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Oil companies fund initiative to repeal California’s landmark climate law
Texas oil companies are funding an attack on Gov. Schwarzenegger’s signature environmental accomplishment, the 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act.Gov. Schwarzenegger’s OfficeBig Oil is nothing if not brazen, so while BP works to protect its tattered reputation in the Gulf, two Texas oil companies are on the attack in California. Their target is Assembly Bill 32, […]
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Outcomes, not mechanisms: the effects of the American Power Act
The top-notch climate/energy team at the Peterson Institute for International Economics has just released a comprehensive assessment of “the economic, employment, energy security, and environmental impact of the American Power Act” (by Trevor Houser, Shashank Mohan, and Ian Hoffman). I’ll post their main conclusions below, but first a quick point. PIIE’s analysis focuses on the […]
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Kerry-Lieberman has zero chance of passing
I recently posted that Kerry-Lieberman is not worth fighting for. It also won’t pass. This proposal is dead on arrival. I’ve heard supporters describe two paths to passage, though they sound more like wishes upon stars. One is that Obama suddenly prioritizes climate, and makes a large scale push to support the bill. I’ll let […]
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American Power Act — Climate Solutions’ initial reactions
This piece was co-authored by Ross Macfarlane. Sens. Kerry (D-Mass) and Lieberman (I-Conn) finally released the American Power Act (APA) on Wednesday, May 11, after months of internal negotiations, and nearly a year after the House passed its comprehensive climate and energy bill, (the American Clean Energy and Security Act or ACES). Climate Solutions is […]
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Rand Paul’s Copenhagen rant and other election notes
Climate and energy issues barely registered in this month’s primary coverage, but Rand Paul (son of Ron) saw fit to take on the Copenhagen climate talks after becoming the Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky last night. “We have a president who went to Copenhagen and appeared with Robert Mugabe, Hugo Chávez and others — Evo […]
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Kerry-Lieberman is worse than nothing, no matter how loudly supporters clap.
The main argument for supporting Kerry-Lieberman seems to be “it’s a crappy bill, but once it passes it will get better”. KL proponents often point out that social security was loophole ridden in a way that excluded most African-Americans when it first passed. But a combination of demographic shifts, and changes to law extended social […]
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Robert Redford and green groups tell Obama to step up on Gulf oil leak
Whither Obama? There’s a growing chorus calling for the president to show leadership on the BP oil disaster by connecting it to America’s fossil-fuel dependence and the potential of clean-energy investment. “The silence from the White House is deafening,” a Clinton-era White House aide told ClimateWire. “Clearly without a White House push there does not […]
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Friedman nails Obama for his timid response to the “environmental 9/11”
As I’ve written before, one of the most baffling things about the BP Gulf oil disaster has been the Obama administration’s flaccid response. They’re doing everything they can to contain the spill, but they also seem to be doing everything they can to contain the American people’s anger. There’s been no effort whatsoever to channel […]
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Big Oil’s friends on Capitol Hill block spill liability increase
These are tough times for buddies of Big Oil on Capitol Hill. How do you stand by your men amid photos of thick pools of oil lapping into the marshes of southern Louisiana and more video of BP pipes gushing oil? But love, as always, finds a way. In the Senate, fossil-fuel fans James Inhofe […]
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The American Power Act and California’s AB 32
Some commentators have mistakenly concluded that if Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman’s American Power Act passes, it will make California’s Global Warming Solution Act (AB 32) moot. This is wrong. The American Power Act preserves nearly all of California’s clean energy and carbon reduction policy tools. It would take away only one tool: the […]
