ACES | Grist

Tortoise and the hare -- a clean energy tale

Winning the clean energy race: a new strategy for American leadership 4
Posted 6 days, 22 hours ago You know times are changing when China, the world’s greatest polluter, and other Asian nations are poised to dominate the burgeoning global clean-tech industry by out-investing the United States. That’s the conclusion of a large new report we co-authored called "Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant," released this week by the Breakthrough Institute and Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.
Senators opposed to Clean Energy Jobs Act are ignoring bill’s benefits to Americans—Part 2 0
Posted 2 weeks, 4 days ago The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (CEJAPA), by an 11-1 vote. Earlier this week, we outlined six benefits of the bill and explained why the bill should be passed by the committee. Here are nine more benefits as the legislation moves forward.
The ‘party of no’ becomes the ‘party of slow’ 1
Posted 2 weeks, 5 days ago Senate Republicans are demanding lengthy economic analyses of progressive clean energy policy, despite having spent careers voting for and against major energy legislation without such delay.
Fulfilling his promise as the green FDR

One year after his election, Obama on verge of audaciously fulfilling his promise as the green FDR 1
Posted 2 weeks, 6 days ago What team Obama has accomplished in the year since he was elected is nothing less than an unprecedented reversal of decades of unsustainable national policy forced down the throat of the American public by conservatives.
Senators opposed to Clean Energy Jobs Act are ignoring bill’s benefits to Americans—Part 1 2
Posted 3 weeks ago While the obstructionists attempt to block progress, they will also stop many provisions that would benefit Americans. Daniel J. Weiss lists a number of important benefits that government and academic analyses determined about ACES that also apply to the CEJAPA.
Mass. religious, environmental leaders beseech Obama to take action

WWLD: What Would Lincoln Do? 2
Posted 3 weeks, 6 days ago Conjuring images of another world leader faced with a profound moral challenge, Massachusetts religious and environmental leaders call upon Obama to act on climate quickly.
One step forward, several back

The Kerry-Boxer bill is not “more ambitious” than Waxman-Markey 2
Posted 1 month ago I'm sure Steve Mufson and Juliet Eilperin didn't choose the headline, but whoever did, I think it's a real mistake to refer to the Kerry-Boxer bill as "a bit more ambitious" than its Waxman-Markey counterpart in the House. This became conventional wisdom almost immediately, but it seems to me both wrong and pernicious -- the more Kerry-Boxer is seen as a leftward move from the House bill, the more senators who want to be seen as moderate will want to be seen hacking it down.
Ecologists to the rescue

Fixing the bioenergy accounting loophole 2
Posted 1 month ago Dan Lashof knows that most people's eyes glaze over whenever "accounting" is mentioned and others tune out when discussion turns to "climate," so the number of people interested in "climate accounting" may be vanishingly small. But climate accounting may not be as obscure as it sounds.
Game Changer

Kerry-Graham op-ed dramatically enhances prospects for Senate climate bill this year 2
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago It's hard to overstate the significance of the New York Times op-ed by Senators John Kerry (D-Ma) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Their joint declaration ensures that the Senate climate bill will be bipartisan, and that comprehensive energy and climate legislation is the next item on the Senate agenda. Will the U.S. have a climate bill for Copenhagen?
The Odd Couple

Sen. Lindsey Graham crosses the climate rubicon 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Last week, I struck a hopeful note after GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed interest in a climate bill compromise that included a carbon cap in exchange for support for some nuclear power and coastal drilling. But my expectations it would really happen remained low.
THE NUCLEAR OPTION

Are there GOP senators who will back the climate bill? 4
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago In July I speculated that Sen. Lamar Alexander might lead some Republicans to back a climate protection bill if Democratic leaders made some concessions regarding nuclear power. Since then, Alexander has imploded and Sen. Lindsey Graham has emerged as the GOP's climate dealmaker.
Climate bill breakdown 2
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago Wondering how the Senate's Kerry-Boxer climate bill stacks up against the Waxman-Markey version in the House? Russ Choma does the math.
Young, Green, and Out of Work 0
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Will there be a third chance for a better acronym?

Kerry-Boxer: A second chance for progressives 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago The new Kerry-Boxer Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act gives progressives a second chance to influence climate legislation, if we learn the right lessons from both the legislative process for the House climate bill and the ongoing health care debate.
don't get in the way, congress!

Growth in renewable energy outpaces nuclear, fossil fuels 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
As good as it'll get

Boxer-Kerry climate bill: what to watch for 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Sens. Boxer and Kerry plan to introduce their climate bill tomorrow. I'm in NYC and DC this week, so it's been tough to find time to write, but here are a few brief notes on what to watch for.
It’s Easy Being Green, but ...

Saving the planet is hard 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago Paul Krugman concludes in "It's easy being green," that "the claim that climate legislation will kill the economy deserves the same disdain as the claim that global warming is a hoax." Indeed, but the notion that the Waxman-Markey legislation is about "saving the planet" (Krugman's words) is equally inscrutable.
Finally

Boxer, Kerry will introduce Senate climate bill next week 3
Posted 2 months ago Senators John Kerry (D-Mass) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will introduce a climate bill in the Senate next Wednesday, finally fulfilling their promise to do so by late September.
The clean-energy investment agenda 6
Posted 2 months ago The United States is having the wrong public debate about global warming.
Sen. Jeff Merkley answers Grist’s questions on Senate climate bill 6
Posted 2 months ago
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) has come out swinging on climate and energy issues, securing an appointment to the Environment & Public Works Committee, sponsoring or co-sponsoring a series of clean energy bills and amendments, and generally staking out the left edge of the climate bill debate. Sen. Merkley was kind enough to answer a couple of questions from Grist about the upcoming Senate battle over the climate bill.