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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Keeping the Keynes running on time Bailout no reason to delay needed public investment	David Roberts	01 Oct 2008	Gristmill
I have been making the point (here, here, here) that we should resist the emerging Very Serious D.C. conventional wisdom that the financial bailout will constrain our ability to make other much-needed public investments. It's wrong, wrong, wrong. Obama was a little wishy-washy on the subject in the debate, but as Kate noted, in a speech yesterday he pushed back a little more firmly. The latest pundit I shall recruit to make the point for me is Ezra Klein. Here, he ar ...
Topics: public transportation, energy, investing, economy, Wall Street (all these topics)

Has GM overdesigned the Volt? Is a 40-mile all-electric range too much?	Joseph Romm	01 Oct 2008	Gristmill
I have an article in today's Guardian online, 'Is the Chevy Volt just hype?' I argue that the key to the near-term success for plug-ins in this country is government incentives and mandates, which in turn will critically depend on the outcome of the presidential election. But that should not be a surprise, since no country in the world has achieved significant market penetration of an alternative-fuel vehicle without major government incentives and mandates. I noted ...
Topics: economy, green living, tax incentives, electric vehicles, cars, gas prices (all these topics)

It's just that they keep talking about the causes of the problem ...	David Roberts	30 Sep 2008	Gristmill
It's clear to anyone paying attention that much if not most of global warming 'skepticism' is driven by political opposition to the solutions, but you rarely hear people slip up and admit it:'I do believe we need to be good stewards and I think we are, but some of the issues that I have with global warming advocates is that they always seem to direct all of their focus at coal and oil and gas, and that's what drives our state,' [Natrona County, Wyoming] Commissioner Ma ...
Topics: environmental movement, oil, economy, state politics, politics, climate change skepticism (all these topics)

All's well that spends well The financial crisis, the bailout, and green investment	David Roberts	30 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Over the weekend I tossed out some thoughts about how energy efficiency might serve as one response to the housing/credit crisis. As it happens, many other folk have tied the financial crisis to green(ish) considerations. Here's a roundup. First, the inimitable Tom Friedman turns his Mustache of Understanding on the bailout, agreeing with yours truly that it does not obviate the need for serious public investment: Indeed, when this bailout is over, we need the next ...
Topics: green jobs, climate, investing, Wall Street, economy, video (all these topics)

Oil is down $10 today because ...	David Roberts	29 Sep 2008	Gristmill
... oh hell, nobody really knows. Note the journalist's favorite way of implying causation without actually claiming it: the $10 drop happened 'amid' political fighting over the bailout. It also happened amid the baseball playoffs, and amid my attempts to keep the dandelions from recolonizing my newly planted front yard. I shall cease weeding, lest I further disturb oil markets!
Topics: oil, economy, energy, Wall Street (all these topics)

McCain't Why the party that wrecked America can't fix it	Jon Rynn	29 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The Republican party has a problem. They have based much of their power, over the last several decades, on the idea of ever-expanding (almost exclusively white) suburbs. The thinking was, as those suburbs become less and less dense -- as one wag put it, the further away the houses are from each other -- the more those suburbanites will vote Republican. As William Levitt, the builder of the first modern suburb after World War II said, 'No man who owns his own house and lot c ...
Topics: sprawl, placemaking, economy, energy, climate, politics, cars (all these topics)

Bailout fails in House	David Roberts	29 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Looks like the bailout bill just now failed in the House, 205-228. The stock market is in freefall. Wheee! UPDATE: Apparently Republicans promised 80-90 votes and only came through with 66 ... at which point nervous Dems started bailing. Some 90 Dems voted no. Dow is now down 800. If I were a Dem who had my arm twisted by Pelosi into vo ...
Topics: Wall Street, legislation, Congress, economy, politics (all these topics)

Like lambs to slaughter? Smithfield, Pilgrim's Pride, and other meat giants get credit-crunched	Tom Philpott	29 Sep 2008	Gristmill
As I've written so many times before, a very few companies essentially control U.S. meat production. Their business model is crude, but for years has been effective: You place lots of animals in a tight space (or "contract" with farmers to do so), stuff them with corn and soy (made cheap chronic overproduction mandated by U.S. farm policy), boost their growth with all manner of hormones and antibiotics, and move these unhappy creatures to vast factory-like sla ...
Topics: business, economy, food, investing, livestock, Wall Street (all these topics)

