| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Hill heap A weekly roundup of greenish news from the Capitol |
Kate Sheppard |
21 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| A few of this week's environmental happenings that I've been meaning to point out: Oilman-turned-clean-energy-evangelist T. Boone Pickens came to town to testify about the country's transmission problems that are preventing wind from becoming a major source of power. Pickens, who is attempting to build the world's largest wind farm in Texas, joined experts from the Department of Energy and wind-energy lobbyists in testifying before the Senate Committee on Energ ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, Muckraker, news, oil, politics, wind power (all these topics) |
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House party Yet another climate bill introduced in the House; greens applaud |
Kate Sheppard |
17 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Since climate change legislation failed to gather steam in the Senate this month, all eyes are now on the House. Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) has been promising a bill for months. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming, put out an ambitious bill in early June. Today, Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) added their own legislatio ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
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Mixed messages McCain releases new climate ad ahead of speech calling for more drilling |
Kate Sheppard |
17 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| John McCain unveiled a new climate-change ad today -- hours before he's scheduled to give an energy speech in Texas that will call for building more oil refineries and lifting a federal ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. 'John McCain stood up to the president and sounded the alarm on global warming, five years ago,' says the ad. 'Today, he has a realistic plan that will curb greenhouse-gas emissions. A plan that will help grow our economy and protect our envi ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, John McCain, Muckraker, news, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Maintaining relations Council on Foreign Relations releases new report on climate change and U.S. policy |
Kate Sheppard |
13 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Council on Foreign Relations released a new report this week on how the United States should approach foreign policy as it relates to climate change. 'Confronting Climate Change: A Strategy for U.S. Foreign Policy,' as one might expect, indicates that the U.S. needs to come up with a mandatory emissions reduction plan if it wants China, India, and other rapidly developing countries to sign on to a new global pact. 'Visible U.S. leadership is essential to getting ... |
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| Topics: carbon trading, climate, international treaties, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Oh say can you CCS? Boucher and Upton introduce bipartisan legislation to invest in carbon sequestration technology |
Kate Sheppard |
13 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher (D-Va.) and ranking minority member Fred Upton (R-Mich.) introduced industry-backed legislation on Wednesday to invest billions of dollars in carbon capture-and-sequestration (CCS) technology. The bill [PDF] is intended to 'accelerate the development and early deployment of systems for the capture and storage of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel electric generation facilities.' It would create ... |
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| Topics: carbon sequestration, climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics (all these topics) |
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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 ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
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So, what now? What we learned from the stymied Climate Security Act, and what comes next |
Kate Sheppard |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| After months of engine-revving, the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act sputtered to a halt in the Senate last week. Now attention has turned to what was learned -- or wasn't -- and how things might play out the next time a climate bill makes it this far. Despite what looked from the outside like an unproductive and anticlimactic week of grandstanding and delays, the bill's sponsors emerged from the experience claiming sunny optimism about the future. 'It ... |
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| Topics: Barbara Boxer, climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Should the World Bank get the coal shoulder? House ponders investment in multilateral clean tech fund; greens argue it isn't all that green |
Kate Sheppard |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Last week, the House Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology (the HFCSDIMPTT for short) held a hearing about whether the United States should invest in a multilateral fund to support the deployment of clean energy technology in the developing world. There's been talk of World Bank investment in clean tech for years; now they're asking G8 nations to pony up. The hearing stemmed from a Bush administration p ... |
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| Topics: climate, Muckraker, news, politics, tech, World Bank (all these topics) |
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In the clearing stands a Boxer Boxer op-ed argues the Climate Security Act vote was a big step forward |
Kate Sheppard |
10 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) wrote an op-ed in today's San Jose Mercury News on the failed Climate Security Act that she championed in the Senate. In it, she argues that last week's vote was an important advancement. '[O]ur strong vote proves that we are moving in the right direction,' she writes. She also notes that other landmark environmental laws took quite a bit of time to pass: Our generation has been handed a tremendou ... |
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| Topics: Barbara Boxer, climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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We'd Like to Thank the Academies Science academies of 13 nations urge G8 to tackle climate change |
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10 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 7:27 AM on 10 Jun 2008 Ahead of the G8 summit in Japan next month, the science academies of 13 nations, including the United States, urged the G8 nations as well as Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa (G8+5) to agree to cut world greenhouse-gas emissions in half by 2050. "We urge G8+5 leaders to make maximum efforts to carry this forward and commit to these emission reduct ... |
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| Topics: climate, international politics, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Letter it all out Swing-vote Democrats explain why they oppose the Climate Security Act |
Kate Sheppard |
09 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| On Friday, 10 Democratic senators wrote a letter [PDF] to Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) outlining the reasons why they would not have voted in favor of the Climate Security Act. Democratic leaders pulled the bill from the floor last week after it failed to muster enough votes to move forward. The senators who signed the letter are from key energy-producing and manufacturing states, and argue that the bill would impact their const ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
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Special interested Top Senate recipients of fossil-fuel money behind climate-bill stall tactics |
Kate Sheppard |
06 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The good folks over at Muckety.com (maybe we're long-lost cousins ...) put together an awesome interactive map detailing the connections between the fossil-fuel industries and some of the folks behind the death of climate legislation in the Senate this week. Check it out: muckMapWidth='645'; muckMapHeight='500'; muckMapCtx='http://www.muckety.com/Java'; muckMapProps={restore:'373C5F82BB5B7B482452879A36FA3E0C.map',autoGroup:'7,11'}; Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Shenanigans in the House Republicans try to stoke Dem discord on climate legislation in the House |
Kate Sheppard |
06 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Amidst the chaos in the Senate over climate legislation, Rep. Ed Markey introduced his climate legislation in the House on Thursday. House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio), hoping to take advantage of apparent disarray within the Democratic Party, has dared Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to push Markey's bill to the floor. He wrote a letter (PDF) to the speaker calling the bill 'reckless and inappropriate,' but urging her to take it to the floor in hopes o ... |
