Climate Politics

Grist talks to San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom about greening the city

San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom stopped by Netroots Nation on Sunday to introduce Van Jones, and he also talked to the crowd about some of the green accomplishments his city has been able to make so far. Newsom has proposed the toughest building standards in the country, and in November 2008 he was planning to […]

Green jobs advocate calls on web activists to lead the call for a new, green economy

Van Jones. Van Jones delivered the final keynote address at Netroots Nation today, stopping in Austin to talk about green jobs and the political prospects for addressing both the energy and climate woes of the country. The message from the netroots, he said, should be clear: “We cannot drill and burn our way out of […]

Al Gore on Meet the Press

Following his blockbuster speech on Thursday and his appearance at Netroots Nation yesterday, Al Gore was on Meet the Press today to talk about his new proposal. It was … painful. First off, Tom Brokaw’s questions were, almost without exception, awful. Just awful. They reflected the most brain dead, ill-informed D.C. conventional wisdom you can […]

Grist/ReGeneration.org talks to bloggers about how to address the climate and energy challenge

A few more blogger-on-the-street interviews from Netroots Nation. Here’s blogger Liane Allen, who writes at DailyKos and Green Mountain Daily, on climate, energy, and the netroots: Here’s blogger Natasha Chart, who writes at Pacific View: Here’s Gus Ayer of California: And Ilyse Hogue of MoveOn.org, who also blogs at Huffington Post:

Lessig and Netroots folks on climate change

We’re still here at Netroots Nation in Austin, Texas, where Stanford Law School professor and internet guru Lawrence Lessig just noted that climate change is the “most important public policy issue we will face in this generation.” He also talked up Al Gore, referring to himself as a “Gore-ophile.” Lessig recently launched Change Congress, which […]

Gore at Netroots Nation? UPDATE: Gore at Netroots Nation!

The hot rumor at the moment is that Al Gore is going to appear at Netroots Nation immediately following Nancy Pelosi’s Q&A session (which is going on right now). We’ll keep you posted. UPDATE: There he is! Let’s blog along, shall we? He loves the netroots — informed citizenry, etc. etc. North pole melting — […]

Extreme exceptionalism

“America is the most selfish country. From the way they talk, Americans believe even if the world disappears, America wouldn’t disappear.” — Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, on the U.S. not joining the Kyoto Protocol

U.S. Senate candidate Jim Slattery discusses energy and environment for rural voters

Jim Slattery, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Kansas, dropped by Netroots Nation this morning to talk about how progressives can make inroads in the heartland. His panel, “Rural America and the Progressive Movement,” took a look at some of the reasons rural voters shouldn’t be written off as red. Energy and environment were two […]

McCain talks up plans for the auto industry in Michigan

Today, GOP presidential contender John McCain visited the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich., where GM is developing the Chevy Volt, and used the visit to talk up his plan for the automotive sector. In the same speech, he argued that states should be able to determine their own fuel efficiency standards. California and […]

Questions for Gore’s energy plan?

This Sunday, Al Gore will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" to talk about the energy action plan he unveiled in Washington this week.

So, Grist readers, in tribute to the late Tim Russert, what kind of tough questions do you want host Tom Brokaw to lob Gore's way? Offer your suggestions here.

Looking ahead, is it safe to say that Gore stands to get a very warm reception from interim "Meet" host Brokaw? After all, the ex-NBC anchor hosted an Emmy Award-winning Discovery show back in 2006 that explored the reality of climate change and the need to address it. And he's a self-proclaimed environmentalist -- a lover of the outdoors (travels the world with Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard) who touts his personal efforts to conserve energy.

Brokaw also did his part to flack Gore's movie, "An Incovenient Truth."

Will Brokaw embrace his inner Russert and grill Gore about how exactly the nation can meet a 100 percent renewable electricity goal by 2018?