Joe Barton
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Remember when Republicans liked cap-and-trade?
It wasn’t so long ago that a number of Republican senators actually thought happy thoughts about cap-and-trade or carbon pricing — before they got on board with the official GOP talking points and started referring to any climate policy as a “job-killing national energy tax.” We were just kidding: Let’s have a flashback moment with […]
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The GOP has forgiven Joe Barton, but here are six reasons not to forget him
Rep. Joe BartonRep. Joe Barton’s latest apology paid off big-time. Wednesday, the Texas Republican groveled before House GOP leaders behind closed doors, telling them that his impassioned act of contrition to BP CEO Tony Hayward last week was a mistake. All was forgiven and Sorry Joe was allowed to keep his post as lead Republican […]
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The Climate Post: Nothing shaking on Barton’s ‘shakedown’ street
First things first: Congressional investigators have released material documenting troubles at the Deepwater Horizon site before it failed–and a culture of cost-cutting at BP that elevated catastrophic risk. Five days before the April 20 explosion, a BP engineer called it a “nightmare well which [sic] has everyone all over the place.” A detailed letter to […]
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Republican Joe Barton to BP: ‘I apologize’ for the White House ‘shakedown’
Cross-posted from Think Progress. During a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning, Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) “apologize[d]” to BP CEO Tony Hayward, accusing the White House of an illegal “shakedown” of the foreign oil giant to secure a $20 billion escrow fund for Gulf Coast damages. Barton repeated the Republican attack […]
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Joe Barton not interested in moral implications of climate change
On Tuesday, I attended a hearing of the House Energy & Commerce Committee on “Allowance Allocation Policies in Climate Legislation.” By and large, the testimony came from economists and executives from affected industries. But there was one exception: Rev. Dr. Maria Castellanos of the United Church of Christ. Rev. Castellanos was there to make a […]
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Smokey Joe Barton (R-TX) throws in the towel to the Dems
“You should have a tremendous celebration tonight for your effort on this bill.” House Energy and Commerce Committee ranking minority member Joe Barton (R-TX) said that to Jay Inslee (D-WA) at a little after 7 PM EST. Barton also said to Inslee, “you have been an indefatigable proponent of the bill.”
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The week in fruitloopery: jaw-dropping things Republicans are saying about climate and energy
I hope everyone’s following the Waxman-Markey hearings via C-SPAN and Twitter, specifically @kate_sheppard @climatebill and @MarkeyMemo. If you’re not, you’re missing some vintage fruitloopery. Really jaw-dropping stuff. Here are a few videos rounded up from the last few days. Rep. “Smokey” Joe Barton (R-Texas) went on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to say … oh, how to […]
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Contempt of Congress
Memo to House GOP: We get it. You don’t believe in clean, safe sources of energy that never run out or in protecting our children and grandchildren from catastrophic global warming or in competing with China, Japan, and Europe for the jobs and industries of the future or in making polluters pay (see House GOP […]
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A climate-news poem for the week of May 11
Check out last week’s lines. The climate news of this week started rolling fast and hot The papers said a memo showed the White House just was not On board with EPA now putting carbon in its pot. But it was just a spin, one on which you could not bank The sole objection really […]