Climate Politics

McCain to skip another crucial climate vote

Unbelievable. Sen. John McCain — who just weeks ago said of the Climate Security Act, "I hope it will pass, and I hope the entire Congress will join in supporting it and the President of the United States would sign it" — now says he won’t show up to vote on it. He won’t vote […]

U.K.’s former prime minister says symbolic vote on Boxer-Lieberman-Warner matters to the world

In March, British prime minister Tony Blair launched the Breaking the Climate Deadlock initiative to promote a new global agreement on climate change.

Today he has an op-ed the in the Washington Post, "Leading On Climate Change: How Action in Congress Can Move the World," in which he argues,

The Pentagon that ate America

There have been some discussions on Grist lately of the military, the military budget, how how militarism relates to sustainability. Everyone interested in those topics should immediately go and read “Entrenched, Embedded, and Here to Stay: The Pentagon’s Expansion Will Be Bush’s Lasting Legacy” over on TomDispatch. It is a deeply disturbing — not to […]

Republicans for Environmental Protection lets McCain off the hook for missing important votes

Yesterday, Republicans for Environmental Protection issued their annual scorecard for 2007. Party standard bearer Sen. John McCain missed every vote they scored. (For more on that, see here.) So what did REP do? Give him a score of zero? No, they just didn’t score him at all. Nice to see calculated political cowardice rewarded. With […]

Interview with solar champion Hermann Scheer

NewScientist has a great interview with German Social Democrat MP Hermann Scheer, who chairs the World Council for Renewable Energy and has done as much as anyone alive to spread the word on solar power. Unfortunately, it’s behind a subscription wall, so you can’t read it. But have no fear! I’ll post a big chunk […]

Behavioral quirks make taxes a tough sell

Tom Friedman is in full-on green mode these days, which is a welcome change from his writing on Iraq. And his proposal yesterday — that the U.S. should declare a $4 price floor for a gallon of gas — is all right, although I’m not sure why we shouldn’t just raise the gas tax and […]

Great new video on state efforts to tackle global warming

Sea Studios has put together a fantastic new video called "Ahead of the Curve: States Lead on Climate Change." Check it out: You might also remember their previous video, “Ahead of the Curve: Business Leads on Climate Change.” Here it is:

North Carolina bill would ban burning of coal from mountaintop-removal mining

On Tuesday, North Carolina State Rep. Pricey Harrison introduced legislation in the state House that would ban the burning of coal obtained through mountaintop-removal mining. If it passes, North Carolina would become the first state in the nation with such a law. The mining method isn’t practiced in North Carolina, but 61 percent of the […]

Stonewall Johnson

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Bush Era:

Rep. Ed Markey unveils ambitious new climate legislation

Rep. Ed Markey, chair of the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, unveiled new climate legislation on Wednesday morning, which he says will take “the innovative actions needed to ensure a greener, healthier, and more prosperous future.” The plan, which Markey will introduce formally next Tuesday, calls for an 85 percent reduction in […]