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Author |
Published |
Section |
Hell, no, we won't, um, participate in a pollution permit trading system!
Cali EJ groups reject cap-and-trade in strong terms |
David Roberts |
20 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A big coalition of environmental justice groups in California just came out with a strong statement opposing a cap-and-trade system and urging "fees" (i.e., taxes) instead. (Here's L.A. Times' coverage.) Their points are fairly familiar. Most of the opposition seems to be based on the well-documented failures of the European trading system -- which, as far as I know, every U.S. legislator is aware of. There's also something about the revenue from auction not ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, environmental justice, California, carbon trading, climate change mitigation (all these topics) |
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Weasel of the week
Tim Kaine burns national ambitions in coal furnace |
Glenn Hurowitz |
19 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Virginia's Democratic governor Tim Kaine, often mentioned as a possible vice presidential nominee, seems to be flushing his ambitions for national office down the toilet by actively working to build yet another coal-fired power plant for one of his biggest campaign donors. Tim Kaine. Photo: virginia.gov Kaine has tried to present himself as a green, forward-thinking governor by proposing a 'Virginia Energy Plan' he claimed would reduce greenhouse-gas emis ... |
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| Topics: politics, elections, presidential race 08, energy, coal, climate, Virginia (all these topics) |
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Tax-and-rebate vs. auction-and-rebate
The major differences between carbon pricing plans are political |
Gar Lipow |
19 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Putting a price on carbon is probably an unavoidable part of phasing out fossil fuels to fight global warming and air pollution. For years, Peter Barnes has advocated a brilliant means of mitigating many of the harmful economic side effects: take the revenue from carbon taxes or auctions and rebate it back to the people, dividing it equally among each citizen. Barnes advocates doing this via an auctioned permit system. However,the same thing could be done with a car ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, carbon trading, carbon tax, climate change mitigation, politics (all these topics) |
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ILSR, spinning like a top
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JMG |
19 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is really, really sad. A group, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, which has done stalwart work on relocalizing the economy, has let their pro-local passion overcome their principles. Now they simply embarass themselves, beating the drums for corn ethanol, using flackery techniques that would do any corporate PR shop proud. Let's start in: New Anti-Ethanol Studies Reach Wrong Conclusion on Greenhouse Gases Wow, quite a headline, about not one but two studie ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, biofuels, ethanol, agriculture (all these topics) |
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The subsidy tease, part III
A solar grand plan |
Joseph Romm |
15 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- A recent issue of Scientific American featured a 'Solar Grand Plan.' Its authors described a way for the United States to obtain nearly 100 percent of its electricity and 90 percent of its total energy, including transportation, from solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal resources by end-of-century. Electricity would cost a comfortable 5 cen ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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John McCain and climate change
How strong is McCain's commitment to fighting global warming? |
David Roberts |
15 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following post was first published on Passing Through, The Nation's guest blog, where I will be posting all month. Though recession and war are probably higher on the public's immediate priority list, there is no challenge of greater historical consequence facing the next U.S. president than the climate crisis. It is vitally important that the next chief executive enter the Oval Office committed to decisive and sustained action. He or she will need a firm g ... |
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| Topics: John McCain, climate, politics, elections, presidential race 08, energy (all these topics) |
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A compulsive ... nontruth-teller
John McCain avoids using the word 'mandatory' when discussing cap-and-trade |
Joseph Romm |
14 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| When will the media stop calling McCain a straight-talker and realize he is a pathological doubletalker? I realize the 'L' word is frowned upon in politics, so instead of using that word, which, in any case, doesn't do justice to the full range of doubletalk in the political arena -- let's just imagine there is an agreed-upon objective scale from 1 to 10 of veracity (with 5 being half-true) that goes something like this: (10) Fred Thompson, December 2007: 'I' ... |
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| Topics: energy, politics, elections, presidential race 08, John McCain, climate, climate change mitigation, carbon trading (all these topics) |
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The subsidy tease, part II
Renewable energy incentives were stripped from the energy bill; what should be done next? |
Joseph Romm |
14 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- The energy bill passed by Congress last December originally contained a beneficial, if temporary, set of financial incentives to spur the growth of renewable energy technologies in the United States. The bill included a renewable energy portfolio standard (RPS) that would require states to acquire part of their electric power from r ... |