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| Topics: climate, Ed Markey, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
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An inhospitable climate Climate Security Act dies, failing to muster enough votes to move forward |
Kate Sheppard |
06 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Senate held a cloture vote this morning to bring to a close debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, a vote that would have allowed the amendment process to begin. After four days of conversation and delays, the bill died, failing to reach the 60 votes needed to invoke cloture by a vote of 48-36. Unable to move forward, Democratic leadership yanked the bill from the floor. In a press conference following the vote, Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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For whatever it's worth A list of strengthening amendments to the climate bill that will probably never be introduced |
Kate Sheppard |
05 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In all likelihood, these will never be formally introduced on the Senate floor, but here's a list of the strengthening amendments to the Climate Security Act that various senators have floated:Renewable Electricity Standard, Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.): This amendment would require that states generate at least 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Scientific Review, John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine): ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Senate all before GOP leaders resort to high jinks to stall climate bill |
Kate Sheppard |
05 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Republican leaders essentially shut down the Senate Wednesday during what was supposed to be a time of debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act, forcing clerks to read the entire 492-page bill aloud. Republicans said the maneuver -- which sucked up nine hours -- was a protest against the Democratic majority's slow pace in considering President Bush's judicial nominations. By the time the reading wrapped up near 10 p.m. last night, Majority Lead ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Stalled Will the Senate ever get to constructive (or destructive) debate on climate bill? |
Kate Sheppard |
04 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has said he won't allow floor debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act to extend beyond next week, according to an article in E&E Daily ($ub. req'd) today. 'If we don't finish it next week, then it means something has gone wrong,' he's quoted as saying. But at an earlier press conference, he told reporters, 'I want to be patient and try to get as much done as soon as we can. If we arrive at a point where w ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Delay, delay Senate GOP delays climate debate still further by forcing clerk to read Boxer amendment |
Kate Sheppard |
04 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Today in Senate action on the Climate Security Act, Republicans are forcing the clerk to read the entirety of the Boxer substitute amendment [PDF], claiming they haven't had enough time to read it yet. It's 157 pages long. Boxer, of course, protested, but her appeal was rejected. The clerk's been reading for an hour already. Oh wait, they had to switch clerks because the first one got tired ... Wait, now they're on to a third clerk ... UPDATE: Apparently they' ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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James and the giant lie Oklahoma senator makes stuff up, wastes time in climate change debate |
Kate Sheppard |
04 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Senate's leading climate change denier, had plenty of kooky and alarmist things to say in yesterday's debate over climate change legislation. Think Progress has video of one of his wing-nuttiest contributions to the discussion, in which he lies about Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, and the IPCC: Yep, the same IPCC that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Gore. |
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| Topics: An Inconvenient Truth, climate, climate change skepticism, insanity, IPCC, James Inhofe, Muckraker, news, Oklahoma, politics (all these topics) |
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Creeping toward productive conversation Senate begins debate on Lieberman-Warner climate bill -- sort of |
Kate Sheppard |
03 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| After last night's cloture vote, Senate Republicans asked for 30 hours before legislatively productive debate on the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act could begin. That means they spent all of today kibitzing about climate legislation without any progress toward amending or voting. Joe Romm has been live-blogging all day over on Climate Progress, and I've also been following the action so you don't have to (you'll thank me). Here's the top CSA news of the day, ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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A taste of the fight ahead GOP circulating at least 90 weakening amendments to Climate Security Act |
Kate Sheppard |
03 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Senate Republicans are already circulating at least 90 amendments that would weaken the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. Here's a complete list of those we know about already, including measures that would add nuclear subsidies, lower emissions targets, and introduce a safety valve. And fight is only just beginning ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, shenanigans, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Deep Space Excoriation NASA internal investigation finds press-office climate distortion |
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03 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 6:21 AM on 03 Jun 2008 An investigation by NASA's inspector general has found that the agency's press office repeatedly distorted climate-change research findings and limited its scientists' access to the media between 2004 and 2006. NASA scientist James Hansen first spoke out about the press-office distortion to major news outlets two years ago, leading the agency to eventually alter its press po ... |
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| Topics: climate, James Hansen, news, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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Rallying for the Climate Security Act Boxer and friends rally in park for climate bill |
Kate Sheppard |
02 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) hosted a press conference in a park outside the Capitol this afternoon to rally support for the Climate Security Act. Standing on a podium alongside other senators as well as reps from several green groups, religious organizations, labor unions, and businesses, Boxer called the bill 'long overdue.' Lieberman noted that climate change is 'another one of those challenges where the people are way a ... |
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| Topics: Barbara Boxer, climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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It's nukes to me Climate-bill sponsors talk about nukes and wooing McCain |
Kate Sheppard |
02 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Before this evening's cloture vote on the motion to proceed, the sponsors of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act held a press conference, mostly repeating things we've already heard from them. Two interesting topics came up, though: McCain and nukes. And, of course, McCain on nukes. John Warner (R-Va.) took the opportunity to tout nuclear power and the amendment he and Lieberman have put together that would insert explicit support for the industry into the bi ... |
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| Topics: climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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Gore at the right time America's climate guru issues statement of support for America's Climate Security Act |
Kate Sheppard |
02 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is pretty jazzed about this statement of support for the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act that Al Gore released today: I want to commend Senator Boxer for her leadership of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Thanks to her vision and dedication, we have the first global warming bill in history that is comprehensive, bipartisan and that enjoys support across the country -- from labor and agriculture to the business and the e ... |
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| Topics: Al Gore, Barbara Boxer, climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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