Climate Politics

EPA plan would spew under-treated sewage into U.S. waterways

Like clean water? Then you’ll love Rep. Bart Stupak. Swimming in sewage just isn’t this fun. For the last year, Stupak has been fighting a U.S. EPA proposal that would allow inadequately treated sewage to be “blended” with fully treated waste during rain and snow events. The messy mix would then be released into the […]

We’ll Drink to That

Americans prefer their water clean, poll shows “An overwhelming majority” — some 86 percent — of Americans believe clean, safe water is a national issue worthy of government spending, a new poll concludes. The two polling firms (one from each side of the partisan divide) conducting the opinion survey asked 900 adults a variety of […]

Bush EPA nominee Steve Johnson garners praise and sympathy

Stephen Johnson. Photo: Energy Star. The next chief of the Bush EPA wasn’t expected to have more than a dewdrop’s chance in hell of widespread acceptance in the disgruntled environmental community. So it came as a surprise on Friday when the president tapped respected scientist and 24-year EPA veteran Stephen Johnson to captain the agency, […]

Everybody’s a Critic

New voices join chorus pushing Bush to act on climate change At this point it’s getting hard to keep track, but a couple more notable folks have joined the ranks of those calling on the Bush administration, either implicitly or explicitly, to act on global warming. Perhaps most unexpected is James Baker, former secretary of […]

Hawks speak out for U.S.-grown clean energy

"It's not a hardship to drive it. It's fun."
-- George Shultz, former Secretary of State, referring to his Toyota Prius, a hybrid car that uses much less gasoline than a conventional vehicle, at the second annual summit of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, February 11.

I found this nugget in my inbox, tucked into the recent issue of @stanford, "a monthly newsletter of campus news and research," in the "Heard on Campus" segment (I am an alum of the law school). How great to hear another respected Republican foreign policy leader touting the benefits of cleaner and more efficient automobiles. Over the past several years, it seems the chorus is getting louder and louder, with testimony, articles, and op-eds about and from Republican and Democratic foreign policy and military leaders.

Hazy Delays of Winter

Clear Skies bill still bottled up in Senate committee Help — Clear Skies has fallen, and it can’t get up! President Bush’s “Clear Skies” legislation is stuck in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Committee Chair James Inhofe (R-Okla.) has delayed a vote on the bill three times, most recently yesterday, each time realizing […]

Bush Sticks Johnson in the EPA

President Bush announces nominee to head EPA Today President Bush announced his new pick to lead the U.S. EPA: Steve Johnson, who’s been the agency’s temporary head since Mike Leavitt left six weeks ago to head the Department of Health and Human Services. If confirmed by the Senate, Johnson, a 24-year EPA veteran, will be […]

Enviro-justice activists send a dispatch from a panel with The Reapers

Thursday, 3 Mar 2005 SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. The Asian Pacific Environmental Network was invited to speak on a panel yesterday with “Death of Environmentalism” coauthor Michael Shellenberger, Taj James, executive director of the Movement Strategy Center, and Adam Werbach, past president of the Sierra Club. The goal was to broaden the debate about the future […]

He Wasn’t Kidding About Being Back

Schwarzenegger returns with new, revamped solar initiative Yesterday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) joined state senators from both parties to introduce a new version of his solar plan. What David Hochschild of Vote Solar called “the most ambitious solar initiative ever proposed in the United States” would offer substantial rebates to homeowners who install solar […]

An interview with Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican from Nebraska, on his new climate bills

A possible GOP presidential contender in 2008, Nebraskan Sen. Chuck Hagel has lately sprung to the public stage as one of the leading Republican voices on climate change. In mid-February, he introduced three bills designed to be economic jumper cables that would boost the development of clean-energy technologies — one focusing on international technology exchange […]