Bailout vs. bull market New data: Green investment would produce about twice the jobs of Wall Street bailout	Glenn Hurowitz	29 Sep 2008	Gristmill
There's been a bit of extremely stupid chatter in D.C. lately suggesting that somehow the financial storm could get in the way of action to combat the climate crisis. So I picked up my phone at Greenpeace and asked Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier of the University of Massachusetts to compare the economic effects of bailing out Wall Street to investing in the green economy (they wrote a 'Green Recovery' report for the Center for American Progress), and th ...
Topics: renewable energy, politics, climate, economy, green jobs, Wall Street (all these topics)

Job mentality Where does McCain get his claim that nuclear will create 700,000 jobs?	David Roberts	29 Sep 2008	Gristmill
In this post, I questioned John McCain's claim that building 45 new nuclear reactors between now and 2030 would create 700,000 new jobs. I couldn't find any numbers to back the claim up, and plenty of numbers that cast doubt on it. I contacted the campaign, and they sent along a 2004 study called "U.S. Job Creation Due to Nuclear Power Resurgence in the United States," co-produced by the DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory an ...
Topics: elections, energy, politics, presidential race 08, John McCain, nuclear power, economy, green jobs (all these topics)

Bailout we can believe in Could reducing homeowner costs through efficiency help meliorate the housing crisis?	David Roberts	27 Sep 2008	Gristmill
I am far from an expert on the world of finance (he said, wildly understating the case). So I'd be interested to hear what smarter folks think of the following wild speculation. The root of the current financial crisis is housing. Lots of people were extended credit to buy houses they couldn't really afford, and those dodgy loans were repackaged and resold in funky ways on the assumption that housing values would continue to rise in perpetuity. That didn't pan out. ...
Topics: economy, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, Wall Street (all these topics)

'We have met the need' Senate kills second economic stimulus package	David Roberts	26 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Earlier today, the House passed a second stimulus bill, which would pump $56 billion into the economy through public works and infrastructure projects (including green infrastructure), as well as unemployment insurance, food stamps, weatherizing low-income homes, and healthcare funding for states. A few hours ago, Senate Republicans blocked the bill with the threat of a filibuster. (Here's the roll call.) $700 billion for Wall Street? No problem. $56 billion for ordi ...
Topics: legislation, Congress, White House, economy, politics (all these topics)

Tomorrow, choose between grassroots and astroturf 9.27.08 is the green jobs national day of action; or, you could watch Newt on TV	David Roberts	26 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Tomorrow, Green Jobs Now is having a national day of action, with (as of now) 661 events planned across all 50 states. Numerous green, labor, community, youth, and faith organizations are involved, along with thousands of ordinary citizens. The goal is to highlight the potential for a green investment plan that creates jobs, boosts domestic industry, repairs domestic infrastructure, reduces oil imports, and meliorates global warming. More specifically: 1. Encoura ...
Topics: Newt Gingrich, politics, economy, grassroots activism, environmental movement, green jobs, events, video (all these topics)

An alternative bailout proposal	David Roberts	26 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Jerome a Paris suggests a different bailout idea: a National Investment Bank that would focus on helping people rather than banks. It would serve the following functions: allow bankrupt institutions in the existing financial sector to go bust without damaging the real economy by creating an entity able to step in to fund the real economy. In other words, even if banks going bust take other banks with them, there will still be a banking institution able to step in and ...
Topics: investing, Wall Street, economy, regulation (all these topics)

Are you better off than you were eight years ago? CEPR compares pre- and post-Bush economic indicators	David Roberts	26 Sep 2008	Gristmill
In the final 1980 presidential debate, Ronald Reagan famously ended with a question to the American public: are you better off now than you were four years ago? The folks at the Center for Economic and Policy research wondered, what would our answer be today? So they pulled together a whole range of economic indicators and compared today's numbers with the numbers from eight years ago, at the beginning of the Bush administration. The results are ... striking. Check ...
Topics: economy, George Bush, green jobs, health, politics (all these topics)

RGGI: Not dead yet Pulitzers await the enterprising journalist who digs into the RGGI efficiency story	Adam Stein	26 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first legally binding cap-and-trade system in the hemisphere, kicked off yesterday with the world's largest carbon credit auction. The program immediately failed. I don't know anything about the results of the auction, which won't be made public until Monday, but I do know that whatever happened, RGGI is a great big failure. I know this because journalists prepared its obituary weeks ago. The New York Times recently explaine ...
Topics: carbon trading, climate, economy, energy, energy efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Debate is a go	David Roberts	26 Sep 2008	Gristmill
The McCain campaign says he'll debate tonight after all. After that he'll fly back to D.C. to continue his oh-so-helpful role in the negotiations over the financial bailout. Meanwhile, this morning Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said: 'A few days ago, I called on Sen. McCain to take a stand -- let us know where he stands on the issue -- in this bailout,' Reid told reporters at the Capitol. 'But all he has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still don't k ...
Topics: John McCain, presidential race 08, elections, events, politics, economy (all these topics)

