Climate Politics

U.S. EPA won’t let California enact vehicle greenhouse-gas limits

The U.S. EPA has denied California the waiver it needed to enact a state law requiring a 30 percent reduction in vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions by 2016. Said EPA chief Stephen Johnson, “The Bush administration is moving forward with a clear national solution — not a confusing patchwork of state rules — to reduce America’s climate […]

Analysis of the EPA’s decision to deny California’s waiver

As I mentioned below, today the U.S. EPA denied California’s request for a waiver exempting it from federal fuel economy standards, allowing it to implement its own standards. EPA administrator Stephen Johnson announced the decision in a rushed press conference following President Bush’s signing of the energy bill. The announcement came with a veritable torrent […]

Breaking: EPA announcing ruling on California waiver at 6:30 Eastern

The EPA just sent out an email advisory saying that Administrator Stephen Johnson will announce the agency’s decision on the California air standards waiver … in about 30 minutes. (Background on the waiver issue here, here, and here.) The lack of lead time might lead one to believe that they want to bury this news. […]

Ex-Georgia Rep. to run for president on Green Party ticket

Apparently Cynthia McKinney has announced a presidential run as Green Party candidate. This development is sure to have explosive effects on the presidential contest. And by explosive I mean negligible. (h/t: Sam Boyd)

A new site asks political talk show hosts to address climate change

In my introduction to Grist’s presidential forum on climate, I mentioned a statistic that came to me from Gene Karpinski of the League of Conservation Voters: as of mid-November, Tim Russert of Meet the Press had interviewed presidential candidates 16 times, asking nearly 300 questions, and had not mentioned "climate change" or "global warming" a […]

Bush appoints mountaintop-removal mining exec to key DOE position

Yesterday we learned that the Bush administration has appointed Stanley Suboleski to the position of assistant secretary for fossil energy for the Dept. of Energy. In that position, he would “oversee projects such as developing clean-coal technologies and carbon sequestration, and polices related to fossil fuels.” Suboleski is a long-time executive for Massey Energy, serving […]

Omnibus spending bill passes Senate

And I guess that's all I have to say about that.

Republicans oppose EPA mandate

David Freddoso of National Review learns from a Republican staffer:

Actually, the Department of Energy already produces numbers on greenhouse emissions, even state-by state numbers. But these are based on voluntary reporting and reliable estimates and formulas -- there is no "mandatory reporting."

So I would not panic, but this does appear to be a change for the worse. Congress is already making a bi-partisan war on America's energy producers and consumers (i.e., everyone) with the Energy Bill they will pass today. It is only a matter of time before climate alarmism adds still more to the already expanding burden on everyone in the form of higher gasoline prices and electricity bills.

Look out! The regulations are coming!

Bush signs diluted energy bill into law

President Bush today signed an energy bill into law that the House passed yesterday and the Senate passed last week. The bill increases fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, mandates the use of at least 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year by 2022, raises efficiency standards […]

Does Bush deserve credit for the energy bill?

Let’s review what happened with the energy bill: The House and Senate each voted through energy bills. The Senate’s had a CAFE boost and a Renewable Fuel Standard; the House’s had a Renewable Energy Standard and a tax package to take subsidies from oil companies and give them to renewable energy. Nancy Pelosi battled for […]