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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
U.S. Faces Climate-Driven Water Shortages , grist.org | July 27, 2010
As global warming accelerates, the world will become not only hotter, flatter, and more crowded but also thirsty, according to a new study that finds 70 percent of counties in the United States may face climate change-related risks to their water supplies by 2050. more »
Cap-And-Trade Advocates See Tougher Battle After Elections , The New York Times | July 27, 2010
With Republicans expected to pick up seats in both the House and Senate on Election Day, most advocates of carbon caps say they face a tougher playing field in 2011.
"From an objective standpoint, it looks like what might be the shift in party balances a little bit might make it harder," said Joe Mendelson, director of global warming policy at the National Wildlife Federation. more »
Reid Says Renewable Electricity Mandate Lacks 60 Votes, thehill.com | July 26, 2010
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Saturday said he does not have enough support now to move a renewable electricity production mandate promoting sources like solar and geothermal that are important businesses in his state.
“I don’t think I have 60 votes to get that done,” Reid said at the progressive Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas.
Utility Companies `Just Exhausted' After Defeat on Cap-and-Trade Measure, bloomberg.com | July 26, 2010
Every month over the past two years, Chief Executive Officer Ralph Izzo of the utility Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. traveled to Washington from Newark, New Jersey, to meet with more than 50 senators and advocate for climate-change legislation. His efforts may have been in vain. more »
Senate Democrats Kill Cap-and-Trade Bill, greenenergyreporter.com | July 23, 2010
Cap -and -trade is officially dead. This afternoon Senate Democrats, in a caucus meeting, decided not to pursue legislation that would seek to cap carbon and other green house gases by pricing them, a market-friendly scheme known as cap-and-trade. more »
Senate Gives Up on Moving Climate Bill Before August Break, thehill.com | July 23, 2010
The Senate on Thursday abandoned plans to take up climate change legislation before the August break, likely dooming the effort for the rest of the year.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) insisted the Senate could return to climate change this fall, but that proposition seems doubtful in an election year in which Democrats are wary of losing their majorities in the House and Senate.
Draft Green-Industry Outline May Help Climate Talks , thehill.com | July 23, 2010
While Senate Democrats have punted for now on a bill to cut power plant carbon emissions, a small band of environmental groups and utility companies have forged a tentative deal that could help revive the measure down the road. more »
Climate and Energy Bill Delayed as Political Support Withers, mcclatchydc.com | July 23, 2010
Bowing a lack of support, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid on Thursday said there'd be no vote this summer on a bill that would put the nation's first limits on the carbon pollution responsible for global warming. The decision could doom the measure's long-term chances as well. more »
Bowing to Political Reality, Senate Democrats Drop Broad Energy Bill, Los Angeles Times | July 23, 2010
Senate Democratic leaders shelved plans for major energy and climate legislation on Thursday, bowing to political reality and probably ending hopes for action this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, boost alternative energy production and wean the nation from carbon fuels. more »
Workers on Doomed Rig Voiced Concern About Safety, The New York Times | July 22, 2010
A confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems. more »