Vainglory McCain gambles with the U.S. economy; House Republicans hold the bailout hostage; chaos reigns	David Roberts	25 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Yes, yes, I know the financial crisis is not strictly a green issue -- except insofar as it dries up capital desperately needed for green investments -- but I just have to put some kind of note on record here. This is the most bizarre political season in memory, and the last few days have taken it to new realms entirely. So there's this crisis, right? Bush, Paulson, and most of the Congressional leadership seem focused on taking immediate action to bail banks out be ...
Topics: presidential race 08, elections, politics, John McCain, legislation, economy (all these topics)

As long as we're talking about spending big ... Senate Democrats propose a new economic stimulus package	Kate Sheppard	25 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) have unveiled a $56.2 billion 'economic recovery package' that includes funding for things like public transit, home weatherization, and environmental cleanup. With time running out on this Congress, they may try to attach the measure to a continuing resolution. 'We must not forget Main Street as we work to address the crisis on Wall Street,' said Reid in a ...
Topics: economy, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, public transportation, US Senate (all these topics)

What we can afford and can't afford not to Galbraith argues against the bailout and in favor of public investement	David Roberts	25 Sep 2008	Gristmill
I cited James Galbraith last night while arguing that the financial mess should not deter us from making substantial investments in our future. (By the by, you should read Galbraith's new book, The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too.) Today, Galbraith has a kick-ass op-ed in the Washington Post asking the question everyone else in D.C. is too scared to ask -- "Is this bailout still necessary?" -- and mappi ...
Topics: business, climate, economy, investing, Wall Street (all these topics)

Accelerating the development of a 21st century economy Investing in clean infrastructure	Michael Moynihan	25 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Originally posted to the NDN blog. ----- The debate now underway in the Congress on a financial bailout is not the only important piece of business before the Congress in its waning days. With a real economic recession now all but certain, Congress is considering a second stimulus package. But at this critical moment in our nation's history, how Congress addresses the need to get our economy moving again may be as important as whether it passes a second package. H ...
Topics: public transportation, renewable energy, electricity grid, Congress, energy, tax incentives, investing, economy, politics (all these topics)

A deficit of cajones Obama says he will postpone some spending programs in light of financial bailout	David Roberts	24 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Obama says he'll have to delay some of his spending initiatives in light of the mega-bailout in the works. But not the tax cuts! He didn't say what proposals might be delayed first ... [but!] he said a bailout would not bar him from pushing for middle-class tax cuts, a central proposal in his campaign. In a speech Monday, Obama urged Democrats to be as fiscally tough as conservative Republicans and said that the bailout was forcing a new perspective on the federa ...
Topics: politics, Barack Obama, elections, presidential race 08, climate, economy, Wall Street (all these topics)

Debate debate	David Roberts	24 Sep 2008	Gristmill
John McCain said he wants to postpone Friday's presidential debate in light of the financial crisis. Obama says: no. Lots of political commentators are saying lots of things about this, and it's outside my bailiwick, so I won't add much except to say: it's telling that McCain thinks electoral politics is something silly and distracting, a grubby sideshow to be cast aside when it's time to put "country first." If I was running a campaign as petty and dishone ...
Topics: politics, Wall Street, economy, elections, presidential race 08, John McCain (all these topics)

'That assumption just went splat' Al Gore on the climate and financial crises	Kate Sheppard	24 Sep 2008	Gristmill
In this morning's first panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative, former President Bill Clinton and his VP, Al Gore, talked about how the nation's financial situation might have played out differently if we'd dealt intelligently with energy issues years ago -- a theme Clinton has sounded several times this week. Gore said that the climate crisis and the financial meltdown are based on similar assumptions. 'The current economic crisis was triggered, of c ...
Topics: coal, oil shale, Wall Street, economy, climate, energy, politics, news, Muckraker, Al Gore (all these topics)

Hey, government! How about calling on us? Reviving national service in a big way	Guest author	24 Sep 2008	Gristmill
This is a guest essay from William Astore, retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) and author of Hindenburg: Icon of German Militarism. It was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom's kind permission. ----- Lately, our news has focused on tropical depressions maturing into monster hurricanes that leave devastation in their wake -- and I'm not just talking about Gustav and Ike. Today, we face a perfect storm of financial devastation, nota ...
Topics: economy, Wall Street, politics (all these topics)

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