Climate Politics
All Stories
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I’ll Have to Speak With My Attorney
In a letter being sent today to President Bush, 11 state attorneys general criticize the president for his failure to impose strong federal measures to limit emissions of greenhouse gases and control global warming. In addition to condemning the “regulatory void” created by the absence of federal action, the letter contends that environmental policies proposed […]
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The Daily Load
The Bush administration could slash a key program of the Clean Water Act requiring federal oversight of states’ efforts to restore polluted bodies of water. About 300,000 miles of rivers and shorelines and 5 million acres of lakes in the U.S. are categorized as “impaired water bodies” in need of remediation, but for decades, some […]
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Taken to the Cleaners
A plan by the Bush administration to speed cleanups of highly radioactive military waste is provoking the ire of some powerful foes. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said the plan — which offers an extra $800 million in cleanup funds for the next fiscal year to states that can decide by Aug. 1 how to spend […]
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Always a Bribe’s Made
Apparently inspired by the 2000 Gore-Nader brouhaha, the head of New Mexico’s GOP tried to bribe Green Party leaders to field candidates in upcoming elections in order to drain votes away from Democrats. The state’s Republican Party chair, John Dendahl, spoke with Green leaders about the possibility of making a six-figure contribution to their party […]
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Desperately Seeking Snoozin’
Despite mounting evidence that global warming has already begun to exact steep tolls on the environment, the Bush administration told Congress yesterday that it needs up to five years of additional scientific research before it will be ready to formulate a plan to address climate change. Speaking in front of the House Science Committee, Commerce […]
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We Do More Spinning Before 9 a.m. Than Most People Do All Day
It seems the General Accounting Office has been busy of late; in a report completed in May that surfaced yesterday at a hearing of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, the congressional auditors found little evidence to support the Bush administration’s claims that environmental regulations are interfering with military training. The administration has asked […]
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Simon Says
In an apparent effort to give Republican candidate Bill Simon, Jr., an edge over incumbent Gray Davis (D) in the California governor race, the Bush administration questioned Davis’ commitment to protect his state’s coastline and agreed to work with Simon to end offshore drilling. After visiting the White House yesterday, Simon said he had won […]
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Star Wars
The stars are twinkling over Nevada’s Yucca Mountain — movie stars and pop stars, that is. In the battle over the Bush administration’s proposal to bury high-level radioactive waste below the mountain, the glitterati are siding against the president. Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Raitt, Martin Sheen, Melissa Gilbert, Tim Robbins, Alec Baldwin, Morgan Freeman — the […]
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Money Shaving Steps
Many enviros have suspected for a while that the deregulation of electricity markets is bad for the environment. Now here’s some proof: Spending on energy efficiency programs by North American power companies — the biggest polluters on the continent — dropped by 42 percent between 1995 and 1999, largely because of deregulation. The findings were […]
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Texas Toast
Like John and Yoko, industry and politics in the U.S. have climbed into bed together and just refuse to get out. Nowhere is that more evident than in Texas, homeland of the Bush clan and the most polluted state in the country. Let’s spell it out: Texas is the number one spewer of toxic chemicals […]
