Climate Politics

Sebelius Dem response desultory liveblogging

[UPDATE: Full text of Sebelius’ remarks here.] Obama-esque post-partisan soothing words. A “new American majority.” We’re all one big happy family! Jobs, homes, jobs. Results. Working together. Getting the job done. Relentless pragmatism. Now, when she lauds actual policies and accomplishments, they all turn out to be advanced and pushed through by … Democrats. I […]

SOTU desultory liveblogging

Blah blah blah. You know, the guy uses so much flim-flammery, so many deceptive code words, so many feints and misdirections, it’s almost like he’s speaking a different language. I have utterly lost the ability to hear it the way an Average Voter might. My brain translates it automatically. Now he’s on the clean energy […]

New ‘air of cooperation’ between Kansas state gov’t and coal companies

This evening, Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius will give the Democratic rejoinder to Bush’s SOTU speech. There has been quite a bit of speculation — here on Grist, among other places — about Sebelius’ possible fitness as a VP candidate. Via Ezra, this actual Kansan blogger throws cold water on the notion. Particularly concerning: Her appointee, […]

Three recognition contests for young eco-hero/ines

There are now three, count 'em, three great ways for kids to get recognition, mentoring, media opportunities, and cold hard cash for their grassroots eco-leadership. You've probably heard of one or two of these, but if you know a really great kid (from age 8-22) who is leading his/her peers in taking action for the environment, from cleaning up a watershed to collecting waste motor oil, then I'd nominate that kid for all three. Here are details on the prizes and their deadlines:

Action for Nature's International Young Eco-Hero Awards: deadline Feb 28

Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes: deadline April 30

Brower Youth Awards: deadline May 15

An account of a House hearing on auctioning permits under cap-and-trade

Last Wednesday, the House Global Warming Committee held a hearing on "auctions and revenue recycling in cap and trade," which took a close look at the advantages of auctioning (rather than giving away) pollution permits under a cap and trade system, and what might be done with the revenue. I didn’t manage to watch the […]

Sen. Ted Kennedy endorses Obama

Influential Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), whose family has long been friendly with the Clintons, has nonetheless endorsed Barack Obama for president. Included among Ted’s reasons: “With Barack Obama … we will make the United States the great leader and not the great roadblock in the fateful fight against global warming.” Kennedy is the brother of […]

White House SOTU energy BS preview

Right on time, here’s the White House’s "State of the Union 2008" statement on "Increasing Our Energy Security And Confronting Climate Change." It more or less confirms everything I said here. It touts the energy bill and the Major Economies Meetings, and trumpets the wonders of clean coal, nuclear power, and sweetheart neoliberal trade deals.

California mulls nation’s first feebate bill

Feebates are one of the most promising strategies for lowering vehicle fleet emissions. This week, the California Assembly will vote on the nation’s first feebate bill, the California Clean Car Discount Act. It would levy a fee of up to $2,500 on gas guzzlers, with commensurate rebates for fuel efficient cars. The L.A. Times has […]

House members ask Bush to shill for clean coal in his speech

I suppose I should write some insightful comments about Bush’s upcoming State of the Union speech, which everyone expects to be sucky, since the guy’s a lame duck and everyone hates him. There are lots of emails and PR releases flying around, fact-checking previous SOTUs and promising to fact-check tonight’s. To summarize: Everything he’s said […]

U.S. sets low expectations for this week’s climate meeting

Leaders from the world’s major economies will fly big planes to Honolulu this week for a chat about reducing global greenhouse-gas emissions. Ironicalicious! Even better, the Bush administration, which is hosting the meeting, isn’t expecting much out of it. “I think these will be iterative discussions, which the initial goal will be to lay out […]