Climate Politics
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Obama favored by Exxon employees, but McCain has gotten more oil money overall
Barack Obama put out an ad earlier this week accusing rival John McCain of being “in the pocket of Big Oil,” and the Democratic National Committee launched Exxon-McCain 2008, a website to promote the idea that the Republican candidate is in bed with the oil industry. But as Grist noted previously, Obama himself has received […]
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Olympic Games begin; pollution worries, haze hang over opening ceremonies
The Beijing Olympic Games have officially begun. The opening ceremony kicked off at 8:08 p.m. local time on 08/08/08. So far, pollution readings are said to be moderate, with various Olympic officials and health authorities declaring the Games largely safe for athletes and visitors — as long as they’re just passing through and their sporting […]
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The discredited agency upholds the biofuel mandate
The environmental value of corn ethanol got a ringing endorsement Thursday from EPA chief Stephen Johnson. Johnson declined a request to cut the Renewable Fuel Standard embedded in the 2007 Energy Act. The RFS mandates 9 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol be blended into the fuel supply this year, rising steadily to 15 billion gallons […]
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Get to work!
MoveOn takes on McCain the voteskipper: For more on those votes, see here.
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EPA administrator says he’s not pulling out
On a press call today, a reporter asked EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson if he plans to resign from his post, as four Democratic senators and some enviros have called on him to do. “If you want to talk about that you’re more than happy to talk to … our press officer. But no, I’m not,” […]
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Some disappointments in Obama’s new energy proposal
Joe Romm isn’t off the wagon in calling Barack Obama’s latest energy policy outline [PDF], “easily the best energy plan ever put forward by a nominee of either party,” particularly given its release during a general campaign targeted at purple state voters. All the same, I found the plan to be … a little meh. […]
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Unilateral drilling deal is bad politics
Joe Romm seems to think Obama’s public support for drilling is smart politics, getting something for nothing. Romm is one of the smartest policy guys out there, but I think he has missed a key point on the politics here. Supporting drilling is a way of reaching out to low-information voters. But low-information voters don’t […]
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EPA refuses to lower requirement for ethanol in fuel supply
The U.S. EPA gave a big, husky hug to corn ethanol Thursday, declining a request from Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) to reduce the amount of ethanol required to be blended into the U.S. fuel supply. The federal Renewable Fuel Standard mandates that 9 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol be poured into U.S. gas tanks […]
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Gingrich says Republicans will shut down gov’t if they can’t get a vote on drilling
One might recall that Newt Gingrich resigned his seat in Congress in 1998. But he was back on the Hill yesterday to join the House GOP sit-in, and now he’s threatening that the Republicans will shut down government if they don’t get a separate vote on offshore drilling. Perhaps he hasn’t gotten the message yet […]
