Climate Politics
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Former President Clinton talks about the financial crisis and clean energy on ‘The Daily Show’
Former President Bill Clinton was on The Daily Show last night talking about his Clinton Global Initiative, the financial crisis, and alternative energy — and how the nation’s financial situation might have played out differently if we’d dealt intelligently with energy issues years ago. Here’s the video:
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Republican oil guru says McCain doesn’t have a clue about drilling
If you follow peak oil — and if you don’t, you will be bitchslapped by reality — then you know of Matt Simmons. I was introduced to him several years ago by my former boss at the Energy Department. Back then, Simmons was merely one of the savviest financiers in the oil services business, who […]
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Dems will let offshore drilling ban expire
House Democrats, out-stubborned by Republicans, will allow the 26-year-old congressional ban on offshore oil and gas drilling to expire on Sept. 30. Dems will not attach a provision to ban offshore drilling to a stopgap spending bill that’s expected to swiftly pass Congress and be signed by President Bush. The prez had made it clear […]
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Why he picked Sarah Palin, carbon queen
This is a guest essay from Chip Ward, author and board member of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. It was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom’s kind permission. —– Despite the media feeding frenzy, we still may be asking ourselves, “Just who exactly is Sarah Palin?” Mixed in with the Davy-Crockett-meets-SuperMom […]
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Senate passes renewable tax credits on the ninth attempt
The Senate today overwhelmingly approved a massive tax package that mashes together incentives for renewable energy with support for traditional energy sources less beloved by environmental groups. The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, sponsored by Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), would extend the investment tax credit for solar energy for […]
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Diversion of Great Lakes water will soon be illegal
If you don’t border the Great Lakes, keep your grubby hands out of ’em. That’s the general message of a bill that would bar any major water diversion from Lakes Erie, Ontario, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, unless all eight lake-bordering states approve. The so-called Great Lakes Compact, which has passed Congress and heads to the […]
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Palin’s climate skepticism is irrelevant
The Washington Post‘s Juliet Eilperin writes a piece on Sarah Palin’s climate skepticism that seems, like so many articles in this genre, to dance around something obvious. In the piece, upon finding out that Palin doesn’t believe in anthropogenic climate change, one Alaska enviro is quoted saying "now I know why" Palin fought emission reductions. […]
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Al Gore, Wangari Maathai urge U.N. to tackle deforestation in next climate treaty
Nobel Peace Prize winners Al Gore and Wangari Maathai urged United Nations countries on Monday to pay special attention to tropical deforestation in their next international climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Preserving forests, they said, will help local communities, fight poverty, and may substantially slow global warming since deforestation accounts for about one-fifth […]
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Bad policy ideas in Michigan
Environmental pressures and economic slowdowns are admittedly hard for state governors to tackle. Even still, Michigan’s latest is a lousy idea. As noted here, the state legislature has just passed a bill which Gov. Granholm has promised to sign that would: Strengthen the utility monopolies, guaranteeing DTE and Consumer’s Energy at least 90% of the […]
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The scoop on energy bills in Congress: offshore drilling, oil shale, renewable tax credits, and more
What’s really up with the energy bills in Congress? Will we see oil rigs off the coast of New Jersey anytime soon? Will Congress actually get anything done before it adjourns next week? As the clock ticks down on the 110th Congress, it’s not entirely clear what we can expect in terms of energy. The […]
