Climate Politics
All Stories
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Dear NGO leader: Still want my $100? Answer these five questions
Whoa! This is much harder than I thought. Not only did I receive several new email solicitations since I asked how each of us should spend $100 to support the climate movement; my head is spinning as I read the many persuasive responses to that post. Why the confusion? All these green groups do seem […]
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How environmentally friendly is Washington’s congressional delegation?
The following was submitted by Environment Washington. Today, Environment Washington is releasing our annual scorecard on Washington’s congressional delegation — documenting the lawmakers’ environmental votes over the past two years. These scorecards are an important tool to educate the public about the voting records of their elected officials and to help citizens learn who is […]
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New EPA map shows the year in eco-enforcement
‘Tis the season for the annual year-in-review column, beloved by writers and editors desperate to fill pages and screens of blank space during these slow news weeks. I’m going to forgo that annual holiday journalism tradition — sort of. While perusing various year-end and year-ahead trend story pitches that had popped into my in-box since […]
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Which green groups should get your last $100?
If you’re like me, your inbox has recently been inundated with cheery, post-Copenhagen greetings from green groups of all kinds. Bless their hearts, they’ve all suddenly developed an interest in wishing me well. And let me confess: I love ’em all. Classics like NRDC and WRI, innovators like Clean Air-Cool Planet and 1Sky, hybrids like […]
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Copenhagen coal in the stocking?
As a kid in Milwaukee, my parents told me that Santa would leave coal in my stocking if I was naughty. As the post mortem of Copenhagen is written, was it a lump of coal in our 2009 holiday stocking — or could this global chunk of carbon actually be a diamond in the rough? […]
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Time to bust the filibuster
I have been one among many in the progressive world trying to draw more attention to the dysfunctions of the U.S. Senate, in particular the now-routine use of the filibuster, which has put a default 60-vote requirement on legislation that amounts to a fundamental change in U.S. governance — and not a positive change. It […]
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What you need to know following the Copenhagen climate summit
Co-authored by Rebecca Lefton. The international negotiations on climate change wrapped up Dec. 19 in Copenhagen. The conference achieved an interim agreement, known as the Copenhagen Accord, which could put the major polluting nations on a pathway to reducing global warming pollution, and it continues to set the expectation for U.S. domestic action on climate […]
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Geoffrey Lean is dead wrong, and here’s why
“So where do we go from here?” asks Geoffrey Lean. “How do we get from the … debacle of Copenhagen to a new and worthwhile climate treaty?” The question reminds me of the old Bert & I tale about the Maine farmer who, when asked by a motorist for directions to Millinocket, answers, “You cahn’t […]
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Obama to world in Copenhagen: ‘We will do what we say.’ Now tell it to the Senate.
“There is no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say.” — President Obama, speaking to world leaders in Copenhagen December 18 “Kan Han?” (Can He?) So implored the headline and full-page picture of President Obama on the […]
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Is Copenhagen a ‘nothingburger’ to the Senate? ‘Not a chance in hell’ says Kerry
First published at Wonk Room. Now that President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have returned from Copenhagen with a draft accord committing China, India, and the United States to a new era of climate action, the onus lies on the U.S. Senate to pass ambitious clean energy legislation. “Not a chance in hell […]
