Climate Politics
All Stories
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Climate legislation, science and activism
It is a very unfortunate fact that what the U.S. Senate does about the climate crisis, and when, is decisive when it comes to the possibility of an eventual solution to that absolutely critical issue. If the Senate does nothing, or very little, this year or for the next few years, the odds of staying this side of climate tipping points and avoiding climate catastrophe are definitely worsened, and they’re not so good right now.
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Brian Baird: ‘This is not government mind control’
Representative Baird. There aren’t many psychologists in Congress (though many members could probably use one), so Rep. Brian Baird (D) brings a unique perspective. He has a PhD in clinical psychology and published two books in the field before coming to D.C. to deal with dysfunctions of a different sort. He has represented Washington’s 3rd […]
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On March 15, Take Action to Stop Dumping Mine Waste Into Our Water
This post was co-written by Mary Anne Hitt, deputy director of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. There is nothing clean about destroying homes and communities to get coal out of the ground. Mountaintop removal coal mining is a dirty secret in our nation’s energy supply. More than 470 mountains in Appalachia have been destroyed […]
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The Maine Lesson of Cap and Trade
Last week, I referenced an official from Maine saying: “The investments we are seeing in renewable energy, in energy infrastructure, appear to be the largest wave of capital investment in the state’s history.” Which is obviously great news for the state, especially during a recession. Since then, the Kennebec Journal has reported on the formation of […]
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Democrats toughen up on finance reform. Could it work for clean energy?
A funny thing happened outside the twisted world of Congressional energy politics. Over at the Senate Banking Committee, Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) announced he’s going to push forward with finance reform and consumer protection bill, even if Republicans don’t want to help. This comes after weeks of negotiating between Dodd and Tennessee Republican Bob Corker, […]
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Senators negotiate green economy bill with polluters who deny threat of global warming
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. As the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman triumvirate works to craft green economy legislation, they’re negotiating with industry lobbyists who deny the threat of global warming. After meeting with President Barack Obama and a dozen industry-friendly lawmakers, the trio of Senate negotiators sat down with representatives of the fossil-based economy: A cross section of […]
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How the cap-and-trade controversy could lead to good clean energy policy
On Wednesday, bipartisan groups of legislators from both houses of Congress joined together to support a bill: the Rural Energy Savings Program, which would make low-interest loans available to rural homeowners to fund efficiency retrofits. The loans would come with no upfront cost and would be paid off with a small surcharge on utility bills […]
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Job Creation Begins at Home
Originally published on TheRoot.com Today the Senate Energy Committee will begin debating a weatherization bill known as Home Star that aims to make American homes more energy efficient, while creating thousands of American jobs in the process. Home Star has the potential to significantly reduce residential energy consumption, saving consumers almost $10 billion over the […]
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Where do things stand on international efforts to address global warming?
It is almost three months after the Copenhagen Accord was hammered out by 28 of the world’s key countries that represent over 80 percent of the world’s global warming pollution and some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (as I discussed here). Given the state of the Accord just after Copenhagen […]
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Colbert grows a ‘crisis herb garden’
Funny how everything these days is circling back to the garden. Troubled (in every sense of the word) ex-Housemember Eric Massa went on Glenn Beck recently to … to … self-immolate. Many progressives tuned in, and thus were exposed to an ad for so-called “Survival Seeds” — a kit for helping you grow your own […]
