Climate Politics
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Can we get on the road to major emission reductions by starting with a cap on stationary sources?
President Obama hosted a bipartisan group of Senators at the White House on Tuesday to talk about the path forward on comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation. He made a strong case for passing a bill that “makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy” by holding polluters responsible for their emissions. As expected, there […]
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Democrats may waste last chance for clean energy win
With the final seconds ticking down on the Congressional clock, President Obama and Senate Democrats emerged from a White House summit with Republican moderates Tuesday still lacking any plan to score a last minute win for clean energy. Wasted opportunity Establishing a price (any price) on carbon pollution through a(n increasingly weak) cap-and-trade system continues […]
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The public is ready for clean energy legislation. Is the Senate?
Jonathan Cohn, writing at his new must-read blog, has a fascinating piece on the policy implications of the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The gist of his argument is that the public push for clean energy policy — in the form of marches on Washington and calls to Congress — is more […]
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Senator Robert Byrd: An Appreciation
This post was co-written by Mary Anne Hitt of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, who is also a native West Virginian. On September 21, 2006, grandfather and former coal miner Ed Wiley took the final steps of a 455-mile walk that began in the coalfields of West Virginia and ended in Washington, DC, at […]
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A Salon debate on cap-and-trade and energy politics: day four
Last week, I took part in a debate at Salon.com on the merits of pricing carbon (and related matters). My debate opponent was Steve Everley, manager of policy research at American Solutions and a contributing author to To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine, by Newt Gingrich. Salon has graciously agreed to let us republish […]
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Food police have cameo at Kagan confirmation hearing
Update below. Food made an appearance today at Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan’s confirmation hearing. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) wanted to explore the reach of the Constitution’s “commerce clause,” which allows Congress to regulate interstate business. (Conservatives like to argue that it has been used to extend government power far beyond what the framers intended. […]
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Will these critters be endangered by the Gulf gusher?
These congresscritters are top recipients of contributions from the oil and gas sector — and some of its most vocal supporters, even in the face of a catastrophically unpopular oil leak. Might the Gulf-spill mess threaten their survival? Well, don’t bet on it … Photo: Republican Conference via Flickr Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) “I’m ashamed […]
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Watch oiled politicians get the scrubdown and other spill-inspired ads
Sure, a bird dripping oil is a powerful image. But if you want your political spot to pack a punch, you gotta take it to the next level — say, a politician dripping oil. The Gulf spill, in a perverse way, has been a godsend for the makers of campaign ads — nothing says an […]
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A Salon debate on cap-and-trade and energy politics: day three
Last week, I took part in a debate at Salon.com on the merits of pricing carbon (and related matters). My debate opponent was Steve Everley, manager of policy research at American Solutions and a contributing author to To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine, by Newt Gingrich. Salon has graciously agreed to let us republish […]
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Merkley: ‘You can’t run up the white flag until you have the fight’
On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of senators met with Barack Obama at the White House to discuss opportunities for progress on an energy bill. As has been true many times over the session, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) was in the room calling for ambition. In the last month, Merkley has pushed for a price on […]
