Region: National
Battle for the Senate: Alabama
Losing this seat would make it much harder to build a pro-environmental majority.
By all accounts, Doug Jones is the most endangered incumbent Democratic Senators. He won in something of a fluke in a special election, after reports surfaced that his opponent had stalked teenage girls. Now he faces a tough reelection battle. If he loses, it becomes that much more difficult to slip enough seats for a …
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CONTINUE READINGLarge-scale carbon removal: How do we phase out big industries?
While we’re designing policy for scaling up carbon removal, we should think about the eventual need to ramp it down.
Authored with Edward A. Parson Just a few years ago, carbon removal wasn’t seen as something that could be realistically scaled, observed Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “It is now becoming clear that technologies to permanently remove carbon dioxide from the air and the ocean are not only real, but they are needed and they are …
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CONTINUE READINGBattle for the Senate: Iowa
The Iowa race features two candidates with very different views about climate change.
The Senate race in Iowa pits incumbent Joni Ernst against Democrat Theresa Greenfield. Climate change is the area where the two contrast most strongly. Greenfield accepts the science and calls for action. Ernst is still in the “maybe it relates to a little bit to humans” phase of climate denial. She also says she’s “so …
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CONTINUE READINGWhen Republicans Supported the Environment: Bush 41
The GOP wasn’t always the sworn enemy of environmental protection.
Younger people today probably know about George Herbert Walker Bush (R) as the father of George W. Bush and (perhaps) as the architect of the first Iraq War. But he also had some notable environmental achievements to his credit. Here are some of his accomplishments: Air Pollution Law. The 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments were …
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CONTINUE READINGRebuilding Environmental Protection
It will take years to fully recover from the damage of the Trump era. We will need some new ideas.
After almost four years of Trump, federal environmental protection is in about the same shape as Western Europe at the end of World War II, filled with bomb craters and destruction. If the election turns out in Biden’s favor, he will be faced with the task of rebuilding from the smoking ruins. Here are some …
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CONTINUE READINGNorth Carolina: A Tight Senate Race with High Environmental Stakes
Control of the Senate may hang in the balance.
In the Tar Heel State, Republican Incumbent Thom Tillis faces a tough face against challenger Cal Cunningham. This race is central to Democratic hopes to flip the Senate. The candidates have contrasting environmental views. Thom Tillis. When Tillis ran in 2014, his main claim to fame was championing deregulation in the North Carolina legislature, which …
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CONTINUE READINGBattle for the Senate: Colorado
A Republican who’s expressing support for the environment, versus a Democrat who wants to do a lot more.
The Colorado Senate race pits incumbent Republican Cory Gardner against John Hickenlooper. Gardner makes a point of stressing his support for environmental protection and has apparently been working hard to strengthen his environment record since he moved to the Senate in 2014. Cory Gardner. Gardner’s Senate website touts his bipartisanship. It says that he “was …
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CONTINUE READINGHerd Immunity
What Could Possibly Go Wrong with Trump’s Latest Coronavirus Idea?
“Herd immunity” seems to be gaining ground in the White House as a coronavirus strategy. The idea is to protect the vulnerable population, while letting the virus run its course among the rest. The disease then dies out because so many people are immune. What could possibly go wrong? In theory, this idea would work, …
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CONTINUE READINGBattle for the Senate: Too Close to Call in Maine
Control of the Senate may hinge on this race.
The 2020 Senate race pits Republican incumbent Susan Collins against Sarah Gideon. Collins is far more environment-friendly than her GOP colleagues. That still makes her much less so than Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) on the other side of the aisle. In contrast, Gideon supports much stronger climate action. Susan Collins. Collins is an outlier among …
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CONTINUE READINGHurricanes, Wildfires, Climate Change and the Republican “Platform” and Convention
No Acknowledgment of the Biggest Environmental Existential Threat We’ve Ever Faced
Hurricane Laura is barreling down on Louisiana and Texas, bringing with it “unsurvivable storm surges” and “life-threatening hazards” to parts of the Gulf Coast. Louisiana Governor Jon Bel Edwards is imploring residents to evacuate: “This is a very serious storm — I don’t think I have ever held a press conference to take something as seriously …
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