Climate Politics

McCain adviser Forbes suggests candidate will dump cap-and-trade plan

Steve Forbes, who serves as an economic adviser to John McCain, suggested on The Glenn Beck Program last week that he expected the Republican presidential candidate to abandon his call for a cap-and-trade system to regulate emissions once he takes office: I think cap and trade is going to go the way of some other […]

McCain’s switch on offshore drilling brings him big money from Big Oil

While the drumbeat for more domestic drilling is unlikely to get additional oil flowing anytime soon, it has increased the flow of cash to GOP presidential candidate John McCain. McCain changed his position on offshore drilling last month, calling for coastal areas to be opened to exploration, and since then he has been campaigning hard […]

Driving cutback in U.S. bankrupting fund for infrastructure improvements

High gasoline prices in the United States have prompted a sustained cutback in driving, and the resulting dip in revenue from the federal gas tax is already canceling plans for infrastructure projects due to lack of funding. Right now, roughly one-quarter of bridges in the U.S. are either “functionally obsolete” or “structurally deficient,” and one […]

EPA administrator Stephen Johnson neglects his federal oath

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

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Some of us had high hopes for Stephen Johnson when President Bush appointed him in March 2005 as administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Johnson was not a former oil-industry lobbyist or Halliburton executive. He was a career civil servant who had been with the federal government for 24 years. He was a scientist, not a political hack, and he had served under both Democrat and Republican presidents.

I could relate, although my federal career was the reverse of Johnson's.

Former GOP prez candidate left up the creek without a wildebeest

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), one-time contender for the Republican presidential nomination, had the best of intentions for a trip to Africa. Having heard that there are 230,000 hungry refugees from Darfur currently residing in Chad, Hunter’s staffers called the country’s embassy and proposed that their boss come hunt wildebeest and distribute the meat to refugees. […]

The crucial mistake Dems made in the energy fight

Following up on this — I think the Democrats have made a specific and costly error. Consider the following Republican argument: Americans are hurting from high gasoline prices; politicians must act. Therefore, it’s the responsibility of Congress to lower gasoline prices. Therefore, we must open up new areas to oil drilling. Democrats have accepted No. […]

Dem presidential candidate calls on world to unite to fight climate change

Obama spoke at the Brandenburg Gate yesterday; 100,000 people were expected, 200,000 showed up. This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve […]

Got a question for Majority Leader Harry Reid?

Brave New Films is starting a web series called “Meet the Bloggers,” where Internet commentators get to ask questions of political types. It’s like “Meet the Press,” but with better questions from folks who spend all day in the weeds on this stuff. The series launched last week, and today’s episode features Senate Majority Leader […]

Sen. Robert Menendez chats with Grist about climate legislation

Sen. Robert Menendez. In the Senate debate over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act last month, Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) stood out as one of the most vocal advocates for making polluters pay to emit greenhouse gases rather than giving them free carbon credits. He also spoke up about the need to spend more on clean technology […]

Republicans block subpoena of EPA climate document, while Boxer releases choice excerpts

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has been foiled in her attempt to obtain and make public a U.S. EPA document on the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases, thanks to Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee that she chairs. The document in question is an endangerment finding that the White House refused to accept […]