Waxman-Markey bill
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Earth to Thomas Friedman: Winning the “Earth Race” Requires Federal Investment
In a major departure from conventional climate wisdom, Thomas Friedman argues in today’s New York Times that the UNFCCC framework is broken and should be replaced by a global competition in the clean-tech industry, which he says the United States can and should lead. “Let the Earth Race begin,” he declares, contrasting this with the […]
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Obama science advisor John Holdren on U.S. strategy in Copenhagen
COPENHAGEN — One of the puzzles about the U.S. strategy here in is how negotiators expected that pledging a 17 percent emissions reduction below 2005 levels by 2020 could be taken seriously. After all, that would bring the U.S. to approximately 1990 levels a decade from now, which is higher than the level the U.S. […]
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Why Cantwell-Collins is best — and how it just might win
As U.S. climate legislation creeps forward, Senators now have two frameworks to choose from. One is from Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); the other is from Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). Both begin with descending carbon caps that, along with supplementary policies, promise to reduce carbon […]
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The Rest of the Story of Cap and Trade
Recently, we’re hearing another round of questions about the cap and trade approach to curbing global warming pollution. For instance, there’s an entertaining cartoon going around called “The Story of Cap and Trade” questioning whether climate legislation based on cap and trade will do the job. Scientist James Hansen and economist Paul Krugman offer opposing perspectives […]
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Approaching Copenhagen with a Portfolio of Domestic Commitments
As we approach the beginning of the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen in December, international negotiations are focused on developing a climate policy framework for the post-2012 period, when the Kyoto Protocol’s first commitment period will have ended. In addition to negotiations under […]
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Fourteen Democratic senators stick up for coal
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Thursday, 14 Democratic senators affirmed their allegiance to the profits of polluting industry at the expense of the health and jobs of their constituents. In a letter to Senate leaders, a bloc of senators with powerful coal interests in their states called for “fair emissions allowances in climate change legislation.” […]
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House passes landmark health-care bill with one GOP vote
In the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s debate on the landmark bill, representatives from the minority party objected — or threatened to object — no fewer than 75 times, throwing in 35 “parliamentary inquiries” for good measure. The debate was delayed by nearly 90 minutes. Anybody who wondered whether more active involvement by President Obama […]
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When will we stop paying the hidden fossil fuel tax?
Last week, the nation suffered from major sticker shock when we learned that our use of fossil fuels comes with a hidden price tag of $120 billion per year. Thanks to the results of the National Research Council’s report on energy and the environment, some of the extra costs of dirty energy were exposed. (Full […]
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Sampling the competing flavors of the Senate climate debate
When it comes to the debate over climate and energy legislation, there are those in Congress and business for whom any bill will always be too much, and there are lawmakers and environmental groups for whom no bill will ever be tough enough. In between the two extremes, there are the middle paths, variously labeled […]
