Climate Politics
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South Dakota Sen. Johnson comes out in favor of passing climate bill
Sen. Tim JohnsonSouth Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson (D), listed as one of our fence-sitters on climate legislation, seems to be taking more of a strident stance in favor of passing a bill this year. In a column he recently penned and posted on his Senate website, Johnson argues that the climate change bill “could bring […]
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Teddy Roosevelt and the search for new ‘wilderness warriors’
Theodore Roosevelt had his delicate spots—he was an asthmatic child and later a naturalist who reveled in birdwatching. But 100 years after his presidency, the image of him that endures is decidedly more swaggering—an outdoorsman who loved to hunt, a mountaineer, a populist who thundered against corporate “despoilers” of the public welfare. He also left […]
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Veterans push for climate bill with new ‘Operation Free’ coalition
A new coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is hoping to counter the oil industry–backed “Energy Citizens” rallies with its own call to pass a climate bill and end dependence on fossil fuels. Under the name of Operation Free, the group aims to rally other vets to the cause. “We’re a coalition of leading veterans […]
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Cash-for-Clunkers to end Monday night, for real this time
Photo: billadayThe “Cash for Clunkers” program has been so successful that it will have to be wrapped up earlier than expected, the Obama administration announced on Thursday. Folks looking to turn in their fuel-hogging old cars will need to get their deals finalized by this Monday, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m. EST in order to […]
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Former Sen. Tim Wirth stirs up controversy over cap-and-trade, tries to tamp it down
Tim WirthTim Wirth — former Democratic senator from Colorado, former Clinton-era climate negotiator, and current U.N. Foundation president — raised quite a hubbub this week when he told Bloomberg news that the cap-and-trade bill in Congress had “gotten out of control.” “The Republicans are right — it’s a cap-and-tax bill,” Wirth said. “That’s what it […]
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Should greens ally with natural gas against coal?
I was fully prepared to hate this op-ed from T. Boone Pickens and Ted Turner, mainly because Pickens is kind of shady and I’m generally sick of rich old establishment white guys telling us how to transform our energy systems. However! It turned out to be pretty good — far better than what you normally […]
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Obama wants to set up White House farmers market
Michelle Obama working with local students in the White House garden.Photo: The Official White House PhotostreamPresident Obama said on Thursday that he and the First Lady are looking into setting up a farmers market just outside the White House, which might sell food from the White House garden or from local farmers. The president said […]
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NRDC Action Fund goes on offense against opponents of climate action
The Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund is bashing representatives who voted against the House climate bill as “villains” and lauding reps who voted for it as “heroes” in a new campaign. With TV and newspaper ads and a website, the campaign is aimed at states whose senators are on the fence about passing a […]
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Houston’s “Energy Citizen” rally was just a glorified company picnic
Sarah McDonald at the scene.Yesterday the Public Citizen Texas team drove down to Houston to crash the American Petroleum Institute’s “Energy Citizen” event. Billed as a “grassroots” rally against the cap-and-trade bill currently before Congress, this event was nothing more than a company picnic. About 2,500 energy employees were brought by charter bus to the […]
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Families not allowed in ‘families for coal’ group
The word “family” serves as code so often in political discourse that it can be tough to know what it really means. In the case of a Pennsylvania coal-industry group, it seems to mean, quite clearly, “not families.” Families Organized to Represent the Coal Economy (FORCE, naturally) does not allow families to join, according to […]
