Politics

The latest green legislation, lobbying, and activism, from the Hill to the EPA to your hometown

The senator formerly known as maverick

John McCain’s troubles are the world’s troubles 3
Posted 1 day, 3 hours ago by Jonathan Hiskes
The U.S. Senate can't do much without senators like John McCain. The United States can't do much without the Senate. The world can't do much with out the U.S. The world needs a mavericky McCain. Read More
Don't eat the hype

Ecological farms: the only real way to feed an Increasingly hungry world 3
Posted 1 day, 10 hours ago by Debbie Barker
There are those who would like us to believe that industrialized farming is the only way to feed the earth's growing population. It's simply not true. Read More
Plate Tectonics

No to Obama’s agrichemical industry man, yes to Bed-Stuy Farm 1
Posted 1 day, 22 hours ago by Tom Philpott
This post marks the launch of "Plate Tectonics," a new feature that highlights ways that citizen action can move the food system in more sustainable directions. First task: jamming the revolving door between the agrichemical industry and the Obama administration. Read More

More Politics

Jobs we can believe in

Merkley wants Senate jobs bill to help finance building efficiency retrofits 4
Posted 19 hours, 15 minutes ago by David Roberts
Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met with the chairs of six committees that might have some hand in developing the clean energy bill. The question at hand was whether the bill should be pushed back in favor of a short-term focus on finance reform, jobs, and the deficit. Though John Kerry argued vigorously that the clean energy is a jobs bill that won't grow the deficit, it looks like he lost out and there will be some kind of standalone jobs bill in the interim. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)… Read More
Unusual suspects

15 people worth watching in Copenhagen (a slideshow!) 2
Posted 2 days ago by Jonathan Hiskes
Here are 15 people who wield outsize potential to shape the outcome, or to shape the narrative that affects the outcome. And two you can safely ignore. Read More
Timeline goes by so slowly

Climate talks timeline: From 350 to Kyoto to Copenhagen and beyond 0
Posted 2 days ago
Whether you've been hitting snooze each time a global climate conference rolls around or you're looking for a refresher before the Copenhagen climate talks next month, Grist has an interactive timeline to bring you up to speed. Read More
A Walk Through the Week's Climate News

The Climate Post: You heard it here first—Copenhagen a success 0
Posted 2 days, 3 hours ago by Eric Roston
A week of anticlimaxes saw President Barack Obama conducting a less-than-exuberant swing through China, the international community conceding a binding climate treaty at the COP-15 negotiations in Copenhagen, and U.S. lawmakers postponing to the spring of 2010 consideration of climate policy -- even as talk of a legislative "plan B" surfaced. Read More
NYT: U.S. Chamber has not expressed support for any proposals to cap emissions 0
Posted 2 days, 6 hours ago by Peter Altman
John Broder has an illuminating story in today's New York Times, "Storm Over the Chamber" discussing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's climate crisis and how Thomas Donohue's style exacerbates it. Tellingly, the story begins with an anecdote that suggests where the U.S. Chamber gets its tin ear. Read More
Nobody knows nothin'

Reflecting on the lameness of my profession 9
Posted 2 days, 18 hours ago by David Roberts
For the past few weeks there has been a flood of news about the Copenhagen climate talks and the clean energy bill in the U.S. Senate. Standing in that flood it's easy to get caught up in the atmospherics of frantic action and constant crisis. But step out for a while and it becomes clear just how much of the "news" consists of people who don't really know anything guessing: what things mean, who's thinking what, what the future holds. Read More
Copenhagen is not Kyoto 0
Posted 3 days, 3 hours ago by Ned Helme
The most common and widespread criticism of the Kyoto Protocol was that it did not require major developing countries like China and India to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and the burden for reducing emissions fell largely on richer nations, like the United States and the European Union. Those concerns will be alleviated in Copenhagen, where a high-level policy agreement is expected to ensure that developing countries take on more responsibility for cutting emissions and paying for programs… Read More
Copenhagen climate crash

Hot planet to Obama: What’s your Plan B? 6
Posted 3 days, 7 hours ago by Mike Tidwell
The planet just can't endure another year of inaction. Obama should travel to the Copenhagen climate conference in December and guarantee dramatic action from the U.S. in 2010 even if it means blowing everything up in Congress and starting over. Read More
Crisis or no crisis, you can't rush change

Copenhagen: Getting past the urgency trap 4
Posted 3 days, 6 hours ago by Sara Robinson
We didn't get into this mess overnight, and we're not going to get out of it in one dazzling planetary stroke of universal enlightenment, either. Read More
False Alarm

Copenhagen panic is premature 4
Posted 3 days, 8 hours ago by Geoffrey Lean
There's a chance that, with luck and skill, a climate-saving deal can be reached at the Copenhagen climate talks. And a salvageable deal, even if it's far from perfect, is still is a lot better than the doom that was so widely pronounced at the start of the week. Read More
Tuna Blues

So long and thanks for all the fish 46
Posted 4 days, 2 hours ago by Tom Laskawy
There was some hope recently that the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the organization charged with managing the Atlantic tuna fishery, would listen to its own scientists and ban commercial Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing so that the species might survive. Nope. Read More
Two senators push to ramp up nuclear energy 2
Posted 4 days, 4 hours ago by Agence France-Presse
Two senators unveiled legislation Monday to double U.S. nuclear energy output in 20 years and foster clean energy options with "mini-Manhattan Projects" named for the original U.S. atomic bomb push. Read More
U.S. Senate puts off action on climate bill until 2010 0
Posted 4 days, 5 hours ago by Agence France-Presse
Subtle but important shifts in global warming positions announced by U.S. & China 5
Posted 4 days, 5 hours ago by Jake Schmidt
U.S. and China announce plan for collaboration on clean energy and climate change 0
Posted 4 days, 5 hours ago by Andrew Light
George Voinovich (R-Ohio) [UPDATED] 2
Posted 4 days, 10 hours ago
Is Bill McKibben right to be angry with Obama? 35
Posted 4 days, 17 hours ago by David Roberts
Mr. President: Time to quit fibbing and spinning 10
Posted 4 days, 17 hours ago by Bill McKibben
Rumors of Copenhagen’s demise have been greatly exaggerated 2
Posted 5 days, 3 hours ago by David Turnbull
A parable on the National School Lunch Program 3
Posted 4 days, 23 hours ago by Ann Cooper, Kate Adamick
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) 1
Posted 5 days, 8 hours ago
Palin’s book spreads falsehoods about clean energy legislation 11
Posted 5 days, 6 hours ago by Joseph Romm