Grist | Topics | 699 Results

RESULTS		Results 601 – 625 of 699
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Sen. Sanders' energy legislation On the cutting edge	Jon Rynn	04 Jun 2007	Gristmill
The Burlington Free Press has a story on some energy legislation Sen. Bernie Sanders is about to introduce: Sanders' proposed energy grants could be used by Vermont towns and counties to update building codes to require construction of energy-efficient homes and businesses, retrofit old buildings with newer technology, experiment with alternative energy, create incentives for residents to car pool or ride the bus, and organize voluntary efforts to encourage people to save ...
Topics: energy, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Democracy, food, and the Farm Bill Threatening local control in our food system	Steph Larsen	04 Jun 2007	Gristmill
When the Democrats took control of Congress, a colleague of mine looked at me with a sigh of relief and said, 'Isn't it great that we won't have to be playing defense against bad policy anymore?' If only that first impression were the case. In a democracy, we shouldn't have to be constantly vigilant for bad legislative ideas that could hurt the public good. Our legislators are supposed to be the filter that guards against schemes that would strip rights and take choi ...
Topics: agriculture, Congress, food, legislation, politics (all these topics)

The real cost of property regulations Regulations may increase rather than decrease property value	Eric de Place	01 Jun 2007	Gristmill
UPDATE 6/8/07: The study I mentioned in this post was was based on data collected and analyzed by two researchers at Oregon State University. Those researchers, William Jaeger and Andrew Plantinga, have produced a more complete report (pdf) containing a full economic analysis and no editorializing. The conclusion, however, is basically the same: there's no evidence to support the claim that Oregon's growth management protections have harmed property values, at least i ...
Topics: legislation, placemaking, politics (all these topics)

Honey, pack up, we're moving to ... Minnesota! Who knew the stoic people of Minnesota were so advanced?	JMG	31 May 2007	Gristmill
Wow, we hear about California this and California that, occasionally some Vermont or Oregon thrown in, once in awhile someone will know that Texas is a wind capitol. But I can't remember anyone ever mentioning that, when it comes to a serious program to address global heating, Minnesota rocks! Just for comparison, note how weak and pallid Oregon's renewable energy standard (which only applies to electricity, not energy) is compared to Minnesota's comprehensive greenhouse g ...
Topics: energy, energy efficiency, legislation, Minnesota, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Did I say no more CTL? I meant just one more	David Roberts	30 May 2007	Gristmill
There's a growing tension between the subsidy-happy proclivities of Congress and its self-imposed mandate to reduce carbon emissions. You just can't spend all the available federal dollars on ethanol and CTL and expect to reduce emissions. Bills like this one, introduced by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), are going to bring that tension to a head: A bill about to be introduced in the Senate would push utilities to generate drastically more of their power -- 15%, comp ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics, renewable energy (all these topics)

Cutting carbon by 80% by 2050 Continuing the debate	Jon Rynn	25 May 2007	Gristmill
Recently, in the post 'Global Warming and the vision thing,' I criticized the use of numbers in advocating policies, arguing instead on behalf of concrete images. Jon Warnow, a Step It Up 2007 organizer, responded to my post, and I thought it would be appropriate to give him the benefit of a separate post, along with my reply: In Defense of the Numbers As an organizer that worked on the Step It Up 2007 efforts on April 14th, I am one of the global warming activist ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Cap-and-trade is looking like duck-and-cover A rejoinder to Environmental Defense	Charles Komanoff	25 May 2007	Gristmill
Can any of Environmental Defense's three main points stand up to scrutiny? ED: A carbon tax can be gamed as easily as a carbon trading scheme. CTC: A carbon tax may be subject to gaming, but cap-and-trade positively invites it. USCAP concedes that some allowances will be given out (not auctioned) at the outset, which means protracted, high-stakes negotiations ("a giant food fight," a leading utility executive called it) over free allowances ...
Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, Congress, legislation, politics (all these topics)

News from the Farm Bill front Democracy in jeopardy	Steph Larsen	24 May 2007	Gristmill
In a recent post about the timing of the Farm Bill, I talked about when things related to farm and food policy are likely to move in Congress. There is new information available now, and it's becoming increasingly clear that we all could be in serious trouble if we don't act now to voice our opinion about the state of our food system. Though pressure to consider major reforms in the bill is as strong as ever, events of this week are leaving me with much less hope that n ...
Topics: agriculture, Congress, legislation, politics (all these topics)

