Climate Politics

Really

The 33rd meeting of the G8 is happening in early June, in Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel — perhaps in retaliation for the infamous backrub — is determined to put climate change high on the agenda. Not surprisingly, the U.S. and Canada are working to water down the draft communique Merkel has put together. Somewhat […]

Denmark is a model of energy independence

Back in January, Jonathan Cohn wrote a fantastic piece in The New Republic about Denmark. Conventional economic wisdom says that countries must choose between robust social services and economic growth. But, Cohn wrote, Denmark casts doubt on that notion: Over the last decade, the Danes have turned the conventional wisdom on its head by boasting […]

Will campaign coverage drown out or draw out competing stories?

Can you believe we're already several galloping laps into horse race reporting on the 2008 presidential campaign? Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi describes this phenomenon more eloquently than I can (and with more profanity than I would probably dare) here. For anyone already snorting in disgust and tuning out the constant stream of chatter about who's raised more money, who's realigning their image this way or that (with what hunting photo-op or change of hairdo), and who's notched up a point and a half in Iowa polls, Taibbi is spot on:

The election, after all, is nearly a full Martian year away, with a Super Bowl and two World Series still to play out in between -- which means that the "urgency" of breaking campaign news is now and will remain for at least a year an almost 100% media concoction.

Quit with the coal boosting already

Down in Salt Lake City, the National Governors Association is holding a three-day Energy Summit. Tired of federal slacking, the NGA has for the first time in its history drawn up a specific list of priorities for Congress to consider this session. Here’s what they said: At the top of the list – in fact, […]

The basic approach of the Bright Lines project

((brightlines_include))

After a decade of brutal political trench warfare, the surreal debate in the U.S. on the reality of climate change is over. A Democratic Congress looking to put climate in play in 2008, serious buy-in for federal regulation from a band of corporate heavyweights, and a rash of climate conversions from the likes of Pat Robertson and Frank Luntz (author of the infamous strategy memo advising Bush administration operatives how to muddle the climate change debate) demonstrate that a significant and probably permanent shift in climate change political gravity has taken place within the last year.

U.S. environmentalists have a very brief opportunity to reshape our climate agenda in order to meet the demands and seize the opportunities of new circumstances, and the stakes could not be higher. It is likely that the actions of U.S. environmentalists in the next two or three years –- more so than any other group of people on the planet -– will determine whether a functional global response to abrupt climate change is advanced.

Maybe the Pentagon can persuade red-staters

The military -- which tends to insist on operating in a reality-based world, as a matter of self-preservation -- thinks global heating is a big threat.

A bit from the story:

Today, 11 retired senior generals issued a report drawing attention to the ability of climate change to act as a "threat multiplier" in unstable parts of the world. The Army's former chief of staff, Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan, who is one of the authors, noted he had been "a little bit of a skeptic" when the study group began meeting in September. But after being briefed by top climate scientists and observing changes in his native New England, Sullivan said he is now convinced that global warming presents a grave challenge to the country's military preparedness.

"The trends are not good, and if I just sat around in my former life as a soldier, if I just waited around for someone to walk in and say, 'This is with a hundred percent certainty,' I'd be waiting forever," he said.

The Err Up There

EPA relaxes clean-air requirements for ethanol-fuel plants Before last week, plants turning corn into liquor (yes, please) were allowed to emit 250 tons of emissions per year before triggering clean-air regulations, while those processing corn into ethanol fuel could emit only 100 tons annually. Just doesn’t seem fair, does it? So the U.S. EPA did […]

In Washington state

Ooh, boy! It looks like the state of Washington is one step closer to having a sane climate policy. The state House of Representatives just passed a climate policy that looks like it's got some teeth:

Local and federal leaders step it up

As reported by KING5.com (video), more than 1,000 people took part in Step It Up Seattle, which began at Occidental Park in downtown Seattle and ended in Myrtle Edwards Park where a rally and solutions fair commenced. Many Grist staff members were present, and took pictures and chatted with local Grist readers. My job was to record brief audio interviews with some of the participants. Early in the week, we plan to share these photos and recordings with you.

For now, here is just a taste of the day's events, the unedited audio recordings (Windows Media) of the rally's speakers:

KC Golden, Policy Director for Climate Solutions -- Listen (7:22)

Jiji Jally, Marshall Islands representative -- Listen (4:36)

Jay Inslee, U.S. Congressman; Greg Nickels, Mayor of Seattle; Ron Sims, King County Executive -- Listen (26:00)

Dave Freiboth, MLK Jr. County Labor Council; Emily Duncanson, Western Washington University student and founder of Kyoto in the classroom; Rev. Lisa Domke -- Listen (13:22)

More to come.

Update [2007-4-16 17:13:1 by Chris Schults]: Check out today's podcast to hear from some of the Seattle marchers.

Update [2007-4-20 12:44:12 by Chris Schults]: Check out Grist's audio slideshow.

Mostly in the local papers

I’m moving this to a separate thread. I’m trying to track news coverage of SIU events — most of which is popping up in local and regional newspapers. If you know of a story I haven’t got here, leave it in comments — I’ll be updating. Forthwith: Coverage of Step It Up events in Annapolis, […]