Climate Politics

What we could have bought with the $4 trillion we spent on Iraq and Afghanistan

Americans like us some war, but to the tune of $4 trillion? In adjusted dollars, that's just short of what it cost us to whup the Nazis.

Here's a look at what we could have done with that money, had we spent it on something besides stoking Americans' confusion over whether or not the world's 1.5 billion 'Muslims' are in fact a monolithic group whose every member is a terrorist.

Germany to substantially increase geothermal feed-in tariffs

Higher payments should boost distributed generation, doing for geothermal energy what Germany has already done for wind, solar, and biogas.

Pawlenty: 'Look at me! I don't believe in science either!'

Hey, remember Tim Pawlenty? I think he's running for state auditor or something.

Pawlenty used to think climate change was a major priority, back when he was governor of Minnesota and supported cap-and-trade. But then Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman showed underbelly by admitting that they believe in science -- a striking liability in this race -- and Pawlenty took that opportunity to swoop in and firmly establish himself as the most anti-climate-science candidate besides Bachmann and Perry and all the other ones! Go get 'em, T-Paw.

Bringin' crazy Bach

Michele Bachmann is officially running for president. Here's more proof that she's still officially crazy.

Feds running a high-voltage gravy train for power transmission

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gives bonus incentives for outdated and costly systems of energy transmission at the expense of ratepayers.

Court rules California's cap-and-trade program can advance

After a period of legal uncertainty, a California court has ruled that the state can proceed with developing a cap-and-trade program.

There's a Foxx guarding the ag-policy henhouse

Rep. Virginia Foxx recently sponsored an amendment to shut down the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative.

What is the American Dream?: Dueling dualities in the American tradition

Throughout history, there have been alternative, competing visions of the "good life" in America. What is the American Dream and what is its future?

Even Republicans and climate skeptics support fuel efficiency and clean energy

Regardless of how they felt about global warming -- from "alarmed" to "dismissive" -- nearly everyone in this 2009 survey supported increased fuel efficiency standards. Even the ones who dismissed the threat of climate change weren't very strongly opposed. What's more, 90 percent of people think clean energy should be a priority for the president, including 85 percent of Republicans. And more than 80 percent support increased funding of renewable energy research.

Has Obama lost environmental voters?

Al Gore's critique of Obama's failure to act on the climate crisis is further evidence of environmentalists' frustration with this administration.