Climate Politics

Enviros delighted with House Democrats’ energy bill

“I can’t find anything wrong with it. Really, there is no catch. It’s all good.” Is the sun setting on some oil industry tax breaks? Photo: iStockphoto Let the record show that these contented words were spoken by an environmentalist — Jim Presswood, a top lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council to be exact. […]

An account of one scientist’s testimony

On Friday, I participated in a briefing on Capitol Hill on the use of science in policy debates. Other panelists were Don Kennedy, editor-in-chief of Science magazine, Juliet Eilperin, environment reporter for the Washington Post, and David Goldston, formerly chief of staff of the House Science Committee and now a lecturer at Princeton.

In my presentation, I made two points that will not surprise long-time readers.

Everything Goes Better With Barack

Obama joins McCain, Lieberman to push Senate climate bill If you follow politics, the phrase “McCain-Lieberman” might make you throw up in your mouth just a little. Since 2003, U.S. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) have worked to pass a bill that would cut greenhouse-gas emissions, to no avail. But wrap your […]

It’s … medium

The big news today is that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has joined with McCain and Lieberman to re-introduce a bill to cap carbon dioxide emissions. The targets aren’t all that ambitious — it would slow the rise of CO2 emissions, cutting them two-thirds from present levels by 2050 — but the bill is nonetheless expected […]

With new energy-focused bills, Stevens delights enviros and Obama disappoints

Among the barrage of energy-related bills already unleashed by the 110th Congress, one of the most progressive comes not from the newly empowered Democrats, but from Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, a zealous proponent of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Just as peculiar, one of the bills that most rankles environmentalists comes […]

Manipulation Nation

U.S. risk-assessment draft completely eviscerated by real live scientists The Bush administration’s quest to make federal-agency evaluations of public-health risks from chemicals and other products even more meaningless has been stymied. A draft risk-assessment policy issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget has been called “fundamentally flawed” by the National Research Council, […]

Mayor May Not

Report questions whether many U.S. cities will meet Kyoto targets The carbon-reduction blame game isn’t limited to the federal level: nearly 360 U.S. mayors vowed that their cities would meet Kyoto Protocol standards, but a sampling of 10 cities reveals that they are not on track to accomplish their goals, according to a new report. […]

Flexing His OPECs

Schwarzenegger, E.U. unveil new carbon-cutting schemes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) may be hobbled by a broken leg, but his mind is still strong. (File that under Sentences We Never Thought We’d Write.) In his State of the State address last night, the green-leaning Governator announced a plan to cut carbon in transportation fuel 10 […]

Poison Penn

Pennsylvania governor blocked from issuing mercury rule Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) got green plaudits last year when he proposed a plan to scrub 90 percent of mercury pollution from the state’s coal-fired power plants by 2015, but a little-known state agency is now blocking his move. The Legislative Reference Bureau has sided with the […]

Their Day in Cote

Groundwork begins for Ivory Coast toxic-dumping lawsuit It’s been almost five months since a cargo ship dumped over 400 tons of toxic “slops” in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, leaving at least 10 people dead and more than 40,000 ill. At the time, residents of the African nation responded by blockading streets, burning stuff, and collapsing their […]