Climate Politics
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Is a ‘utility-only’ cap-and-trade bill worth passing?
Energy deliberations in the Senate are in the home stretch. There’s a crucial White House meeting on Wednesday between Obama and key senators where some final decisions are likely to be made. There are, believe it or not, a few liberal senators fighting to keep carbon limits in the bill, but the bulk of “centrist” […]
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Senate Democrats doubt Obama can find votes for climate
Senate Democrats have cast doubt that President Barack Obama can achieve his intention of finding the votes to pass comprehensive climate legislation this year. To overcome a Republican filibuster, Obama needs to mobilize the entire Democratic caucus and find at least one Republican senator willing to cross the aisle on behalf of the nation. On […]
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On Capitol Hill, a week of sorry spectacles
Was it me, or did it seem like everyone in Washington this week was wearing a name tag that said, “Hi, I’m Sorry.” For all the hours of congressional testimony, all the badgering questions and evasive answers, the gestalt of the nation’s capital could be summed up in two words: “My bad.” The four top […]
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Should Obama be talking more about climate change?
He Who Must Not Be Named?In his new book The Climate War, Eric Pooley describes how the message of climate campaigners has evolved from one focused on, well, climate (“polar bears”) to one dominated by national security, green jobs, and competitiveness. He calls this latter version the “Trojan Horse” message, one that tries to smuggle […]
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CNN Poll: 82% of Americans Approve of the Idea of a BP Escrow Fund
CNN released new polling Thursday with fascinating data on how Americans feel about the response to the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Using the poll’s toplines (PDF), I’ve created a series of charts which present the data in a far more useful format. First and foremost, it looks Rep. Joe Barton (R-Big […]
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Another pathetic day in the U.S. Senate
Today was an important day for the energy bill. Sort of. The entire Democratic Senate caucus met to discuss how to move forward on climate and energy. Kerry, Bingaman, and Cantwell all presented — and argued for — their respective bills. (They made videos, too — Kerry’s; Cantwell’s.) The intent was to make some kind […]
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Kick ass or buy gas?
The Pentagon — BP’s best friend?Photo courtesy of Wikipedia commons This essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. Residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida are livid with BP in the wake of the massive, never-ending oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — and Barack Obama says they […]
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What we need here is a little R&D
Thank God for the small people. Or at least allusions to them. BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg’s gaffe gave Barack Obama a brief reprieve from the pundit pummeling that mostly dismissed his first Oval Office speech as more slick than oil. But some columnists, Grist’s David Roberts for one, did spot a glint of promise in […]
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Republican Joe Barton to BP: ‘I apologize’ for the White House ‘shakedown’
Cross-posted from Think Progress. During a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) “apologize[d]” to BP CEO Tony Hayward, accusing the White House of an illegal “shakedown” of the foreign oil giant to secure a $20 billion escrow fund for Gulf Coast damages. Barton repeated the Republican attack […]
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Will Any Republicans Join Democrats in Holding BP Accountable?
Steve Benen and Greg Sargent have been making an important point lately that hasn’t yet received the attention it deserves: to the extent that Republicans intend to oppose efforts to hold BP accountable this summer and fall, they are extremely vulnerable politically. Here’s Benen first, commenting on Republican confusion over just what lengths they should […]
