Grist | Topics | 161 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 25 of 161
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
What about Bob? Sen. Robert Menendez chats with Grist about climate legislation	Kate Sheppard	25 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Sen. Robert Menendez. In the Senate debate over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act last month, Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) stood out as one of the most vocal advocates for making polluters pay to emit greenhouse gases rather than giving them free carbon credits. He also spoke up about the need to spend more on clean technology and help developing countries adapt to climate shifts. Menendez floated a handful of proposed amendments to the climate le ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, interview, legislation, Muckraker, politics, US Senate (all these topics)

Hill heap A weekly roundup of greenish news from the capitol	Kate Sheppard	13 Jul 2008	Gristmill
According to a new EPA analysis, the 'value of a statistical life' is now worth $6.9 million, which is nearly $1 million less than it was five years ago. This is important politically because when government agencies create regulations about things like air pollution, they use this statistical value to weigh the costs against the benefits of a proposed rule. Explains the AP, 'Consider, for example, a hypothetical regulation that costs $18 billion to enforce but will p ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Hill heap A weekly roundup of greenish news from the Capitol	Kate Sheppard	27 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Some political news debris from this week: The League of Conservation Voters announced today that they've created the first green bundling site. This allows folks to donate en masse to green candidates around the country. LCV will direct the funds to the candidates it will support this year in Senate and House races. Just off his big Everglades restoration deal, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist hosted a conference on climate change. Crist's friend and Californi ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Climate change ideas for On Day One A UN Dispatch-Grist collaboration	Ideas for On Day One	23 Jun 2008	Gristmill
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of NASA Scientist James Hansen's groundbreaking Congressional testimony on global warming, an event that put climate change squarely on the political agenda. In honor of the anniversary, UN Dispatch, On Day One, and Grist are partnering to discuss ideas the next president can adopt to take on climate change. We are joined by a panel of experts who will weigh in on ideas submitted to On Day One by every ...
Topics: climate, energy, James Hansen, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Mildly different Are McCain's environmental views really so far from Bush's?	David Roberts	17 Jun 2008	Gristmill
The New York Times' Elisabeth Bumiller says, "On the environment ... Mr. McCain has strikingly different views from Mr. Bush." Is that true? Bush wants unstinting federal support and pork for the nuclear industry. He supports "clean coal." He is against raising CAFE standards on automobiles or boosting efficiency and performance standards on other individual economic sectors. He supports removing the moratorium on offshore drilling. He believes in ...
Topics: climate, energy, George Bush, John McCain, legislation, politics (all these topics)

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)

Dingell dangle Dingell promises climate bill friendlier to manufacturers	Kate Sheppard	12 Jun 2008	Gristmill
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been saying for months now that a climate bill from his committee is on the way. Yesterday he talked about his pending legislation to industry folks, promising it would be friendlier to their interests than the Senate bill that failed last week: Dingell told the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, the auto supplier trade association, at a luncheon on Capitol Hill Wednesday that the cl ...
Topics: climate, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics)

Action on Solar Investment Tax Credit Delayed Lack of credit threatens solar industry	Michael Moynihan	11 Jun 2008	Gristmill
Originally posted at the NDN Blog. The failure of the Senate to obtain cloture on the Solar Investment Tax Credit -- coming on the heels of the collapse of climate change legislation last Friday -- should send a wake up call to the environment and clean technology communities that a new more forceful strategy is needed to make progress on climate change and energy independence. At a moment when the U.S. economy is suffering from the effects of a full blown oil sh ...
Topics: business, climate, economy, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

The cowardly lion McCain to skip another crucial climate vote	David Roberts	29 May 2008	Gristmill
Unbelievable. Sen. John McCain -- who just weeks ago said of the Climate Security Act, "I hope it will pass, and I hope the entire Congress will join in supporting it and the President of the United States would sign it" -- now says he won't show up to vote on it. He won't vote against it, mind you. Won't go on record. Won't take a stand. He just won't show. 'I have not been there for a number of votes. The same thing happened in the campaign of ...
Topics: climate, coal, energy, jackassery, legislation, nuclear power, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Why a climate bill in 2008? Part IV Time to kick the oil habit	Tony Kreindler	28 May 2008	Gristmill
This is the latest in a series on why it is important to push hard for climate legislation this year. Over the past few months, I've made the case for passing climate legislation in 2008: We don't want to squander the current momentum, we simply can't afford to wait, and while we do, we only prolong a dangerous catch-22. Now we're finally on the doorstep of Senate action on a comprehensive climate change bill. Floor debate over the Climate Security Act (S. 3036) ...
Topics: climate, energy, gas prices, legislation, oil, politics (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)

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)

