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Can Obama Make Defeating Climate Change His Legacy? by Damian Carrington, Mother Jones | January 23, 2013
As legacy issues go, saving the planet from global warming would put all others in the shade. But can President Barack Obama do it? The question has two answers, one at home and one abroad. He is certainly reinvigorated in his determination to tackle climate change. In his first term, those wanting action were too often left parsing single sentences to divine the intentions of the president. Obama's inaugural speech on Monday left no room for doubt. read more »Global Warming Is a Domestic Crisis by Juan Cole, truthdig.com | January 23, 2013
As President Obama made clear in his inaugural address Monday, failing to confront the threat of climate change in his second term would be a betrayal of future generations. “Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science,” Obama said, “but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires, and crippling drought and more powerful storms.” Actually, there are some who can avoid fires, drought and storms, but most of them voted for Mitt Romney. At a time of continued unemployment and Republican assaults on workers’ rights, the climate crisis may not seem like a pressing bread and butter concern. However it is vital for the president and his allies in Congress to remember that those Americans most defenseless against extreme weather and natural disasters form the backbone of the Democratic Party. That is the only conclusion one can draw from the draft of a new federal study on global warming’s growing impact on the United States. read more »Could This Scary Report Get Americans to Care About Climate? by Chris Mooney, Mother Jones | January 15, 2013
Lately we're being bombarded by news about just how dramatically climate change is transforming the United States. Early last week, we learned that 2012 was by far the hottest year on record in the lower 48. Late Friday came another gut punch: a draft of the third US National Climate Assessment. The report describes, among other things, a future of disappearing coastlines, a staggering rise in average temperatures of up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (~6 C) this century, and more frequent heat waves and weather extremes. What's more, it bluntly states that our modest efforts thus far are "not sufficient" to avert these devastating futures. If we don't do a lot more to curb greenhouse gas emissions, the report warns, the warming will "accelerate significantly." From a public opinion perspective, it's hard to think of a more propitious moment for the arrival of such a document. Polling suggests that Americans are increasingly aware—and unnerved—that our world is changing rapidly. read more »How to Reach the Last 20 Percent by David Sirota, truthdig.com | January 11, 2013
There’s a big reason climate change differs from so many public policy challenges: unlike other crises, addressing the planet’s major environmental crisis truly requires mass consensus. Indeed, because fixing the problem involves so many different societal changes—reducing carbon emissions, conserving energy, retrofitting infrastructure, altering a meat-centric diet, to name a few—we all need to at least agree on the basic fact that we are facing an emergency. That’s why as encouraging as it is to see a new Associated Press-GfK poll showing that 4 in 5 Americans now see climate change as a serious problem. Unfortunately, that 1 in 5 may be enough to prevent us from forging the all-hands-on-deck attitude necessary to halt a planetary disaster. America desperately needs a serious public education campaign. The good news is that with such education, many of those who don’t yet believe climate change is a serious problem can, in fact, be reached—and convinced to accept obvious reality. read more »Heat: Hell On Poor Countries, No Biggie For The Rich by Dave Roberts, grist.org | January 10, 2013
Normal heat fluctuations hurt poor countries but not rich countries. Why? Part of it is that poor countries are more dependent on agriculture, which is sensitive to heat. But the biggest reason is access to energy, or more specifically, something wealthy countries take for granted: air conditioning. It’s hard to exaggerate the effect air conditioning has had in unlocking economic growth. The great question of the century is, how much extra heat — or storms, or droughts, or fires — will it take to start biting into the economic growth of wealthy countries? Because until that happens, it’s tough to see where they’ll find the political will to start spending big on climate mitigation and adaptation. Poor countries, however, are getting screwed right here and now. And they will get screwed harder and harder in coming years, suffering the effects of carbon emissions for which they are not responsible. It’s kind of a shitty deal. read more »Avoiding A Climate-Change Apocalypse by Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Washington Post | January 8, 2013
As you may have noticed, the end of the year was all about the end of the world. Mayan doomsday prophesies. Rogue planets on a collision course with Earth. Fear-mongering about an artificial “fiscal cliff.” House Republicans doing, well, what they usually do. Fortunately, for now, life as we know it continues. And scary as all of this sounds, the real horror show, the true existential threat, is yet another crisis of our own making: the catastrophic effects of climate change. There’s no need to read Revelations or catch a Michael Bay-Jerry Bruckheimer matinee to understand what it will look like. Just Google image search “Hurricane Sandy and Staten Island,” and you’ll get the general idea. read more »Could Chuck Hagel, Likely Defense Secretary Nominee, Turn Out To Be A Climate Hawk? by Lisa Hymas, grist.org | January 7, 2013
