Climate Politics
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How Tim Pawlenty ditched his Arctic explorer bestie and turned his back on climate change
This is like something out of Mean Girls: Former Minnesota gov Tim Pawlenty used to pal around with this amazing Arctic explorer dude, Will Steger, having slumber parties and plotting how to get the GOP to believe in climate change. Then Pawlenty fell in with a clique, the GOP Presidential Hopefuls, and if he wanted […]
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Opponents of climate bill far outspent environmentalists, according to Climate Shift data
The data suggest opponents of climate legislation far outspent environmentalists during debate over the bill in 2009 and 2010: 8-to-1 on lobbying in 2009 4-to 1 (or more) on advertising in 2009 8-to-1 in donations to candidates and Congress members in 2010 cycle 10-to-1 on independent election expenditures in 2010 I am basing those numbers […]
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What would happen if Americans had a say in how their tax money is spent?
Lemme tell you …How would America change if taxpayers were allowed to specify how their tax money were spent? That fascinating question (no, really, it’s fascinating!) is explored in a piece by Cait Lamberton in the latest issue of Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Side note: if you don’t read Democracy, you really should bookmark […]
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Power Shift recap: ‘Stuck on stupid,’ money pollution, and Snuffleupagus
Are you rallying in D.C. right now for the Power Shift 2011? You're NOT? Well, lucky for you we've been posting highlights over the weekend. Here's what you missed, you poor sap: Former White House advisor Van Jones wants to hold both parties to high standards, but he's not sure they'll live up to it. […]
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Obama meets with young climate activists after they stand up to him
President Obama meets with Energy Action Coalition leaders in the White House. Photo: The White HouseYouth climate leaders in town for the Power Shift conference got some powerful evidence that their public frustration with President Obama is getting noticed in the Oval Office: Halfway through a meeting at the White House between leaders of the […]
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Van Jones at Power Shift 2011: ‘While they’re stuck on stupid in D.C., your generation is rising’
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. In a passionate keynote address, green jobs leader Van Jones exhorted the 10,000 youth climate activists at the Power Shift conference in Washington, D.C., to “shift the power” and lead the clean power revolution. He argued that both parties need to be held accountable for their failures, and that activists […]
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Obama as Snuffleupagus: Expect our imaginary friend to skip out on Power Shift again
Obama chooses basketball over climate activists.Photo: The White HouseOn the eve of the Power Shift 2011 climate youth conference, no one expects President Obama to show. If he did, he’d probably get booed by activists angry about his tightening embrace of the oil, coal, gas, and nuclear industries. But it was a very different story […]
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Quote of the day: Obama on America’s future
"A 70% cut to clean energy. A 25% cut in education. A 30% cut in transportation. Cuts in college Pell Grants that will grow to more than $1,000 per year. That's what they're proposing. These aren't the kind of cuts you make when you're trying to get rid of some waste or find extra savings […]
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Meet the woman leading the charge to green America’s schools
Recently I was at a climate conference dominated by Baby Boomers, mostly white men, droning on about the nigh-insurmountable challenges of climate change and laying out their ponderous academic theories for how to change things. In other words, a typical climate conference. Into this dolorous atmosphere came something different: a young woman, bright-eyed and quick-witted, […]
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Power Shift will be biggest organizer training session in history
It was colder at Power Shift ’09.Photo: JakeCross-posted from the Wonk Room. Power Shift 2011, the biennial national summit of the youth climate movement, begins this Friday in Washington, D.C. The dirty-energy economy poses seemingly insurmountable challenges to the millenial generation: the destruction of our planet’s atmosphere, the poisoning of our political discourse, the dissolution […]
