Climate Politics
All Stories
-
Blair Switch Project
As part of a broad cabinet reshuffle that has British politicians and citizens alike shaking their heads, U.K. Environment Minister Michael Meacher was asked yesterday by Prime Minister Tony Blair to step down. Meacher, who has held his post since 1997, was increasingly at odds with Blair over the issue of genetically modified crops; Meacher […]
-
Adding Fuel Cells to the Fire
The Bush administration has been busily touting fuel-cell cars as a critical component of its energy plan and the solution to many an environmental woe. But what if the solution turns out to cause its own problems? According to new research published in this week’s issue of Science, the technology used in hydrogen fuel cells […]
-
Environmental What Agency?
Rumors are heating up about who will fill the shoes of U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, who announced her resignation last month and will step down June 27. Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne (R) and Tom Skinner, the EPA’s Midwest regional administrator, seem to have risen above two earlier possibilities — Deputy EPA Administrator Linda Fisher […]
-
Greens Pan Greenspan
The Bush administration and Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan are expressing increasing concerns about dwindling natural gas supplies, a move that environmentalists see as a ploy to drum up support for nuclear energy and drilling on public lands. The concern over natural gas comes as Congress debates a comprehensive energy bill that could include provisions […]
-
Chop Sticks
Old-growth trees in roadless areas of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska could soon be on the chopping block. The Bush administration announced yesterday that it plans to exempt the nation’s largest national forest from the Clinton-era “roadless rule,” which blocks logging and road-building on more than 58 million acres of wild land in national […]
-
Green Collar Jobs
In an unusually strong gesture of blue-green solidarity, 10 major labor unions called on presidential candidates yesterday to back a decade-long, $300 billion research plan to boost energy efficiency, reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, and preserve jobs. Known as the Apollo Project, the plan calls for the promotion of hybrid and hydrogen cars, energy-efficient […]
-
Chop Shop
The environmental policies of the Bush administration are endangering our nation’s woodlands, according to a coalition of environmental groups that yesterday released a list of the 10 most at-risk forests. The coalition, which included Greenpeace and the National Forest Protection Alliance, assessed the risks posed to water quality, endangered species, and old-growth trees. Citing road-building […]
-
Wallowing in the Myers
Environmentalists are up in arms over President Bush’s nomination of William Myers III to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Based in San Francisco, the famously liberal court has long been a friend to the environment. But not so Myers, the top lawyer in the Interior Department and a longstanding supporter of ranchers, the […]
-
The Endangered Endangered Species Act
The federal Endangered Species Act is so cash-strapped that it is effectively “broken,” the Interior Department announced yesterday. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service blamed the financial trouble on the act’s “critical habitat” provision, which requires federal agencies to consult with the USFWS before embarking on any activity in areas set aside for wildlife recovery. […]
-
Go, West, Young Man
Jason West, a 26-year-old member of the Green Party, is shaking things up in New Paltz, N.Y., where he was elected mayor earlier this month — an outcome that has the local political establishment in a tizzy. West ran on an ambitious environmental platform that rallied support from many students at the State University of […]
