|
| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
You So Hot, Baby! But You Could Be Even Hotter
U.K. looking to seduce communities into hosting nuke-waste facility |
|
13 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 8:23 AM on 13 Jun 2008 The British government has begun searching in earnest for a community willing to host a new underground nuclear waste burial site. The winning community would not only be, de facto, the hottest place in Britain, but it could also be the lucky recipient of ... infrastructure funds! Britain's environment secretary, Hilary Benn, launched into seduction ... |
|
| Topics: news, nuclear power, politics, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
|
|
Garrisoning the global gas station
Challenging the militarization of U.S. energy policy |
Guest author |
13 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay from energy analyst Michael T. Klare. It was originally run on TomDispatch; it is reprinted here with Tom's kind permission. ----- American policymakers have long viewed the protection of overseas oil supplies as an essential matter of 'national security,' requiring the threat of -- and sometimes the use of -- military force. This is now an unquestioned part of American foreign policy. On this basis, the first Bush administration fou ... |
|
| Topics: Department of Defense, energy, fossil fuels, Iraq, Nigeria, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
National Journal confirms our low expectations
Republican members of Congress do not believe in climate change or deem it a priority |
David Roberts |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| National Journal polls members of Congress: Matt draws our attention to one particular quote from a Republican No: "If there's one thing poll after poll indicates, it's that the science is not settled on this issue." Wow. Also: But don't worry: McCain is a maverick! So he should have no trouble overcoming the deep institutional ignorance and intransigence of his party once he's president. BONUS QUESTION: Here's the list of the Dems in the poll -- te ... |
|
| Topics: politics, climate, climate change skepticism (all these topics) |
|
|
Back on the train again
House passes Amtrak authorization by veto-proof margin |
Kate Sheppard |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The House passed a bill yesterday to allocate nearly $15 billion to Amtrak, a move intended to give travelers an alternative as gas prices soar. The bill, which would authorize funding for the passenger railroad for the next five years, passed by a vote of 311-104 -- a veto-proof margin. Within the funding package, $14.9 billion goes to Amtrak, intercity rail services, and a grant program to help states create or expand rail service. Another $1.5 billion would ... |
|
| Topics: legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, public transportation (all these topics) |
|
|
Manifestos for the next president
Climate action plans for the first 100 days and beyond |
Maywa Montenegro |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| I am blown away by the depth and scope of the nonpartisan Presidential Climate Action Project. Its centerpiece is a first-100-days plan, detailed in a 300-page report, covering issues ranging from energy policy and green collar jobs to the farm bill and ethanol subsidies to the Law of the Sea. My only quibble is the continued support for grain ethanol -- although the project does advocate quick turnover to cellulosic sources -- how quick that evolution will be is a ... |
|
| Topics: ag policy, climate, energy, ethanol, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Dick move
Cheney perpetuates myth about China-Cuba oil partnership |
Kate Sheppard |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| During his 'drill, drill, drill' rant yesterday, Dick Cheney complained that Cuba and China are drilling for oil closer to the coast of Florida than American companies are currently allowed. It's become a common talking point for Republicans arguing that more areas should be opened to drilling -- but, reports McClatchy, it appears to be bogus. [N]o one can prove that the Chinese are drilling anywhere off Cuba's shoreline. The China-Cuba connection is 'akin to ... |
|
| Topics: Big Oil, Cuba, energy, Muckraker, news, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Better Living Through Chem-Mystery?