Carbon policy dilemma, 1 You can't achieve the three goals of climate policy at once	David Roberts	28 Apr 2008	Gristmill
I've been thinking about carbon policy lately (shocker, I know), prompted by recent interactions with Monica Prasad, Peter Barnes, and our own Sean Casten. The more I think about it, the more one of the central tensions becomes clear to me. Here are three goals for good climate legislation: Simplicity: The bill should not be hundreds of pages long, packed with addenda, loopholes, provisos, and over-specifications. Complexity boxes out ordinary citizens and insure ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, coal, energy, legislation, messaging, 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)

McCain's climate policy A conversation with McCain policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin	David Roberts	21 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Opinions differ on the quality of John McCain's domestic policy agenda, but you'd have trouble finding anyone in Washington who would disparage the man he's chosen as one of his top advisers. Douglas Holtz-Eakin has a dauntingly long resume and a reputation among policy wonks on both sides of the aisle for fair-minded number crunching. He has taught economics at top-notch universities, served as a senior economist in both Bush administrations, and run the Congressi ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, energy, interview, John McCain, legislation, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Can the coal industry be saved in spite of itself? Should it be? New analysis explores whether Congress can do a better job with CCS than Bush administration	Joseph Romm	20 Apr 2008	Gristmill
One of biggest debates about climate solutions is whether coal generation with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is going to be practical and affordable on the timescale needed to avoid catastrophic outcomes. And, of course, there are many who don't think coal should be saved at all. I am not in the second camp, but I doubt coal with CCS is likely to exceed one wedge (I'll discuss this more next week). And we probably need 14 wedges to stay below 450 ppm. I have ...
Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, Congress, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

V -- but not for victory Who might like the president's bogus climate principles	Frank O'Donnell	16 Apr 2008	Gristmill
One person undoubtedly taking note of the president's 'principles' on climate change is Republican Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio. He is reportedly working on his own weak, coal industry-friendly climate amendment to the Lieberman-Warner bill. Voinovich reportedly will try to couple such an amendment with related provisions to weaken the Clean Air Act. Sound familiar?Yes, that's because the Bush administration has made its own efforts to weaken the Clean Air ...
Topics: climate, coal, energy, legislation, politics, shenanigans (all these topics)

Carbon tax loses a congressional voice Dingell takes his 'hybrid tax' off the table	Charles Komanoff	16 Apr 2008	Gristmill
The carbon tax camp lost a powerful congressional voice yesterday when Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) announced he was taking 'off the table' the hybrid carbon tax proposal he floated last fall that featured a national carbon fee, supplemental increases in taxes on gasoline and aviation fuel, and a reduction in the mortgage interest deduction for super-large houses. In a prepared statement, the Michigan lawmaker, who for much of his 54 years in Congress has chaired th ...
Topics: cap-and-dividend, carbon tax, climate, energy, gas prices, John Dingell, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Will you pay or will you go? Renewables score big victory in the Senate	Josh Dorner	10 Apr 2008	Gristmill
With today's green energy boom (and over 100,000 existing jobs in the wind and solar industries alone) hanging in the balance, the Senate voted this morning by an overwhelming 88 to 8 margin to attach short-term extensions of key clean energy tax incentives set to expire at the end of this year -- the Production Tax Credit that mostly goes to wind power, the Investment Tax Credit for solar, and other incentives for energy efficient appliances and the like -- to the housi ...
Topics: climate, energy, legislation, politics, renewable energy, US House of Representatives, US Senate (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)

More reasons to love Lieberman-Warner CAP article says it promotes the transition to clean energy	Joseph Romm	02 Apr 2008	Gristmill
A new article by the Center for American Progress makes clear that the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act [PDF], S. 2191, would be a boon to affordable, job-creating renewable energy. The article, by CAP's Daniel J. Weiss and Alexandra Kougentakis, explains how the bill would ... ... make significant reductions in the carbon dioxide pollution that causes global warming as well as turbo charge investments in clean energy technologies such as wind, solar, and geotherma ...
Topics: climate, economy, energy, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Shhhh! Bush administration quietly acknowledges climate plan is doable	Miles Grant	14 Mar 2008	Gristmill
Hey, did you notice that new analysis the Environmental Protection Agency just put out? The one on the economic impacts of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act? No? None of this ringing a bell? That's just the way the EPA wants it. Like it was putting a scandal-ridden aide out to pasture, the administration quietly released the report on Friday afternoon and has tried to bury the important findings. But while the release may have been stealthy and the presenta ...
Topics: climate, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Compromise vs. strong action Don't hold your breath on Lieberman-Warner passing in 2008	Joseph Romm	14 Mar 2008	Gristmill
I can't imagine anyone believing we would see 60 Senate votes this year for an unwatered-down climate bill. The center-right folk want big compromises, like a poison-pill safety valve (see below). But Sen. Boxer (D-Calif.) has little motivation to gut her legislation, since next year will probably bring more Senate Democrats and definitely bring a president who wants to take action, rather than one who has done everything in his power to block action and destroy the ...
Topics: climate, energy, legislation, 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)

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