Climate Politics

White House to go online with 2009 federal budget

We may never know whether tree-loving or penny-pinching is his primary motivation, but it appears George Bush may finally, actually, maybe be doing something good for the planet: Looking to save $1 million, 20 tons of paper, or close to 500 trees, the White House said today President Bush’s 2009 Federal Budget will for the […]

A look at the framing behind the last climate policy proposal

Not long ago, a group of important environmental leaders published an essay on Gristmill -- "Creating an Earth Atmospheric Trust" -- about Peter Barnes' Sky Trust proposal. As it happens, Rockridge is about to release an analysis comparing Sky Trust with the Lieberman-Warner bill. We particularly evaluate what we call "cognitive policy," which is the set of ideas and values that underlie a legislative or social policy.

The Rockridge Institute endorses the key ideas in the Sky Trust. The reasons for our endorsement are best understood by looking at the cognitive policy behind it. This "cognitive dimension" of their policy is the source of inspiration that makes the Sky Trust strong.

The most fundamental principle behind this entire endeavor is this:

An effective policy must gain popular acceptance if it is to stand the test of time and it must do so for the right reasons, namely because it promotes the right long-term values in the minds of citizens.

The Sky Trust proposal is an exemplary effort to instill this principle firmly in policy.

Keeping Our Air Safe and Clean

The proposal begins with a cognitive foundation that contextualize the problem. This provides the moral context for addressing the climate crisis and shapes the material policy that emerges from it.

True costs of fossil fuels make renewables seem cheap in comparison

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

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In November 2006, California voters rejected Proposition 87, a ballot initiative to raise the oil industry's taxes by $4 billion for research into renewable energy.

Four months before the ballot, a survey (PDF) by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 61 percent of likely voters favored the idea, including 51 percent of Republicans.

What changed between the survey and the vote? The oil industry pumped more than $60 million into a campaign to defeat the measure. Proposition 87 contained a specific provision that would have forbidden oil companies from passing the tax along to consumers. Nevertheless, a central part of the industry's message was that Proposition 87 would raise the price of gasoline.

On the Hill and in the voting booth, the specter of higher costs and taxes is the big weapon in the fossil-fuel industry's arsenal against climate action. The question is, what's the defense?

It is important to acknowledge and to anticipate that putting a price on carbon will raise energy prices. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released an estimate (PDF) last November that carbon pricing to achieve a modest 15 percent reduction in emissions would cost the poorest fifth of the population between $750 and $950 a year on average. That's big money to a family living on $13,000 -- and fossil-energy costs presumably would grow as carbon caps get stricter.

But we can mitigate those costs:

Green groups will sue over feds’ missed polar-bear deadline

Discontented with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s announcement that it will not meet its deadline for deciding whether to list polar bears as a threatened species, the Big Three green groups — Greenpeace, NRDC, and the Center for Biological Diversity — have notified the government that they plan to sue.

Clinton and McCain win New Hampshire primaries, attract green voters

Unseasonably warm weather brought out a record number of voters in New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday — and is it mere coincidence that the majority of them voted for candidates with real plans to tackle climate change? Well, OK, probably yes. Hillary Clinton was the victor on the Democratic side; she’s got a strong platform […]

Why the West should worry about transportation emissions

Well, Clark and I are traveling to Portland for a batch of meetings related to the Western Climate Initiative.

On the off chance that you'll miss us, I thought I'd share some of what we're working on with WCI. Our biggest obsession right now is transportation fuels. Namely, we believe it's critically important that transportation fuels be covered by an "upstream" cap in the first phase of the program.

Here's more:

Why should the WCI cover transportation fuels in an economy-wide cap?

More than half of all fossil fuel emissions in the WCI states come from transportation. In contrast, electricity generation represents 26 percent of fossil fuel CO2 in the region -- only about half of the emissions from the transportation sector.

If the WCI region is to reduce its emissions by 80 percent by 2050, it will have to start dealing with transportation as soon as possible.

Is it complicated to cap transportation fuels?

It's actually fairly straightforward to include transportation fuels in an economy-wide cap. As with all aspects of cap-and-trade, the politics may be tricky. But technically, covering transportation fuels may be simpler than electricity -- and certainly simpler than load-based regulation of the electricity sector.

How would it work?

The fuel supply chain has several "choke points," well upstream from consumers and filling stations. At a chosen choke point, fuel handlers -- either purchasers or sellers -- would be required to track fuel volumes, and obtain emissions permits for the carbon that will be released when those fuels are burned.

What "choke points" would work for transportation fuels?

We'd suggest two possibilities:

Clinton wins Democratic primary in New Hampshire

Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire’s Democratic primary, beating Barack Obama by a slim margin and John Edwards by a sizeable one. Clinton has a strong, comprehensive climate and energy plan — but then again, so do her Democratic competitors. Check out Grist’s interview with Clinton and fact sheet on Clinton to get the full scoop […]

McCain wins in New Hampshire, after trolling for green votes

Unseasonably warm weather brought out a surge of voters in New Hampshire’s primary — and is it mere coincidence that the only Republican with a real plan to tackle climate change won? Well, OK, probably yes. But John McCain, who handily prevailed in the Granite State’s GOP primary, did make a deliberate appeal to New […]

McCain and Clinton win

I go get my hair cut and look what happens. McCain has won the NH primary with 37 percent to Romney’s 30 percent. That’s roughly what was expected. The huge news, though, is that Clinton is ahead, with 39 percent to Obama’s 36 percent. If Clinton pulls out a win in NH it’s going to […]

Elizabeth Edwards says her hubby is the man to build a social movement

From Ezra Klein’s short but interesting interview with Elizabeth Edwards: Ezra Klein: The message you seemed to be previewing on Sunday was that Obama’s a great guy, he’s got a great philosophy, really good ideas, but it’s in his head and not in his heart. Elizabeth Edwards: Except for the ideas part, sure. His health […]