legislation

Barbara Boxer circulates an outline of her amendment to Lieberman-Warner

On Friday, Senate Environment and Public Works chair Barbara Boxer released an outline of what promises to be the version of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act that actually gets debated and amended on the Senate floor in early June. David posted the full document summarizing the manager’s amendment earlier today. It’s only an outline, not […]

McCain thunders against ag subsidies, vows fealty to trade agenda

Speaking before the National Restaurant Association on Monday, John McCain delivered a stirring rant against agriculture subsidies and the latest farm bill (text here.) No doubt burnishing his "maverick" image among editorial writers, the senator lambasted the bill as a giveaway of "billions of dollars in subsidies to some of the biggest and richest agribusiness […]

Sen. Boxer’s summary of her Manager’s Amendment to Lieberman-Warner

On Friday, Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Barbara Boxer circulated a document summarizing her “substitute amendment” to the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. This is likely the version of the bill that will go to the floor. We’ll post some analysis of how the bill has changed shortly, but for now, here’s Boxer’s entire summary […]

Permit auctions: the mark of progressive cap-and-trade

I missed this last week, but Kevin Drum is doing God’s work explaining the difference between cap-and-auction and cap-and-giveaway to the progressive masses. I did the same thing here, but as usual used way too many words.

The House is lagging behind the Senate on climate change

The Hill is ablaze with discussion of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, which is expected to hit the Senate floor in early June. But on the House side, movement on climate legislation has been slow and quiet. Several bills have been floated, but none have gained any real traction. Everyone is waiting to see what […]

‘Energy and Tax Extenders Act’ clears committee, heads to House floor

The House advanced legislation yesterday that would renew billions of dollars in tax breaks for wind, solar, biomass, and other renewable energy sources, and extend a proposed new tax credit for biofuels derived from sources other than corn. The “Energy and Tax Extenders Act of 2008” was approved by the Ways and Means Committee by […]

Polar bear is endangered, but ‘Rule will allow continuation of vital energy production in Alaska’

The Department of Interior suffers from a rare form of bipolar disorder called bye-polar disorder. There is one major symptom of this disorder: You list the polar bear as "threatened" because of its melting polar sea ice habitat, but then do nothing to actually protect that polar habitat from its primary threat, greenhouse-gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

The disorder is accompanied by an occasional burst of logic, as when the DOI noted:

Will McCain bring conservatives with him on climate?

A President McCain would have no magic wand to get conservatives to join a cause they simply don't believe in, much as he wasn't able to get them to join the cause for his McCain-Lieberman climate bill. As E&E News ($ub. req'd) reports today:

Polar bear decision expected today from Bush administration

This just in from Associated Press:

The Interior Department has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to announce a decision on whether to list the polar bear as threatened and in need of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne proposed such protection 15 months ago because of the disappearance of Arctic sea ice, which is a primary habitat for the bear. Last September, scientists said up to two-thirds of the polar bears could disappear by mid-century because of sea ice loss due to global warming.

However, it's not certain the bear will be listed as threatened. Recently the United States and Canada agreed to conduct additional research into the future survival of the bear. That memorandum did not mention global warming.

You can read that memorandum of understanding signed by Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne here [PDF]. It was signed back on May 8 but I haven't seen it reported anywhere. Weird.

The science couldn't be more clear -- the polar bear is threatened by climate change and could be gone from U.S. soil (and ice) by mid-century. It's hard to imagine a decision not to protect the polar bear under the Endangered Species Act, even from the Bush administration. That would completely contradict evidence presented by the administration's own biologists and show that obstruction on climate action is more of a priority than protecting the polar bear.