Politics

How CBO budget scoring devalues efficiency … WITH PUPPIES!

The Congressional Budget Office is back in the news, after director Doug Elmendorf testified before Congress about the economic impacts of clean energy legislation. Opponents of that legislation rushed to hype a few of his comments out of context, and succeeded, as usual, in getting their voices amplified in the Washington Post. Elmendorf didn’t say […]

David Roberts Politics

Entergy CEO warns of humanity’s extinction if climate legislation not passed

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. Last week, over a hundred CEOs of American companies broke with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to lobby Congress to “pass comprehensive climate change and energy policy legislation this year.” The U.S. Senate is now considering the Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, which would set a market-based limit […]

Brad Johnson Politics

Jill Richardson’s apt critique of the redesigned Senate Ag Committee website

The entire top half of the page is now dominated by a picture of the many healthy foods that our government’s ag policy does not promote: red and yellow bell peppers, purple cabbage, tomatoes, broccoli, sweet corn, onions, and leafy greens. — La Vida Locavore’s Jill Richardson noting the irony in the new Senate Ag […]

Tom Laskawy Politics

WSJ reporter knocks own editorial page for Chamber defense

Today the Wall Street Journal editorial board published a typically dismissive editorial defending the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from the companies that have quit or criticized it over its position on climate change. The Chamber, to recap, opposes the clean energy bill in Congress and recently called for a “Scopes Monkey Trial” questioning the scientific […]

Jonathan Hiskes Politics

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas)

Kay Bailey HutchisonSen. Kay Bailey Hutchison sent the following letter to Grist reader Blanca Estela in early October, responding to questions about the senator’s stance on climate legislation. Hutchison says she opposes a cap-and-trade system, arguing that it would raise energy prices for average Americans and cause economic hardship. She says she does want to […]

Grist staff Politics

Is Michelle Obama about to take on Big Food?

With all the talk of Michael Pollan and Jamie Oliver lately, it’s easy to ignore the person who right now is, given her current address, the most influential voice on food policy in the country. Naturally, I’m talking about First Lady Michelle Obama. While she’s been exercising what diplomats would call her “soft power” for […]

Tom Laskawy Politics

U.S. headed for massive decline in carbon emissions

For years now, many members of Congress have insisted that cutting carbon emissions was difficult, if not impossible. It is not. During the two years since 2007, carbon emissions have dropped 9 percent. While part of this drop is from the recession, part of it is also from efficiency gains and from replacing coal with […]

Lester Brown Politics

A scary new climate study will have you saying ‘Oh, shit!’

“Oh, shit.”They say that everyone who finally gets it about climate change has an “Oh, shit” moment — an instant when the full scientific implications become clear and they suddenly realize what a horrifically dangerous situation humanity has created for itself. Listening to the speeches, ground-breaking in their way, that President Obama and Chinese President […]

Mark Hertsgaard Politics

Teabaggers erupt at Lindsey Graham: ‘Wussypants, girly-man, half-a-sissy’

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. Right-wing activists across the nation are enraged by Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) decision to work with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to craft comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation. In an op-ed published in Sunday’s New York Times, Graham and Kerry discussed their agreement on a framework for mandatory global warming pollution […]