Grist | Topics | 20 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 20 of 20
Headline	Author	Published	Section
The Brownstein diagnosis What went wrong on Lieberman-Warner?	David Roberts	16 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Ron Brownstein -- for my money the best political reporter out there -- examines the implosion of the Lieberman-Warner bill in National Journal. Here's his three-paragraph summary of what went wrong: The bill would have established enough boards and regulations that the chamber [of commerce] was able to distribute a devastating chart, modeled on those used against Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan in 1993, that portrayed the proposal as an impossibly tang ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, 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)

Details matter Lieberman-Warner criticism, Part 1	Sean Casten	24 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Lieberman-Warner is deeply flawed. And like most things political, it's most passionate defenders and opponents are insufferable. It is sad but true that there is no such thing as perfect legislation, for the simple reason that the democratic process demands compromise. Therefore, to the extent that Lieberman-Warner is only imperfect to the degree that is demanded by our political process (e.g., if it's the best we can do, all considering), so be it. It's not tha ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Lieberman-Warner is a mess Climate Security Act could be worse than the 2007 energy bill	biodiversivist	08 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Last year the Energy Independence and Security Act put into place mandates that will in all likelihood increase GHG emissions. The Lieberman-Warner act (critiqued by Sean here) could turn out to be just as ineffective. From an analysis [PDF] of the Energy Independence and Security Act by the NRDC: ... the requirement for renewable fuels, such as ethanol and biogasoline, will grow from 9 billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion gallons in 2022. So far, so good, ...
Topics: biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, NRDC, politics (all these topics)

Thought: Control Waxman and Markey introduce bill to ban new dirty coal plants		11 Mar 2008	News
Posted at 10:09 AM on 11 Mar 2008 House Representatives Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) have introduced the "Moratorium on Uncontrolled Power Plants Act of 2008," which would do pretty much what it sounds like: prevent new coal plants in the U.S. unless they're built with advanced pollution controls. Says Waxman, "The altemative is senseless -- locking in decades of additional global war ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, Ed Markey, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics)

Not the bill to take home to mother Nuclear subsidies likely to stay in omnibus spending package	Brian Beutler	18 Dec 2007	Gristmill
The Senate is debating the wide-ranging $500-plus billion omnibus spending package right now. Most of the points of contention are extremely important -- FOIA, defense spending -- but for the purposes of this site, a bit off-topic. It failed its most recent cloture vote on the question of war-funding (Republicans, of course, want more), and minority leader Mitch McConnell has basically promised it won't pass unless the Democrats cave. So if when that happens, I'll let ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, nuclear power, politics (all these topics)

What are the most important elements in a climate bill? On Lieberman-Warner, long-term emissions targets, and picking a trajectory	David Roberts	10 Dec 2007	Gristmill
I've heard quite a bit of protest about the fact that the Lieberman-Warner climate bill's long-term target -- 70 percent emissions reductions by 2050 -- is too weak. In particular, there was much outcry that Sanders' amendment No. 4, which would have raised it from 70 percent to 80 percent, was rejected (and cries that Sanders was a sellout for voting the bill through anyway). This comes in the context of a larger debate about which of the four elements of climate ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

The Bali is in our court US reps to present unfinished energy bill to UNFCCC	Youth Movement	09 Dec 2007	Gristmill
When a few members of U.S. Congress come to Bali next week to meet with delegations from all round the world, they'll have something in hand: a first step in the direction of climate change legislation from the U.S.35mpg fuel economy standards and 15% renewable energy requirements from utilities may not seem like all that much, but for the rest of the world's leaders, who have been holding their collective breath, it's a twitch of life from a government long considere ...
Topics: Bali 07, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, international politics, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Lieberman-Warner action already underway Clinton and Sanders introduce amendments to strengthen the bill	David Roberts	04 Dec 2007	Gristmill
The Lieberman-Warner markup in the Senate Environment Committee starts tomorrow, but already the action is hot and heavy. Word has it that Sen. James Inhofe is going to pull all manner of procedural shenanigans, which will probably slow things up enough to extend the markup into two days. If that doesn't do it, there are also dozens and dozens of amendments to consider. Larry Craig (R-Gayville) and James Inhofe (R-Mongo) have introduced 46 and 52 amendments respectiv ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, Hillary Clinton, James Inhofe, legislation, politics (all these topics)

New version of Lieberman-Warner circulating	David Roberts	29 Nov 2007	Gristmill
Via EE News (sub rqd), there's a new version of the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade bill circulating: An aide to Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), a lead co-author of the bill, said one of the biggest changes involves an upstream cap placed on the heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions that come from natural gas processors. With the new bills natural gas section, more than 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that come from the U.S. economy will be covered und ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, natural gas, politics (all these topics)

