| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Nice way of life. Shame if something happened to it.
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David Roberts |
31 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| According to ACCCE, if we don't use coal, we'll have to wave goodbye to the American way of life: |
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| Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, coal, energy, lying liars, messaging (all these topics) |
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'We're the Saudi Arabia of coal' Obama & Clinton shill for coal in Montana |
Kate Sheppard |
30 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Flathead Beacon in Montana pinned down interviews with both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton ahead of the state's Tuesday primary. The paper asked questions on domestic oil and gas drilling, the preservation of public lands, and coal. The whole thing is interesting, but the candidates' responses on coal were the most notable: Q: But what role should fossil fuels play, specifically in Montana, where we've got vast coal reserves? Do you think, in the short term or ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, coal, energy, Hillary Clinton, Montana, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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The first 100 days Obama says climate and energy would be top priorities at start of his admin |
Kate Sheppard |
30 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| It's a bit buried here, but Marc Ambinder notes that at a fundraiser in Denver on Wednesday night, Barack Obama said his first-100-day priorities would include sending a 'signal to the world' on energy and climate change. Wish that were a bit more specific, but hey, at least it's in there. |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, energy, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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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 ... |
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| Topics: climate, coal, energy, jackassery, legislation, nuclear power, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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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) ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, gas prices, legislation, oil, politics (all these topics) |
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A glimpse of possible futures One of permaculture's founder envisions possible futures |
JMG |
26 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| An important new site from David Holmgren, one of the fathers of permaculture: Future Scenarios.He writes, 'The simultaneous onset of climate change and the peaking of global oil supply represent unprecedented challenges for human civilisation. Each limits the effective options for responses to the other.' Holmgren uses a scenario planning framework to bring to life the likely cultural, political, agricultural and economic implications of peak oil and climate change. 'Scenar ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, energy, websites (all these topics) |
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He's Got the Remedy Jason Mraz sings the praises of a simpler life |
Sarah van Schagen |
23 May 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Jason Mraz is strumming up support for sustainability. Jason Mraz may still be the geek in the pink, but these days, the pop-rock-rhymer is hoping to distance himself from his cigarette-puffin', girl-chasin' past and move toward a simpler, more sustainable life. Since returning from his Mr. A-Z tour two years ago, Mraz has focused his attention on greener, non-music-related pastures. Last year ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, green living, interview, music (all these topics) |
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CO2 you later Electric emissions growth outpaces generation in 2007 |
Sean Casten |
21 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The EIA just released data on 2007 that shows total electricity generation increased by 2.5 percent in 2007, but total CO2 emissions from the electric sector increased by 3 percent. That's right: the electricity sector, already the single largest contributor to U.S. CO2 emissions, is increasing its CO2 intensity. Intriguingly, this increase has come about despite a 25 billion kWh increase in wind and nuclear generation in 2007, as the gains from those zero-carbon sour ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, nuclear power, wind power (all these topics) |
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Town meeting fun Small-town politics meets big-time energy crisis |
Katharine Wroth |
21 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Last night I went to the town meeting where I live, which -- well, if you've never lived anywhere podunk enough to have a town meeting, you're missing out. This one was just as I remember them from my childhood, though PowerPoint has replaced mimeographed pages: ambition, exhaustion, confusion, and the one crusty, bearded guy who has to argue every point. After a presentation by the head of the municipally owned utility, a tall, thin audience member in a tan suit an ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, energy at home, green living, oil, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Deloitte survey of consumers and utility regulators
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David Roberts |
20 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Monday, consultant firm Deloitte released two new surveys, one of consumers and one of utility regulators. There's some fairly interesting stuff in there. First off, some 87 percent of utility regulators expect the cost of producing electricity to rise next year. Why? Here's what they attribute it to: Fuel prices (35 percent). Environmental compliance (23 percent). Capital costs (21 percent). Inflation (11 percent). Asked to rate options by thei ... |
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| Topics: climate, coal, energy, energy at home, greenhouse-gas emissions, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Weather or Not U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions rising |
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20 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 2:00 PM on 20 May 2008 U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions increased 1.6 percent in 2007, according to the Energy Information Administration. Factors at fault, according to the EIA: wacky weather that increased the need for heating and cooling, and "a higher carbon intensity of electricity supply." (Our electricity supply is carbon-intensive? Who knew?) The agency was quick to point out that GDP grew 2.7 percent in 2007, so " ... |
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| Topics: climate, economy, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, news, severe weather, United States (all these topics) |
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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 ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Notable quotable Clean energy kills |
David Roberts |
19 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'You try to cap emissions and you kill more people than die if you don't cap emissions. We will have killed people. We care about this issue the same way why we care about abortion. It kills people.' -- Dr. E. Calvin Beisner, founder and national spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation |
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| Topics: climate, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, quotables, religion and spirituality (all these topics) |
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Is Big Coal like Big Tobacco? Suing energy companies for global warming damages |
David Roberts |
19 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I don't have strong opinions on suing energy companies over global warming, but the notion does seem somewhat suspect. For starters, they don't really have enough money to materially compensate the affected class of people -- namely, everyone in the world. Legal liability taken with any seriousness at all would quickly bankrupt them. I'm all for imposing new costs on companies that have been socializing risk and privatizing profit for years now, but this kind of cost i ... |
