Barack Obama

Another Monsanto man in a key USDA post? Obama’s ag policy’s giving me whiplash

Like a tractor driven by a drunk, the Obama administration keeps zigzagging on food/ag policy–sometimes veering in the direction of progressive change, other times whipping back toward the agrichemical status quo. In the last couple of days, there’s been a sharp turn toward the status quo. As I reported yesterday, Obama plucked Islam “Isi” Siddiqui […]

Tom Philpott Politics

Preserve states’ right to fight climate change

In his Sept. 22 U.N. speech President Obama got it right: the battle to arrest calamitous climate change can be won only if each of us enlists, perseveres, and fights “for every inch of progress.” It is, therefore, critical that the nation not embark on that battle with one hand tied behind our collective back. […]

Dan Galpern Politics

China steals Cimate Week spotlight, but U.S. still in the hot seat

U.N. headquarters: Site of all the inaction.Photo: United NationsThe U.S. was given a starring role at the United Nations Climate Summit on Tuesday, but China stole the show. President Barack Obama had pride of place on the agenda, as the first head of state to speak to the gathered world leaders, ministers, and climate negotiators. […]

Emily Gertz Politics

Obama gives his first real climate speech — really

Was the U.N. Climate Summit held in a marble bathroom?Photo: U.N./Marco Castro It was no barnburner of a speech, but President Obama’s address at the U.N. Climate Summit Tuesday morning amounted to the boldest climate change speech of his presidency. That’s because it was essentially the only climate change speech of his presidency. Until now, […]

Jonathan Hiskes Politics

Obama’s climate speech to the U.N.

President Barack Obama spoke to the U.N. General Assembly on the morning of Sept. 22, as part of the U.N. Summit on Climate Change. Here are his remarks (and video is embedded below): President Obama addresses the U.N. on climate.U.N. WebcastGood morning. I want to thank the Secretary-General for organizing this summit, and all the […]

Grist staff Politics

Climate Week kicks off in New York with bigwigs and big hopes

2009: The year so many met so often to talk so much about the perilous state of the climate — and as of September, accomplished so little. Will this week be the charm? During several different international meetings this year, nations have been getting into position for this December’s international climate treaty talks in Copenhagen. […]

Emily Gertz Politics

CBS’s Declan McCullagh promotes another false CEI attack on clean energy reform

Cross-posted from Wonk Room. According to Declan McCullagh, a libertarian blogger who works for CBS Interactive, secret Obama administration documents reveal that the cost of clean energy cap-and-trade legislation would be $1,761 per household — despite official estimates from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Congressional Budget Office, and the Energy Information Administration of about a […]

Brad Johnson Politics

Obama talks green to GM workers

President Barack Obama put a green spin on Tuesday’s address to autoworkers at the GM assembly plant in Warren, Ohio. The president sounded confident that the rescued, retooled, reinvented, more or less government-owned GM would be “good for American workers, good for American manufacturing, and good for America’s economy.” And it may just be a […]