Chuck Hagel, who’s expected to be nominated as secretary of defense this week, has long been confused about climate change … and yet concerned about it too. He has a history of obstructing climate action, but also a record of elevating climate as a national security issue. If he’s confirmed to head the Department of Defense, he might ultimately show himself to be a climate hawk — though not one who hews to green orthodoxy or any party line. On the one hand, Hagel — a Republican senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2008 and now co-chair of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board — has professed many views you might associate with a climate denier. On the other hand, Hagel has long cited climate change as a threat to national security and an important issue in terms of international relations. read more »Climate Chaos: some key 2012 events by A Siegel, dailykos.com | December 31, 2012
Will Big Oil Keep Its Subsidies in a Fiscal-Cliff Deal? by Andy Kroll, Mother Jones | December 7, 2012
Democrats and Republicans are duking it out in Washington over a deal to avert the slew of spending cuts and tax increases—the so-called "fiscal cliff" you've heard so much about—that will take start to effect on January 1. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have argued that "everything should be on the table" in negotiations toward a deal that trims the nation's debt and avoids the cliff. Yet notably absent from the debate over what to cut and what to spare in a deal are the tens of billions of dollars in subsidies, tax breaks, and other perks for the hugely profitable oil industry. That silence begs the question: Will Big Oil's subsidies go untouched in the fight over a fiscal-cliff deal? read more »Cliff Notes on the Three Real Perils Ahead by Robert B. Reich, robertreich.org | December 6, 2012
The “fiscal cliff” is a metaphor for a government that no longer responds to the biggest challenges we face because it’s paralyzed by intransigent Republicans, obsessed by the federal budget deficit, and overwhelmed by big money from corporations, Wall Street, and billionaires. If we had a functional government America would address three “cliffs” posing far larger dangers to us than the fiscal one. read more »
The Latest
Landrieu Pushes Oil Spill Liability Compromise, thehill.com | July 29, 2010
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is urging Senate leaders to back a compromise that raises oil companies’ liability for offshore spills but scales back a Democratic leadership proposal that would allow unlimited payments for damages from the individual company responsible. more »
Hydro-Fracking Fight Hijacks Spill Bill, Politico | July 29, 2010
The fight over the Senate offshore drilling “spill bill” shifted Wednesday from the Gulf of Mexico to the mountains of western Pennsylvania, as Republicans slammed the last-minute inclusion of language to regulate a controversial technique to extract onshore natural gas. more »
Senate GOP Rips Dem Oil-Spill and Energy Bill, thehill.com | July 29, 2010
Top Senate Republicans came out swinging Wednesday against Democratic energy and oil-spill response legislation that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) unveiled late Tuesday night.
At a press conference in the Capitol, senior Republicans attacked several specific provisions while calling the overall bill a hastily crafted product that Democrats want to speed through the Senate.
$1.2 Billion Secured for What Will Be the Largest US Wind Farm, inhabitat.com | July 27, 2010
After the last few years, in which it seems the US has been severely lagging behind our European counterparts in the wind power game, we’re finally bringing home the renewable energy projects — we’ve got the Lake Erie fresh water wind farm and a final “yes” on the Cape Cod wind farm. The addition to the Alta Wind Energy Center in California is a nice topper to this recent list of wins. more »
House Dems Unveil Oil Spill Plan Ahead of Friday Debate, thehill.com | July 27, 2010
House Democrats on Monday unveiled their strategy to respond to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a package headed for the floor late this week that would shore up offshore rig safety standards and block BP from obtaining new offshore drilling leases.
The bill, slated for debate Friday, also increases oil companies’ liability for damages from offshore spills. more »
Brownback Calls for Passage of Renewable Energy Standard, washingtonindependent.com | July 27, 2010
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) announced today his support for including a renewable energy standard in the energy bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is expected to unveil tomorrow. more »
Daschle, Reid Differ on 60-Vote Prediction for Green-Power Mandate, thehill.com | July 27, 2010
Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle and other advocates of a first-time federal renewable electricity production mandate insist they have enough votes to include it in an upcoming Senate oil spill and energy package, despite Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) prediction to the contrary. more »
Dems Press Reid to Put Renewable Power Standard in Energy Bill, thehill.com | July 27, 2010
Nearly half the Senate’s Democrats are pressuring Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to include a national renewable electricity mandate in the slimmed-down energy bill expected on the floor this week.
But they face an uphill battle — Reid argued over the weekend that a renewables mandate won’t fly in the Senate. more »
Reid’s Energy Bill Delayed Until Tuesday, blogs.wsj.com | July 27, 2010
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is keeping much of Washington – and the business community - in suspense over what will be in his energy bill. Reid announced the broad outlines of the bill last week, but has yet to publish the text. more »
Climate Change Linked to Possible Mass Mexican Migration to U.S., articles.latimes.com | July 27, 2010
Between 1.4 million and 6.7 million Mexicans could migrate to the U.S. by 2080 as climate change reduces crop yields and agricultural production in Mexico, according to a study published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The number could amount to 10% of the current population of Mexicans ages 15 to 65. more »
