carbon pricing
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Do enviros need to reassess their big-picture climate strategy?
Yesterday, I asked seven of Grist’s favorite journos and wonks what policies reformers should focus on this year now that chances for a cap-and-trade bill appear dim. Read their answers. Today, they grapple with a broader question. Our panel: Michael Levi, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Amanda Little, Grist alumnus and author […]
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With cap-and-trade on the ropes, what’s the next move for greens?
The final fate of the climate/energy bill is uncertain. There are signs Senate Democrats may yet try to advance a price on carbon, perhaps a limited system that only covers utilities, but it remains a heavy political lift. It’s a safe wager cap-and-trade won’t make it over the finish line. So let’s look ahead: What […]
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Could Dems get a strong energy bill if they abandoned cap-and-trade?
Don’t miss Jesse’s great post from earlier today. It’s thoughtful and provocative and I wanted to offer a few observations in response. His basic take is as follows: the Dems, in their quixotic pursuit of a price on carbon — even the leaky, ramshackle contraption that cap-and-trade has become — are ignoring opportunities for real […]
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Democrats may waste last chance for clean energy win
With the final seconds ticking down on the Congressional clock, President Obama and Senate Democrats emerged from a White House summit with Republican moderates Tuesday still lacking any plan to score a last minute win for clean energy. Wasted opportunity Establishing a price (any price) on carbon pollution through a(n increasingly weak) cap-and-trade system continues […]
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A Salon debate on cap-and-trade and energy politics: day four
Last week, I took part in a debate at Salon.com on the merits of pricing carbon (and related matters). My debate opponent was Steve Everley, manager of policy research at American Solutions and a contributing author to To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine, by Newt Gingrich. Salon has graciously agreed to let us republish […]
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Republicans oppose Democratic climate plan in favor of alternatives that would cost more and do less
When it comes to climate and energy, most political attention has focused on Democrats, which makes perfect sense — they’re in the majority and they’re the ones putting together a bill. How do you stop an elephant … and its bad ideas?Photo: Jared Rodriguez/truthout.org via FlickrBut it is worth pausing periodically to contemplate the utter […]
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The real options for U.S. climate policy
The time has not yet come to throw in the towel regarding the possible enactment in 2010 of meaningful economy-wide climate change policy (such as that found in the Waxman-Markey legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in June, 2009, or the more recent Kerry-Lieberman proposal in the Senate). Meaningful action of some kind […]
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The unfinished tale of climate legislation: Eric Pooley’s ‘The Climate War’
The pursuit of U.S. legislation to address the threat of climate change has been going on for more than 20 years. It has pit entrenched industries against scientists and campaigners, political appointees against agency staff, American diplomats against UN officials, propagandists against journalists, red states against blue states, and John McCain 2010 against John McCain […]
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A mildly contrarian take on Obama’s Oval Office speech
Reaction to Obama’s Tuesday evening speech was swift and brutal. “JUNK SHOT,” blared Huffington Post’s homepage. “What was the point?” asked Jason Linkins. “What a terrible speech,” said Kevin Drum. Having gone back and watched it a second time, I think these reactions may be a touch overwrought. Whenever Obama speaks, there’s always some set […]