E.U. chemical-registration and testing law kicks in; industry gets huffy |
|
12 Jun 2008 |
News |
| Posted at 12:58 PM on 12 Jun 2008 The European Union's comprehensive chemical law, REACH, is finally starting to take effect, requiring manufacturers and importers of chemicals to begin registering their products with a new regulatory agency. The REACH law was heavily diluted between its first introduction and final passage due to heavy pressure from the chemical industry, but it's still ... |
|
| Topics: business, European Union, international politics, news, politics, toxics (all these topics) |
|
|
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 ... |
|
| Topics: climate, energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
|
|
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 ... |
|
| Topics: Barbara Boxer, climate, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
|
|
Drill team coach
Cheney: 'Drill, drill, drill' |
Kate Sheppard |
12 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Dick Cheney has weighed in with his answer to the nation's energy woes: Vice President Cheney yesterday called for a substantial increase in domestic drilling for oil and other natural resources, including in environmentally sensitive areas, saying that only increased production -- and not new technology -- will satisfy the nation's demand for energy. 'We are an economy that runs on petroleum. Some 20 million barrels of it a day. That can and will change over tim ... |
|
| Topics: Muckraker, news, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Notable quotable
Ragin' Cajun for Gore |
David Roberts |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'I think if I was Senator Obama I would say the biggest economic problem we face is the biggest national security problem and the biggest environmental problem. And if I were him, I would ask Al Gore to serve as his vice president, his energy czar, in his administration to reduce our consumption and reliance on foreign energy sources. That would send a signal to the world, to American people, to Congress, to everybody, that America's getting serious about this horrendo ... |
|
| Topics: Al Gore, Barack Obama, climate, politics, presidential race 08, quotables (all these topics) |
|
|
No country for dead dinosaurs
House committee hears testimony on the future of oil (hint: it's dim) |
Kate Sheppard |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| With gas prices at record highs and the Senate engaged in a fruitless struggle to find a new way forward on energy policy, the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming held a timely hearing this morning on 'The Future of Oil.' The general consensus: the long-term prognosis for global oil supply and demand ain't good, and the U.S. had better start doing something different, quick. But what exactly? No consensus on that point. Many Rep ... |
|
| Topics: energy, Muckraker, news, oil, politics, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
|
|
Money changes everything
Everyone wants a piece of the climate bill pie |
Joseph Romm |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The debate over the Climate Security Act bill has made that clear trillions are at stake in global warming legislation. No surprise, then, that the Senate power brokers don't want Barbara Boxer's (D-Calif.) Environment and Public Works committee to have the only say on who gets what. E&E Daily ($ub. req'd) has the story of how the climate bill is likely to have a much longer and far more tangled journey next year:Next year's Senate climate debate is shaping up to b ... |
|
| Topics: Barbara Boxer, climate, legislation, politics, US Senate (all these topics) |
|
|
Corn polls
New surveys suggest changing views on biofuels |
Ron Steenblik |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Biofuel policy has made it to the polls. Yesterday, the National Center for Public Policy Research, a nonprofit, non-partisan educational foundation based in Washington, D.C., released the results of a survey (PDF) conducted at the beginning of this month which claims to have found that most Americans -- 'including those in the Farm Belt' -- want Congress to reduce or eliminate the mandated use of corn ethanol. In response to the key question, 'What do you think Congr ... |
|
| Topics: agriculture, biofuels, climate, energy, ethanol, European Union, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Action on Solar Investment Tax Credit Delayed
Lack of credit threatens solar industry |
Michael Moynihan |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Originally posted at the NDN Blog. The failure of the Senate to obtain cloture on the Solar Investment Tax Credit -- coming on the heels of the collapse of climate change legislation last Friday -- should send a wake up call to the environment and clean technology communities that a new more forceful strategy is needed to make progress on climate change and energy independence. At a moment when the U.S. economy is suffering from the effects of a full blown oil sh ... |
|
| Topics: business, climate, economy, energy, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Why not a revenue-neutral carbon cap?
The silver-lining of Lieberman-Warner's demise |
Peter Barnes |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The demise of the Lieberman-Warner climate bill may not be a bad thing if it spurs environmentalists and politicians to ask: Is this the best way to cap carbon? Let's be clear what Lieberman-Warner was. Yes, it contained a carbon cap. But mostly it was about spending or giving away trillions of dollars. It was, as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) put it, 'the mother and father of all earmarks,' and every lobbyist in town was at the trough. The bill sought to allocate a vast ... |
|
| Topics: cap-and-dividend, carbon trading, climate, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
What he said
Words of wisdom from 40 years ago |
Andrew Dessler |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Robert F. Kennedy, 1968:We will find neither national purpose nor personal satisfaction in a mere continuation of economic progress, in an endless amassing of worldly goods. We cannot measure national spirit by the Dow Jones Average, nor national achievement by the Gross National Product. For the Gross National Product includes air pollution, and ambulances to clear our highways from carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and jails for the people who break the ... |
|
| Topics: politics, economy (all these topics) |
|
|
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 ... |
|
| Topics: climate, Muckraker, news, politics, tech, World Bank (all these topics) |
|
|
Wait, they're not the same?!