My one and only post on the Rachel Carson nonsense I shall speak now and then forever hold my peace	David Roberts	24 May 2007	Gristmill
So, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) planned to introduce a bill to honor Rachel Carson -- author of the seminal Silent Spring -- on the 100th anniversary of her birth. Carson is, as non-psychotics know, a hero who did about as much as any human being in history to raise awareness, not only of toxic chemicals in the environment, but of our symbiotic and delicate relationship to the ecosystems we inhabit. Cardin has since decided not to introduce the bill. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-O ...
Topics: jackassery, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Policies in need of Californication All green eyes turn to the West Coast	Joseph Romm	21 May 2007	Gristmill
Popularized by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the term 'Californication' actually refers to the surge of Californians migrating up the West Coast following the opening of a major highway. In this context, we're hoping we can Californicate the state's climate change and energy policies to the rest of the Union. Since the 1970s, California has kept its per capita energy use at a level rate, using primarily energy efficiency programs. Over time and with minimal spending, the c ...
Topics: California, climate, energy, legislation, politics, state politics (all these topics)

Planet Gore Disinfotainment Watch: Utterly misrepresenting research Keeping an eye on the 'wingers	Joseph Romm	20 May 2007	Gristmill
(Part of a series of posts keeping an eye on Planet Gore, the National Review blog devoted to obfuscating on climate change.) New research finds low cost for tackling climate change. But not when that research is reported by Planet Gore. Sterling Burnett recently authored a classic example of PG's disinfotainment. He writes: Has the media completely lost objectivity and the search for the 'truth' with regard to the issue of global warming. The latest reason that made m ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, climate change skepticism, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Back room jostling over climate legislation Expect a lot of it	David Roberts	20 May 2007	Gristmill
As I mentioned the other day, MarketWatch is doing a big series of articles on business and climate change. This one gets right to the heart of why we're hiring a D.C. reporter. Now that things have transitioned from whether there's going to be climate legislation to what climate legislation is going to look like, lots of elbows are getting thrown. There are dozens and dozens of stakeholders who stand to be affected by legislation, and they're all getting busy trying ...
Topics: climate, Congress, energy, greenhouse-gas emissions, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Who's that good-lookin' guy in the commercial? Hey, that's me!	Andrew Dessler	14 May 2007	Gristmill
Republicans for Environmental Protection have sponsored a TV ad on climate change to run in Austin this week. The goal is to drum up support for the several bills on climate change currently before the Texas Legislature. Here it is: There's also an article about the ad in the Austin-American Statesman here.
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, shameless self-promotion, state politics, Texas (all these topics)

Mountaintop removal and clean water: Kinda at odds DC lobbying effort May 12-16	Erik Hoffner	11 May 2007	Gristmill
Citizens from Appalachia were at the UN's meeting on sustainable energy policy this week to challenge the clean-coalers, and were received really well by the other delegates. Coal advocates were hard-put to refute the evidence that coal kills communities. Now the effort moves to D.C. from May 12-16 for the 2nd Annual Mountaintop Removal Week lobbying effort. Organized by Appalachian Voices, the effort will advance the Clean Water Protection Act toward passage and he ...
Topics: coal, Congress, energy, environmental justice, legislation, lobbying, mining, politics, United Nations (all these topics)

The Overton window keeps moving Senate's strongest climate bill now has more co-sponsors	David Roberts	08 May 2007	Gristmill
Two bills floating around Congress now serve as the far side of the Overton window on climate policy. Both adopt the (relatively) stringent target of reducing CO2 emissions 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. In the House, there's Rep. Waxman's Safe Climate Act, and in the Senate, there's Sen. Sanders' (formerly Sen. Jeffords') Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act. It is a mark of how far the debate has shifted that the latter actually seems to be moving into the ...
Topics: climate, climate change mitigation, legislation, politics (all these topics)

