shenanigans

Republicans too sissy to shut down federal government over drilling

Congressional Republicans — and Newt Gingrich (wtf?) — continue to threaten to shut down the federal government if Pelosi won’t allow them an isolated up-or-down vote on oil drilling. I say: yes! Please, please, pleeease organize Congressional Republicans to stomp their feet and completely shut down the federal government because the majority leader won’t give […]

Gingrich says Republicans will shut down gov’t if they can’t get a vote on drilling

One might recall that Newt Gingrich resigned his seat in Congress in 1998. But he was back on the Hill yesterday to join the House GOP sit-in, and now he’s threatening that the Republicans will shut down government if they don’t get a separate vote on offshore drilling. Perhaps he hasn’t gotten the message yet […]

Republicans continue shenanigans in the Capitol

As Grist reported, Republicans miffed about Congress going on August recess without a vote on offshore drilling started a sit-in in the Capitol on Friday. The shenanigans continued until police escorted the tourists out of the chamber at 4:30 p.m., and GOP lawmakers went home for the night. “Today is the 2008 version of the […]

Beware of U.S. trade officials bearing gifts

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab made headlines this week by offering to reduce U.S. farm subsidies. The context was the so-called Doha Round of trade talks — the WTO’s latest, oft-stalled effort to grease the wheels of global trade. Among sustainable-food advocates, there’s a reflexive tendency to cheer whenever farm subsidies go on the chopping […]

Umbra on clean coal

Dear Umbra, I noticed that several of the presidential primary debates were sponsored by clean coal. This was announced during breaks and several commercials aired. I have since seen several more commercials and online advertisements. Is clean coal an oxymoron? Is this a PR stunt or are there any real environmental benefits to clean coal […]

Sounds like a good speech!

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, safely removed from any position from which he might actually do anything about it, discovers that climate change is real.

Ex-EPA official details White House interference on climate action

In a letter [PDF] made public today, former deputy EPA administrator Jason Burnett indicates that both the Office of the Vice President and the Council on Environmental Quality have attempted to censor discussion of the consequences that global warming poses to human health.   Burnett, who went public about the administration’s obstruction after leaving the […]

Is NYT’s Revkin pushing unjustified ‘balance’ in the Senate climate debate coverage?

I like and respect Andy Revkin a great deal. He is one of the best reporters on climate and certainly the most prolific climate journalist now that he has his Dot Earth blog. But I must take exception to his recent posting, "Climate Debate: Democracy In Action?"

You would never know from his post that one side in the debate was desperately trying to save future generations from catastrophic warming and the other side was simply doing shameless political posturing. Here is how it opens:

Inhofe: ‘Hey, it’s not our fault’

“All Republicans want just one thing, and that is to debate this bill … When they pull the bill, I don’t want them to say that Republicans had anything to do with it.” — James Inhofe (R-Okla.) on the Senate floor Thursday, after Republican leadership spent nearly four days delaying debate of the Climate Security […]