Climate Politics
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Biden questioner says ‘clean coal’ doesn’t exist
Last night, Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden said that his previous remarks on “clean coal” were “taken out of context,” and that he “for 25 years has supported clean coal technology.” The remarks came after moderator Gwen Ifill asked him to clarify earlier, seemingly contradictory statements on clean coal. Clean coal leapt into the spotlight […]
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House passes bailout plan with extensions for renewables, sends to Bush’s desk
If at first you don’t succeed, try again. After failing to muster enough votes on Monday, the House on Friday approved the financial market bailout plan by a vote of 263-171, sending the bill to the desk of the president. The final version of the bailout included the extensions for renewable tax credits that Congress […]
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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 […]
