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  • Scant evidence for charge that EPA ‘suppressed’ dissent [Updated]

    UPDATE 6/26: The Competitive Enterprise Institute released a draft of the “suppressed” report, which confirms the EPA’s explanation: The agency didn’t think much of the report because it’s authored by an economist claiming to be a climatologist. “We have become increasingly concerned that EPA and many other agencies and countries have paid too little attention […]

  • How bad is the Peterson-Waxman deal on climate legislation?

    Big Ag gets its way. [See update below.] Surprising no one–but disappointing many–House energy chief Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has caved in to the demands of the the agribusiness industry over the climate bill. In reality, he had little choice if he wanted his legislation to get through the House. For more than a month, House […]

  • How Waxman-Markey tackles climate change by saving forests

    One of the little-known ingredients of the deal that allowed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454, to pass the Energy and Commerce committee was a breakthrough on protections for the world’s vanishing tropical forests. The bill’s authors, Representatives Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA), used this agreement to achieve the bill’s […]

  • Climate bill puts Americans in the green (SEE MAP)

    There’s a lot of talk about the costs of the proposed climate bill for American consumers. As we’ve documented repeatedly, opponents of climate policy have cranked out lots of “studies” to prove the bill will crater the economy. The latest garbage to come out of the opposition team was the map that suddenly popped up […]

  • Why I’m not freaked out about the Waxman-Markey climate bill

    Feeling ambivalent?Will the Waxman-Markey bill spark a full-scale energy revolution? No. Not on its own, not in the next 10-15 years. The short-term targets for reducing greenhouse gases are too low, the renewable electricity standard is too weak, too many offsets are allowed, and there’s too little investment in clean energy. To boot, there’s every […]

  • It’s no time for change, says ad from Gingrich’s group

    American Solutions for Winning the FutureThe people who brought you the “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” energy plan have launched a new TV ad opposing the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, or, as the new 30-second spot calls it, the “national energy tax.” American Solutions for Winning the Future, a group founded by former […]

  • Peterson gets his way with climate and energy bill

    Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) on Tuesday surrendered to agriculture interests on a key provision in the massive climate and energy bill he introduced with Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.). Facing a defection from farm-state Democrats, Politico.com reports that Waxman agreed to change the bill so that “the U.S. Department of Agriculture will oversee the [carbon] offset […]

  • EPA chief Lisa Jackson on mountaintop removal, climate legislation, toxics, and more

    In a wide-ranging interview with Grist, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson hit on a number of hot-button topics. Here are highlights in video and text.  (For more, read the full Q & A.) On mountaintop-removal mining: [T]he current state of the law and regs doesn’t allow us to just change the law and the regs to […]

  • Blogospheric passions run high on, um, the CBO report

    After watching a tedious press conference this morning at which not a single question was asked about the Waxman-Markey bill (after Obama endorsed it!), I’m happy to see that somebody outside the dreary confines of “green blogging” is grappling with it. If it all happens to be obsessively focused on the CBO report, well, I’ll […]

  • Obama endorses climate bill, press corps asks about his cigarettes

    President Obama gave a strong endorsement of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) at a White House press conference today, calling it “historic legislation that will transform the way we produce and use energy in America.” The White House press corps didn’t seem to notice, asking not a single question about the bill, […]