bill The campaign to keep oil drills out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has just been dealt what could be a fatal blow. Yesterday, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) introduced an amendment to drop refuge-drilling language from a filibuster-proof federal budget bill; today, the Senate voted […]
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Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has enviros worried
Samuel Alito, to the right of President Bush (ahem). Photo: Paul Morse/The White House. Enviro advocates in D.C. have spent the last 24 hours digging through Samuel Alito‘s extensive paper trail for clues as to how he might vote on environmental cases were he confirmed as a U.S. Supreme Court justice. A staunchly conservative judge […]
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Night of the Inexpensive Dead
EPA chief Johnson resurrects Bush’s “Clear Skies” plan The Bush administration’s “Clear Skies” air-pollution plan, seven months after its seeming death in Congress, has clawed its way out of the ground and lumbered back to life, moaning and twitching, bits of rotted flesh dropping from its desiccated corpse. (Hey, it’s almost Halloween — sue us.) […]
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Why we need a World Environment Organization
With climate change manifesting itself in the melting of Arctic glaciers and the drowning of small Pacific islands, in widespread species extinction, forest loss, desertification, and impending water shortages, the scope of environmental problems has changed. Long-term alteration of the earth’s climate is moving us into terra incognita that’s difficult or impossible to reverse. Recently, […]
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Optical Delusion
Republicans ask oil firms to “do their part” to ease pain at the pump Oil companies and their GOP backers in Washington face a somewhat awkward situation: The oil industry is awash in record profits, but Republicans continue to shovel them millions in subsidies. Meanwhile, Americans stagger under the weight of soaring gas prices. This […]
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Just Another Woeful Wednesday
Congressional committees approve a pile o’ drilling and mining Congress worked hard on Wednesday to ensure America a clean, secure energy future. Ah, we kid! Actually, the House Resources Committee approved a measure that would weaken the federal ban on new offshore gas and oil drilling. And both House and Senate resource committees approved provisions […]
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Shake, Rattle, and Bankroll
Hillary calls for Big Oil to fund a cleaner energy future Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) says the oil industry should pony up for a multibillion-dollar “Strategic Energy Fund” that would invest in clean-energy technologies and help folks struggling with spiking heating costs. At the Cleantech Venture Forum in D.C. yesterday, Clinton called for Big Oil […]
