Climate Politics
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Author and physicist Richard A. Muller chats with Grist about getting science back in the White House
E = MC2 may be the best-known principle of physics, but close behind is the rule that physicists must, like Albert Einstein, have a mustache — and Richard A. Muller is no exception. Richard A. Muller. Facial hair earns no mention in his new book, Physics for Future Presidents, but it’s an illuminating read nonetheless. […]
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Why more government now means less in the future
“Socialism!” the House Republicans cried when the financial bailout was proposed — and they were right, if you define socialism as the takeover of part of the economy by the government. We’ll be in for much more of this sort of thing if the House Republicans and the rest of the federal government keeps worshiping […]
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Enviro news from the presidential campaign trail
• The New Republic looks at Sarah Palin’s record as governor of Alaska, focusing on toxic waste and the health of the state’s residents. The state has a rate of birth-defects twice the national average, and many believe it’s because of the “toxic stew” from the byproducts of mining and energy development like arsenic, […]
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EPA declines to set standard for perchlorate in drinking water
As predicted last month, the U.S. EPA said on Friday it would not issue national standards limiting the amount of perchlorate allowed in drinking water. In making its decision, which critics charge was heavily influenced by the U.S. Defense Department, EPA said that even though perchlorate has contaminated over 150 public water systems in the […]
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Could you be the next energy czar?
We could be over-thinking this whole energy crisis. Maybe we need just a wink and the chant, “Drill, baby, drill.” Maybe we need a healthy helping of “clean coal and safe nuclear.” Or maybe what we need is you. What do you think: Could you be the next energy czar? Side note: If the last […]
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The Biden-Obama position on ‘clean coal’ is not a mistake
Today, my inbox is bombarded with emails from enviros and clean energy advocates, some of whom say that Biden’s (and Obama’s) support of clean coal is “abysmal, absolutely abysmal.” I could not disagree more. I have this argument with enviros all the time. Tuesday, I argued the point with Ted Glick, the national coordinator of […]
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Disputing Shellenberger & Norhaus, part 2
(Those who have had enough of Shellenberger & Norhaus can skip this post, but I think this is a very important messaging discussion.) My critique of S&N has elicited from Nordhaus a sentence that encapsulates our differences, cuts through all the “barbs,” and makes clear just how dangerously wrong they are. Ted wrote here: We […]
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Reflecting on (and fact-checking) the VP debate
With the lengthy discussion of energy and climate issues in last night’s debate, it was easy to miss some important aspects as the vice presidential candidates sped through their respective talking points. For example, Joe Biden’s repeated plugs for “clean coal” irked enviros, particularly the folks at 1Sky. It was a 1Sky organizer who asked […]
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McCain looks to Palin for advice on energy
John McCain told NPR this week that, regarding Governor Palin, he has “turned to her advice many times in the past … particularly on energy issues.” Many? This would be especially scary when you consider that few people in the country are more misinformed on energy than Sarah Palin, the fungible candidate, a woman … […]
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Weighing Obama’s and McCain’s stances on food and farm policy
Will the next president be tough enough to defy the wishes of agribusiness? Apologies to Grant Wood Last month at Slow Food Nation, Michael Pollan made an interesting point about food policy and presidential politics. Food issues won’t likely play much of a role during the campaign’s stretch run, Pollan said, but the winning candidate […]
