Climate Politics
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Obama admin announces Alaska drilling. What could go wrong?
“One of the most frustrating things about the Obama administration is the tendency of its leaders and communicators to project a message that’s absolutely demoralizing to progressive political activists,” writes left-of-center blogger Matt Yglesias. Demoralizing? I don’t know what he’s talking about: The Interior Department today announced plans to open 1.8 million acres of Alaska’s […]
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The climate war’s western front
Gov. Schwarzenegger at a press conference. Photo: Office of the GovernorThe latest California ballot measure to make a national splash addresses neither marijuana nor gay marriage, but an even more contentious issue these days: cap-and-trade. Proposition 23 would suspend California’s statewide cap-and-trade plan, currently scheduled to take full effect in 2012, until unemployment drops to […]
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Me, on the Rachel Maddow Show
I was on the Rachel Maddow Show last night. While Maddow herself is reporting from Afghanistan and Iraq, the show is being guest hosted by Chris Hayes, political editor at The Nation. Here’s the bit: [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.1012193&w=425&h=350&fv=launch%3D38159001%26width%3D400%26height%3D320] As to the substance, I’d add one thing. Chris frames the bill in the Senate as one designed […]
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Science vindicated as Senate edges closer to climate and energy debate
The 20-year global campaign to cool the planet, one of the most influential civic movements in human history, was built on two points of reference. The first is visible evidence on every continent of escalating temperatures, melting ice, more ferocious storms, fiercer droughts, and deadlier floods. The second is the wealth of scientific data that […]
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New report suggests more record heat for U.S. this decade and beyond
Heat wave in Bryant Park, N.Y.C.Photo courtesy wolfsavard via FlickrHere in Philly, where the dog days of summer started early, we’re just on the other side of a pair of record-setting days — two days of highs over 100 degrees F. “We’re getting a dramatic taste of the kind of weather we are on course […]
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The climate bill endgame
Cross-posted from the NRDC Switchboard blog. To cap or not to cap? That is the question … The most important component of an effective climate bill — one that helps the economy recover and assures that greenhouse gas emissions will decline rapidly over the decades to come — is setting a cap on emissions. Opponents […]
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Me, on the Mike Malloy show
Yesterday, I went on the Mike Malloy show, which was being guest-hosted by Brad Friedman of BradBlog and Green News Report fame. I was on to explain the basics of cap-and-trade and defend it from attacks. That, apparently, is my lot in life. Here’s the first segment (you’ll have to fast forward to about 11:15): […]
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Pennsylvania cattle quarantined from gas fracking contamination
Natural gas drilling operations in Dimock, Pa.(Helen Slottje, Shaleshock.org via Flickr)Via ProPublica: Agriculture officials have quarantined 28 beef cattle on a Pennsylvania farm after wastewater from a nearby gas well leaked into a field and came in contact with the animals. The state Department of Agriculture said the action was its first livestock quarantine related […]
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Do enviros need to reassess their big-picture climate strategy?
Yesterday, I asked seven of Grist’s favorite journos and wonks what policies reformers should focus on this year now that chances for a cap-and-trade bill appear dim. Read their answers. Today, they grapple with a broader question. Our panel: Michael Levi, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Amanda Little, Grist alumnus and author […]
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With cap-and-trade on the ropes, what’s the next move for greens?
The final fate of the climate/energy bill is uncertain. There are signs Senate Democrats may yet try to advance a price on carbon, perhaps a limited system that only covers utilities, but it remains a heavy political lift. It’s a safe wager cap-and-trade won’t make it over the finish line. So let’s look ahead: What […]
