Climate Politics
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Waxman-Markey: ‘80% less by 2050’ is too hard, let’s do 46%
I’ve read humongous books in my time, most memorably Cloudsplitter, Russell Banks’ magisterial cinderblock-sized novel of John Brown, the anti-slavery warrior whose “Bloody Kansas” campaign in the 1850s helped provoke the Civil War. The similarly supersized Waxman-Markey bill couldn’t be more different – not just in genre, but in attitude. Where Brown gave his life […]
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Weakening amendments fail as American Clean Energy and Security Act moves through markup
The second day of markup on the Waxman/Markey American Clean Energy and Security Act (H.R. 2454) saw a series of amendments from opponents designed to weaken the green economy bill fail in a series of votes. The debate on amendments will continue today and the sessions appear on track to get the bill voted out […]
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Waxman-Markey gets it right with its allocations to regulated utilities
This post is reprinted from Climate Progress. As the U.S. makes significant progress towards enacting a cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gas emissions, some are worried that the new Waxman-Markey bill (W-M or H.R. 2454) may enable polluting utilities to reap windfall profits. We disagree. The allowance allocation provisions of this bill have been thoughtfully […]
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EPA: Markup of clean energy act has lower compliance costs
This post is co-written with Sean Pool. As the House Energy and Commerce Committee deliberations continue on the American Clean Energy and Security Act, H.R. 2454, opponents have made a number of wild charges about the cost of the bill. These claims are false. A new EPA analysis found that “compared to the draft bill, […]
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Waxman-Markey Rorschach blot, illustrated
I said in a post the other day that the Waxman-Markey bill is a Rorschach blot. Here’s a good way of making the point. This is the World Resources Institute’s estimate of emissions reductions under Waxman-Markey — the original draft released in April: Here’s WRI’s updated estimate for the hashed-over Waxman-Markey bill introduced to committee […]
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The week in fruitloopery: jaw-dropping things Republicans are saying about climate and energy
I hope everyone’s following the Waxman-Markey hearings via C-SPAN and Twitter, specifically @kate_sheppard @climatebill and @MarkeyMemo. If you’re not, you’re missing some vintage fruitloopery. Really jaw-dropping stuff. Here are a few videos rounded up from the last few days. Rep. “Smokey” Joe Barton (R-Texas) went on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to say … oh, how to […]
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Final vote on climate bill in Energy and Commerce Committee to come soon
The deal was set this morning. As The Washington Post (among others) just reported: At the start of Day Four of the committee’s debate, ranking Republican Joe Barton (Texas) said he and Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) had agreed to limit debate on each new amendment to 10 minutes. That came after a second marathon […]
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House ag chief Peterson: Waxman-Markey is mine, all mine
Corn: more important than climate? I’ve been reporting on it for a while, but now it’s reaching fever pitch: Big Ag is getting downright jittery about climate change legislation. There’s no mystery about why: industrial agriculture spews out massive amounts of greenhouse gas. Any serious scheme for reckoning with climate change will deal harshly with […]
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Gore vs. Hansen: Enviros take sides in debate over House climate bill
Photo illustration by Tom Twigg / Grist[Updated: June 1, 2009] The Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, now moving through the House, is polarizing the environmental community. Longtime climate crusader Al Gore says we should do all we can to get the legislation passed; top climate scientist James Hansen says we should demand a different, better […]
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We watch dozens of hours of climate bill debate so you don’t have to
I’m keeping close watch over debate on the Waxman-Markey climate bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (Grist … sitting through hours upon hours of markup so you don’t have to!) We’ll spare you the blow-by-blow and just give you the scoop when there’s big news. But the true political junkies waiting at the […]
