Climate Politics
All Stories
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Shameless
In an election year, even Senate minority leader and filibuster cowboy Mitch McConnell claims to be green. Are these people born without a shame gene, or do they beat their shame instinct into submission over a lifetime in politics?
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Romney and McCain treat Michigan workers like credulous children
Romney and McCain are campaigning furiously in Michigan, and it’s tight. Romney, for whom Michigan is make-or-break, seems to have decided it’s in his best interests to sell fantasies: Mr. Romney criticized the energy bill signed into law last month by President Bush that requires cars and trucks sold in the United States to achieve […]
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An interview with Florida’s governor, a Republican climate crusader
Photo: Steven Murphy/WireImageMeet Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a surprising blend of Grand Ol’ Party and bleeding-heart greenie. As a Republican, he defends the Bush administration’s environmental record, but he also counts among his personal heroes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote an entire book condemning Bush as “America’s worst environmental president.” Crist wasn’t backed by […]
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There’s a large human cost to subsidizing European fishing fleets in West Africa
Today's front page New York Times story -- "Europe Takes Africa's Fish, and Boatloads of Migrants Follow" -- chronicles the human cost of overfishing. Fueled by billions in government subsidies, European fleets empty out West African waters, leaving nothing for subsistence fishermen. I wrote about this in an earlier post, but it's an important enough issue to warrant reiteration.
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Land-use policy is not a laughing matter
It was just a fleeting moment amid the hours of presidential debate that have taken place through this longest of election cycles, but it nonetheless warmed my heart. No-longer-a-candidate Bill Richardson, in response to a question on climate policy, said of the fight against climate change: It’s going to take a transportation policy that doesn’t […]
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Smart people talk about serious questions
Check out this cool new site, BigThink. It’s a collection of short video interviews with notable or famous people, asking them a series of common questions. Strangely addictive. The environment section is fairly anemic thus far (the site just launched a few weeks ago), but you can watch Mitt Romney, Dennis Kucinich, John McCain, and […]
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There’s a need for someone to draw contrasts among candidates on climate
I said earlier that there’s no point in Al Gore endorsing anyone in the primary. But if he does want to have a salutary effect on the presidential election, I have a proposal for him. More on that in a minute. It’s looking like John McCain has a better than even chance of getting the […]
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Rubber, meet road
So, McCain made a big deal out of climate change before the New Hampshire primary, sucking up to the state’s independents. Now the Republicans are heading to Michigan, where there’s an epic fight going on between environmentalists and massive rush of proposed new coal plants. Think McCain will take sides in that struggle?
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The right way to interpret Shellenberger & Nordhaus
Matt Yglesias has a review of Shellenberger & Nordhaus’ book in the NYT Sunday Book Review. It contains a good insight and a fairly crucial mistake — albeit a mistake common to those enter S&N’s hall of mirrors for the first time. The insight is twofold. First, that the core and most valuable part of […]
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Climate treaty among mayors often honored in the breach
Seven cities in the San Diego region signed on to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, but some didn’t do much more than sign it. I imagine it wouldn’t be difficult to find other MCPA participants for whom signing was little more than an empty gesture. That should come as no surprise: it’s a voluntary treaty […]