Hear some trains a-comin' Public transit will be necessary for CO2 reductions	Jon Rynn	12 Nov 2007	Gristmill
At the end of October, both New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg and, believe it or not, Mississippi Republican Senator Trent Lott, passed their cosponsored bill in the Senate to allocate $1.9 billion per year for six years to expand passenger rail in the U.S. According to Parade magazine (yes, the one that's inserted into Sunday newspapers), the main goal is 'to develop high-speed, short-haul rail corridors modeled on the European city-to-city routes. They could ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, placemaking, politics, public transportation (all these topics)

Non-sucky cap-and-trade now a possibility? Lieberman expresses openness to auction all carbon permits	David Roberts	20 Sep 2007	Gristmill
A cap-and-trade system begins by placing a cap on carbon emissions and distributing permits (permission to emit a certain amount of CO2) equal to the capped amount. The notion is that permits will be bought and sold, allowing market forces to determine where emission reductions can be made fastest and easiest. The question is how to distribute those initial permits. When the EU carbon trading system was established, permits were given away based on emissions, meani ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

A carbon tax even Dingell haters can love From Rep. John Larson	David Roberts	15 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Love the carbon tax but can't stand Dingell? Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) is your man. He just introduced a kick-ass carbon tax bill (PDF) to the House. From Greenwire ($ub req'd): Larson's legislation would set a $15 tax in its first year for every ton of carbon dioxide emissions from the oil, gas and coal industries, with the tax rising 10 percent annually while also keeping pace with inflation. Larson's office also released a memo (PDF) saying the tax would be 'e ...
Topics: carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

A better idea than the 'safety valve' Borrowing and banking carbon -- the new black	Joseph Romm	24 Jul 2007	Gristmill
So you want to have greenhouse gas standards with teeth, but you want to minimize the risk they take too big a bite from the economy. And, of course, like me, you don't like the safety valve idea. What do you do? Banking and borrowing, of course. With "banking," the right to emit carbon can be saved for future use. With "borrowing," current emissions are extended against future abatement. What is fascinating is that today a detailed ba ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Climate change big picture A great piece in the WaPo	David Roberts	16 Jul 2007	Gristmill
In Sunday's Washington Post, Steven Mufson has an excellent big-picture look at the effort to fight global warming via legislation. It offers a sense of the scope of the problem: The potential economic impact of meaningful climate legislation -- enough to reduce U.S. emissions by at least 60 percent -- is vast. Automobiles would have to get double their current miles to the gallon. Building codes would have to be tougher, requiring use of more energy-efficient mater ...
Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Breaking: Senate fights off liquid coal More victories	David Roberts	19 Jun 2007	Gristmill
Sweet! Here's a press release I just got from Friends of the Earth: ----- WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate today voted against two attempts to encourage the use of liquid coal, rejecting a pair of amendments to the energy bill that would have alternately mandated 6 billion gallons of liquid coal use annually by 2022 or provided $10 billion in loan subsidies to produce liquid coal. 'This is a victory for anyone who takes global warming seriously or cares about env ...
Topics: climate, coal-to-liquid fuel, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, US Senate (all these topics)

Did I say no more CTL? I meant just one more	David Roberts	30 May 2007	Gristmill
There's a growing tension between the subsidy-happy proclivities of Congress and its self-imposed mandate to reduce carbon emissions. You just can't spend all the available federal dollars on ethanol and CTL and expect to reduce emissions. Bills like this one, introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), are going to bring that tension to a head: A bill about to be introduced in the Senate would push utilities to generate drastically more of their power -- 15%, comp ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Back room jostling over climate legislation Expect a lot of it	David Roberts	20 May 2007	Gristmill
As I mentioned the other day, MarketWatch is doing a big series of articles on business and climate change. This one gets right to the heart of why we're hiring a D.C. reporter. Now that things have transitioned from whether there's going to be climate legislation to what climate legislation is going to look like, lots of elbows are getting thrown. There are dozens and dozens of stakeholders who stand to be affected by legislation, and they're all getting busy trying ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

The Obama/McCain/Lieberman climate bill It's ... medium	David Roberts	12 Jan 2007	Gristmill
The big news today is that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has joined with McCain and Lieberman to re-introduce a bill to cap carbon dioxide emissions. The targets aren't all that ambitious -- it would slow the rise of CO2 emissions, cutting them two-thirds from present levels by 2050 -- but the bill is nonetheless expected to meet fierce resistance from all the usual dinosaurs. It sounds like its main purpose is to push the edge so that Bingaman can get his softer bill p ...
Topics: Barack Obama, politics, legislation, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

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