Climate Politics
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Taxpayers could get stuck with tab for new diesel rules
When the Bush administration wants to gin up some environmental cred, it cites efforts underway to slash diesel emissions by requiring trucking companies to switch to cleaner engines. But the untold story is that it may be the taxpayers — not the polluters — who end up footing much of the bill. Big Mac attack. […]
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Bipartisan House bill may signal growing consensus on climate change
Gilchrest (left) and Olver, the new climate warriors. Photo: U.S. House. The nascent congressional effort to fight global warming has spread to the House — but supporters acknowledge that it’s not likely to receive an especially warm welcome from the chamber’s leadership. Last week, a motley bipartisan crew of representatives including Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) and […]
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USDA’s Mark Rey drags feet on releasing info about forest policymaking
Mark Rey. Photo: USFS. According to lawyers from Defenders of Wildlife, Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, seems to be pulling some moves out of the Dick Cheney playbook — the very same tricks of evasion and secrecy that have jeopardized the vice president’s reputation in the fiasco surrounding his energy […]
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The EPA has been misoverestimating the fuel economy of cars sold in the U.S., says enviro group
A whole lot of exaggerating going on. If you think the fuel economy of U.S. vehicles is dismal, well, you’re right. Perhaps more right than you know. Official U.S. EPA statistics ascribe a pathetic average of 20.8 miles per gallon to the 2003 car fleet, about 6 percent lower than 15 years ago. The fleet […]
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Fuel economy grows as a campaign issue, making some Michigan Dems nervous
Gassing up. It seemed oddly off-message: John Kerry stood before an audience of thousands of California liberals yesterday at a rally at the University of California at San Diego, roasting the petroleum-hungry Bush administration for letting gas prices escalate. “I’ll use real diplomacy to do what George Bush hasn’t — pressure OPEC to start providing […]
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Bush’s mercury proposal draws heat from both sides of the aisle
The Capitol is heating up over mercury. Photo: NIH. A handful of Beltway wags are contending that mercury is the new arsenic, the latest symbol of official disregard for environmental health. Their claim is lent credence by an ongoing flurry of controversies surrounding the Bush administration’s plan for dealing with the toxic pollutant. A revealing […]
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Free trade agreement threatens Costa Rican environmental protections
Insert oil rig here? When most people think of Costa Rica, they don’t imagine oil rigs stationed off the pristine beaches. Nor do they envision pit mines cutting into the cloud-forested mountains. But, despite the country’s noteworthy conservation efforts, its scenic vistas and extraordinary biodiversity face ongoing threats from extractive industries — and from international […]
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GOP pollster says voters want action on clean water
Some like it clean. Polling guru and GOP spinmeister Frank Luntz has uncovered a fact likely to rattle and bewilder some Republicans in Congress: Americans prefer clean water. An emphatic memo [PDF] sent out by the Luntz Research Companies in February spotlighted Americans’ intense feelings on the subject: Young and old, Democrat AND Republican, the […]
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Scalia denies bias in Cheney case, but enviros say he looks as guilty as ever
Back on the Cheney gang. According to Sierra Club lawyers, Vice President Dick Cheney has been exceeding the recommended dosage of political Viagra. Last year, they sued him for metaphorically bedding the energy executives whom critics charge all but wrote the Bush administration’s energy policy. Now they say he’s been romancing Supreme Court Justice Antonin […]
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Biotech Dot Con
U.S. Government Funds Biotech-Boosting Website The U.S. government has launched a new website that trumpets the benefits of genetically modified foods — paid for with taxpayer dollars. It’s part of a larger State Department effort to “encourage broader adoption and acceptance of biotechnology in the developing world,” said department official Deborah Malac; the program got […]
