Terry Tamminen
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China got troubles
DR: Bush’s token response to global warming is to argue for clean coal and nuclear power. To the extent he’s involved in any international discussion, it’s the Pacific pact, a trade deal with these emerging markets for old coal and nuclear technology. TT: Bush jumps in a long list of presidents of both parties who […]
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Tamminen and hydrogen
I wrote Terry Tamminen a few days ago and offered him a venue to defend his support for hydrogen cars, which is taking quite a beating in comments. Here’s his response: Hi David, I’ve looked over the various comments on hydrogen and rather than comment back, it’s all covered in the book. It’s not a […]
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It’s all about oil, baby
DR: You say pretty openly that Iraq and a good chunk of our defense spending — about half total federal expenditures now — is about oil. Not very long ago that was written off as a hysterical lefty conspiracy theory. TT: Certainly with respect to Iraq, as the excuses get peeled away one by one, […]
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Let’s wonk it out
DR: On our site there are many people highly skeptical about biofuels. For lots of reasons: corn ethanol barely breaks even on energy balance. It’s an environmental nightmare, with nitrogen fertilizers in the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a commodity sector governed by a few massive multinational corporations, which are lavished […]
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We will wonk you
DR: You’re a big supporter of hydrogen, which is a storage medium for electrical energy. Moving our transportation infrastructure to hydrogen means offloading the power burden from oil and liquid fuels to electricity sources — predominantly natural gas and coal. How is that an environmental gain, to go from oil to coal? TT: It isn’t, […]
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The wonkitude continues
DR: Over the past few years, the environmental movement has been in a period of self-flagellation about its ineffectiveness on the biggest issue of our time: climate change. You’ve been on both sides of the NGO/government divide. Do you have any words of wisdom on what environmental groups are doing wrong, or could do better? […]
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More wonky interview
DR: What happened with Prop. 87 [the Calif. ballot initiative to tax oil company profits]? TT: Well, it failed. It’s amazing what $97 million of misleading advertising from oil companies will do, even against $50 million from proponents. And to be honest and fair, not all of it was misleading. Some of it was true. […]
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The first installment in the wonkiest interview ever
A few months ago, I interviewed Terry Tamminen, author of Lives Per Gallon and, until recently, Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s top environmental adviser. We talked for well over an hour about a wide range of topics. An abridged version of the interview ran in Grist, but I thought some of the ultra-geeks here on Gristmill […]
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An interview with California environmental adviser Terry Tamminen
Terry Tamminen is a compact, affable man. With his bluntness and lack of pretense, it’s easy to see why Arnold Schwarzenegger trusted him. The California governor brought Tamminen on as his environmental adviser in 2003, elevated him to secretary of the state EPA, and then appointed him a senior cabinet adviser in 2004. In part […]
