Climate Politics

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  • The Climate Post: BP oil spill washes up on Potomac shores

    First things first: Oil-spill updates continue to gush out of the Gulf and Washington at volumes difficult to estimate. BP initiated its risky “top kill” maneuver Wednesday and the Coast Guard reported cautiously this morning that the oil stream has abated. If the effort works, BP will begin to plug the well with concrete in […]

    Eric Roston Politics

  • A chat with energy analyst Trevor Houser about how to assess climate legislation

    Trevor HouserPhoto: Peterson Institute for International EconomicsTrevor Houser is a green energy wonk’s green energy wonk. In the last few years, he has produced, among other things, congressional testimony on greening the stimulus bill, an astute take on the market failures around energy efficiency in buildings (PDF), and a comprehensive assessment (PDF) of the Copenhagen […]

    David Roberts Politics

  • Finally: Obama halts new offshore leases and stumps for climate bill

    See, I have a Decider pose tooCourtesy White HouseNow we’re getting somewhere on the offshore drilling problem. Some progress from the top: Mr. Obama ordered a further six-month moratorium on new permits for new deepwater oil and gas wells; suspended the planned exploration in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the coast of Alaska; canceled […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Politics

  • How utilities plan to continue evading toxic air pollution controls

    Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. As federal authorities struggle to deal with the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, it is probably useful to remember that power companies continue poisoning water bodies throughout the nation. The power industry’s successful campaign to sidestep toxic pollution controls has left a legacy of poisoned rivers and […]

    Frank O'Donnell Politics

  • Obama says good-bye to MMS chief

    Obama To-Do List, May 27, 2010: Head of Minerals Management Services: Say good-bye Deepwater oil drilling permits: Freeze, six months Oil lease sales off Alaska coast: Cancel Oil lease sales in Western Gulf: Cancel Oil lease sales off coast of Virginia: Cancel Safety standards: Get tough Find out more. BP beatdown BP is medicore at […]

    Randy Rieland Politics

  • When recycling goes bad

    A coal ash fill under construction at the site of a former Coca-Cola plant in Weldon, N.C.Photo: N.C. Division of Waste ManagementA special Facing South investigation. After coal is burned at power plants, leaving massive heaps of ash, not all of the waste ends up in landfills and impoundments like the one that failed catastrophically […]

    Sue Sturgis Politics

  • Let’s Move needs to get real with the food industry

    Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity initiative, Let’s Move, has kicked into high gear. The Presidential Task Force on Childhood Obesity released a landmark report documenting the scale of the problem, complete with a list of 70 recommendations and a set of benchmarks, including the goal of returning the childhood obesity rate to its 1972 level of 5% […]

    Tom Laskawy Politics

  • Obama’s finally connecting the Gulf spill and clean energy. Champagne time?

    My request for President Obama is simple, really: Dust off the secret presidential SCUBA suit, invite the Senate’s biggest oil-industry shills on a “fact-finding mission” to the Gulf (promise shrimp cocktails if necessary), and use them to plug up BP’s hole. Failing that, Obama could start talking about the connection between the oil gusher, climate […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Politics

  • The federal government needs to take command of the disaster response

    This post is co-authored by Tom Kenworthy. There are obvious limits to how much control the federal government can exert over the frantic and so far hapless effort to stem the catastrophic oil eruption that threatens the entire Gulf of Mexico with ecological devastation. As Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen said Monday, the government does […]

    Brad Johnson Politics

  • Big energy vs. coal ash regulation

    A special Facing South investigation. At her January 2009 confirmation hearing, Lisa Jackson promised to take action on coal ash.Photo: Senate Enviroment and Public Works CommitteeWhen the catastrophic coal ash spill occurred at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston plant in 2008, a quiet debate over how to regulate coal ash had already been going on […]

    Sue Sturgis Politics