Climate Politics
All Stories
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E.U. Parliament votes on proposals to cut emissions 20 percent by 2020
On Tuesday, the European Parliament’s environment committee voted on a range of proposals intended to help achieve the European Union’s ambitious goal of cutting its greenhouse-gas emissions 20 percent by 2020. The committee voted to force E.U. utilities to buy all their pollution permits by 2013 and to enact strict carbon caps on power plants […]
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McCain mystified by Obama’s concerns over nuclear
Besides Obama’s prioritization of energy, there was another particularly striking moment in the debate. (And I’m not talking about McCain referring to Obama as “that one.”) In the midst of an answer on climate change, McCain said: Now, how — what’s — what’s the best way of fixing [climate change]? Nuclear power. Sen. Obama says […]
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Obama names energy as first administration priority
The candidates have put forth ambitious proposals on a number of issues, but one of the great unanswered questions of the race has been what each would prioritize in office. The first policy initiative undertaken by the new president will benefit from a sense of first-term energy and momentum. Depending on what happens in ensuing […]
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Obama and McCain asked directly about climate change at debate
The second 2008 presidential debate included a single, pointed question on global climate change from an audience member, but that didn’t stop both candidates from working the issue of energy independence into their responses to all sorts of questions throughout the 90-minute faceoff. By and large, John McCain and Barack Obama stuck to their scripts […]
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The House Energy and Commerce Committee releases draft of potential climate legislation
Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Rick Boucher (D-Va.) released a “discussion draft” of their long-awaited climate change legislation today. “This draft is the culmination of nearly two years of intensive work on climate change by the Committee and marks an important step in our ongoing efforts to address this […]
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Republican congresscritters are in serious trouble
Remember when "drill, baby, drill" was going to reverse a horrible electoral year for Republicans in Congress? Turns out maybe not so much: The possibility that Democrats will build a muscular, 60-seat Senate majority is looking increasing plausible, with new polls showing a powerful surge for the party’s candidates in Minnesota, Kentucky and other states. […]
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Coal miners in West Virginia stay home in protest of anti-Obama NRA tactics
Coal production at the Blacksville No. 2 Mine in Monongalia County, W.Va., came to a halt for one day last week when all the miners stayed home in protest after a National Rifle Association camera crew tried to get them to bad-mouth Barack Obama on film. The United Mineworkers of America has endorsed the Democratic […]
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CNN reports on the battle for Coal River Mountain in W.Va.
In August, we brought you the story of Coal River Mountain, one of the last mountains in West Virginia’s Coal River Valley that hasn’t been destroyed by mountaintop-removal coal mining. Residents are lobbying to build a wind farm on the mountain, but Massey Energy is moving ahead on plans to strip-mine a 10-square-mile area of […]
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Committed environmentalist Stéphane Dion faces uphill fight in Canadian election
The delegates had worked for 36 hours straight at the international gathering in Montreal in 2005 intended to keep the Kyoto Protocol from stalling. The deadline to adjourn had passed, and so had a long night of high drama and low obstinacy. Stéphane Dion. In the bleary dawn of 6 a.m., as the translators threatened […]
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New Jersey moves to become premier U.S. offshore wind-power hub
New Jersey this week opened a new front in its battle to be a leader in renewable energy generation. Gov. Jon Corzine (D) announced an ambitious goal to triple the amount of wind power the state plans to use by 2020 to 3,000 Megawatts, or about 13 percent of the state’s total electricity. The wind-power […]
