Climate Politics
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Praying for a bailout in Detroit
Lordy: Pentecostal Bishop Charles H. Ellis III, who shared the sanctuary’s wide altar with three gleaming sport utility vehicles, closed his sermon by leading the choir and congregants in a boisterous rendition of the gospel singer Myrna Summers’s “We’re Gonna Make It” as hundreds of worshipers who work in the automotive industry — union assemblers, […]
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Stephen Johnson defends Bush as ‘pro-environmental’
“The president is really a very pro-environmental person. When we first talked, he used the phrase which is precisely, philosophically, where I’ve always been at EPA. He said, ‘Steve, I want you to accelerate the pace of environmental protection while maintaining our nation’s economic competitiveness.'” — Stephen Johnson, EPA administrator
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Draft bailout deal calls for ‘car czar,’ ban on lawsuits challenging emissions standards
Congressional Democrats and the White House appear to have reached a deal on a $15 billion rescue plan for the auto industry, one that includes a ban on lawsuits challenging California’s greenhouse gas emission standards and a call for a “car czar” to oversee the rescue efforts. “The terms of any financial assistance under this […]
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Senate EPW chair calls on Obama to invest in infrastructure and green energy
In a press conference and a letter to Barack Obama, Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer today called for massive investment in public infrastructure to grow the economy and reduce global warming, though she was not specific about amounts of money or a timeline for action. “America pulled itself out of the Great […]
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Higher gasoline taxes to boost efficiency would be ‘a mistake’
I couldn’t agree more with PEBO on Meet the Press Sunday: New gasoline taxes aren’t the way to boost energy efficiency. Remember, European gas taxes have long been more than $2 a gallon higher than ours, and as of 2002, the average fuel economy of European Union vehicles was 37 miles per gallon, which is […]
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Obama and Biden to kick it with Al Gore tomorrow
This just over the transom from Obamaland: Tomorrow, President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be meeting with former Vice-President Al Gore in Chicago to discuss energy and climate change and how policies in this area can stimulate the economy and create jobs. There will be a pool spray in the meeting and […]
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Congress and Obama team signal that they will be ready for Copenhagen
In a letter from U.S. groups making the rounds here in Poznan, delegates are being urged to make the decisions needed in Poznan to keep us on schedule for making a final deal in Copenhagen next year, as promised in the historic consensus reached last December in Bali. While the December 2009 meeting in Copenhagen […]
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Kansas governor says she’s not planning to take a post in the Obama administration
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has taken herself out of the running for a cabinet position under Obama. She has been rumored as a top candidate for the head of Labor, Energy, Education or Agriculture. “Given the extraordinary budget challenges facing our state and my commitment to continuing the progress we’ve made in Kansas, I believe […]
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Activists circulate last-minute petition to urge progressive farm-policy chief
The Obama transition team is reportedly going to announce the new USDA chief in the next few days. If the short list of candidates now being circulated is any indication, the president-elect is feeling serious pressure to make an agribiz-friendly choice. But just as pressure can be applied from above, it can also come from […]
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Who will Obama tap to guide our oceans and atmosphere policy?
Washington Post columnist Andrew Freedman zeros in on the prospects for the top job at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The pick will oversee fisheries and atmospheric science research, among other things. “[T]he next few years are slated to be a rebuilding phase for NOAA; similar to a sports franchise that has hit a […]
