Climate Politics

House Republicans’ magical thinking on oil prices

Wow. House Republicans are now saying that their hissy fit cum frat party on the floor is lowering the price of oil. Not for the first time, I have to wonder: do they believe this? Do they really indulge in this kind of magical thinking? The oil price issue is an interesting political case. It’s […]

Enviros unhappy with Obama’s offshore-drilling shift, but pleased with his energy plan

Many in the environmental community are annoyed by Barack Obama’s change of position on offshore drilling, even while they applaud his comprehensive energy plan. The Democratic candidate had staunchly opposed new drilling on the outer continental shelf, but then shifted his position on Friday to say he would be open to some drilling if it […]

Top heavy?

John Stauber on MoveOn et al: MoveOn has fallen into the same top-down rut that all the big national public interest and environmental groups are in. MoveOn raises millions and millions of dollars each year, but the dollars go into marketing, advertising, and candidates, and not into empowering the 3.2 million people on their list. […]

How much does it take to buy a protest on the floor of the House?

Here’s another interesting chart (via Josh Nelson via Open Secrets) showing the amount of oil and gas contributions to the House Republicans now engaging in pep rally theatrics on the floor of the House: Republican House Member 2006 2008 Rep. Lynn Westmoreland $0 $0 Rep. John Boehner $65,000 $0 Rep. Adam Putnam $0 $20,000 Rep. […]

Three models for environmental analysis and planning

There are several fundamental areas of disagreement that underlay the ostensible topics of debate here on Grist. I have pulled together three planning and training devices used by organizers and campaigners in the PIRG tradition, as well as Green Corps, that are helpful in surfacing and naming such disagreements -- a common language for dispute, if you will.

Continuum of environmental action

A strength of environmentalism had been the flowering of its forms and politics. Our power has declined in direct proportion as our diversity has narrowed to an orthodox cannon of acceptable forms of environmental advocacy. At the height of our power, US environmentalism boasted vibrant organizational forms across a spectrum of strategy, tone, ideals and, probably most important, insider/outsider roles, particularly protest.

It is inappropriate to stuff that diversity into the straightjacket of one scale, but I've done so anyway because it underlines the overall point. (I don't want to be flooded with complaints the this or that box is too small or the wrong color. If anyone feels strongly about it, to paraphrase Tom Leher, I am prepared not only to withdraw the chart but to swear under oath that I never created it to begin with.) In 1982 U.S. environmentalists had powerful organizations across the breadth of approach. Today, we are highly concentrated in a handful of specialized areas. But rather than acknowledging that we are weakened by this trend, we seem to be driving even further in the direction of splintering what is already an extremely fragile institution.

The value of drawing the continuum is that it encourages us to look at our efforts on an institutional scale, rather than a myopic organizational view.

The history of House Republicans on energy in the 110th Congress

As you contemplate the House Republican spectacle today, wherein they protest the "Democrat five-week vacation" in the face of high gas prices, keep a few things in mind. The 109th Congress — the first session of Bush’s second term — worked the least, and accomplished the least, of any Congress since the original do-nothing Congress […]

Republicans continue shenanigans in the Capitol

As Grist reported, Republicans miffed about Congress going on August recess without a vote on offshore drilling started a sit-in in the Capitol on Friday. The shenanigans continued until police escorted the tourists out of the chamber at 4:30 p.m., and GOP lawmakers went home for the night. “Today is the 2008 version of the […]

Should Obama consider compromise on drilling?

Obama is taking lots of heat for his softening on offshore drilling. I have mixed feelings. On one hand, it’s extremely important to get the renewable tax credits passed, and Republicans have made it very clear they won’t allow that to happen unless they get some drilling. As usual, Dems don’t have the votes to […]

Should low-probability, high-impact risks govern policymaking?

All due respect to Paul Krugman, but the Weitzman thesis [PDF] has always made me a little uncomfortable. The idea is that it’s human nature to disregard unlikely risks, but if the unlikely risks are catastrophic enough then legislators should build policy around them. If there’s, say, a 2 percent chance that global warming could […]

Kaine’t touch this

I’m not convinced by the recent buzz around Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine as Obama’s VP choice, for reasons having little to do with his horrendous record on coal. However, his horrendous record on coal does make it particularly irksome that Obama is so publicly feting him. If I’d been here I would have written this […]