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  • U.N. deputy says Copenhagen deal may take two stage approach

    The top climate lieutenant to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday that a major — though perhaps preliminary — international agreement to curb global warming is still possible in Copenhagen. One leading option is to set low targets for emissions reductions initially and to boost them if global warming gets worse. Janos Pasztor, director […]

  • Must-see video of Sen. Kerry grilling AEI’s Kenneth Green

    Senator Kerry:  Has your study been peer reviewed? Kenneth Green:  No, I don’t work in the peer review literature, Senator. I don’t work for a university. Steven Hayward, the F.K. Weyerhaeuser fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, recently said, “The brain waves of the American right continue to be erratic, when they are not flat-lining.”  […]

  • Baucus supports a climate bill and knows it will pass Congress,

      Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) knows that his state’s trees are being ravaged by warming-driven pests now and that Montana faces 175% to 400% increase in wildfire burn area if we don’t reverse course sharply and soon on greenhouse gas emissions.  That’s why he supports strong climate action and said last week, “There’s no doubt […]

  • 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.” […]

  • Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) [UPDATED]

    Richard Lugar “I don’t see any climate bill on the table right now that I can support,” Sen. Richard Lugar said on Nov. 10, dashing any hopes that he might get behind some version of the Kerry-Boxer legislation that’s moving through the Senate.  “We really have to start from scratch again,” he continued.  Lugar has […]

  • Senate Finance Committee calls on polluter lobbyists to defend pollution economy yet again

    Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. On Tuesday, Sen. Max Baucus’s (D-Mont.) Finance Committee will look at the effect of clean energy legislation on the “future of jobs.” Appearing before the committee are four industry or conservative lobbyists and one coal-industry union lobbyist, Abraham Breehey. The only economist to testify will be Margo Thorning, a lobbyist […]

  • Mark Warner (D-Va.)

    Mark Warner Sen. Mark Warner recognizes the need to take action on climate change, but wants to ensure that legislation will not negatively impact the economy. Warner seems a safe bet to support the Kerry-Boxer climate bill. In recent months, he has underlined the severity of the climate crisis and the steps necessary to solve […]

  • Graham, Kerry, ‘will be working closely with the White House’

    In a mid-day press conference with Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) that followed a meeting with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said: We think we have a good team here to help create a dual track which we want to emphasize is done with the full consent and support […]

  • Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)

    Roger Wicker Sen. Roger Wicker plans to oppose the Kerry-Boxer climate bill.  In this letter to a constituent, he writes, “I am opposed to any sort of system to cap carbon emissions permits because it would have no effect on climate change and is an unwarranted tax increase on the American people.” Wicker calls for […]