legislation

Why federal farm support deserves a fresh look

Note: Over the course of three weeks, as Congress begins discussion of the 2007 farm bill, Victual Reality will be devoted to analyzing the political economy of farming and teasing out an agenda for a socially and environmentally sustainable farm policy. It’s more exciting than it sounds, we swear! [Read the first installment below, the […]

Enviros delighted with House Democrats’ energy bill

“I can’t find anything wrong with it. Really, there is no catch. It’s all good.” Is the sun setting on some oil industry tax breaks? Photo: iStockphoto Let the record show that these contented words were spoken by an environmentalist — Jim Presswood, a top lobbyist for the Natural Resources Defense Council to be exact. […]

It’s … medium

The big news today is that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has joined with McCain and Lieberman to re-introduce a bill to cap carbon dioxide emissions. The targets aren’t all that ambitious — it would slow the rise of CO2 emissions, cutting them two-thirds from present levels by 2050 — but the bill is nonetheless expected […]

With new energy-focused bills, Stevens delights enviros and Obama disappoints

Among the barrage of energy-related bills already unleashed by the 110th Congress, one of the most progressive comes not from the newly empowered Democrats, but from Republican Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, a zealous proponent of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Just as peculiar, one of the bills that most rankles environmentalists comes […]

Congress gives parting nod to offshore drillers, but also to renewable-energy industries

Dark clouds on the horizon — and drilling rigs too. Photo: iStockphoto The GOP-controlled 109th Congress went out with a bang — that of drills hitting sea bottom. In the waning hours of the final legislative session earlier this month, Republican leaders pushed through a provision to open up 8.3 million acres on the outer […]

Bush’s climate plan will kick-start a new era of bargaining over the planet’s future

On your mark … Get set … Go? Photo: iStockphoto And so the bargaining has begun. After almost two decades of inaction, at long last America seems ready to start considering some kind of action to address global warming. With states setting conflicting standards, with the scientists announcing weekly updates on the speed and size […]

California climate deal could help Schwarzenegger win reelection

He rose to fame as a cyborg warrior fighting to wipe out life on the planet. Now he’s fighting to save it. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is about to sign into law the most ambitious global-warming legislation in U.S. history — and in a twist worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, the Republican’s support for mandatory […]

Being exploited? Exploit them back.

Tomorrow, Alaska's primary election will include an important ballot measure that imposes new regulations and taxes on the cruise ship industry. For environmental protection, it includes beefed-up regulations that will hold cruise corporations more accountable to Alaska's strict pollution controls, as well as allowing civil action suits against violators.

For economic growth, it proposes a head tax on all cruise passengers coming into the state, the revenue of which will be used for services and infrastructure related to the cruise industry. Further, it will tax income from onboard gambling and force companies to pay corporate income tax. And it will require onboard tour sellers to disclose how much they mark up tours from the price offered directly from the tour operators on shore.

The Anchorage Daily News has a good piece about it here. Full text of the measure here (it's not that long). More below the fold.

Obama leads bipartisan effort to raise fuel-economy standards

Is the sting of $75-a-barrel oil and the threat of World War III exploding in the Middle East enough to convince Congress to finally boost auto fuel economy? Probably not, but a bipartisan coalition of senators led by Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is launching an admirable new effort anyway — the Fuel Economy Reform Act. Barack […]