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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Demergy
Energy in the Democratic platform |
David Roberts |
18 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Here's a selection from the Democratic platform (PDF), final draft released Friday. What do you think? --- New American Energy In the local platform hearings, Americans talked about the importance of energy to the economy, to national security and to the health of our planet. Speaking loud and clear, they said that America needs a new bold and sustainable energy policy to meet the challenges of our time. In the past, America has been stirred to ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, energy, fuel efficiency, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Auto industry to McCain:
Congress should inflate their tires, not their rhetoric |
Guest author |
05 Aug 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest post from Charles Territo, Director of Communications for the Auto Alliance (BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Mazda, Mercedez Benz, Mitsubishi, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen). It originally ran on the Wonk Room. For most of this year rising gas prices have been on everyone's mind. Believe me, the auto industry understands very well just how much of an impact $4/gallon gas has had on American consumers. As you may have seen, it's having an impact on us, a ... |
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| Topics: cars, energy, fuel efficiency, John McCain, politics (all these topics) |
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'Bipartisan leadership for energy independence'
Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith touts work with Obama in new campaign ad |
Kate Sheppard |
25 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Republican Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon is touting his work with Barack Obama to improve automobile fuel efficiency and his 'bipartisan leadership for energy independence' in a new television ad. Smith, the sole GOP senator on the West Coast, is fighting to maintain his seat this year in what's expected to be a tightly contested race against Democratic challenger Jeff Merkley. Watch it: The Obama campaign issued a statement yesterday on their candidate's appear ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, energy, fuel efficiency, Oregon, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Peak Oil? Bring it on!
Solving the climate problem will solve the peak oil problem, too |
Joseph Romm |
30 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I have a new article in Salon on perhaps the most misunderstood subject in energy: peak oil. Here is the short version: We are at or near the peak of cheap conventional oil production. There is no realistic prospect that the conventional oil supply can keep up with current projected demand for much longer, if the industrialized countries don't take strong action to sharply reduce consumption, and if China and India don't take strong action to sharply reduce cons ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, business, energy, fuel efficiency, hybrids, oil, placemaking, politics (all these topics) |
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Blocking state leadership on global warming
Johnson made a decision that should have belonged to Congress |
Joseph Romm |
09 Mar 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Last week, EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson published the official explanation of his decision to deny a waiver of preemption for California's program to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles. Robert Sussman, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, has a very good discussion of the misguided reasoning Johnson uses. The bottom line: The role of state programs under a comprehensive climate change framework may be a legitimate subject for deba ... |
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| Topics: California, cars, climate, energy, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics) |
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House tax package
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David Roberts |
27 Feb 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The House just passed the tax package that was voted down late last year as part of the energy bill. It contains tax incentives for renewables, paid for by removing some of the Big Oil subsidies from the 2005 Energy Bill. It also closes a fuel efficiency loophole for SUVs. More later. |
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| Topics: energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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Feebate watch
California mulls nation's first feebate bill |
David Roberts |
28 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Feebates are one of the most promising strategies for lowering vehicle fleet emissions. This week, the California Assembly will vote on the nation's first feebate bill, the California Clean Car Discount Act. It would levy a fee of up to $2,500 on gas guzzlers, with commensurate rebates for fuel efficient cars. The L.A. Times has some good analysis. Opposition to the bill comes from about where you'd expect -- the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the California Mo ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, California, cars, climate, elections, energy, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, politics (all these topics) |
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Green gap is more of a chasm
The presidential debates once again highlight the obvious |
Adam Stein |
07 Jan 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Matthew Yglesias notes the environmental policy gap between Democratic and Republican presidential contenders: "On the Republican side, we have Mike Huckabee who thinks global warming is a serious problem but doesn't have any particular ideas about dealing with it." It strikes me as worse than that. When I read Andy Revkin's run-down of the weekend's debates, this made me want to get my shrill on: Mike Huckabee called for a billion-dollar prize for the fi ... |
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| Topics: cars, elections, energy, fuel efficiency, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