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| Topics: economy, renewable energy, energy, climate, politics (all these topics) |
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Why a climate bill in 2008? Part II
Delay makes environmental catastrophe more likely |
Tony Kreindler |
14 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is the second in a series; the first is here. We've covered two reasons Environmental Defense is pushing for passage of climate legislation in 2008 -- the politics will be very much the same in 2009, and we don't want to gamble away a good bill on the chance of a perfect one someday. Today I'll look at a third reason: The price of waiting, even a year or two, is simply too high. Carbon dioxide concentrations are higher today than they've been in 6 ... |
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| Topics: legislation, politics, energy, climate (all these topics) |
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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 ... |
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| Topics: environmental movement, legislation, climate change mitigation, carbon trading, politics, energy, climate (all these topics) |
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Solutions
When 'hand wringing' isn't enough |
Adam Browning |
13 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| If you are worried about Lake Mead drying up, think that reduced snowpack due to climate change might have something to do with it, and are looking for some answers, you could do a lot worse than listen to David Berry of the Western Resource Advocates. I always do, and he's never steered me wrong. See his timely 'Clean Electric Energy Strategy for Arizona' (PDF). |
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| Topics: Arizona, climate, energy, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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The subsidy tease, part I
Congress needs to stop flirting with the renewable energy industry |
Joseph Romm |
13 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- When it comes to relationships, Congress is a big tease. Or so it must seem to the energy efficiency and renewable energy industries. Just when they think they're about to go to the altar with the federal government, Congress becomes the runaway bride. Everyone who's anyone acknowledges that energy efficiency and renewable energy a ... |
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| Topics: business, politics, legislation, climate, energy, renewable energy, innovation, tech (all these topics) |
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Barack's economic policy speech in Wisconsin
Obama lauds green jobs and clean tech in economy speech |
Todd Hymas Samkara |
13 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Photo: Sam Graham-Felsen In a speech on Wednesday at a GM auto plant in Wisconsin, Barack Obama outlined his economic agenda for the country. He described his stimulus plan, promising to boost green jobs, help the middle class, dole out tax cuts, negotiate worker and environmental protections in upcoming free-trade agreements -- and, to help pay for much of it, end the costly war in Iraq. The environmental highlights of the speech are below (audio ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, elections, energy, green jobs, politics, presidential race 08, renewable energy, tech (all these topics) |
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A post-energy-bill agenda
Twelve simple things green groups can do about climate change |
Ken Ward |
12 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Hey, environmentalists! You passed the energy bill -- what're you gonna do now? Here are 12 things that could be undertaken with present resources: 1. Use The Flood Threat. Our climate story should be about the civilization-busting and mass extinction threat of Greenland and Antarctic ice-shelf break-up and rapid sea-level rise. This simple and honest story is far more powerful than the shifting laundry list of climate impacts we now put forward. The fatal flaw ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy (all these topics) |
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How Crude
Midwest refineries source more crude from tar sands; emissions will rise |
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12 Feb 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:39 PM on 12 Feb 2008 Emissions from Midwest oil refineries are expected to jump by up to 40 percent in the next 10 years, thanks in large part to an industry-wide trend of sourcing crude oil from Canada's tar sands. The sands produce petroleum of such poor quality that it requires more energy -- and thus more pollution -- to process it into usable fuel. The trend flies in the face of national and regi ... |
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| Topics: Big Oil, Canada, climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, oil (all these topics) |
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Welcoming our new efficiency overlords
Have you been naughty with your light bulbs? You need some good old command and control. |
Adam Stein |
11 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The so-called incandescent light bulb ban (not actually a ban) included as part of the recent energy bill has prompted a low-level but consistent set of complaints that deserve further consideration, because they betray a fair amount of confusion about which policy tools to break out for which issues. On the right, the reaction to the new lighting efficiency standard has ranged from hysterical whining to hysterical snark. But even on the left, it's fairly common to run ... |
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| Topics: legislation, politics, climate, carbon tax, energy efficiency, energy (all these topics) |
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A climate for old men
Spearheading transit for livable cities at 93 |
Charles Komanoff |
