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  • Congressional Dems get smart on pushing ‘all of the above’ energy vote

    Looks like the Congressional Democrats are shrewd enough to take on the GOP big lie that Republicans in Congress actually believe in an “all of the above” energy policy. Greenwire reports today that “Democrats plot strategy for putting GOP on its heels” ($ub. req’d): Democrats plan to return to Washington and the campaign trail next […]

  • Photos of protesters, political seed art, coal propaganda, and more in the Twin Cities

    Photos from my first few days covering the Republican convention and exploring Minneapolis and St. Paul:

  • Rights of humans, rights of nature

    Two items I’ve been tracking while away for a blissful two weeks of vacation here on the Atlantic shore, one hopeful, one awful: Hopeful: Ecuador is poised to grant rights to nature and ecosystems in a referendum this month. The idea originated in the U.S. — in Pennsylvania — as some small towns fought odious […]

  • Should environmentalists jump on climate disasters?

    There’s a heated debate going on about whether environmentalists should jump on breaking climate disasters like Gustav and frame them in terms of global warming and other environmental issues. Open Left’s Matt Stoller and Center for American Progress’s Joseph Romm say yes, and “anonymous environmental leader” says no (all are must-reads). In my recent book, […]

  • New Ecuador constitution would give nature inalienable rights

    Ecuador’s environment will be given inalienable rights if residents of that country vote yes Sept. 28 on a referendum to overhaul the constitution. One of the draft document’s 444 articles gives nature the right to “exist, persist, maintain, and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions, and its processes in evolution.” The controversial constitution, which would […]

  • Actress Rachael Leigh Cook disses drilling

    I stopped by the “Bank of America Goes Green” reception on Monday, where they ended up not talking too much about green issues after all, what with the hurricane as the more pressing issue of the moment. But actress Rachael Leigh Cook (of She’s All That fame) was in attendance on behalf of the Creative […]

  • U.S. EPA criticizes DOT over fuel-economy standards

    Officials at the U.S. EPA have criticized their counterparts at the U.S. Transportation Department lately over the DOT’s proposed fuel-economy standards for vehicles of 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015. The EPA has said the DOT used an unreasonably low figure for future gasoline prices — $2.42 a gallon in 2016 and a high of […]

  • Grist talks to Niger Innis about the ‘war on the poor’

    After the “War on the Poor” event David and I attended Tuesday morning, we caught Niger Innis of the Congress of Racial Equality for a quick interview about their campaign. The presentation this morning focused on politicians whom Innis accuses of being engaged in a “war on the poor” — all of which, at this […]

  • Former Democrat Joe Lieberman addresses RNC

    Definitely the most anticipated speech tonight — in positive way or a negative way, depending on whom you ask — was that of Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) It was also the first official RNC speech to employ the words “global warming.” “If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never would have led […]

  • Fred Thompson on moose and exotic dancers

    Former Tennessee Senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson on Sarah Palin: “I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field-dress a moose … with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.” OK, so there was nothing really environment-related in Thompson’s […]