Climate Politics
All Stories
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A question for James Fallows about coal and focus
I waded into "Dirty Coal, Clean Future," James Fallows' new cover piece for The Atlantic, prepared to be outraged, what with coal being the enemy of the human race and all. But it turns out to be an incredibly cogent, accessible walk through some extremely vexed issues. Still I can't help wonder why he put the focus on coal's necessity rather than its evil.
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Oil spill investigator says no corners were cut to save money
BP's critics are incredulous at the conclusion that people on the doomed oil rig weren't motivated by cost-cutting to take risks.
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King Coal wins the midterms
In the final year of his remarkable life, Robert C. Byrd, the longest serving senator in US history, did one more remarkable thing. He called for serious dialogue on coal, climate change and the effects of mountaintop removal mining. “To deny the mounting science of climate change is to stick our heads in the sand and say 'deal me out,'” Byrd told his fellow West Virginians late in 2009. And on the EPA’s efforts to rein in the most egregious damage from mountaintop removal, he said, “West Virginians may demonstrate anger towards the EPA…but we risk the very probable consequence of shouting ourselves out of any productive dialogue.” Briefly, there was hope that the mountain state’s elder statesman might pull local politics away from a dead-end logic. Very briefly. Sen. Byrd died in June. By October, the man who would replace him in the Senate thumbed his nose at Byrd’s desire for reasoned discourse and picked up a gun.
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The post-election outlook for regional cap-and-trade
It's a toxic phrase in pundit-land, but cap-and-trade is humming along in the Northeast and preparing to launch in California (and maybe other Western states). A Midwestern program is probably dead after victories by clean-energy-hostile Republicans.
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To block EPA regulations, Koch Industries expands lobbying campaign to children
Regulation Reality Tour, produced by Koch's Americans for Prosperity, featured a SWAT car shaped moon bounce for children, symbolizing EPA Carbon Cops
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Watch as I debate energy policy, live on the interwebs!
Given the 2010 midterm elections, what's next for U.S. climate and energy policy? Yeah, you're right: probably nothing! Nonetheless, that's not going to stop me from debating the issue with Steve Everley of American Solutions. It all goes down tomorrow, Tuesday 08 Nov 2010, at 11 a.m. Pacific (2 p.m. Eastern). You can watch it right here.
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What are the limits on the EPA? The Clean Air Act holds answers
Given the built-in limitations on Environmental Protection Agency authority contained in the Clean Air Act, fears of agency "overreach" are misplaced.
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PBS on Senate dysfunction and filibuster abuse [VIDEO]
Over the weekend, the PBS show Need to Know ran a fantastic piece on Senate dysfunction, focused in particular on filibuster abuse. It features Sen. Tom Udall, a big supporter of Senate rules reform, and George Packer, who wrote a stellar piece on Senate dysfunction for The New Yorker earlier this year. It's a lot of good info packed in 15 minutes.
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GOP climate deniers vie to run House Energy Committee
The House Energy Committee is seeing an intense leadership fight, as four different Republicans are vying to take over the influential post. The four candidates -- Reps. Fred Upton, John Shimkus, Joe Barton, and Cliff Stearns -- all want to reopen the floodgates for a deregulated fossil fuel industry. But precisely how reactionary the committee will become depends on who wins. The frontrunner Upton is the only candidate who doesn't explicitly question climate science.
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Who can fill Lisa Heinzerling's shoes?
Lisa Heinzerling's departure from the EPA's Office of Policy and Planning doesn't need to mean the winding-down of aggressive action at the EPA.
