Climate Politics
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Sunstein Watch: What progressives expect from OIRA
Dear Cass: As you know, we picked a spat with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) last week over Randy Lutter’s supposedly temporary detail appointment to your office. It’s not the first time we’ve criticized the workings of OIRA, and almost certainly won’t be the last. I’ve spoken to a number of people in […]
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Climate activists blitz media in Copenhagen
Ricken Patel, executive director of the international activist group Avaaz.org.Photo: Jonathan HiskesCOPENHAGEN — If I’m delayed in the Copenhagen Bella Center by one more crowd of earnest chanters, or a dude in a funny costume, or the 800 people who feel compelled to stop in the middle of busy hallways to snap pictures of each […]
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A chat with Earl Blumenauer about his ‘carbon audit’ of the U.S. tax code
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)Tucked away in the frantically assembled and hastily passed bailout bill of Sept. 2008 was a little-noticed provision that would empower the National Academy of Sciences to do a “carbon audit” of the U.S. tax code, scoring tax provisions according to their impact on the national carbon footprint. But the audit — […]
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Myth vs. reality on the Copenhagen climate summit
Co-written by Rebecca Lefton, a Researcher for Progressive Media, and Daniel J. Weiss, a Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress. Myth #1: Copenhagen is already a failure. Instead of a binding agreement we’ll end up with a political deal that gets us nowhere. Reality: We are on schedule at […]
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The Climate Post: Throngs enter Copenhagen’s climate gates
First Things First: President Obama last week shifted the date he will visit the Copenhagen climate talks from Dec. 9 to Dec. 18, the last and most consequential day. Three days into the 15th U.N.-sponsored Conference of Parties, this otherwise mundane fact carries the most symbolism. Whatever happens, whatever has already been settled or is […]
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Gore vs. Palin on Climategate
Super-blogger Andrew Sullivan has an intriguing feature on his site called The Odd Lies of Sarah Palin in which he catalogues the way the most popular so-called “conservative” in the country today lies seemingly reflexively, even about topics which are not the least bit controversial. (For instance, whether or not she consulted her daughters about […]
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Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman release framework for Senate climate/energy bill
Sens. Kerry, Graham, and Lieberman held a press conference today to discuss the framework they’re developing for a clean energy bill that can get to 60 votes in the Senate early next year. (Audio here.) Obviously the event was timed to have an impact in Copenhagen. Both Kerry and Lieberman said explicitly that their intent […]
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Memo to Politico: Climategate is a flop
Today’s Politico headline from Copenhagen is: “Climategate distracts at Copenhagen.” This seems based on a very low bar for what constitutes a distraction. Is the international summit torn now between resolutions saying global warming is a moral imperative or a dastardly hoax perpetrated by the sinister scientist conspiracy? Hardly. Is there one country that previously […]
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Is the leaked draft a big deal or a non-issue?
Earlier this week, a leaked draft of proposed treaty text from Denmark caused quite a kerfuffle. We asked our expert panel: Is it a big deal, or a tempest in a teapot? Here are edited excerpts from their responses: —– Andrew Light Senior fellow at the Center for American Progress Any veteran of the UNFCCC meetings […]
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The Time for Coal Ash Regulation is Now
How many people have to be sickened or killed before we get strong coal ash regulations in the U.S.? I ask this during a week very full of news on coal ash – the by-product of burning coal for power. Our latest and biggest news is our notice today putting New Mexico’s San Juan Coal […]