The cap and trade boat just got a little fuller Oh what a relief it biz	Kif Scheuer	08 May 2007	Gristmill
The United States Climate Action Partnership, the group of corporations calling 'on the federal government to quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions,' just doubled in size (PDF): With its new members, USCAP companies now have total revenues of $1.7 trillion, a collective workforce of more than 2 million and operations in all 50 states; they also have a combine market capitalization of more than $1.9 tril ...
Topics: business, carbon trading, climate, greenish companies, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Carbon tax news Could the unthinkable become thinked?	David Roberts	07 May 2007	Gristmill
Over on MyDD, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) discusses the carbon tax bill he recently introduced. My legislation, the Save Our Climate Act (H.R. 2069), would tax coal, petroleum and natural gas at a rate of $10 per ton of carbon content. Applied when these fossil fuels are initially removed from the ground, the tax would increase by $10 each year, freezing when a mandated report by the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Energy determines that carbon d ...
Topics: carbon tax, carbon trading, climate, climate change mitigation, Congress, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Tester kills liquid coal amendment We knew we liked that guy	David Roberts	07 May 2007	Gristmill
Huge Gristmill big-ups to Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who late last week cast a crucial vote in the Senate EPW committee to scuttle a coal-to-liquid amendment. The committee's been trying to craft an energy package; they had agreed to table contentious issues like CTL for open debate on the floor, but Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo) put forth his measure anyway. It would have created a substantial mandate for liquid coal fuels -- 21 billion gallons annually by 2022 -- and cou ...
Topics: coal, energy, legislation, Montana, politics (all these topics)

Immediate worries, roadblocks, and model campaigns: Plan of action What to do now	Ken Ward	03 May 2007	Gristmill
((brightlines_include))How climate change is handled in few key areas within the year -- particularly congressional action in 2008 and 2009 and the 2008 presidential election -- will likely set the terms of the U.S. political debate, which for all practical purposes, within the constraints of Hansen's standard and timeframe for action, will determine the outcome. Therefore, a Bright Lines plan of action must accomplish three things: polarize debate in Congre ...
Topics: climate, climate change impacts, climate change mitigation, elections, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Kossacks Goin' new school	Adam Browning	02 May 2007	Gristmill
Old school Cossacks: thundered off the steppes in bloodthirsty hordes, fearsome warriors, rumored to tuck ears of enemies under saddleblankets in lieu of provisions during raids. New-school Kossacks: more tippety-tap than thundering, not so much with the ear eating, fearsome and effective in rallying support for renewable energy. HR 550 is the largest, most important piece of solar legislation ever introduced in the U.S. Here is a story about how they are making ...
Topics: energy, legislation, politics, renewable energy, solar voltaic power (all these topics)

Netroots, meet climate change policy; climate change policy, netroots Discuss amongst yourselves	David Roberts	26 Apr 2007	Gristmill
This is heartening: the activist netroots are starting to get serious about figuring out global warming policy. Welcome to the fun, y'all! Stoller comes to a familiar conclusion: carbon tax is preferable to cap and trade. I think he's a little hard on the latter, but the basic position is sound -- and all but universal among non-politicians these days.
Topics: carbon tax, climate, climate change mitigation, green living, legislation, politics, websites (all these topics)

Tighten Up Plans to boost energy efficiency start getting traction in Congress	Amanda Griscom Little	23 Apr 2007	Muckraker
What's not to love about energy efficiency? It's the paradigmatic win-win scenario -- save money, protect the climate and broader environment, and reduce reliance on unsavory sources of energy, all in one fell swoop. As efficiency guru Amory Lovins puts it [PDF], "Using energy more efficiently offers an economic bonanza -- not because of the benefits of stopping global warm ...
Topics: Amory Lovins, Congress, Ed Markey, energy, energy efficiency, legislation, Muckraker, politics (all these topics)

Different Farm Bill this time around? Pollan weighs in	Jason D Scorse	21 Apr 2007	Gristmill
Michael Pollan thinks so. Let's hope he's right. Call your Senators and Representatives to make sure.
Topics: agriculture, Congress, food, legislation, politics (all these topics)

Bingaman and Domenici propose Energy Efficiency Promotion Act Good stuff	David Roberts	19 Apr 2007	Gristmill
I'll leave it to Gar to judge if the targets are sufficiently aggressive, but either way I'm happy to see new legislation on energy efficiency being proposed in Congress. This stuff isn't sexy and doesn't garner much media attention, but -- as we keep saying -- efficiency is the low-hanging fruit. Time to eat some of it.
Topics: Congress, energy efficiency, legislation, politics (all these topics)

No More Dicking Around House approves long-delayed Wild Sky Wilderness bill		19 Apr 2007	Daily Grist
No More Dicking Around House approves long-delayed Wild Sky Wilderness bill After five years of delay, the House has passed a bill creating a 167-square-mile Wild Sky Wilderness area in northern Washington state. The bill had been approved by the Senate three times in recent years, but stalled out each time in the Republican-led House, with former California Rep. Richard P ...
Topics: legislation, news, politics, US House of Representatives, Washington, wilderness (all these topics)

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