Climate Politics
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In the wake of Bonn, Bush's isolationism takes a page from China
After reading more than a dozen articles about the failure of the U.S. to engage in the recent Kyoto negotiations in Bonn, President Jiang Zemin of China angrily called President Bush yesterday. “Isolationism has always been our thing,” Jiang reportedly said during the phone call. “This would be like your Seinfeld saying, ‘Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, […]
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I've Got a Secret and I'm Not Telling
Vice President Dick Cheney has formally refused to turn over documents relating to the development of the Bush administration’s energy plan to the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The GAO may now take the White House to court over the issue. Democrats and enviros believe the energy plan was tailor-made for energy […]
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At Whit's End
U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman now thinks her decision to revoke a Clinton administration rule to reduce arsenic in drinking water was a bone-headed move. She told USA Today that her decision wasn’t bad policy, but bad politics: “Politically, if I’d been smart, I would’ve never changed it. … I would’ve let the courts decide. […]
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Bush should listen to his inner dad on climate change
We were exploring an unfamiliar pond. My four-year-old daughter was out in the water, up to her knees, when I called her back to shore: “It’s so muddy I can’t see if the pond gets deep quickly,” I said. “And I couldn’t reach you if you fell in. Better safe than sorry.” Parents try to […]
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Hard Corps
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers yesterday did an about-face and abandoned a plan to change the way it manages the Missouri River, even though it has publicly acknowledged that the current system violates the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said for years that the river must be returned to […]
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Fool Efficiency
Casting aside arguments made by the auto industry for years, a panel appointed by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences said yesterday that the industry could significantly increase fuel-efficiency in SUVs and light trucks over the next decade. But a majority of the panel’s 13 members, most of whom have strong ties to the industry, […]
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Rice-a-Roni, the Global Warming Treat
U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice made sure yesterday that the rest of the world maintained its low expectation of the U.S. on climate change. On CNN’s “Late Edition,” Rice contradicted a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and said the U.S. would probably not have a comprehensive plan to combat climate change […]
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Law and Disorder
At the same time it was hired by the U.S. Energy Department to help determine whether Yucca Mountain in Nevada would be a suitable site to store the country’s nuclear waste, a Chicago-based law firm was taking money from the nuclear power industry to lobby Congress and the White House to get the site approved. […]
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My Bonn Lies Over the Ocean
While the rest of the world moves forward with the Kyoto treaty, the Bush administration claims it is cooking up its own strategy to fend off global warming. But some officials involved in the administration policy review say there has been little real pressure from the White House to come up with a new plan […]
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Back Flipper
A federal appeals court yesterday rejected the U.S. government’s bid to loosen the standard for “dolphin-safe” tuna. The U.S. wanted to open its dolphin-safe market to Mexican and Latin American fishers who catch tuna in large purse-seines and promise to set free dolphins trapped in the nets. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals […]
