Climate Politics
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Chu on the enemy of the human race
“Coal is my worst nightmare.” — Steven Chu, Obama’s nominee for energy secretary, a Nobel laureate, and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in a speech earlier this year on his lab’s renewable energy projects
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Thoughts on Obama’s USDA pick
"Tom understands that the solution to our energy crisis will be found not in oil fields abroad but in our farm fields here at home," Barack Obama declared Wednesday, hailing his pick for USDA chief, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack. "That’s the kind of leader I want in my Cabinet." Great. Rather than an advocate […]
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You haven’t heard the last of me, you meddling kids!
“What they don’t know is, I’m going to go back and kick their ass.” — Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), on his plan for revenge against his colleagues on the Natural Resources Committee, who just forced him out with the threat of a no-confidence vote
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Green groups divided over choice of Salazar to head Interior
Ken Salazar. Ken Salazar, Obama’s choice to head the Department of the Interior, is provoking controversy in the environmental community. Many activists, particularly among grassroots conservation groups in the West, are criticizing the pick, while some industry interests and big, mainstream green groups are praising Salazar. The opponents have been the most outspoken so far. […]
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The infrastructure tightrope Obama will have to walk
As I noted the other day, there’s something of a tension between the infrastructure investments that can be circulated into the economy quickly and those that are green — particularly when it comes to public transit. A Washington Post piece on Sunday addressed the issue: Most of the infrastructure spending being proposed for the massive […]
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Obama officially announces Vilsack for USDA and Salazar for Interior
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Barack Obama officially announced that he will nominate former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) to be secretary of agriculture and Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar (D) to be secretary of the interior, calling them “as accomplished a pair of public servants as we have in America.” “Together, they will serve […]
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Will Ray LaHood be our next transportation secretary?
People are saying that Ray LaHood, a downstate Illinois Republican representative, may get the nod for DOT. So far, the things mentioned as being in his favor are — friendship with the president-elect and his chief of staff, some pro-Amtrak votes, experience managing big projects as a member of the Appropriations committee (?), and his […]
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Green groups propose nominees for lower-level admin posts
With Obama’s environment-oriented Cabinet posts now filled, some in the green community are floating the names of individuals they’d like to see in lower-level positions in the administration. The “Green Plum Book” [PDF], put out by the Arabella Legacy Fund on behalf of “several of the nation’s most significant conservation leaders,” lists the names and […]
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2030 Challenge Stimulus Plan: Emission reductions, jobs, and economic benefits across the country
President-elect Obama has committed to economic recovery, energy independence, carbon-neutral buildings by 2030, and an 80 percent reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Architecture 2030 has developed a groundbreaking economic stimulus plan [PDF] that simultaneously addresses all of these issues, with a single investment. Kristina Kershner and I presented the 2030 Challenge Stimulus […]
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Brushing aside pressure, Obama taps a big-ag man as USDA chief
"Tom Vilsack was one of the first governors to see the promise of biotechnology. He has a very balanced view of agriculture and understands its potential." — Ted Crosbie, vice president of global plant breeding and director of Monsanto’s Iowa operations "Governor Vilsack would be an outstanding choice for Secretary of Agriculture. He would bring […]
