Climate Politics
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Newt’s ASWF Attacks: “Why Did Rick Boucher Vote To Kill Virginia Jobs?”
Cross-posted from Wonk Room. “Why did Rick Boucher vote to kill Virginia jobs?” Newt Gingrich’s coal-powered front group, American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF), asked this incendiary question of the coal-district Democrat in a full-page advertisement in the Roanoke Times. The ad, acquired by the Wonk Room, claims Boucher voted “for new energy taxes […]
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Peterson’s Waxman-Markey amendment: the nitty gritty and what it means
This morning the House Agriculture Committee released the 49-page Peterson amendment to the Waxman-Markey climate bill. It has been a laborious task, requiring dozens of closed door meetings, compromises (almost entirely at the expense of Waxman who has worked so hard to keep the bill strong), and eventually a very happy Chairman Peterson and House […]
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What can we learn from polls on cap-and-trade?
A new Washington Post-ABC poll reveals that majorities of the American people believe in climate change, are concerned about it, are willing to change their lifestyles and pay more to address it, and want the federal government to regulate greenhouse gases. (Sorry, Newt!) They are, however, ambivalent on cap-and-trade. It’s worth perusing the results, but […]
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‘Why we cannot support this bill’
Below is the text of an email being sent out by progressive groups opposed to Waxman-Markey because they believe it doesn’t do enough to address the climate and energy crisis. We reprint it here for the Grist audience to comment on. One Grister offered up this gem of a thought: The missing question from TheClean.org’s […]
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5,400 students currently training for solar jobs in California
Two things are happening in California right now. At least 5,400 Californians are training to enter the solar industry with one of 27 solar training service providers, according to a survey we just conducted. Details here (PDF). If the California Legislature does not lift the net metering cap and let the California solar industry continue […]
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Obama puts political capital on passage of climate bill
President Obama laid a significant chunk of his political capital on the table on Thursday, calling on House members to support the climate and energy bill that will go to a vote on Friday. “Now it the time for us to lead. The energy bill before the House will finally create a set of incentives […]
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The Non-Concession concession?
Henry Waxman and Ed Markey seem to have mastered the art of the non-concession concession: striking deals with potential opponents in ways that meet their needs while minimizing (though not entirely eliminating) the negative impacts. Similar to their distribution of allowances, which seemed at first glance to be a massive giveaway but turned out to […]
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On the road to Copenhagen, hope springs eternal
Half a year before the U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, negotiators are far from agreeing on key components of a global climate deal. As envisioned in the 2007 Bali Climate Action Plan (or “Bali Roadmap”), the summit in December is supposed to deliver a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework […]
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The bad and maybe not-so-bad of the Waxman-Peterson deal
Take this, Collin! Language of the Waxman-Peterson compromise has been released (full text here; and here’s a summary)–and in some ways it’s worse than I originally thought, and in some ways potentially better. The bad part involves the provision around indirect land-use change and ethanol. It would, for the next five years, prevent that the […]
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Jailed for protesting coal
My friend Michael Brune of the Rainforest Action Network gets jailed for protesting coal–his first-person account is worth a read.
