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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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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 […]

  • 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.

  • From the Senate to the WV coalfields, a pivotal week for mountaintop removal

    This post was co-written by Bruce Nilles and Mary Anne Hitt, director and deputy director, respectively, of the Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. This has been a historic and game-changing week in the fight to end mountaintop removal. We will undoubtedly look back on the events of the past few days as a major turning point […]

  • Historic Senate hearings on Clean Water Protection Act today

    In memory of Jeremy Davidson “It hurled like a cannonball into Dennis and Cindy Davidson’s house, right through the wall of the bedroom and onto the bed where 3-year-old Jeremy was sleeping. The huge boulder continued its path, crashing through a closet before finally stopping at the foot of 8-year-old Zachary’s bed. Zachary would be […]

  • Seeking a tougher climate bill, green groups set eyes on the Senate

    Update: The House on Friday passed the Waxman-Markey bill, 219 to 212. The story below was written ahead of that vote, but its focus on how environmental groups hope to improve the bill in the Senate remains timely. Environmental groups are downplaying hopes that their allies in Congress will be able to strengthen the American […]