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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Bearly legal
Bush admin to list polar bears as threatened; advocates pledge to continue the fight |
Kate Sheppard |
14 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne was flanked by two large television screens rolling video of polar bears as he discussed his department's decision Wednesday to declare the bears 'threatened.' The video bears -- and the bears in the many photos on display at the press conference -- were fat and happy, wrestling on solid ice floes and devouring the flesh of prey. But environmentalists fear that Interior's decision not to give the bears the stronger 'endangered' design ... |
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| Topics: climate, Department of Interior, Muckraker, news, polar bears, politics (all these topics) |
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Me, on McCain, on climate, on the radio
Talking about where the candidates stand on climate and environmental policy |
Kate Sheppard |
14 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Shameless self-promotion alert: I was on the program 'The Conversation,' which airs on the Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW, last night talking about McCain's climate plan and where the presidential contenders stand on environmental policy. I'm about 10 minutes in, and as you can tell by the smattering of 'uhs' and 'ums,' there's a reason why I'm a writer not a talker. |
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| Topics: climate, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08, shameless self-promotion (all these topics) |
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Truth laid bear?
McCain promotes eco-cred, while his advisers push for more Bush-style policies |
Kate Sheppard |
14 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In honor of John McCain's eco-week, both the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee have launched sites where folks can make personal pledges to protect the planet. The McCain campaign has also put out a line of 'eco-friendly' swag -- shirts, hats, tote bags, etc. Meanwhile, McCain adviser Kevin Hassett, who is also the director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, argues in an op-ed that polar bears shouldn't be listed as ... |
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| Topics: elections, endangered species, john mccain, Muckraker, news, oil and gas drilling, polar bears, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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21 questions
Whitehouse and Boxer want answers from EPA's Johnson on Gade ouster |
Kate Sheppard |
13 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson today, calling for information about the circumstances surrounding the ouster of Mary Gade, the administrator of the agency's Midwest regional office. Gade was allegedly fired after attempting to force Dow Chemical to clean up dioxin pollution around the company's Midland, Mich., plant. Whitehouse and Boxer had 21 questions for Johnson regarding Gade ... |
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| Topics: Barbara Boxer, Muckraker, news, politics, shenanigans, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Like oil and vinegar
Dems and GOP agree to stop filling Strategic Petroleum Reserve |
Kate Sheppard |
13 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Senate today approved legislation to temporarily suspend deliveries to the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, by a vote of 97-1. The measure was inserted as an amendment to a flood insurance bill, and was opposed only by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). The Energy Department sends 70,000 barrels of oil to the reserve every day, a practice that this legislation would put on hold until the end of 2008 or until oil drops below $75 a barrel, whichever comes first. ... |
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| Topics: congress, energy, gas prices, legislation, Muckraker, news, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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Nukes to me
More on the nuclear portion of McCain's big climate speech |
Kate Sheppard |
13 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| What's the deal with John McCain's nuclear love affair? It's a question on many people's minds after the candidate's big climate speech yesterday. While McCain has argued repeatedly that he's opposed to subsidies for the nuclear industry, he stresses the need to support the nuclear industry and fund nuclear R&D. The most recent incarnation of his Climate Stewardship Act, introduced in January 2007, would authorize more than $3.7 billion in federal subsidies fo ... |
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| Topics: climate, elections, John McCain, Muckraker, news, nuclear power, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Crank that Mike Gravel
Long-shot Gravel reminds us he's still in the presidential race |
Kate Sheppard |
13 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Remember Mike Gravel, the carbon-tax advocating, coal-hating, nuke-fighting, public-transit riding Democratic presidential candidate? Well, he's still running for president, but he's decided to join the Libertarian Party. And he's got a new video out, which is ... OK, it's not even vaguely environmental, though there is a reference to oil pipes. Mostly though, it's just amazing: Oh, and today is his 78th birthday, and he's also got a new video out about that. ... |
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| Topics: elections, Mike Gravel, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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BRIC douse
McCain waters down language on climate dealings with China & India |
Kate Sheppard |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The original text of John McCain's Monday climate speech raised the specter of economic penalties for developing countries if they don't join international climate efforts, but the candidate dropped that reference when actually delivering the address. As the Associated Press puts it: The GOP presidential contender ... prodded China and India -- two major emitters of the greenhouse gases blamed for the planet's warming -- to join the effort, although he muted planne ... |
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| Topics: climate, elections, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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More Kentucky coal pandering
Obama airs new coal-themed TV ad; Clinton talks up coal too |
Kate Sheppard |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Obama campaign is running TV ads in Kentucky touting the candidate's commitment to the coal industry, along the same lines as a flyer the campaign is sending out in the state: 'He came to southern Illinois and seen the devastation and the loss of the jobs in this coal industry,' says miner Randy Henry in the ads, which are appearing in the Lexington and Bowling Green television markets. 'Washington, D.C., is not listening to us. Barack understands it.' Th ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, coal, energy, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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McCain speech reactions
Enviros respond to McCain's new climate plan |
Kate Sheppard |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| John McCain unveiled his plans to address global warming in a speech Monday afternoon in Portland, Ore. The candidate called climate change a 'test of foresight, of political courage, and of the unselfish concern that one generation owes to the next,' and called for a cap-and-trade system to drastically reduce the country's greenhouse-gas emissions. John McCain. Photo: Matthew Chastain Wright 'Whether we call it 'climate change' or 'global warming,' in the ... |
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| Topics: climate, elections, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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'There's a better way'
New McCain climate ad aimed at independent voters |
Kate Sheppard |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| John McCain released a new television advertisement today to accompany his big climate policy speech in Portland, Ore., this afternoon. Here's the ad: The ad illustrates McCain's attempts to appeal to independents; climate change is a key area where he believes he can make inroads with voters outside the Republican party. Note these lines in particular: 'One extreme thinks high taxes and crippling regulation is the solution. Another denies the problem even exis ... |
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| Topics: climate, elections, John McCain, messaging, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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McCain to endorse Lieberman-Warner?
Candidate tips his hand at New Jersey event |
Kate Sheppard |
11 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In his remarks in Jersey City, N.J., on Friday, GOP presidential contender John McCain appeared to offer an off-handed endorsement of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. 'I hope it will pass,' he told the crowd, 'and I hope the entire Congress will join in supporting it and the president of the United States would sign it.' While he's offered tepid support for the bill before, he's hesitated to fully endorse it and has suggested that he'd like to see more sub ... |
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| Topics: climate, John McCain, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Gearing up for an eco-week
McCain kicks off series of environmental events with address in N.J. |
Kate Sheppard |
09 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| John McCain gave a campaign speech in New Jersey today in which he touched on environmental issues and talked up his record in that area. 'There is no doubt our environment is globally challenged,' McCain said in a stop at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J. 'I'm proud of my environmental record.' But as some enviros in the state were quick to point out, that record is mixed at best (take, for example, his lifetime League of Conservation Voters score of ... |
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| Topics: climate, elections, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Missing Johnson
EPW subcommittee seeks answers on politicization in EPA, gets few |
Kate Sheppard |
08 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The U.S. EPA is committed to transparency, representatives of the agency testified yesterday before a subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. The hearing was called to look into recent allegations of politicization and secrecy within the agency. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson -- the man everyone wants to hear from on the subject -- didn't accept the invitation to attend, so George Gray, EPA assistant administrator for research and devel ... |
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| Topics: Barbara Boxer, Muckraker, news, politics, Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, shenanigans, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable
Save us, Al! |
Kate Sheppard |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'Perhaps the only guy that can end this is Al Gore.' -- David Gergen, political consultant and former presidential adviser, commenting on the never-ending Democratic primary during CNN's live coverage Tuesday night |
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| Topics: Al Gore, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08, quotables (all these topics) |
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Candidates talk energy in victory speeches
Obama takes NC; Clinton appears to win Indiana |
Kate Sheppard |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Barack Obama claimed North Carolina, and Hillary Clinton is the likely winner out in Indiana. In his speech in Raleigh, Obama noted the need for new, clean energy policy, and took the opportunity to knock Clinton and McCain's 'gas-tax holiday' plan: The man I met in Pennsylvania who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one - he can't afford four more years of an energy policy written by the oil companies and for the oil compa ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Muckraker, news, oil, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Holiday in hell
