Climate Politics
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McCain touts energy plan in another new ad
John McCain has a new ad promoting his “Lexington Project” to move the country toward energy independence: As with previous ads, this one shows footage of windmills and solar panels, but I don’t see any nuclear reactors. Odd, considering his love of nuclear energy and his plan to build 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030.
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Appeals court won’t force EPA to speed up CO2 decision
A federal appeals court has decided not to force the Bush administration to speed up its decision on whether carbon dioxide emissions endanger public health or welfare. The administration’s decision on CO2 is a necessary step in the process of regulating U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles and industrial sources. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court […]
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BLM contemplates two-year moratorium on solar power plant construction in the West
Oh, now they care about careful environmental assessment? Oil and gas development is spreading over the American West like a cancer, but this, this solar stuff … it’s a bridge too far! So Congress and the feds are going to let the solar investment tax credit lapse and institute a moratorium on deployment in the […]
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Select Committee hears testimony on Bush administration’s proposals for fuel economy standards
Amid a flurry of votes on energy issues in the House today, the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held a hearing on the role of automobile fuel economy as gas prices continue to increase. “Because 70 percent of oil goes into transportation, any solutions to the oil crisis must focus on the […]
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House approves two measures to address energy prices, third fails
The House of Representatives took up a triumvirate of environment and energy-related bills today, passing two that would increase funding for mass transit and curb oil market speculation. A third, more controversial measure would have forced oil companies to drill on the land they already own. The votes highlighted the split between Democrats and Republicans […]
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U.K. economist testifies to House subcommittee on the costs of inaction on climate change
U.K. economist Nicholas Stern, author of the 2006 report, that argued that costs of inaction on climate change far outweigh the costs of acting, said yesterday that the planet is warming faster than previously predicted, which may increase the costs of action. Today he testified before the a House subcommittee on the increasing need for […]
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A smattering of presidential campaign news
Recent news on the presidential campaign front: • Barack Obama held an “Economic Competitiveness” summit today with leaders from the business, labor, education, and philanthropy, in which he touted his plan to invest $150 billion in the green energy sector and create five million new jobs. “This can be the moment when we make a […]
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Aftermath of Supreme Court’s Exxon decision
Estimated time for full ecological recovery by affected species from the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill: 15 - 30 years.
Estimated time for full financial recovery by Exxon Mobil Corp. from yesterday's Supreme Court decision: 4.5 days.
As written in yesterday's opinion:
The real problem, it seems, is the stark unpredictability of punitive awards.
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Was Florida guv’s big Everglades deal an attempt to keep him in the running for VP?
Over on The Wall Street Journal‘s Environmental Capitol blog, Keith Johnson raises the question of whether Charlie Crist’s $1.75 billion deal to buy 300 square miles of the Everglades from U.S. Sugar Corp. was timed to keep his chance at the VP spot alive, as some Floridians have suggested. Last week Grist noted that Crist’s […]
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House blocks uranium mining near Grand Canyon National Park
The House Natural Resources Committee pulled a rarely-used move today to block uranium mining in one million acres of public land near the Grand Canyon, using their authority to order the Bush administration to immediately halt mining claims. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forest and Public Lands, suggested using […]