Climate Politics

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 […]

The candidates on clean energy

Politicians will always have an influence on the stock market, through regulation, tax policy, incentives, and more. This truism is only more certain in energy policy, where electricity markets and transport are highly regulated and the next administration is widely expected to enact some sort of carbon regulation, if not a tax.

This weekend, I heard the head of the Colorado Governor's Energy Office speak on what the state administration is doing on energy policy (PDF). Our current governor, Bill Ritter, ran on a three-part platform: working to fix Colorado's healthcare, transportation, and energy policies. Last year, the administration mostly focused on energy, and although healthcare and transportation will get more attention this year, there are already several energy bills on the legislative slate. This is because "Nobody is certain what to do about transportation or health care, but we do know what to do about Energy." This scenario may also be familiar to residents of California.

Since we do know what to do about energy, do the remaining U.S. presidential candidates? From the news coverage, I have to admit I'm far from certain. My impression has been that most of the Democrats and John McCain among the Republicans have been talking a good game, but repeated mentions of potentially problematic technologies and policies such as "clean coal," biofuels, carbon cap-and-trade, nuclear power, and even coal to liquids, leave me wondering if even the best of intentions might lead to bungled energy policy.

If I were president ...

If Gore’s endorsement could make the difference, will he give it?

I have predicted that Al Gore won’t endorse a candidate during the primary. I still think that’s probably true, and appropriate. But I’m starting to wonder. What if Obama’s momentum — from SC and his recent endorsements — gives him just enough juice to reach near-parity with Clinton on Feb. 5, where she’s long been […]

Efficacy of House of Reps’ carbon offsets questioned

Some greens and congressfolk are questioning the efficacy of the U.S. House of Representatives’ recent purchase of $89,000 in carbon offsets as part of their greening the Capitol initiative. “It didn’t change much behavior that wasn’t going to happen anyway,” said Joseph Romm of the Center for American Progress. “It just, I think, demonstrated why […]

Bush admin unveils new plan for Tongass forest in Alaska, ticks off enviros

The Bush administration unveiled a new management plan on Friday for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which encompasses nearly 17 million acres of coastal rainforest. The Tongass is the largest national forest in the U.S., a rallying point for enviros who want to protect all remaining roadless areas in national forests. The new plan, […]

Notable quotable

“This is something that is very, very important, and I think it’s something the president would sign. We have to have it.” — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, endorsing the fantasy that President Bush will sign Lieberman-Warner into law

Could Romney’s climate contrarianism come back to bite him in the general?

It’s becoming increasingly clear that the Republican race is down to McCain and Romney, and they are rapidly escalating their attacks on one another. Romney is now using McCain’s climate legislation against him: In a new line of attack, Romney then tore into the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. "Instead of seeing if there’s a way […]

NYT satire gives candidates’ alleged responses to the fish ‘n’ mercury issue

The New York Times has a pretty funny satirical article up about candidates’ alleged responses to reports of high mercury content in New Yawk tuna sushi. Obama: “Unlike other candidates, I have been saying since 2002 that we were headed down a disastrous road with our sushi policy. But what we need now is a […]

Senate committee considers mining reform, not all that into it

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing yesterday on mining reform, indicating unwillingness to overhaul 136-year-old U.S. mining policy anywhere near as much as would a House of Representatives bill passed this fall. Senators seemed generally open to creating a cleanup fund and placing royalties on new mines, but key lawmakers from […]