Climate Politics
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Obama calls out climate and energy in his big acceptance speech
Thursday’s much anticipated acceptance speech by Barack Obama was less like a political event than a rock concert. Except you’ve never seen people quite this excited at a rock concert. Obama took the stage before 75,000 fans waving flags, stomping, and screaming. Among the many issues he addressed in his long, winding oration, he pledged […]
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Al Gore says Barack Obama is the man to solve the climate crisis
Al Gore. Al Gore, one of the headline speakers this evening at Mile High Stadium, spoke at length about the challenges of climate change and energy. “We are facing a planetary emergency, which is not like anything we have experienced in the history of humankind,” he said. Gore emphasized that there’s a common answer to […]
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Obama to tout clean coal, nuclear, and renewables in his big speech
David and I are in Invesco Field, among tens of thousands of delegates, reporters, and Denver residents awaiting Barack Obama’s acceptance speech tonight. We’re glad to be inside — outside the line snakes more than a mile out from the stadium. They’re expecting more than 75,000 attendees tonight, and the security line is a giant […]
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Brookings calls for action on climate change in WaPo op-ed
The uber-centrist Brookings Institution joins the climate alarmist realist crowd. President Strobe Talbott and VP for foreign policy studies Carlos Pascual explain in a Washington Post op-ed: The world may have only seven years to start reducing the annual buildup in greenhouse gas emissions that otherwise threatens global catastrophe within several decades. The politics are […]
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T. Boone Pickens embraces progressive policies but not progressive politicians
I interviewed the billionaire conservative oilman for Salon. My article and the interview are now online here. My goal was not to trip him up with the flaws in his plan, but just to explore some of the key issues, especially the role of government in making it happen. Talking to him it is clear […]
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Rep. Ed Markey talks about the Dems’ strategy for energy legislation in the House
Yesterday, I talked to Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, about what to expect from the Democrats on energy legislation when Congress goes back into session next month. We also discussed the Dems’ plans for climate and energy legislation next year.
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GOP platform acknowledges human-caused climate change, leaves out ANWR drilling
The Republican platform for 2008, hammered out by the Republican National Committee ahead of the party’s convention next week, is mildly greener than in 2004, making it “the greenest platform we’ve ever had,” according to a member of the committee. The draft platform acknowledges humans’ role in climate change but still takes digs at the […]
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Joe Biden and Bill Clinton say Obama’s the man to solve the energy crisis
In his convention speech on Wednesday night, Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden said an Obama administration will make “alternative energy a national priority … creating 5 million new jobs, and finally breaking us from the grip of foreign oil.” Biden accused John McCain of being wrong on everything “from Amtrak to veterans,” and said, […]
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Obama’s VP talks energy and Amtrak in his acceptance speech
After formally receiving the nomination as Barack Obama’s running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden took the stage. His speech focused on his middle-class roots and the lessons he learned from his parents, and transitioned into emphasizing a call to revitalize the “American dream.” While emphasizing his friendship with John McCain, he criticized the Arizona senator […]
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DNC: When Kerry attacks
John Kerry came out swinging tonight, calling for, among other things, “an energy revolution.” The best riff in the speech was a comparison between Senator McCain and Candidate McCain. He talked about McCain’s many flip-flops (including on drilling) and capped it off with: “talk about being before it before he was against it!” And his […]