Carbon Regulation

DOLLARS TO DOUGHNUTS

At Governator’s climate party, EPA chief aims to calm small business worries 1
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago EPA administrator Lisa Jackson unveiled a modest proposal on Wednesday: If a company wants to build a new power plant or refinery, or fix up a smoky old belcher, it will have to use the best available technology to control greenhouse gases.
A crucial climate vote lost with Ted Kennedy’s death 17
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
One clear and simple impact of Kennedy’s death: The push for a Senate climate bill--which needs every vote it can get--lost a reliable supporter.
Cracking the Whip

Counting Senate votes on a climate bill 4
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Here's a breakdown of senators who are likely to support and oppose a climate bill, and the many more who haven't made their positions clear.
If you liked it then you shoulda counted the swing votes

House swing votes stay mum on climate bill 1
Posted 5 months ago
Of the 31 lawmakers who form the statistical center of the House on the issue of climate change, only eight have given clear indication that they will vote for the Waxman-Markey energy bill.
Meet the Carbon Nine

In the House, a nine-way tie for climate swing vote 29
Posted 5 months, 4 weeks ago
Let's call them the Carbon Nine -- nine Democrats from largely rural districts who could wind up deciding the fate of far-reaching climate legislation.
Salmon, polar bears, and crabs, oh my!

‘Regular people’ cheer on climate action at Seattle rally 1
Posted 6 months ago
At a U.S. EPA hearing on climate change in Seattle on Thursday, hundreds of citizens urged the agency to fight climate change.
Permit giveaway lowers carbon price, increases volatility, reduces capital investment

Cap-and-trade permit giveaway hurt Waxman-Markey effectiveness 0
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Tax away, eh?

Carbon tax gets big nod from voters in B.C. election 0
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
British Columbia held its provincial election yesterday, with the province’s carbon tax playing a big role—and coming out a big winner. Aside from the economy, probably no issue was more important.
Everyone on the same page?

‘Sectoral carbon’ ... Eh? Please define 0
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Say "sectoral carbon" in a room full of climate policymakers, and you better be ready for an argument over what the heck you mean.
Save us from our emissions

New religious coalition seeks climate ‘redemption’ via carbon plan 0
Posted 6 months, 2 weeks ago
"As our seas rise, crops wither, and rivers run dry, God’s creation cries out for relief," evangelical leader Joel Hunter says in a blitz of new radio ads intended to raise support for a climate bill.
A Moral Issue

Catholic Climate Covenant seeks aid for world’s poor 3
Posted 7 months ago
Citing dual obligations to care for God’s creation and the world’s poor, a broad coalition of Catholic groups today announced a new commitment to take action to help those people most affected by climate change.
MSM Follies

Steven Chu doesn’t talk in sound bites 0
Posted 7 months ago
Why did The Washington Post, which has on staff two serious experts on energy and environmental policy (Juliet Eilperin and Steve Mufson), send their expert for what passes as celebrity in Washington to interview a Nobel Prize winner who's trying to save the human race!?!?
Endanger? I barely know her

EPA’s climate finding ticks off industry, energizes enviros and congressional leaders 0
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
Business groups, environmental orgs, and politicians weigh in on EPA's determination that greenhouse gases endanger humans.
Clear and present endangerment

EPA says greenhouse-gas emissions a threat to public health 25
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
The EPA has determined that greenhouse gases pose a danger to public health -- a long-expected finding that moves the Obama administration closer to regulating CO2.
Simple is as simple does

Myth: Climate policy must be simple 10
Posted 7 months, 1 week ago
Among the weird memes that has grown up around the cap-and-trade debate, one of the most puzzling to me is that C&T is fatally flawed because it is complex. Americans don't "get it." They'll only support a climate policy that is so "simple and transparent" that you can explain it on a napkin. As far as I can tell, that requirement was invented out of whole cloth, specifically for this problem, more specifically for this particular way of dealing with this problem.
Utility players

Beware utilities seeking free pollution permits 3
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago
America's electric utilities are waging a no-holds-barred campaign to get 40% of carbon emission permits allocated for free. Why aren't Obama and Congressional Democrats fighting back?
Change by the back door

Energy portions of Waxman/Markey compensate (in part) for carbon weaknesses 2
Posted 7 months, 2 weeks ago
There are some gloomy reactions to the Waxman/Markey bill around the interwebs. I'm not going to claim the bill is perfect, but I think the pessimism is excessive.
Everybody cool it

Regional climate policy is still moving forward in the Northwest 0
Posted 8 months ago
Over the last couple of weeks, there's been a lot of hand-wringing about the state of climate policy in the Northwest. Washington's citizen-backed renewable energy standard is in jeopardy and neither Oregon nor Washington appears close to implementing the Western Climate Initiative. Even British Columbia's pioneering carbon tax is taking fire. Freak out! Everybody panic! Or not.
WSJ: hacks and handout-seekers hate O’s climate plan 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
Are emission targets ever really ‘science-based’? 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago