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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Fred Krupp's response EDF prez says we can't afford to wait for the ideal first step	Guest author	29 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Fred Krupp This is a guest post from Fred Krupp, head of Environmental Defense Fund. It is a response to this post. ----- Ken Ward tracks the evolution of EDF's position on climate legislation in search of evidence that we've relented on tough global warming pollution limits since making climate change a top priority more than ten years ago. He sees our support of the Climate Security Act as a retreat from bold action, as surrender to what's merely possible i ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, Environmental Defense Fund, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Achieving the climate goal Short-term targets key to long-term stabilization	Tony Kreindler	24 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Ken Ward takes a worthwhile look at the goalposts for U.S. climate policy in his argument for making 350 parts per million the new bright line for success. We agree that we need to aim lower than 450 ppm -- the world is at roughly 380 ppm now, and we're already witnessing adverse climate impacts. But we part ways when it comes to how we're going to get there. Ward suggests that EDF's support for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act can't be reconciled with a s ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, legislation, politics (all these topics)

A modern-day Cassandra Thoughts on the 20th anniversary of James Hansen's historic Congressional testimony	Representative Ed Markey	23 Jun 2008	Gristmill
In Greek mythology, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy -- of seeing the future. But she was also cursed to have no one believe her. For far too many years, Dr. James Hansen has been a modern-day Cassandra. Gifted with a scientific training that allowed him to see the forces at work that are warming the planet, for too many years he was also not believed by many who chose to ignore or deny the scientific reality of global warming. Today, it is my pleas ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, Ed Markey, James Hansen, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Avoiding Weekend at Bernie's 2 Post-post mortem on Boxer-Lieberman-Warner debate	Joseph Romm	06 Jun 2008	Gristmill
OK, so the long-dead B-L-W bill got propped up and dragged around for a few days. (Tagline: B-L-W may be dead, but it's the life of the party!) But I think the debate was quite useful for two reasons: The opponents of (even modest) action played and overplayed their cards. Now we know that the health and well-being of future generations is of no interest in them. Now we know what their primary arguments will be. This is the opportunity for progressives and mode ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, movies, politics (all these topics)

Ten industry arguments against action on global warming ... and why they are wrong	Joseph Romm	02 Jun 2008	Gristmill
For the debate on Boxer-Lieberman-Warner, Daniel J. Weiss, Director of Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress, has written a debunking of standard attack lines on climate action. Here are the myths he takes on: Binding emissions reductions before 2020 are too swift, and should not be imposed until the technology to remove carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants is commercially available. Global warming reductions will drive oil and gasoline prices ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Would Boxer's bill cut CO2 emissions by 2020? If cost-containment mechanisms in new climate bill are exploited, emissions could remain unchanged	Joseph Romm	27 May 2008	Gristmill
The short, snarky answer is 'No; Boxer-Lieberman-Warner is never going to become law.' The longer, analytical answer, which is the primary subject of this post, is 'probably not, thanks to the bill's many cost containment measures, but it would take us off the business-as-usual emissions path.' Before explaining why, let me make clear that the vote on B-L-W is purely symbolic, since it is DOA as a bill can be. Most of the media, most of the public, and most of th ...
Topics: Barbara Boxer, climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, politics (all these topics)

GOP vs. John McCain? Climate bill fight likely to divide Republicans	Kate Sheppard	27 May 2008	Gristmill
Politico reports on the divide between John McCain and other Republicans on climate change: By contrast, the debate on a bipartisan climate change bill sponsored by Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.) offers McCain a chance to stake out a position different from the president's and see if his party will follow. The catch is that many Republicans are uncomfortable with McCain's talk of a cap-and-trade program for reducing carbon emissions. ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, John McCain, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics)

Rep. Bartlett hits House on renewables -- and I don't mean Gregory House Time to focus on tax credits, not Lieberman-Warner	Joseph Romm	21 May 2008	Gristmill
I love House. Not the House of Representatives, but the TV show. Everybody loves to see people with seemingly inexplicable symptoms saved from sure death. No doubt that explains the fascination with the Lieberman-Warner bill. But people ... I've been trying to be gentle about this ... it's dead. Sure, like Amber on the season finale [spoiler alert!] L-W can be briefly revived so we can say goodbye to it forever, but that is really just a soap opera gimmick. We do ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, politics, TV, US House of Representatives (all these topics)

Energy outage Senate Energy Committee members wring their hands about the cost of climate action	Kate Sheppard	20 May 2008	Gristmill
The Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee held a hearing this morning on the economic effects of global climate change legislation, and as expected, it was largely devoted to stoking fears about the potential costs of meaningful action. 'On the extremes, models have been used to show that legislation will have massive disruptions to the economy and cause widespread unemployment,' Committee Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said in his opening remarks. 'They hav ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics)

Cause of death: apathy Lieberman-Warner moved from critical condition to the morgue	Joseph Romm	08 May 2008	Gristmill
The fading hopes for the Lieberman-Warner climate bill have all but ended (see E&E News, 'Sponsors lower expectations for Lieberman-Warner bill,' $ub. req'd, reprinted below). Serious climate legislation had been in critical condition for some months (see 'Boucher lets conservatives block House climate bill' and 'Don't hold your breath on Lieberman-Warner passing in 2008.'). Doctors and family members finally pulled the plug this week, and the patient appeared to ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, politics, US EPA (all these topics)

We Will Connecticut You Now Connecticut goes big with emissions-reducing goals		06 May 2008	News
Posted at 1:50 PM on 06 May 2008 The Connecticut senate has unanimously passed a bill aimed at reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, becoming the fifth state to pass such legislation (after California, Hawaii, New Jersey, and Washington). The bill would require Connecticut to reduce emissions 10 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 percent below 2001 levels by 2050. If, as expected, Gov. Jodi Rell (R) signs it into ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, Connecticut, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, news, politics, progress, state politics (all these topics)

Details matter: Winner-picking and social engineering Lieberman Warner criticism, Part 3	Sean Casten	29 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This is the third in a five-part series exploring the details of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. See also part 1 and part 2. Let's do a thought experiment. Imagine that tomorrow morning, you wake up, reach in your pocket, and find that you suddenly have billions of dollars of cash. Before you have a moment to celebrate, you also realize that you are lying in the middle of an interstate, and there is a big truck coming. What do you do? (a) Issue an RFP ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Details matter: Small sticks and no carrots Lieberman-Warner criticism, Part 2	Sean Casten	25 Apr 2008	Gristmill
This is the second in a five-part series exploring the details of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. See part 1 here. With atmospheric GHG concentrations rising at a frightening rate, we need a full court press to change directions, using every possible tool at our disposal. From an economic perspective, this means that we not only need to impose financial penalties on polluters, but also provide financial incentives for those who act to lower GHG emissions. ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Climate policy and purity tests Enough with the internecine warfare over Lieberman-Warner	David Roberts	20 Apr 2008	Gristmill
A lot of green folks of my acquaintance seem to have two and only two things to say about the Lieberman-Warner climate bill: It won't achieve what science demands. Those who support it, even with qualifiers, even while pushing for improvements, are earth fcking, corporate bootlicking sellouts. Maybe I'm just feeling kumbaya because it's 4/20 (ahem), but I don't much care for purity tests like this. Thing is, No. 2 does not necessarily follow from No. 1. ...*
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Don't Beat Around the Bush Bush prepares to give climate speech		15 Apr 2008	News
Posted at 12:56 PM on 15 Apr 2008 As suspected, President George W. Bush will spell out a strategy for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions in a speech today. According to a White House official, "He'll set a national economy-wide goal of stopping the growth of greenhouse gas emissions by 2025," but will decline to outline a specific plan. Bush will reportedly also say that he wants to put the brakes on greenhouse-gas emission ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, George Bush, legislation, news, politics (all these topics)

Here, Have a Grain of Salt Bush may turn about-face, ask Congress to address climate change		14 Apr 2008	News
Posted at 10:14 AM on 14 Apr 2008 President Bush may soon announce that he wants Congress to pass a climate-change-fightin' bill, and will lay out suggestions for what that should include as early as this week, according to the Washington Times. Republican Congressfolk reportedly are cautioning the administration not to go too crazy. The U.S.-led climate group of major economies meets this week in Paris, ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, Congress, George Bush, legislation, news, politics (all these topics)

Lieberman-Warner: bad idea Greenpeace and FOE call Climate Security Act too limited; too slow	Sean Casten	08 Apr 2008	Gristmill
It's time to call the Lieberman-Warner love train back to the station. This is not to say that we don't urgently need to immediately start reducing atmospheric GHG concentrations and get policies in place that price carbon. It is instead simply the observation that as L-W morphs into ever greater complexity, it becomes an ever-worse way to meet that goal. Like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, I rather doubt that L-W will go anywhere close to far enough to cure AGW ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, Friends of the Earth, greenhouse-gas emissions, Greenpeace, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Them's the Brakes Manhattan congestion-pricing plan kicks the bucket		07 Apr 2008	News
Posted at 1:06 PM on 07 Apr 2008 Hopes had run high that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's ambitious congestion-pricing plan for the Big Apple would move forward, but the measure has died a quiet death. Democratic members of the State Assembly, determining that the measure was overwhelmingly opposed, neglected to even bring it to the Assembly floor, instead shooting it down with a secret vote. The now-dead plan would have cha ...
Topics: air pollution, climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, New York, New York City, news, placemaking, politics, state politics, urban planning (all these topics)

Thirty years later, they still won't make us safer The history of the 'safety valve' debate	Joseph Romm	13 Mar 2008	Gristmill
The new publication from E&E News, ClimateWire, ($ub. req'd), has a long article on the 'safety valve' debate and its history. I will reprint it in its entirety below because The issue is important and not going away. It is the most thorough piece I've seen. I was interviewed at length for it. One of my quotes they used is not something I would have said in a short interview. First, some background: I have blogged repeatedly on why a safety valve is a ...
Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, Kyoto Protocol, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Get it right the first time Carl Pope of the Sierra Club lays out a blueprint for an effective climate bill	Guest author	14 Feb 2008	Gristmill
The following is a guest essay by Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club. ----- There are moments when a choice of pathways shapes the future -- and makes success either feasible or impossible. In light of the fact that all of the remaining leading presidential candidates call for some kind of action on global warming, and the Lieberman-Warner bill is already working its way through the Senate, almost everyone recognizes that sometime in the n ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, environmental movement, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Auctioneering An account of a House hearing on auctioning permits under cap-and-trade	David Roberts	28 Jan 2008	Gristmill
Last Wednesday, the House Global Warming Committee held a hearing on "auctions and revenue recycling in cap and trade," which took a close look at the advantages of auctioning (rather than giving away) pollution permits under a cap and trade system, and what might be done with the revenue. I didn't manage to watch the hearing, but as always it has been ably summarized by the mysteriously monickered The Cunctator, publisher and editor of Hill Heat. If you're ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Big Ol' Jet Air Whiner Plan to regulate airline emissions moves forward in E.U.		21 Dec 2007	News
Posted at 4:26 PM on 21 Dec 2007 A proposed law that would regulate emissions from airlines taking off from or landing in the European Union has been approved by environment ministers. The bill to include airlines in the E.U.'s carbon-trading scheme was scaled back from the version passed by the E.U. Parliament last month, aiming to start in 2012 instead of 2011 and making airlines buy only 10 percent of their carbo ...
Topics: air travel, business, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, European Union, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, news, politics (all these topics)

Cap-and-trade through musical chairs A quick, easy-to-follow introduction to the basics of cap-and-trade legislation	David Roberts	06 Dec 2007	Gristmill
Holmes Hummel, a Stanford PhD and Congressional Science Fellow for Rep. Jay Inslee, has put together two PowerPoint presentations, one brief, one longer. She says: "These overview pieces are for The Curious & Concerned, a growing number of people who understand the importance of a federal climate policy but are confused by the framework of the current proposals."The slideshows explain cap-and-trade legislation through an analogy with musical chairs, w ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

I'm Just a Bill, and I'm Sitting Here On ... Uh, Never Mind British government publishes climate change bill		16 Nov 2007	News
Posted at 1:50 PM on 16 Nov 2007 The British government has published its climate change bill, which would set a target of reducing carbon emissions 60 percent by 2050. The bill will now go through a parliamentary process; if made law, Britain would be the first country to adopt a legally binding commitment to carbon reductions. sources:� Reuters, Daily Mail Fro ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, news, politics, United Kingdom (all these topics)

CBO vs. ACSA = TKO The Congressional Budget Office savages the Lieberman-Warner approach to climate change pol	David Roberts	05 Nov 2007	Gristmill
America's Climate Security Act, the Senate climate bill offered by Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), offers enormous giveaways to the nation's biggest polluters, in the form of billions of dollars worth of free pollution permits, which won't be zeroed out until 2036. Last Thursday, while the bill was passing through subcommittee, the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office was testifying to the House Budget Committee on "Approaches to Reducing ...
Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

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