Climate Politics
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A closer look at the Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade proposal
As with the Waxman-Markey bill (H.R. 2454), passed by the House of Representatives last June, there is now some confusing commentary in the press and blogosphere about the allocation of allowances in the new Senate proposal — the American Power Act of 2010 — sponsored by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.). As […]
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Leaning forward: Why the American Power Act is worth fighting for
The Kerry-Lieberman climate bill is out now, and with it comes a fateful decision for the political left in the U.S. If the left’s institutions and messaging infrastructure succumb to internal squabbling or simple indifference; if the public is not actively won over and fired up; if President Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid […]
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Where is the left?
Glenn Greenwald notes the rapid, bipartisan erosion of basic civil liberties, which didn’t even hit a speed bump with the transition to the Obama administration: A bipartisan group from Congress sponsors legislation to strip Americans of their citizenship based on Terrorism accusations. Barack Obama claims the right to assassinate Americans far from any battlefield and […]
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Now is a very good time to impose a severance tax on oil production in California
California is in the midst of a historic budget crisis threatening public services from Calexico to Yreka. California, alone amongst major oil-producing states, charges no severance tax on oil production. This is fair why? Discuss.
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Obama to establish presidential commission to investigate Gulf oil spill
As hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil continue to gush from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico four weeks after the tragic BP disaster, AP reports that: President Barack Obama will establish the commission by executive order. It will be similar to panels created to investigate the space shuttle Challenger disaster and the […]
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The real trouble from the oil spill is brewing deep under the sea
It’s been almost a month since the Deepwater Horizon exploded and began spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico. But it’s not your typical oil spill; because of its depth and distance from shore, it has so far brought no images of fouled beaches or blackened, dead sea birds. Whatever damage is being done by […]
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MMS goes under the spotlight
Last week, execs from BP, Transocean, and Halliburton took their Capitol Hill beatdown. This week, federal regulators will be led into the ring. With Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the front of the line, they’ll appear before three Senate committees tomorrow and then a House committee on Wednesday, at which members of Congress […]
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What the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill means for farmers
Thus far the majority of analysis of the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill has focused on the energy components of the bill, including an extension of nuclear power, “clean coal” from carbon storage and sequestration, and offshore drilling expansion. The bill also provides unprecedented programs for agriculture and food systems in the U.S. and internationally. Unfortunately, while […]
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Climate change: Four futures
As the debate over the climate bill heats up, there’s one rule of thumb that may help you keep your bearings as the rhetoric becomes more gaseous and the weeds grow ever higher around the facts. It’s this: There are, in the end, only four possible futures here. Future 1: Continuation More business as usual. […]
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New Conservative British government agrees on more feed-in tariffs
Cross-posted from Wind-Works. Less than two months after Britain’s Labor Party launched its highly regarded feed-in tariff program, the newly elected Conservative government has announced the program will be expanded. The announcement is included in the coalition government’s agreement published as the new government took office. Britain’s new government is a coalition of the Conservative […]