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| Topics: climate, coal, energy, litigation (all these topics) |
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Cap-and-trade or carbon tax? Both! Five ways BC's carbon tax shift can strengthen Cap and Trade |
Alan Durning |
16 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Vancouver Sun gives some ink to a cluster of issues that I've been pondering of late: how BC's carbon tax shift fits with Cap and Trade. I'm famously infatuated with carbon tax shifting. I'm also a zealot for auctioned Cap and Trade. The good news is that with careful policy design, Cap and Tax can be better than either Cap or Tax. The Tax toughens the Cap, the way steel rebar strengthens concrete. The bad news is that without careful design, the two could weaken e ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy (all these topics) |
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Our tails get in the way The problems and principles of energy descent |
Sharon Astyk |
15 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'How did you get there, Roo?' asked Piglet. 'On Tigger's back! And Tiggers can't climb downwards, because their tails get in the way, only upwards, and Tigger forgot about that when we started, and he's only just remembered. So we've got to stay here for ever and ever -- unless we go higher. What did you say, Tigger? Oh, Tigger says if we go higher we shan't be able to see Piglet's house so well, so we're going to stop here.' -- A.A. Milne, 'The House At Pooh Corn ... |
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| Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate science, energy, fossil fuels (all these topics) |
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'2013' McCain outlines priorities for first term; climate and energy make the cut |
Kate Sheppard |
15 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| John McCain is in Ohio today, where he gave a speech this morning about what he plans to accomplish by 2013. Progress on climate and energy is part of his vision for a better world at the end of his first term: The United States is well on the way to independence from foreign sources of oil -- progress that has not only begun to alleviate the environmental threat posed from climate change, but has greatly improved our security as well. A cap-and-trade system has bee ... |
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| Topics: climate, elections, energy, John McCain, Muckraker, news, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Electric shock Big increases coming in electric costs |
Sean Casten |
14 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| From the 'Things Grist readers already knew' file comes this report from ClimateWire ($ub. req'd) that price shocks are looming for power plant operators, even before the costs of carbon are factored in. A few excerpts below the fold:[F]rom the utility industry's point of view, the coming price on a ton of carbon dioxide pollution couldn't have come at a worse time. ... 'There's one really basic, I think really important fact, which is that we don't really have full t ... |
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| Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, coal, energy (all these topics) |
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Crooked talk McCain's gas-tax holiday plan is at odds with his new climate strategy |
Guest author |
13 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The following is a guest essay from Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Fund. (Affiliation provided for identification purposes only; the views expressed are those of the writer only.) ----- Sen. John McCain made a climate speech Monday in which he argued that doing something about climate change is a 'test of foresight, of political courage, and of the unselfish concern that one generation owes to the next.' His timing is curious. 'Ignore that man beh ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, gas prices, John McCain, politics (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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Speech, speech Text of McCain climate speech |
Grist |
12 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here's text of the climate speech GOP presidential candidate John McCain gave today in Portland, Ore., his most major address on the issue to date. ----- Thank you all very much. I appreciate the hospitality of Vestas Wind Technology. Today is a kind of test run for the company. They've got wind technicians here, wind studies, and all these wind turbines, but there's no wind. So now I know why they asked me to come give a speech. Every day, when there are no reporters a ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, John McCain, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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War and Peeves U.S. fails to be climate leader because of war, says Obama |
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09 May 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:53 AM on 09 May 2008 The war in Iraq is one reason the U.S. is such an environmental laggard, Barack Obama said in a CNN interview Thursday. "I think the way we have run this war in Iraq has ... led us to ignore the critical needs for us to focus on a sound energy policy in this country," Obama told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "It has left us unable to lead on critical global issues like global warming. ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, energy, news, politics, presidential race 08, TV (all these topics) |
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Coal moratorium now! Preventing dirty coal plants is the most urgent climate policy |
Joseph Romm |
07 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A livable climate can (probably) survive the burning of almost all of the world's conventional oil and gas -- but not if we also burn even half the coal (see here [PDF] and figure below). So the top priority for any climate policy must be to stop the building of traditional coal plants -- which is why that has become the top priority of NASA's James Hansen (see here). The next priority is to replace existing coal plants with carbon-free power, which could include c ... |
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| Topics: carbon sequestration, carbon trading, climate, climate science, coal, energy (all these topics) |
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Jason and the Carbonauts Obama energy adviser Jason Grumet talks climate, coal, and green jobs |
David Roberts |
06 May 2008 |
Grist Feature |
| Jason Grumet. As executive director of the National Commission on Energy Policy, a bipartisan group of 20 energy experts created in 2002, Jason Grumet has come in for some flack from environmentalists. NCEP's influential 2004 energy report called for several measures anathema to greens, including a "safety valve" that would set an upper limit on the price of carbo ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, elections, energy, interview, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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GP: CCS = BS Greenpeace report calls carbon capture and sequestration 'false hope' |
David Roberts |
06 May 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Monday, Greenpeace released a new report called "False Hope: Why carbon capture and storage won't save the climate." Here are the conclusions, as summarized by Ken Ward Jr.: Adequate technology is not expected to be commercially available until 2030, while leading climate experts say carbon dioxide emissions need to level off by 2015 to avoid the most severe impacts of climate change. Coal-fired plant capacity is expanding so rapidly that as ... |
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| Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, energy, Greenpeace (all these topics) |
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