Climate Politics

The ‘psychological effects’ of threatening war with Iran

Steve Clemons makes a point worth repeating — if you’re worried about "psychological effects" on oil speculators, perhaps a better strategy than hyping offshore drilling is dialing back the warmongering rhetoric toward Iran.

Is drilling debate a repeat of the immigration debate?

Last week, Matt Yglesias finished his stint blogging for The Atlantic. Next week he starts blogging for the Center for American Progress. In between he’s taking a week off — the first time, according to Matt, that he’s gone more than 24 hours without blogging in over four years. We don’t want Matt’s head exploding […]

Are Obama’s energy panders as bad as McCain’s?

I think Kevin Drum is being too hard on Obama here. Obama and the entire Democratic Party are getting killed on energy right now. The pressure to do something is extraordinary. Obama is looking for concessions that can take some of the heat off without giving away the game, and in terms of concessions, opening […]

Since offshore oil is de minimis, why shouldn’t Obama and the Dems make a deal? Part 1

Getting something for nothing is always a good idea. Kudos to Senator Obama and other progressives for understanding this. The key questions are:

1. How much of a "nothing" is ending the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling?
2. How much of a "something" can progressives get by way of a serious effort to end our oil addiction once and for all?

Right now, it seems like conservatives are willing to hold their breath until they turn blue in the face before they agree to move any legislation whatsoever if it does not include coast drilling. Politically, they seem to have a winning argument in part because the media simply isn't policing the debate, even when people like McCain just repeat the lies of the oil industry over and over again. And in national politics, the side who doesn't have to explain their position usually wins.

I do think that agreeing to some coastal drilling now is de minimis as for two reasons:

McCain tours nuke plant, renews call for nuclear power expansion in U.S.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain toured a nuclear plant in Michigan on Tuesday, using the opportunity to renew his call for the U.S. to build 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030. At the plant, McCain said that his love affair with nuclear power began when he encountered nuclear ships and submarines in the Navy. “I […]

What’s the deal with Republican attacks on the tire gauge?

I’ve had a few pundit types ask me what the deal is with the kerfuffle over the tire gauge. What’s the attack here on Obama? That pumping your tires is elitist? That it’s unbefitting a commander in chief to recommend auto maintenance? Apparently Republican attacks have become so baroque that they are now impossible for […]

Guess which ‘alternative energy’ lobby is biggest?

Between the start of the year and June 2008, the oil and gas industries spent $52.21 million lobbying Congress. Alternative energy industries spent $11.39 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And look who’s tops on the alternative energy lobbying pile, with more than double the expenditures of the next on the list: American […]

House Republican deep thought of the day

I’ve been trying to pick my favorite quote from the festival of fatuous puffery that is John Boehner’s “House Republican Uprising Live Blog.” I think I may have found a winner in this doozy from Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.): I went to the nearest gas station and talked to people pumping gas to see what the […]

McCain says he’d end his vacation from Congress to ‘drill here, drill now’

Originally posted at the Wonk Room.

In eastern Pennsylvania yesterday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) repeatedly argued, "We need to drill here and we need to drill now." His invocation of the slogan of Newt Gingrich's right-wing 527 corporation, American Solutions for Winning the Future (ASWF), was coupled with the following call for Congress to "come back to town and come back to work":

Congress should come back into session, and I'm willing to come off the campaign trail.

McCain's call for action on behalf of Big Oil and right-wing billionaires hardly jibes with his record of absenteeism on major votes. In fact, McCain has been on the campaign trail and fundraising circuit a tremendous amount this session, missing far more votes than any other member of Congress. His vacation from his elected duty has included some of the most important legislation considered by Congress:

The Hilton energy policy