Climate Politics
All Stories
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Forests Fired
The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed President Bush’s “Healthy Forests” initiative, which would limit environmental and judicial reviews of proposed tree-cutting projects in the name of preventing forest fires. Approval of the initiative came despite a report released last week by the General Accounting Office that found that, contrary to White House allegations, very […]
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Neverglades
In more bad news for the environment, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) yesterday signed into law a highly controversial plan that will delay cleanup of phosphorus from the Everglades by a decade and, critics say, potentially result in the loss of $4 billion in federal funding for the massive restoration project. Bush — who said […]
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Growl
Along with whales and pandas, grizzly bears are among the most famous and most beloved poster children of the environmental movement. But that hasn’t deterred the Bush administration from consistently making land-use decisions that environmental activists say threaten the animals. The administration’s actions — most notably, the halting of a hard-won, Clinton-era plan to reintroduce […]
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The Evidence Is Thin
A new report by the federal government has found that very few forest-thinning projects have been stalled by appeals from environmentalists, giving the lie to allegations to the contrary by the Bush administration. The General Accounting Office reported yesterday that the U.S. Forest Service was able to proceed with 95 percent of thinning projects within […]
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Ban Rollover
Starting up what’s likely to be an ugly trade tussle, the Bush administration yesterday filed suit at the World Trade Organization against the European Union, challenging E.U. policies that severely restrict the import of genetically modified (GM) crops. U.S. trade representative Robert Zoellick contends that the E.U. has in effect instituted a ban on GM […]
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Republicans for Environmental Protection need not be an oxymoron
In the seven years since I cofounded Republicans for Environmental Protection, officially known as REP America, I have answered two questions more often than any others: “Isn’t Republicans for Environmental Protection an oxymoron?” And, “If you care so much about conservation and environmental protection, why don’t you become a Democrat?” The first one is easy […]
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Sonic Doom
At least half a dozen dead porpoises have washed up on beaches in Washington state and British Columbia in the last week, spurring speculation that they were killed when the USS Shoup, a Navy destroyer, used its high-intensity sonar last Monday as it traveled near the San Juan Islands off the Washington coast. Observers reported […]
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Fuel Independent Candidate
Jockeying for name recognition and post position, the candidates for the 2004 Democratic primary are busily trying to stake out the issues that will define them as the election unfolds — and Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman has settled on energy independence. In his first major policy speech, given yesterday to environmentalists, Lieberman declared a goal […]
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Smoked Salmon Plan
The Bush administration will have to rethink its salmon-management plan in the Columbia River Basin, following a federal court ruling yesterday that found the current plan inadequate to protect the endangered species and reduce the negative impact of hydroelectric dams. The ruling marks a major triumph for environmentalists and a serious blow to the White […]
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A Less Perfect Union
Greenhouse gas emissions across the European Union increased in 2001 for the second year in a row, casting serious doubt on the ability of the bloc to meet its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change. Emissions levels in 2001 were 1 percent higher than in 2000; under Kyoto, the E.U. is obliged […]
