Climate Politics

What the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner bill debate tells us

No, 450 is not politically possible today.

Okay, that was clear before. But the debate over the Climate Security Act made it clear that it won't be politically possible anytime soon, for two reasons:

1. The vast majority of conservatives have not budged an inch on climate science even in the face of now overwhelming direct scientific observation and a much deeper and broader scientific understanding of the dangerous impact of unrestricted human greenhouse gas emissions on the climate.
2. Equally important, conservatives now have a very potent political issue to beat back advocates of an economy-wide cap-and-trade system -- high gasoline prices. And gasoline prices are probably going to be much higher over the next few years (see "Must read CIBC report: $7 per gallon gas by 2010"). That is one reason I would leave transportation out of an economy-wide cap-and-trade, but that will be the subject of another post.

I live-blogged the debate at the time. Here are the highlights -- or, rather, lowlights -- from the GOP side that make clear just how far conservatives are from understanding climate reality:

White House tries to keep EPA from showing how greenhouse gases could be regulated

The White House is trying to block the U.S. EPA from releasing a document that shows how the Clean Air Act could be used to regulate greenhouse gases, reports The Wall Street Journal. The draft document, a formal response to a Supreme Court decision that greenhouse gases are pollutants and can thus be regulated under […]

Umbra on carbon trading

Dear Umbra, I don’t understand carbon credits and how people can buy/sell/trade them. How is this good for our environment? Elizabeth Columbus, Ohio Dearest Elizabeth, I believe you speak of the carbon credit, rather than the carbon offset? The carbon offset is a consumer product that you or I could buy, enabling us to mildly […]

U.S. Defense Department fighting EPA orders to clean up Superfund sites

Defying environmental law, the U.S. Defense Department has resisted repeated orders lately from the U.S. EPA to clean up some of the nation’s most contaminated places. The DoD/EPA standoff has turned into a bureaucratic pissing match wherein the EPA has asserted its authority to order and oversee cleanup of ultra-polluted Superfund sites the DoD owns, […]

N.H.’s Shaheen puts energy issues at center of her campaign for Senate

In New Hampshire, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D) is challenging incumbent John Sununu (R) for his U.S. Senate seat, and she’s making energy concerns a centerpiece of her campaign. Here’s her most recent ad, targeting the “Enron loophole”: Previous Shaheen ads have called for tougher regulation of the oil industry and increased investment in renewable […]

Newsweek political journalist transcribes McCain campaign spin on energy

Last October, Barack Obama laid out a detailed, ambitious, and comprehensive energy plan, and he’s been talking about it ever since. A couple weeks ago, John McCain let loose a flurry of one-off energy gimmicks — a gas tax holiday, offshore drilling, a prize for a car battery — which he crammed together under the […]

Billionaires for Obama

Via Sam Smith, Lynn Sweet notes a few of the folks meeting with Obama:

Moyers talks to Boxer

Wow, you kinda forget what good TV journalism looks like until you watch Bill Moyers. He makes the cable babblers look like children. Don’t miss Moyers interviewing Barbara Boxer on the flame-out of the Climate Security Act. She’s really quite good on this, but in the end, as much as I kind of regret saying […]

Republican Congressional candidate says main priority is energy reform

While Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith (R.) tries to fuzz his ties to the GOP and his unswerving devotion to the Bush agenda (in between lurches to the center around election time), at least Oregon voters in the First District have a choice that's actually interesting: either Democrat David Wu, considered a huge disappointment and one of the least effective members of Congress (he's so lame that even the Oregonian, who typically only stops endorsing incumbents after they've been six feet under for months, endorsed his primary opponent) or this guy.

I don't know if that guy's got any of the right answers, but he's sure got the right questions.

A weekly roundup of greenish news from the Capitol

Some political news debris from this week: • The League of Conservation Voters announced today that they’ve created the first green bundling site. This allows folks to donate en masse to green candidates around the country. LCV will direct the funds to the candidates it will support this year in Senate and House races. • […]