Climate Politics

Speaker Mike Johnson Could Be Disaster in the Making

Johnson’s selection as Speaker signals trouble ahead— but could be political good news for Democrats.  

So, the Republicans finally settled on a Speaker: Religious Right activist Mike Johnson.  Johnson is a climate denier. In 2017, he said: “The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe …

CONTINUE READING

The New Speaker Nominee and the Environment –Whoops, Never Mind!

Who is Tom Emmer and what are his environmental views?

[First posted at 10:18, revised at 2:10] The revolving door for Republican GOP nominees continues. Tom Emmer, who was briefly the [ newly picked] Republican nominee for Speaker of the House on Tuesday, is a relative unknown despite having been part of the House Republicans’ leadership team. Emmer, who grew up in an affluent suburb of …

CONTINUE READING

Who the Heck is Patrick McHenry?

And what does he think about the environment?

Patrick McHenry has been Speaker pro tem with limited powers, but there’s talk about trying to bump him up, giving him full power as Speaker for a limited time so the House can get back to work. That might be just a flash in the pan, but he turns out to be interesting enough to …

CONTINUE READING

Meet  Austin Scott — No, sorry, say goodby to Austin Scott

Or as Groucho put it, “hello, I must be going.”

Since I started reporting on the environmental aspects of the House Speaker race, I might as well continue. After I last wrote on Friday, following Scalise’s surprise withdrawal, another candidate  tossed his hat in the ring, Austin Scott from Georgia. As an aside, I can’t help but wonder: what is the ring, and why is …

CONTINUE READING

The Speaker Race and the Environment

An image of the U.S. Capitol Building in the evening.

No, it’s not a pretty picture. Scalise was bad. Jordan is worse.

In what felt like one of the few times I’ve actually been right about a political prediction, I told my wife that Steve Scalise would probably be the GOP’s pick to replace Kevin McCarthy.  Sadly,  I was only right for about 24 hours. Then Scalise, supposedly the more moderate candidate, dropped out. That left Jim …

CONTINUE READING

Angry About Stalled Progress on Fossil Fuels? Biden’s Not the Culprit.

Sorry, no president can single-handedly fix climate policy. And certainly not with this Supreme Court.

With Biden two-thirds of the way through his term in office, he seems to be catching a lot of flack from climate activists. On Sunday, thousands of angry demonstrators gathered to protest Biden’s U.N. visit. “If you want our vote if you don’t want the blood of our generations to be on your hands, end …

CONTINUE READING

Climate Change is Finally Heating Up Politics – But Not in a Good Way

Pitting defence of our ‘way of life’ against climate policies is a recipe for division and inaction

Climate impacts are growing rapidly in this El Niño affected summer. Despite calls to declare a climate emergency, President Biden has responded only with new measures to help Americans cope with extreme heat. The measures announced include hazard alerts, improved prediction of heatwaves, funding for air-conditioning and cool centers for low income groups, and guidance …

CONTINUE READING

Is Capitalism to Blame?

Some people think we need to abolish capitalism to save the environment.

Bernie Sanders has a  book called It’s OK to be Angry at Capitalism.  There are certainly a lot of people across the political spectrum who feel that way. Capitalism is blamed for environmental destruction by many of the more radical segments of the Left. That’s not too surprising given the historic connection between the more …

CONTINUE READING

Climate Change & the 1st GOP Debate

Mostly, they didn’t want to talk about the issue. They certainly didn’t want to talk about solutions.

Somewhat to my surprise, there was a question at the first GOP debate about climate change. The candidates’ pre-debates views, which the NY Times helpfully collected, provided insight into possible directions for GOP energy policy. It’s even possible that reality has started to make a dent into the party;’s reflexive climate denial. The climate question  …

CONTINUE READING

GOP Contenders and the Climate Issue

Flat-out denialism seems to be fading in the face of reality.

The first Republican presidential debate will be on Wednesday.  I doubt moderators will ask about climate change. It turns out, however, that there’s some spread of views among the candidates. Apart from Trump, each of them is jockeying to pick up enough GOP support to be a serious contender. Their views, which the NY Times …

CONTINUE READING

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

TRENDING