Climate Politics
All Stories
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Rebel Without a Forest
The state of Chiapas, in southeastern Mexico, is home to the last remaining stands of rainforest in the nation — and also to almost half a million impoverished people, many of them living on the brink of starvation. In the past, the forest has been ravaged by monied interests, such as foreign companies looking to […]
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The Dow of Poo
Outgoing Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) is trying to relax the state standard for dioxin pollution, a move that unhappy environmentalists say is designed to minimize Dow Chemical’s financial liability for future cleanup efforts. The proposed change, which has also angered Gov.-elect Jennifer Granholm (D) and regional U.S. EPA officials, would increase by more than […]
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Credit Where Credit Is Due
The Kyoto Protocol on climate change has not yet gone into effect, but the first sale of greenhouse gas credits negotiated within the treaty’s proposed framework is officially a done deal. Slovakia (of all places) has sold emissions credits equivalent to 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide to a Japanese trading house, which declined to […]
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You’re Out of the Club?
A Utah chapter of the Sierra Club has been threatened with disbandment because of its decision to speak out against the possibility of a U.S. war against Iraq. The development may bring to a head a discussion that has been going on within the club throughout the fall. In October, 13 former national board members […]
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Oily to Bed Makes a State Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise
In a triumph for environmentalists, a federal appeals court has blocked an attempt by the Bush administration to revive dormant oil leases off the coast of California. Last year, a federal court granted California the power to prevent new oil exploration in federal waters near the state’s coastline, a ruling that was appealed by the […]
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I’ll Have No Truck With That
An unlikely partnership of environmental, labor, and trucking groups filed for an emergency injunction yesterday to prevent the Bush administration from allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. roads, claiming that doing so would worsen U.S. air quality. Last week, in compliance with the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Bush called an end to 20-year-old restrictions […]
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Can’t See the Forest for the Stumps
Here’s something you probably weren’t feeling very thankful for on Thursday: The Bush administration issued a proposal last week that would allow managers of the country’s 155 national forests to approve logging and other commercial activities without thoroughly assessing the potential environmental damage that could result. The proposal would radically alter Clinton-era rules that required […]
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A Hard Rowe to Hoe
Some heavyweight funders have ponied up $10 million to create a National Commission on Energy Policy, pulling together former members of the Bush and Clinton administrations and representatives from industry and environmental groups to recommend a long-range energy plan for the United States. Over the next two years, the commission intends to develop a “centrist […]
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Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down
The Bush administration and environmentalists are at loggerheads over what should happen to national forests burned in last summer’s wildfire season. The administration is pushing for aggressive logging of scorched forests, including older and larger trees; next month, it will propose new rules meant to reduce delays in timber sales due to environmental appeals. Enviros, […]
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New Source, Same Old Crap
In the most far-reaching move to relax air pollution rules in years, the Bush administration on Friday gave refineries new flexibility to upgrade their facilities without having to reduce emissions. The U.S. EPA also outlined proposals that would give aging coal-fired power plants a similar advantage — allowing them to upgrade and increase energy output […]
