Climate Politics

Corn ethanol politics

I really don't have anything to add, so here are some excerpts from Motley Fool telling it like it is:

My theory is that the political support for massive biofuel expansion comes down to securing constituents' votes. Politicians know they can benefit politically from selling the benefits of biofuels ... and they also know there's too much at stake politically to back away from the issue. What states' politicians stand to benefit the most from backing biofuel? For starters, we can look at the top 10 ethanol-producing states, [by millions of gallons]:

(Thanks KO)

Or Are You Just Happy to Sue Me?

U.S. prosecutors compare “eco-terrorists” to KKK In its unyielding quest to root out terror at its terror-y roots, the U.S. government is battling to have 10 eco-activists sentenced as terrorists. At a hearing in Eugene, Ore., yesterday, attorneys argued that 10 members of the loosely coalesced Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front deserve the […]

An interview with renowned climate scientist James Hansen

James Hansen. Photo: nasa.gov James Hansen, NASA’s top climate expert, believes scientists have an obligation to speak out when their findings have important implications for the public — and he certainly put that belief into practice last year when he told The New York Times that the Bush administration was trying to muzzle his calls […]

Dingell promises climate legislation

Next year.

And if not, why not?

A journalist of some renown called me last week to ask a question: would it be possible to do both a cap-and-trade program and a carbon tax? Al Gore famously urged that approach, but this journo had heard from other (reliable) sources that it’s not possible. My instinctive answer was yeah, sure, there’s no reason […]

Trade in the Shade

Bush allows Democrats to attach eco-protections to trade agreements If the Decider isn’t careful, he’s going to become the Compromiser. Last week, President Bush and congressional Democrats worked out a deal that will attach environmental and labor protections to trade accords in the works with Colombia, Panama, Peru, and South Korea. The compromise will require […]

Tancredo’s fictions

Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo was asked, "what’s the latest work of fiction you’ve read?" His answer: An Inconvenient Truth. Guess that goes on his fiction shelf right next to Darwin’s Origin of Species. More at Tancredo Watch.

‘Eco-terrorism’: Are they really terrorists?

A federal judge will hear arguments tomorrow, and her ruling will have enormous implications. It’s one of those forks in the road: do we continue down the path toward a police state, or unclench our post-9/11 butts a little and remember that sometimes a misguided a**hole with a dogma and a book of matches is […]

Ah ha

California is suing the federal government over weak fuel-efficiency standards. No wonder the Bush administration made a big to-do of announcing its tepid alternative fuels plan today (even though nothing would happen with it until 2008). Rove’s trying to capture the news cycle. (thanks LL) Update [2007-5-14 13:49:14 by David Roberts]: Pure coincidence! Q The […]

This is getting old

Next month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will convene a summit of the G8 countries, which will issue a joint declaration on climate change. Here’s how that’s going: A draft proposal dated April 2007 that is being debated in Bonn, Germany, this weekend by senior officials of the Group of Eight includes a pledge to limit […]