Republican National Convention

See how the Sierra Club’s leader is trolling Republicans

The green group’s executive director has offered to fill one of those empty time-slots at the GOP convention.

RNC chooses as new leader the author of 'drill, baby, drill'

After a contentious and somewhat clownish leadership battle, the Republican National Committee has finally (after six ballots) chosen its next leader: Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele.

Which gives me an excuse to share a little-known factoid: it was actually Steele -- not Sarah Palin, not Newt Gingrich, not Rudy Giuliani -- who coined the slogan "drill, baby, drill," which is likely to go down in history as the apotheosis of Republican intellectual achievement in the early 21st century.

I was there -- it was the third day of the RNC in St. Paul; Steele was one of the introductory speakers. Prior to this the slogan was "drill here, drill now, pay less," which works for a bumper sticker but is too long and complex for the right's base. It was Steele who freestyled the somewhat more digestible and catchy version.

It obviously caught Palin's ear, because she repeated it in her speech, and then it took off.

Congratulations, GOP. You've chosen well. Or at least appropriately.

Expanded transit can lead to energy independence

While the Republicans were busy chanting “drill, baby, drill” at their convention, they ignored a much better alternative: riding on buses and trains.  As Diane Carman put it in The Rocky Mountain News: The irony was almost creepy. Thousands of Republicans were gleefully chanting “Drill, baby, drill” inside a convention hall in St. Paul, Minn., […]

Small town values

If The Daily Show doesn’t win an Emmy for its coverage of the two conventions, there is no justice in this world. Here’s a small taste: I wish the same crew had traveled around asking delegates about drilling. One can only imagine the hilarity that would ensue.

Mustache v. Maverick

Listen as he bashes “drill baby drill”:

Where energy/environment issues stand in the Republican Party

Now that the Republican convention is over (I hope you all followed Kate’s stellar coverage), it’s worth stepping back and assessing the big picture: Where do energy issues stand in the GOP? (As far as I can tell, environmental issues, including climate change, stand nowhere — the only person I heard mention McCain’s cap-and-trade program […]

Grist talks to Republican convention-goers about McCain’s climate and energy plans

While at the Republican National Convention, I caught up with some of the delegates and others milling around downtown St. Paul to talk about John McCain’s climate and energy policies. Most supporters were enthusiastic about his support for expanded oil drilling (especially the Texas oilmen I ran into), but they think he’s been deluded by […]

Grist talks to Jim DiPeso of Republicans for Environmental Protection

David and I talked to Jim DiPeso, policy director of Republicans for Environmental Protection, while we were covering the Republican National Convention this week. The group endorsed John McCain way back in October, and despite the addition of the less-than-green Sarah Palin to the GOP ticket, DiPeso said his group stands by McCain. We caught […]

McCain’s 10 energy lies top Palin’s four

From McCain’s prepared text we see the Arizona senator easily tops Palin’s lies: My fellow Americans, when I’m president, we’re going to embark on the most ambitious national project in decades. We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much. Lie No. 1: McCain has no […]