Waxman-Markey bill

Republicans voted against environmental protections 110 times in six months

Reps. Henry Waxman (Calif.) and Edward Markey (Mass.), of the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, have been keeping tabs on Republican votes to undermine environmental legislation. They say that since taking over the majority in January, Republicans have voted 110 times to block or weaken legislation intended to protect the environment.

The climate bill in six acts

The last two years saw the protracted death of climate change legislation. Here, in an exclusive new comic, we tell the sordid tale.

New year, new idea for climate: the American Clean Energy party

Last year, the U.S. failed to act on climate, and the victory of dozens of Tea Party Republicans in November eliminated any prospect for serious action for at least the next three years. Barring future technological or political miracles, we have now blown by the chance we had to stabilize the planet at 450 parts ppm of CO2. Yet it is not "too late" for action. How can we build a powerful clean energy majority in Washington, a stronger majority than the one that didn't get the job done in 2010?

Understanding the optimistic view embraced by 'Climatopolis'

I thank Joe Romm for his constructive suggestions about my book, "Climatopolis." But in no way do his points affect the book's core logic.

The climate bill is dead. Long live the climate bill!

Months after the Waxman-Markey/Kerry-Lieberman bill died, Harry Reid and environmentalists have finally admitted it is dead, and may even be ready to remove its rotting corpse from the living room and give it a decent burial.

The failed presidency of Barack Obama, Part 1

Obama's legacy -- and indeed the legacy of all 21st century presidents -- will be determined primarily by whether we avert catastrophic climate change. And if Obama is not going to use the biggest fossil fuel disaster in U.S. history to push for serious climate action when he has the biggest Democratic majorities he is ever going to see, why on Earth would he try under far worse political conditions?

How Obama can wean the country off oil without help from Congress

Obama could kick off the “Big Green Buy.”Photo: Wikimedia CommonsThis article is part of a special issue of The Nation magazine about green energy, “Freedom From Oil.”  In the wake of the BP oil spill, some captains of industry have begun calling for government leadership to spur a clean-energy revolution. In June, billionaire software mogul […]

Rahm Emanuel persuaded Obama to play it cool on climate bill. Post-spill, will the game plan change?

Rahm Emanuel: barrier to climate progress? Engulfed by the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, Barack Obama is trying to change the subject. On May 26, the president pledged to “keep fighting to pass comprehensive energy and climate legislation,” and on June 2 he declared, “The time has come, once and for all, for this […]

Will the EPA score the true costs AND benefits of the climate bill?

This afternoon, the EPA is said to be sending its economic analysis of the climate bill proposed by Kerry and Lieberman to the Senators’ offices. It’s a scoring of how the legislation would affect the American economy. Hopefully that analysis will include the benefits, not just the costs of the measure. The agency has not […]