Friends of the Earth Action launches ad against Clinton's 'gas tax holiday' |
Kate Sheppard |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Friends of the Earth Action, which over the weekend endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, issued a new web ad today criticizing Hillary Clinton for supporting a 'gas-tax holiday' and praising Obama for his 'honest clean energy policy.' Here's their ad: |
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| Topics: elections, hillary clinton, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Obama's own pander
Direct mailers from Obama campaign hail 'clean Kentucky coal' |
Kate Sheppard |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Hillary Clinton has been pilloried for pandering to working class voters with her gas-tax holiday proposal. But she's not the only one telling working-class voters what they want to hear. 'Barack Obama believes in clean Kentucky coal.' So reads a direct mailer being distributed in Kentucky ahead of the state's May 20 primary. (Click the image to the right for a larger version.) Clark Stevens, press secretary for the Obama campaign in Kentucky, confirmed that the mail ... |
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| Topics: barack obama, coal, elections, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Guam, as you are
Obama wins Guam; nation forgets island even exists |
Kate Sheppard |
05 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Weekend election update: Barack Obama won the tiny island territory of Guam by seven votes on Saturday, with 2,264 to Hillary Clinton's 2,257. They'll split the four delegates alloted in this primary evenly. More importantly though, doesn't anyone else wonder why Guamanians get to vote in the primary but not the general? |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Dems poised to unveil their gas plan
Proposal to curb prices not likely to include 'gas tax holiday' |
Kate Sheppard |
02 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Congressional Democrats are expected to announce their plan to counter the rising cost of gasoline as early as next Wednesday, and despite the pressure Sen. Hillary Clinton is putting on her congressional colleagues, it's not likely to include a 'gas tax holiday.' The plan being worked up by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and a team of Democratic senators will be focused instead on long-term solutions, according to Bill Wick ... |
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| Topics: energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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'At the pleasure of the president'
Who's looking into the circumstances of the Gade firing? |
Kate Sheppard |
02 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| After yesterday's news about the ouster of Mary Gade from the head of the EPA's Midwest office, the next question is who, if anyone, is looking into whether her firing came at the behest of Dow Chemical and the White House. According to EPA spokesperson Jonathan Shradar, no internal investigation into the circumstances of Gade's dismissal is planned. 'This is a role that serves at the pleasure of the administration, and [EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson] makes the ... |
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| Topics: jackassery, Muckraker, news, politics, shenanigans, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Fox Nukes
McCain touts gas-tax holiday as well as 'long-term solutions' |
Kate Sheppard |
02 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| McCain on the long-term solution to dependence on foreign oil: Nuclear! Despite what those 'extremist environmental organizations' tell you. And despite the fact that only 2 percent of our electricity comes from oil. |
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| Topics: dumbassery, energy, John McCain, Muckraker, news, nuclear power, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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More on Gade ouster
Bush supporter apparently fired for doing her job |
Kate Sheppard |
02 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| An EPA controversy brewing in the Midwest calls to mind the U.S. attorneys scandal, as Brad Johnson noted yesterday. Top officials in the agency have forced Mary Gade, head of the EPA's Region 5 office in Chicago, to step down from her post or be fired by June 1. The ouster comes after Gade pressured Dow Chemical to clean up the dioxin-saturated soil and sediment extending 50 miles downstream from its Michigan headquarters. Gade is also the former director of the ... |
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| Topics: Muckraker, news, politics, shenanigans, toxics, US EPA, water pollution (all these topics) |
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The gas-tax wars
Candidates, Congress split on 'gas tax holiday' |
Kate Sheppard |
01 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The 'gas tax holiday' has officially emerged as the latest bickerfest big issue in the presidential race. Hillary Clinton and John McCain say drivers need a break this summer, while Obama is aggressively pushing back against the idea. In a new ad, Obama emphasizes that cutting the tax this summer would save most consumers a mere $30 -- about half the cost of a tank of gas these days. It's a short-term fix, he says in the ad, and 'that's typical of how Washington ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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They've Got the Power
The youth climate movement proves itself at Power Shift 2007 |
Brian Beutler |
08 Nov 2007 |
Muckraker |
| Van Jones gets youth activists riled up at Power Shift rally. Photo: Fritz Myer About 5,500 people, most under the age of 21, traveled from all over the country to the unremarkable suburb of College Park, Md., this past weekend to take part in the largest climate-change conference and rally in U.S. history. At Power Shift 2007, these college and high-school students established in clea ... |
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| Topics: campus activism, climate, grassroots activism, Muckraker, Van Jones (all these topics) |
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