Climate Politics
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The Terminator
Schwarzenegger Suggests that He Might Shut Down California EPA California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) suggested yesterday that he might terminate the state’s environmental protection agency. At a question-and-answer session with voters, Schwarzenegger was asked by a farmer why the state needed Cal/EPA when there was a federal EPA. “What you just talked about is […]
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Strip-tease
Republicans Drop Renewable Requirement from Energy Bill A measure that would require large utilities to produce 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2019 has been stripped out of a big energy bill by Republican congressional negotiators. Yesterday, 53 senators, including eight Republicans, called for the provision to be reinstated, but to no […]
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The Cost Is Clear
Benefits of U.S. Clean-Air Rules Far Outweigh Costs, Report Says The benefits of some major U.S. environmental laws appear to dramatically outweigh the costs, according to a new federal report that is giving environmentalists reason to cheer. The Office of Management and Budget found that tough clean-air regulations implemented over the past decade brought health […]
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Not Russian to Judgment
Russia Still Undecided on Kyoto Protocol Russia still has not decided whether to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, President Vladimir Putin said today. The nation has the power to make or break the climate-change treaty, which cannot go into effect until it is ratified by nations accounting for 55 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. The treaty […]
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Knights Who Say “NEPA”
White House Task Force Proposes Alterations to NEPA One of the nation’s most important environmental laws could be fundamentally altered, if suggestions from a White House task force are implemented. A panel of the Council on Environmental Quality yesterday proposed dozens of changes to the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that requires all […]
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Wesley Clark has some good things to say about the environment — and some things to learn
The man of the hour. Photo: Clark for President. Days after entering the presidential race, Wesley Clark is dominating the public opinion polls — surpassing not only fellow Democratic candidates but also President Bush in approval ratings. Forty-nine percent of registered voters in the CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Monday said they’d vote for Clark, compared […]
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Judge Dread
After 15 Years, Judge Is Removed From Everglades Case A federal judge who presided over the legal ins and outs of the Florida Everglades restoration project was removed yesterday after 15 years on the case. U.S District Judge William Hoeveler was dismissed after he called Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s (R) Everglades bill “clearly defective” and […]
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A Grist interview with Democratic presidential contender John Kerry
Kerry power. Photo: Kerry for President. He has the jaw and build of Paul Bunyan; he windsurfs, kite-boards, and snowboards; and he’s married to Teresa Heinz, one of the most powerful environmental philanthropists in the country. He has his finger on every hot-button environmental issue in D.C., from helping to lead the Senate campaign against […]
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West Side Story
West Coast Governors Step Up to Tackle Climate Change Accusing the Bush administration of “foot-dragging” in the fight against climate change, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington teamed up yesterday to unveil a joint strategy for cutting emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Governors Gray Davis (Calif.), Ted Kulongoski (Ore.), and Gary Locke (Wash.), Democrats […]
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The Environmental Protection Agency just isn’t like it was in the good old (Nixon) days
Mike Leavitt — how long will he be smiling? Photo: Utah governor’s office. There has been considerable adverse comment from the environmental community about President Bush’s nomination of Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt (R) to head the U.S. EPA. Most of that criticism has focused on the governor’s environmental record in Utah, a record that appears […]
