Climate Politics
All Stories
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A post-Sept. 11 manifesto for environmentalists
I. The time will soon come when we will not be able to remember the horrors of Sept. 11 without remembering also the unquestioning technological and economic optimism that ended on that day. II. This optimism rested on the proposition that we were living in a “new world order” and a “new economy” that would […]
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Fairer Faucet
For the first time, construction of new housing developments in California will be contingent on water availability, under a bill signed yesterday by Gov. Gray Davis (D). The new law prohibits cities and counties from approving housing projects of 500 or more units unless water agencies verify that there is sufficient water to serve the […]
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United They Stand
In a sign-of-the-times statement, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said yesterday that his committee would stop work on an energy bill for the rest of year to avoid “issues that divide, rather than unite us.” Prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, a sweeping energy package was a […]
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David Friedman, Union of Concerned Scientists
David Friedman is a senior analyst with the clean vehicles program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. UCS educates and works with the public to advocate for environmental solutions based on the best scientific understanding. The Clean Vehicles Program develops and promote strategies to reduce the adverse impacts of the U.S. transportation system. Monday, 8 […]
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Going With the Grain
In a closely contested vote yesterday, the U.S. House defeated an amendment to a massive farm bill that would have shifted $19 billion from crop subsidies to conservation efforts. The defeat, which was engineered largely by lawmakers from traditional farming states, paves the way for approval of a 10-year, $171 billion farm bill that would […]
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Green Camouflage
The Pentagon spends about $5 billion a year on its “environmental security program,” trying to reduce the environmental impact of the armed services. But many greenies think that’s not enough, and up until the terrorist attacks, the military was facing growing pressure to take the environment more seriously. A proposal in Congress would require the […]
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Precedent of the United States
A federal judge dismissed an effort by the timber industry and users of off-road vehicles (ORVs) to overturn former President Clinton’s order to designate 328,000 acres of federal land in California’s Sierra Nevada as Giant Sequoia National Monument. The plaintiffs challenged the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president the authority to establish monuments. They […]
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Not Sitting on Defense
The U.S. Senate yesterday voted 99-0 to approve a $345 billion anti-terrorism defense bill, after voting 100-0 not to get sidetracked by amendments like one that would have opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas drilling. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) had proposed to add the entire GOP energy bill […]
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Cemental Case
A cement plant in Camden, N.J., shouldn’t be allowed to operate because it may be imposing an unfair pollution burden on a poor, minority neighborhood, a South Camden citizens group argued before a federal appeals court on Tuesday. A lawyer for the group told a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]
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First Contami-Nations
Navajo activists plan to rally today and tomorrow against an energy bill before the U.S. Senate that would give $30 million to fund uranium mining on Navajo Nation lands in New Mexico. They say the mining would contaminate the drinking water of more than 15,000 people. Lori Goodman, spokesperson for Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our […]