|
David Roberts |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In the Boston Globe, Carol Browner and Bob Sussman construct a short and powerful critique of McCain's climate/energy positions, tacking against the kind of foolishness that has addled the brains of the folks over at the L.A. Times. |
|
| Topics: Barack Obama, climate, energy, John McCain, messaging, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics) |
|
|
'Partisan bickering'
It's long past time to assign responsibility for stymied climate legislation |
David Roberts |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| In an otherwise insightful piece on the failure of the Lieberman-Warner bill, Eric Pooley says this: It would have taken a truly great floor debate to begin resolving some of those difficult areas -- a half dozen thorny deal-breakers (how to contain costs, what to do about China) that need to be figured out before any such bill can pass. But not much of that table setting took place last week, because the debate never made it past the partisan bickering and eco ... |
|
| Topics: climate, jackassery, legislation, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Frustrated? Let's write our own climate legislation!
A 'sense of the House' resolution to adopt 350 ppm as America's official climate target |
Guest author |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| This is a guest essay from Colin Beavan, otherwise known as No Impact Man. His family's year-long sustainable living project is the subject of a forthcoming book from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. He blogs at No Impact Man. ----- This may seem hokey, but I'm so far beyond frustrated with the legislators of this country that I've gone and written my own piece of climate change legislation. My bill is simple. Once you get past all the 'whereas' and so forth, it simply ... |
|
| Topics: Bill McKibben, climate, Ed Markey, Kyoto Protocol, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
James Jones
Obama VP possibility heads establishment energy advocacy group |
David Roberts |
11 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Apparently a new name has popped up on the Obama VP short list: Ret. Gen. James Jones, highly regarded and highly decorated Marine from Missouri. He was NATO Supreme Allied Commander from 2003-2006, when Wiki says he 'declined an opportunity to succeed General John P. Abizaid as Commander of U.S. Central Command, and stepped down as SACEUR on December 4, 2006 and retired from the U.S. Marine Corps on February 1, 2007.' These days he runs the Institute for 21st Centu ... |
|
| Topics: presidential race 08, Barack Obama, politics (all these topics) |
|
|
Renewed anxiety
Renewables industry fears for future if Senate doesn't extend tax credits |
Kate Sheppard |
10 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| The Senate once again failed to pass tax-credit extensions for renewable energy on Tuesday, and folks in the industry are starting to get worried. Companies working in wind, solar, and other renewables rely on the tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of the year. Trade organizations that represent renewable-energy firms on the Hill say they're already seeing a slowing of growth in the sector because companies are hesitant to start new projects without the ... |
|
| Topics: energy, legislation, Muckraker, news, politics, renewable energy, US Senate (all these topics) |
|
|
Global boiling
Senators ignore the warning signs |
Brad Johnson |
10 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| Originally posted at the Think Progress Wonk Room. Recently, the United States Senate has taken several votes on building a green economy that moves away from fossil fuel dependence, creates new green industry, and addresses global warming. Each time, a minority of senators blocked the way. On Friday, 38 senators filibustered mandatory greenhouse-gas reduction legislation (S. 3036). This morning, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) joined 41 Republicans to filibuster the Cons ... |
|
| Topics: climate, climate change impacts, legislation, politics, severe weather (all these topics) |
|
|
Notable quotable
I procrastinate too, but this is ridiculous |
David Roberts |
10 Jun 2008 |
Gristmill |
| 'I think we can get a global agreement on climate change during my presidency -- just so you know.' -- President George W. Bush |
|
| Topics: climate, dumbassery, George Bush, politics, quotables (all these topics) |
|
|
|
©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.