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Now it's the CAFE standards
Yet more energy bill woes |
Brian Beutler |
12 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| This may seem narrow and technical, but it's actually extremely significant: The White House has raised last-minute concerns over regulation of automobile emissions and fuel economy that aides said Tuesday could lead to a presidential veto of the energy bill now before Congress. The bill, which passed the House and is pending in the Senate, requires automakers to meet a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, but does not specify which government agency sho ... |
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| Topics: cars, energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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Giuliani opposes Congressional fuel economy deal
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Joseph Romm |
09 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| In a revealing interview on Meet the Press today, GOP Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said he does not support the mandated increase to 35-mpg that both the House and Senate -- and I believe even the president -- support. To quote Rudy: "That isn't the way I think it should be done." What is his alternative strategy? Politically, as readers know, only one other alternative strategy exists: "technology, technology, technology, blah, blah, b ... |
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| Topics: elections, energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, politics, presidential race 08, Rudy Giuliani (all these topics) |
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Thumbs up for Pelosi, Dingell, Nissan
Thumbs down for Toyota, GM, Ford, Washington Post |
Joseph Romm |
07 Dec 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The Washington Post had an article yesterday on the House fuel economy deal that is quite good in doling out cheers and jeers -- good except for two sentences. Let's start with the cheers. The article quotes NRDC rightly praising Pelosi for being steadfast with the Senate's 35 mpg target and Dingell, too, for: ... telling the automakers a year ago that they were going to have to accept a mileage improvement. He bargained hard for trying to make it less, but he d ... |
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| Topics: business, cars, energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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Congressional fuel-economy deal near
A possible compromise in energy legislation negotiations |
Joseph Romm |
27 Nov 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The Detroit Free Press reports: Congressional negotiators are close to agreement on an increase in fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, with some caveats to satisfy U.S. automakers. What caveats? The compromise would preserve the distinction between cars and trucks, something Detroit automakers have fought for, while giving federal regulators strict limits on how to put the increases into place. It also would include a provision backed by ... |
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| Topics: cars, energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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The 'Nissan bloc'
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David Roberts |
30 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Xenophobia rears its ugly head in the CAFE debate. |
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| Topics: politics, energy, climate, fuel efficiency, cars (all these topics) |
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Ad of the day
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David Roberts |
19 Oct 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Click image for more info: |
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| Topics: energy, fuel efficiency, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
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Sass Is in Sessions
Judge rules against Big Auto, says states can regulate emissions from cars |
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12 Sep 2007 |
News |
| Posted at 11:11 AM on 12 Sep 2007 States should be allowed to restrict greenhouse-gas emissions from cars, and Big Auto should just deal, a federal judge ruled today. Right now, the only real way to curb the emissions is to improve gas mileage; when Vermont decided to adopt California's strict emissions rules, automakers sued, claiming that the state was illegally regulating fuel economy -- and that ma ... |
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| Topics: Big Auto, cars, climate, energy, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions, litigation, news, politics, regulation, state politics, Vermont (all these topics) |
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Idle oughts
We still heart Rocky Anderson |
Kate Sheppard |
15 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| Rocky Anderson is in the news again, reminding us why we all love him. Now he's taking on idling autos, calling for city-owned vehicles and personal vehicles on city business to limit their idling to five minutes, except in emergency situations. Fifty percent of air pollution in Utah comes from cars and trucks, and Rocky wants the city to do their part in cutting down on the smog-creating emissions. His environmental adviser, Jordan Gates, says this latest executi ... |
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| Topics: cars, energy, fuel efficiency, placemaking, politics, Utah (all these topics) |
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Dems do in fact wimp out on CAFE for now
Sadly |
Joseph Romm |
02 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| E&E Daily (subs. req'd) confirms earlier press reports: Markey [D-MA] said in a statement yesterday that he decided to pull his amendment after consulting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), even though he believed he had the votes to move the legislation. While Pelosi personally favored a CAFE standard of 35 miles per gallon, industry lobbyists said she did not whip votes on the legislation and it appeared Markey was not assured of the ... |
