Climate Politics
All Stories
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Island nations call for steep emission cuts to curb rising seas
At the United Nations climate conference in Poland this week, a coalition of over 40 island nations called for extremely ambitious reductions in world greenhouse-gas emissions, fearing the effects of rising seas. The nations proposed that industrialized countries slash their emissions more than 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and more than 95 percent […]
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Roadless rule limited to 10 Western states, judge rules
A federal judge on Tuesday limited the scope of President Clinton’s popular “roadless rule” to federal lands in 10 Western states instead of the whole country, leaving some 13.6 million acres of roadless forests largely unprotected from road-building and other development. Tuesday’s ruling is a compromise between throwing the rule out and keeping protections in […]
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EPA approves rule change making mountaintop-removal mining easier
The U.S. EPA on Tuesday approved a controversial rule change that the Bush administration has been trying to make for years which eases restrictions on burying streams under piles of mining waste, making mountaintop-removal mining easier. “By signing off on a rule to eliminate a critical safeguard for streams, the EPA has abdicated its responsibility […]
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Senate majority leader talks energy policy at wonky event
In an event Tuesday that brought together a motley crew of leaders with an interest in the future of energy policy, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that the issue would be a top priority for him next year. “As the new Congress convenes, I will make it a priority to work with the Obama […]
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Supertrain a-comin’
“There’s a reason when you turned on the Olympics to watch them this past summer, you saw mag-lev trains going over 200 miles an hour in supposedly a third world country [i.e., China] in terms of its economy, blowing into town, dealing with environmental problems they have as well as transporting people in a way […]
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Gov. Ed Rendell says Kathleen McGinty has taken herself out of the running for an Obama post
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell says he “heard” that Kathleen McGinty has taken herself out of the running for EPA administrator, according to the Capitol Ideas blog. Until July, McGinty headed his Department of Environmental Protection. Just last week, Rendell was pushing her as a strong candidate for a prime spot in the Obama administration, either […]
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Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez says he won’t run again in 2010
Florida Republican Sen. Mel Martinez said today that he’s not planning to seek reelection in 2010. Martinez, who is still in his first term in the Senate, has been one of the few Republicans who has generally opposed offshore drilling (which isn’t totally surprising, given his state’s geography). Even in the rush to open up […]
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Obama will never get 67 votes for an international climate treaty in the Senate
It is all but inconceivable that Obama can deliver the 67 votes in the Senate needed to ratify a global climate treaty — no matter what happens in the 12 months between Poznań and Copenhagen. And the only thing worse than no global climate treaty in 2009 is a treaty that Obama can’t get ratified. […]
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President Bush pardons man convicted of killing bald eagles
A man convicted of accidentally killing three bald eagles in the 1990s was pardoned by President Bush last week. Leslie Owen Collier of Missouri left hamburger poisoned with pesticide to kill some coyotes, but many of the animals that then ate the coyotes also died, including a red-tailed hawk, a great horned owl, and three […]
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SOS trumps NSA (Hillary Clinton trumps Gen. Jones)
Some enviros are annoyed that PEBO chose a national security adviser (NSA), retired Marine Gen. James Jones, who has emphasized energy security concerns over global warming — see, for instance, this lame transition report on energy (PDF) Jones just oversaw for the US Chamber of Commerce. The Politico actually just interviewed me on this very […]
