Climate Politics
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Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein gets climate bill wrong
In a laudable attempt to draw more elite media attention to the Waxman-Markey bill — which, like all things “environmental,” has not exactly been a preoccupation of the political cable/blog/op-ed axis — Washington Post business writer Steven Pearlstein makes a hash of a few important facts. Pearlstein says the Waxman-Markey bill will create “create dozens of […]
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Operation Appalachian Spring grows
In three separate direct actions in the West Virginia coalfields yesterday, nonviolent protestors launched the new phase of Operation Appalachian Spring, a growing national campaign to stop mountaintop removal mining and raise awareness of the catastrophic potential of government regulated blasting near a coal sludge impoundment. “The toxic lake at Brushy Fork dam sits atop […]
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Mainstream environmentalists’ enthusiasm for Waxman-Markey ensures it will get worse
Mainstream environmentalists who take the position that the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill “could be worse” help ensure that it will be. Publicly proclaiming willingness to live with the bill in its current firm gives nobody any leverage to strengthen it. It is the same mistake first time buyers make in car lots when they accept an […]
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The Daily Show on fuel efficiency standards
Jon Stewart was brilliant as usual on Obama’s new fuel efficiency standards: [vodpod id=Video.1652252&w=425&h=350&fv=autoPlay%3Dfalse]
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Where’s the Science Committee?
E&E ran a story yesterday on House committee maneuvering in the debate over Waxman-Markey. Some committees plan to waive jurisdiction, some plan to kick up dust (especially Agriculture’s Collin Peterson). On Science, there was only this: House Science and Technology Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) said yesterday he plans to complete work on the Waxman-Markey legislation’s […]
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Virginia OKs uranium mining study
A proposal to mine uranium in south-central Virginia advanced this week when a key state body approved a study of the matter. The targeted site is in Virginia’s Pittsylvania County just north of the city of Danville and close to the border with North Carolina’s Rockingham and Caswell counties. A subcommittee of the Virginia Commission […]
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Climate change legislation, beyond party and faction
Despite passage of the Waxman-Markey climate bill out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, this year’s effort to pass climate change legislation could easily succumb to the same kind of partisan political games and failed leadership that killed the Lieberman-Warner bill last year. Much of the blame for this troubling prospect rests with Republican […]
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House committee approves landmark (bipartisan!) clean energy and climate bill
NOTE: Unexpectedly, Rep. Bono Mack (R-CA) voted “yes” — and the bill passed 33-25! She later said, “While I still have significant concerns about this bill, particularly with regard to its cost and its failure to recognize innovative technologies like advanced nuclear energy, I believe this is the right direction for our district, for our […]
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Smokey Joe Barton (R-TX) throws in the towel to the Dems
“You should have a tremendous celebration tonight for your effort on this bill.” House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking minority member Joe Barton (R-TX) said that to Jay Inslee (D-WA) at a little after 7 PM EST. Barton also said to Inslee, “you have been an indefatigable proponent of the bill.”
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The new auto fuel-efficiency standards — going beyond the headlines
On My 19th, 2009, President Obama announced new Federal fuel-efficiency standards for motor-vehicles that would make the current standards — known as Corporate Average Fuel Economy — or CAFE — standards significantly more stringent. These CAFE standards measure compliance as the average of a company’s entire fleet of cars, and so are more flexible and […]
