Carbon Trading

N.Y. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand answers Grist’s questions on the Kerry-Boxer bill 0
Posted 4 days, 8 hours ago New York's new senator is a strong proponent of climate change legislation and has a unique set of concerns about it, reflecting the interests of her state. She answers our questions by video.
Peter Dorman takes on Stavins

Giveway’s in Climate Bill still unfair, inefficient 0
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago
As good as it'll get

Boxer-Kerry climate bill: what to watch for 2
Posted 1 month 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.
U.S.-Russia climate and energy efficiency cooperation: A neglected challenge 0
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Yes, we Kahn

Carbon trading: Worthy of Feinstein’s ire? 18
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
"Deregulation shifts the major burden of consumer protection to the competitive market, and therefore, in important measure, to the enforcement of antitrust laws." - Alfred E. Kahn, Lessons for Deregulation: Telecommunications and Airlines after the Crunch.

I've always found the above to be one of the wiser quotes about deregulation. What does this have to do with commodities and Senator Feinstein? Recently, she announced a proposed amendment to the Senate climate bill, one that would commence federal oversight of CO2 markets "to prevent Enron-like fraud, manipulation and excessive speculation in the new federal, state and regional carbon markets that will be established by [a cap and trade] system."
Copin' with Copenhagen

What is Obama’s international climate strategy? 9
Posted 3 months, 4 weeks ago
International climate negotiations often seem like some sort of cosmic science fair project -- an aquarium full of hamsters connected to rudimentary motors. There's a lot of frantic running, a lot of sweat and heat, but in the end, very little light.

Faith in the UN climate process has dimmed. Joe Romm calls it a "dead man walking." The Copenhagen talks in December are generally discussed with the same dissonant mixture of urgency ("You have to do it in Copenhagen," says UNFCCC chair Yvo de Boer) and fatalism ("There is no movement," says German environment minister Sigmar Gabriel) as the last dozen rounds of international talks.

The Obama administration knows the danger of sclerosis and is working on several fronts to regain a sense of momentum.
ACES and eights: dead planet's hand

American Clean Energy Security Act strengthens U.S. ability to sabotage international climate talks 1
Posted 4 months ago
The Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy Security Act (ACES) won't cut emissions. It won't serve as a platform we can improve later anymore than the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) served as a foot in the door to improve our democracy when it promoted voter purges and Diebold electronic voting machines. But one last argument is left to supporters: we need to support ACES in order to improve America's negotiating position in Copenhagen.
ACES is not playing with a full deck.

American Climate Energy Security bill still makes things worse. 1
Posted 4 months ago
It's just a DeFazio

DeFazio lambasts cap-and-trade 3
Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) made one thing clear on Friday: he's just not that into the cap-and-trade legislation under debate in the House.
Offsets: Pissing the earth away 1
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
More than 2 and half years ago I wrote:

"Mommy, where do carbon offsets come from?"

"Well, you see sweetheart, when a major polluter and a consultant love money very, very much, they express that love in a special way. Nine months later, the consultant produces an extremely large paper packet."

Offsets -- the idea that big corporations can pay someone else to cut emissions on their behalf -- still fails as badly today as when that was written.
Sweating the climate details

A closer look at problems with the sectoral approach to carbon offsets 1
Posted 4 months, 3 weeks ago
Just the facts, ma'am

Everything you always wanted to know about the Waxman-Markey energy/climate bill—in bullet points 12
Posted 5 months ago
You keep hearing about the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill -- aka the American Clean Energy and Security Act -- but what's actually in it? We combed through the 946-page beast so you don't have to.
Clapping louder

Offsets are still counterfeit carbon credits 3
Posted 5 months ago
The arguments in favor of counterfeit carbon credits still fail no matter how often they are repeated. Here are some common talking points, and my replies.
Sucking the lemon we sold

Cap-and-trade: filling up the political space that should be used for real solutions 4
Posted 5 months ago
One of the least discussed flaws in the Waxman-Markey bill's attempt to tackle the climate crisis also illustrates the fundamental problem with cap-and-trade.
Should be called Jekyll-Hyde

Waxman-Markey bill would do more for climate without cap-and-trade provision 10
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Thanks to downstream permitting, offsets, and permit giveaways, the Waxman-Markey bill is a net loss for the climate.
Better speculate than never

Speculation runs rampant as Dems reportedly reach a deal on climate bill 4
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
House leaders have reportedly reached a tentative deal on a climate and energy bill -- and in the absence of details, speculation is rampant about how the bill has been weakened or otherwise changed.
It don't mean a thing if you ain't got those swings

Undecided reps on House panel hold key to climate bill 3
Posted 6 months ago
Authors of the House climate and energy bill will be courting undecideds over the next couple of weeks as they try to get their legislation passed by the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
Dividend and conquer

To get support for a climate bill, offer cash back to Americans, argues Rep. Chris Van Hollen 5
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Rep. Chris Van Hollen thinks he's got the key to passing a climate bill this year: send every American a rebate.
Old dog, Newt tricks

Gore and Gingrich bump heads at House climate hearing 7
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Debate on the House climate bill gets heated as Al Gore and Newt Gingrich jump into the fray.
What's in it for me?

Interest groups pile on with suggested changes to House climate bill 7
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
The third day of climate hearings in the House made it clear that even representatives and interest groups that nominally support the principles of the Markey-Waxman bill have a laundry list of changes they'd like to see made to the bill before they'll back it.