Climate Politics
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Watch the video and read the transcript
Last night’s vice presidential debate featured an important exchange on climate change. Grist is posting the video and transcript excerpt below: Moderator Gwen Ifill’s question to Sarah Palin: “Governor, I’m happy to talk to you in this next section about energy issues. Let’s talk about climate change. What is true and what is false about […]
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$13 billion Amtrak bill heads to Bush’s desk
The Senate this week voted 74-24 to approve the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act, which would boost funding for Amtrak. With high gas prices and tough economic times pushing more Americans to ride the rails, Congress is aiming to improve rail infrastructure. The five-year, $13 billion bill would fund new safety measures for trains, like […]
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152 reps call for future climate bills to be strong and fair
In late April, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the House Select Committee for Energy Independence, joined with Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) to put out a statement of principles for climate legislation. Their framework for future climate bills calls for emissions reductions of 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050, the establishment […]
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Vice presidential candidates spar on energy and climate issues
Thursday night’s vice presidential debate produced several rows on climate and energy policy, with both candidates making somewhat unexpected claims on their own policy positions. Notably, however, both Joe Biden and Sarah Palin acknowledged that climate change is real and must be addressed — though they clearly didn’t agree fully on what’s causing it or […]
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Rate the energy and climate quotes on Ameritocracy
As Ashley Braun noted in an earlier post, Grist recommends checking out Ameritocracy.com and participating in their unique approach to rating the debate. Grist recommends the climate and energy questions in particular. Here’s one on climate change:
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Fact-check sound-bites from tonight’s VP debate with Ameritocracy
Call us optimists, but we’re expecting tonight’s much-anticipated vice presidential debate to be littered with sound bites on energy and the environment. After all, Sarah Palin, who “knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America,” will be making her national debut against debate heavyweight Joe Biden. But politicians are […]
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Australia’s Garnaut Report gets usual reactions from usual suspects
The final, 700-page Garnaut Report is out. (More about the report — Australia’s version of the U.K.’s Stern Report — here.) Says Wiki: The report recommended that Australia push internationally for a carbon dioxide equivalent concentrations of 450 ppm, which would commit Australia to reductions of 25% on 2000 levels by 2020, and 90% by […]
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A can’t-lose debate strategy for Joe Biden
I have a new mini-article in Salon, “A can’t-lose debate strategy for Joe Biden.” It explains how Biden can win the debate and score big points with independents by bringing up clean energy and global warming as much as possible. This may require more message discipline than the Dem VP nominee has. The article ends […]
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Sarah Palin, polar bears, and junk science
There’s lots of buzz around this piece in the Guardian, in which Ed Pilkington shows that Alaska governor Sarah Palin, battling to keep polar bears off the endangered species list, made use of junk science and scientists funded in part by Exxon and the American Petroleum Institute. Those interested in the subject should read this […]
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What enviros would like to hear (but probably won’t) in tonight’s VP debate
Joe Biden. Tonight’s vice presidential debate is by far the most anticipated debate of this election cycle. In the right corner, newcomer Sarah Palin. In the left, Joe Biden, a senator who’s been in office since Palin was “in, like, the second grade.” A series of klutzy and unflattering interviews with Palin on CBS this […]
