Climate Politics
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Heartland Institute terrified of Grist
Can I cover Heartland Institute events as media? It depends on who’s watching when I ask the question. Back in March 2008, the Heartland Institute held its “First International Conference on Climate Change” in New York City. Heartland is one of the leading oil industry-funded deniers of global warming. According to ExxonSecrets.org, it’s received $561,500 […]
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Next steps for Waxman-Markey bill
The Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill cleared a major hurdle on May 21 when it was approved by the Energy and Commerce Committee. But the American Clean Energy Security Act of 2009 still has a long road to travel before it can be voted on by the full House. The House parliamentarian has referred the […]
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Understanding offsets
As the struggle to pass the Waxman-Markey climate-energy bill showed, there is a certain price any political system is willing to bear for climate action. In China, that price is low. In the United States, it is medium. And in Europe, it is relatively high. But in every system, there exist two primary ways to […]
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Cap-and-trade: filling up the political space that should be used for real solutions
One of the least discussed flaws in the Waxman-Markey bill’s attempt to tackle the climate crisis also illustrates the fundamental problem with cap-and-trade. The bill strips the EPA[1] of much of its existing authority to regulate greenhouse gases, in return for the new, weaker authority granted under Waxman-Markey. The existence of this authority is one […]
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Fighting for the right to grow food in L.A.
South Central Farm activist Kati Lopez with armload of fresh corn leaves.Black Valley FilmsJust how much trouble can one community garden start? For starters, three years of court proceedings, two eviction notices, one assault charge, countless allegations of corruption, and $16 million worth of fundraising. Even with all the legal crap, the gardeners still had […]
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Monsanto dropped a cool $2 million on lobbying in Q1 2009
Jolly gene giantSource: ETC Group Monsanto dominates the global market for GMO seeds like Microsoft dominates the operating-system software market. You don’t skirt around antitrust enforcement like that without having good friends in Washinton. And to make friends, you’ve got have guys in suits working the Hill and the agencies. La Vida Locavore’s ever-enterprising Jill […]
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GOP wants 100 new nukes by 2030
In Finland, around the globe, and in every state, the nuclear industry makes people sing the same old song: “What do you get when you buy a nuke? You get a lot of delays and rate increases….” This year, authorities permitted Florida Power & Light to start charging millions of customers several dollars a month […]
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Vermont feed-in tariffs become law
Vermont’s feed-in tariff legislation became law at the end of business on May 27, 2009. H. 446 is the first legislation calling for a full system of advanced renewable tariffs in the US to pass the legislature and become law. The bill includes changes to Vermont’s Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development Program (SPEED) that would […]
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Why the USDA’s squashing of Philly’s universal school lunch plan bites
The outcry over the USDA’s announced end to Philly’s excellent Universal Feeding program–a program that automatically enrolls poor children in the federal free school meal program and which I wrote about the other day–is getting louder. And the ironies are coming faster, as well. From today’s Inquirer: Sen. Arlen Specter and Gov. Rendell are protesting […]
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Climate politics scoop and question of the week
Okay, I don’t know if it is a scoop, heck, I don’t know for certain it is true, but a very reliable source tells me that speaker Pelosi wants the climate bill on the House floor the last week in June. That is consistent with what Steny Hoyer (D-MD) said (see “House Majority Leader says […]