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| Topics: climate, Ed Markey, energy, fuel efficiency, John Dingell, Nancy Pelosi, politics (all these topics) |
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Democrats poised to wimp out on CAFE for now; Dingell pursues 'poison pill' strategy on climate
The latest from Congress |
Joseph Romm |
01 Aug 2007 |
Gristmill |
| The Washington Post reports today: Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) claims to have rounded up about 200 votes for an amendment raising fuel economy standards, while the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, John D. Dingell (Mich.) and 50 other Democrats have signed on to a weaker version ... But yesterday, Pelosi said the bill was not likely to address fuel economy at all, postponing the issue until a conference committee reconciles House and Senate e ... |
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| Topics: climate, Ed Markey, energy, fuel efficiency, John Dingell, Nancy Pelosi, politics (all these topics) |
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Attribute-based CAFE standards
Are wack |
David Roberts |
31 Jul 2007 |
Gristmill |
| In his SOTU speech earlier this year, Bush proposed updating and reforming CAFE standards. Skeptical? Good. You're not stupid. As I wrote here, one of his reforms is to make the whole CAFE system "attribute-based," meaning different mileage standards would apply to different classes of vehicles based on their, um, attributes -- mainly size. This would make things unnecessarily complicated and perpetuate the double standard that has encouraged the domination ... |
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| Topics: energy, fuel efficiency, politics (all these topics) |
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Be Still Our Beating Hearts
Senate-approved energy bill calls for fuel-economy increase |
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22 Jun 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Be Still Our Beating Hearts Senate-approved energy bill calls for fuel-economy increase First, the good news: the U.S. Senate has passed an energy bill containing the first significant fuel-economy increase in years. The bill requires cars and light trucks to get an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020, up from the current 22.2 mpg for l ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, cars, energy, energy efficiency, fuel efficiency, Harry Reid, legislation, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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We Can't Bear to Look
U.S. Senate squares off on ambitious energy bill |
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19 Jun 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| We Can't Bear to Look U.S. Senate squares off on ambitious energy bill All eyes are on the Senate this week as it debates a controversial Democrat-penned energy bill. (Hey! We said "all eyes"! Don't go away.) The legislation contains several provisions that make Big Oil, Big Auto, and Big Republicans squirm: it would shift nearly $15 billion in tax credi ... |
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| Topics: cars, Congress, energy, fuel efficiency, John Dingell, news, politics, renewable energy (all these topics) |
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MoveOn fights liquid coal
Sign the petition! |
David Roberts |
08 Jun 2007 |
Gristmill |
| I opened my inbox the other day and thought I must be dreaming: the venerable progressive organization MoveOn is taking on coal-to-liquids (CTL). This is from an email they sent to their over three million members on Wednesday: In the next few weeks, Congress could vote to DOUBLE the amount of greenhouse gases America produces from our cars and planes. It's the greatest single threat to solving the climate crisis in a decade. It sounds crazy. But Congress ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, cars, coal, coal-to-liquid fuel, energy, fuel efficiency, politics, websites (all these topics) |
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I Don't Want a Pickle, I Just Want a Fuel-Efficient Vehicle
Senate committee OKs bill to raise fuel-economy standards |
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10 May 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| I Don't Want a Pickle, I Just Want a Fuel-Efficient Vehicle Senate committee OKs bill to raise fuel-economy standards A Senate committee has approved legislation that would increase average vehicle fuel efficiency to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, with a 4 percent annual increase from 2021 to 2030. For nearly two decades, U.S. passenger cars have averaged 27.5 mpg, while light trucks and SUVs have measure ... |
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| Topics: energy, fuel efficiency, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
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CAFE news; Obama's speech
The logjam is breaking |
David Roberts |
07 May 2007 |
Gristmill |
| It appears that after a long period of haggling -- involving the bizarre tableau of Republican Ted Stevens pushing for tougher regulations -- the Senate Commerce Committee is ready to cough up a bill that would raise CAFE standards to 35mpg by 2019 (35mpg across the fleet, including light trucks). The committee is expected to vote through the proposal tomorrow; that would lead to the first floor vote on CAFE since 2002, and if passed, the first fuel-economy boost in ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, cars, energy, ethanol, fuel efficiency, green living, politics (all these topics) |
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Barack Tease
Obama pledges to save the civilized world with baby steps |
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23 Apr 2007 |
Daily Grist |
| Barack Tease Obama pledges to save the civilized world with baby steps "This is our generation's moment to save future generations from global catastrophe," declared Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a speech on Friday. He heralded a "grassroots effort to make America greener and end the tyranny of oil." And just as greens were up on their collective tippie-toes, p ... |
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| Topics: Barack Obama, energy, fuel efficiency, news, politics (all these topics) |
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