11 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I recently ended 100 days without Grist. And wouldn't you know, the title of the first post I saw, 'No climate for old men,' spoke directly to the reason I was away. No, I wasn't with the McCain campaign. Rather, I was immersed in a project, spearheaded by a really old man, that could become a terrific tool for beating back the climate crisis. That man is 93-year-old Ted Kheel, legendary New York labor-lawyer-turned-environmentalist. His project is a study o ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, placemaking, public transportation (all these topics) |
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Monday link dump
A little of this, a little of that |
David Roberts |
11 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This week I am, officially anyway, on vacation, spending a week in a condo at the bottom of Mt. Hood, snowboarding by day, soaking in the hot tub by night. Yes: sweet. I will nonetheless be posting occasionally, because, well, I just don't know how to quit you. Before I go I want to clear out all the stuff that's been building up in my browser for, oh, months now. So a link dump it is, and away we go! This post on Dot Earth about sustainable cities reminded me that I ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, placemaking (all these topics) |
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'Fix it or ditch it'
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David Roberts |
08 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here's the new TV ad from Friends of the Earth, telling Senate Democrats to 'fix or ditch' the Lieberman-Warner climate bill: |
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| Topics: politics, legislation, climate, energy (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable
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David Roberts |
08 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'The [Lieberman-Warner] bill, as reported out of committee, would be the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the United States.' -- an aide to Sen. Joe Lieberman |
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| Topics: climate, energy, legislation, nuclear power, politics, quotables (all these topics) |
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The shape of the race
The next U.S. president will favor a carbon cap. What effect this has on the race is anyone's guess. |
Adam Stein |
08 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Now that John McCain is the presumptive Republican nominee, the shape of the debate over climate change takes on different contours. Hillary and Obama are offering substantively similar climate plans, so there's no need to wait for the Democratic contest to be decided before we start gaming out a few scenarios. 1) Will climate change take on more or less prominence as an issue in the general election? Argument for less: with everyone preaching from the same book, th ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, elections, energy, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Biofuels bombshell
Researchers find corn ethanol, switchgrass could worsen global warming |
Frank O'Donnell |
07 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Some very respected researchers today have lobbed a real bombshell into the energy public policy world: they have concluded that ethanol produced both by corn and switchgrass could worsen global warming. In other words, Congress really blew it last year when it mandated a massive increase in biofuels (an action coated with green language but really an effort by both political parties to cater to farm states). This is also a slap at President Bush's effort to pa ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, biofuels, ethanol, politics (all these topics) |
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Cap-and-trade and fairness for working families
A second opportunity to make climate pricing fair |
Alan Durning |
07 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Climate policy offers an enormous opportunity not only to undo our fossil-fuel addiction and build a stable energy future, but also to reverse the natural unfairness of climate change itself. I've said it before: energy prices are going up no matter what, with or without climate policy. But smart policy can turn rising costs into broadly shared benefits. It can shield working families, fund a shift to a clean future of new technologies, compact communities, and a tr ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, greenhouse-gas emissions, climate change mitigation, politics, energy, climate, cap-and-dividend (all these topics) |
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Dead industries walking
Nuclear power and fossil fuels face water crises and other problems |
Joseph Romm |
06 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. ----- It has not been a good year so far for King Coal, Big Oil, and whatever nickname we give to the nuclear energy industry. Two weeks ago, TIME reported that nuclear plants in the southeastern U.S. may be forced to cut power production or temporarily shut down later this year because the year-long drought has left too little water to cool the ... |
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| Topics: nuclear power, fossil fuels, renewable energy, climate, energy (all these topics) |
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Bush: the uncompassionate, anti-technology president
Dubious 2009 energy budget released |
Joseph Romm |
05 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On the heels of giving away the (decorative) centerpiece of his climate technology effort, NeverGen FutureGen, Bush released a heartless and mindless FY09 energy budget yesterday. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sent around an email on the President's Budget Request for FY2009 (I will post budget details later). Bingaman is 'pleased to see overall growth in the DOE budget, particularly in the area of basi ... |
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| Topics: George Bush, energy, climate, politics, tech (all these topics) |
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