Climate Politics
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Gulf oil spill worse than expected, and getting worser
Like the oil, there’s more news spilling out of (or is it into?) the Gulf of Mexico. And none of it is good. Where to begin? The 5,000-foot-long pipe that links the oil well to Transocean’s now submerged rig has sprung a third leak, which could explain why scientists at NOAA just upped their estimate […]
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The politics of the Gulf oil spill
The ecological fallout of the Gulf oil spill continues as emergency teams plan to set fire to the surface slick in hopes of keeping it away from the coast. The political fallout continues as well: More bad news for the Senate climate and energy bill, as coastal-state senators with key votes voiced concerns about drilling […]
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On the Graham-Reid flustercluck
All right, all right, I suppose I have to say something about the Graham situation, as much as the entire subject just saps my life force. For those of you who haven’t been keeping track: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has threatened to pull his support from the climate bill he’s been working on — even […]
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With subsidies in the balance, Obama speaks up for ethanol
Lest we forget, he was once a corn-belt senator. While the BBC explores the dark underbelly of the biofuel craze, President Obama affirms his support for crop-based fuels. From The Hill: President Barack Obama on Wednesday touted ethanol–both the current variety and next-wave fuels–as a key part of his energy strategy and a way to […]
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Lisa Jackson and the “Headline People Don’t Want to Discuss”
Despite the gridlock on a climate bill, the EPA is already authorized to regulate carbon dioxide from cars. And the Obama administration has raised mileage standards so that by 2016, the new car fleet in the US will have to average 35 mpg. But without a climate bill, it will be a piecemeal approach. […]
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In Court Case, FDA Takes a Strong Stand Against Unabridged Food and Health Rights
The expanding battle over raw milk has come to be seen by many advocates as a battle over food rights. Do we have a right to consume the foods of our choice? Or can the government restrict our access, or require processing and/or sterilization of certain foods, and simultaneously prohibit our access to the raw […]
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BBC on the impact of biofuels on Paraguay’s ecology and farmers
A soy plantation in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil. Nilton Ricardo, BrazilPhotosEveryone should listen to this BBC report (unfortunately not embedabble) on the “price of biofuels.” It digs into a key question: what does Europe’s appetite for biodiesel mean for people and ecosystems in the countries that produce the feedstocks? Focusing on Paraguay, the BBC comes […]
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Cape Wind offshore project approved by Obama admin after nine-year battle
Turbines like these will likely be coming to Cape Cod.Photo: Andjohan via Flickr It’s been the mother of all NIMBY battles, but now it’s closer to resolution: The Obama administration OK’d the nation’s first offshore wind farm in the Nantucket Sound today, with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar making the announcement in Boston. “I am approving […]
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Obama: Our security, economy, and future depend on comprehensive climate legislation
Cross-posted from Wonk Room. The process-based and partisan bickering that is derailing the Senate effort to craft climate legislation provides a good opportunity to question why this ugly process is even worthwhile. Politicians seem worried that re-election is more important than policy action, failing to recognize that clean energy reform is actually the key to […]
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The upside of the Senate climate bill’s troubles
There is a silver lining to the turmoil over the Senate climate bill.Photo: Pranav Singh via FlickrOver the weekend we got the news that three grim-faced men weren’t going to be able to help on global warming. The only Republican supporter of the not-yet-unveiled-but-widely-described Senate climate bill, Lindsey Graham, had a new demand. Not only […]
