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  • The blame Obama game

    Obama has received much of the blame, despite Congress being a separate branch of government. But so it goes in the age of outsized prez expectations.

  • Chairman Rockefeller knows better

    Sen. Jay Rockefeller.On Tuesday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) issued a statement saying that he will vote for the Murkowski resolution because it is “a vote for a strong West Virginia economy.” I don’t doubt Sen. Rockefeller’s commitment to West Virginians, but it’s simply appalling that the Chairman of the Senate Science Committee plans to vote […]

  • The Murkowski Resolution is a political assault on science

    Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. The Senate is now debating Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) resolution to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s scientific finding, mandated by the Supreme Court, that manmade greenhouse gases endanger the American public. This is nothing less than a crass political attempt to defuse an existential threat by pretending it does not […]

  • The Murkowski Resolution: A step backward for American clean energy

    This post originally appeared on The Huffington Post. In the last 18 months, the United States has taken major steps forward in the transition to a clean energy economy. With historic investments in solar, wind, and other innovative renewable energy sources, we are positioned to compete for the clean energy jobs of today and tomorrow, […]

  • Why immigration reform is getting more traction than climate change in the Senate

    Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) decision to withdraw from discussions with his Senate colleagues regarding climate legislation has been greeted by some well-meaning environmentalists as a reason to bash President Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for their alleged lack of commitment to climate legislation. I think this is a mistake. Instead, the […]

  • Can federal courts help tackle global warming?

    If Congress and the president fail to tackle global warming, can courts step in? Can federal judges allow people struggling with the losses of global warming to sue polluters directly? The idea may at first seem crazy. In a legal world obsessed with claims of judicial activism, the image of a judge taking on a […]

  • Justice Stevens’ pro-environmental legacy embodies a simple approach: follow the law

    Following last Friday’s announcement that Justice John Paul Stevens will retire from the Supreme Court at the end of this term, President Obama hailed the Court’s most senior Justice as “an impartial guardian of the law.” This description is certainly accurate, and is perhaps best illustrated by Justice Stevens’ numerous rulings in environmental cases. First, […]

  • Murkowski wants to save Alaska by destroying it

    Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. As Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) work to craft comprehensive climate legislation that can overcome a fossil-fueled filibuster, swing vote Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is trying to dig the carbon hole deeper. Before climate policy had a chance of becoming reality, Murkowski claimed to […]

  • Fifteen states have polluter-driven resolutions to deny climate threat

    Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Yesterday, the South Dakota legislature passed a resolution telling public schools to teach “balance” about the “prejudiced” science of climate change by a vote of 37-33. Earlier language that ascribed “astrological” influences to global warming was stripped from the final version. This act of conspiracy-driven ideology is hardly alone — […]