Climate Politics

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  • New Gallup poll shows sharp partisan divide in understanding of climate change

    Newly released Gallup polling seems to show a sharp drop in the percentage of Americans who know about, are concerned about, and understand the threat of global warming. The piece leads with a graph showing a sharp increase in the percentage of Americans who think the seriousness of global warming is generally exaggerated:   When […]

    Josh Nelson Politics

  • The other half of Kerry-Graham-Lieberman is weak too

      The second half could be enough to make you cry.Sens. John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman (KGL) are supposedly going to unleash their long-awaited tripartisan climate/energy bill soon. Based on the (extremely tentative) information that’s gotten out so far, it looks like it will implement some sort of cap-and-trade system for electric utilities, […]

    David Roberts Politics

  • Chu compares climate disinformation campaign to tobacco industry's efforts

    Here is our Nobel prize-winning physicist Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, in a San Jose Mercury News interview:   SJMN:  Are you worried that the political will to enact a national policy or somehow tax or price carbon emissions is gone now? If you look at recent polls, the number of Americans who believe that global warming is […]

    Joseph Romm Politics

  • 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.

    Ted Glick Politics

  • 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 […]

    David Roberts Politics

  • 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 […]

    Bruce Nilles Politics

  • 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 […]

    Eric de Place Politics

  • 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, […]

    Jonathan Hiskes Politics

  • 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 […]

    Brad Johnson Politics

  • 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 […]

    David Roberts Politics