Climate Politics

What does the 2005 energy bill vote say about Obama?

It’s conventional wisdom that Clinton and Obama are fairly close on policy, so the choice between them will come down to "character" and theories of change. While I think that’s broadly accurate, there are some differences in their voting records, and recently Elana Schorr took a close look at them to find where the candidates […]

Sign a petition to prompt Bush to address climate in his state of the union speech

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

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President George W. Bush will deliver his final State of the Union address on Monday. We can be sure he will talk about Iraq and the economy, particularly the hot topic of the moment: recession. He probably will discuss Iran and the war on terrorism. He may talk about immigration and rising oil prices, two topics he raised last year and on which there has been no progress.

But will he talk about global climate change?

On the eve of the address, and in no uncertain terms, a group of the nation's leading scientists and policy experts is advising the president that he should.

"We regret to report that the state of the nation's climate policy is poor, and the climate and the ecosystems that depend upon it are showing increasing signs of disruption," the group says in a statement being delivered to the White House today. We can no longer discuss the State of the Union without assessing the state of the nation's climate.

A plea for some pepper in the climate change message

On national security, Brian Katulis says progressives need a story to tell, and Matt Yglesias says they need some confidence. On climate change I’d make basically the same points: the progressive line is too much prose and too little poetry, and it’s delivered from a defensive posture. I liked Bill Richardson’s energy plan, but every […]

Report warns of new security threats from climate change

Climate change will create a range of new security threats, including millions of displaced climate refugees, according to a new report from Britain’s Oxford Research Group. The report forecasts a tumultuous climate-changed future by as early as 2050 where some 200 million climate refugees fleeing environmental disasters in their homelands will try to immigrate to […]

EPA staff supported California auto-emissions waiver, documents show

As suspected, U.S. EPA employees last year told agency Administrator Stephen Johnson that California had “compelling and extraordinary conditions” that would justify a federal waiver allowing the state to limit greenhouse-gas emissions from autos, according to EPA documents reviewed by Senate staffers this week. Nonetheless, Johnson denied the state that waiver in December. The EPA […]

Why Al Gore isn’t running for president

As Hillary, Obama, and Edwards continue to slug it out in the early primary states, one name is conspicuously absent among the Democratic candidates to become the next president of the United States. Where is Al Gore? The man who received more votes than George W. Bush did in 2000, who served eight years as Bill Clinton's vice president, and whose climate change evangelism has been rewarded with an Oscar and Nobel Peace Prize has resolutely refused to enter the race, even though he might well have won it.

Ever since the documentary An Inconvenient Truth catapulted Gore to international superstardom in 2006, countless citizens and opinion leaders at home and abroad have urged him to pursue the presidency. For its 2007 Person of the Year issue, Time magazine asked Gore if he did not have "a moral obligation" to run, given the unparalleled power of the White House and the urgency of the climate crisis. Gore gave much the same answer he has been giving for months now: although he had "not completely ruled out the possibility," he did not expect to run for office; the best thing he could do to fight climate change was to stay focused on "changing public opinion."

What qualities do we need in a president who will get things done?

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

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Change -- a perennial theme in presidential campaigns -- has taken on a more serious meaning this election season. Of all the promises being put forward by the presidential candidates, change may be the most frequent.

"Change" usually is a word used by candidates who don't have much Washington experience, but want to package their inexperience as a virtue. But allegiance to "change" is far more important If we want to confront global warming, energy insecurity and peak oil over the next four to eight years -- not to mention Iraq, the deficit, health care costs, and several other messes the Bush administration is leaving to its successors -- change will be the name of the game. Big change, in fact.

There is wide acknowledgment that Americans need to come together to solve some of these problems. We need a uniter, not a divider, in the White House -- for real this time. We have enough common causes, certainly, around which we should rally. What we don't have is trust.

How will climate play in the general election?

This CQ article is disturbing for two reasons. One, it confirms my worst fears about a McCain candidacy: Today, McCain’s position would be relatively close to that of the Democratic nominee in a general election. Only on the most superficial level, but then, I guess that’s the level we play on during campaigns. … if […]

Credulous ‘former advisors’ notwithstanding, no, Bush is not going to help on climate legislation

This, from Greenwire (sub rqd), made me laugh: Would President Bush sign a global warming bill into law before leaving office one year from now? … Ken Mehlman, head of Bush’s 2004 re-election bid and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, told reporters Friday that he would urge the White House to support legislation […]

EPA documents confirm that staff supported California waiver

The U.S. EPA only turned over some documents related to its California waiver decision, but allowed Sen. Barbara Boxer’s aides to take notes on the rest. Excerpts of the unrelinquished material have been released — against the EPA’s wishes — confirming what was suspected: prior to the decision, EPA officials told agency Administrator Stephen Johnson […]