environmental politics
Under the Radar: What States are Doing About Energy and Climate
Despite Trump, renewable energy is firmly rooted and growing across the nation.
What happens in Washington gets a lot of attention. You probably also follow what’s going on in your own state. But it’s very hard to know what’s happening at states across the country. In an effort to get a better sense of that, I’ve explored state activity on climate change and energy in a series …
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CONTINUE READINGRenewables and Republicans in the Rustbelt
Republican Governors in Ohio and Michigan have given support to renewables. Indiana, not so much.
When people think of the rustbelt, they think of places like Cleveland, Gary, and Detroit. Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan form a cluster of states under solid Republican control, Republicans controlling the governor’s mansion and both houses of the legislature. All three states went for Trump, with varying margins. The three states also have commonalities in …
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CONTINUE READINGEscalating the War on Science
Yesterday, the Washington Post ran a piece by a scientist who was helping villages in Alaska prepare for climate change, until the Trump Administration abruptly transferred him to an accounting job. Here’s another sign of the Administration’s contempt for science: Pruitt’s idea for a televised debate on the reality of climate change between climate scientists …
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CONTINUE READINGThere Once Was a Man From Trump Tower . . .
Some commentary of a lighter sort.
Here are a few diversions for a warm summer morning. I hope you enjoy them. A Man Called Scott Pruitt There once was a man called Scott Pruitt, Who said, “Why, there’s nothing to it! “You undo all the regs, “Cut them off at the legs, And tell all the polluters, ‘go to it!’” …
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CONTINUE READINGAfter Trump
Some day the Trump/Ryan/Pruitt era will end. We need to be ready to move forward.
Fighting the Trump/Ryan/Pruitt assault on environmental protection necessarily absorbs a huge amount of our energy. But eventually, the current conservative stranglehold on the national government will come to an end. Sooner or later, the government will once again come into more environmentally friendly hands. When that happens, we need to have practical, detailed proposals ready …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Truth About Environmental Originalism
Scott Pruitt advocates environmental originalism. It means the direct opposite of what he thinks.
Scott Pruitt has taken to talking about environmental originalism – going back to the original intent of our environmental laws. But he’s got the original intent completely backwards. The statutes weren’t intended to protect jobs or grow the economy. They were intended to protect the environment, with cost at best a secondary consideration. This is exactly …
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CONTINUE READINGConservatives as Environmentalists
Environmentalism isn’t an aberration in conservatives. It has deep roots going back to the 1960s.
Scott Pruitt’s appointment as head of EPA illustrates how conservatism has become synonymous with anti-environmentalism. But that’s really a drastic oversimplification, as I explain in a new paper about the history of conservative environmentalism. There were moments of strong environmentalism in the earlier days of the conservative movement. When he was running for mayor of New York City, William …
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CONTINUE READINGA Win-Win Energy Law in Illinois
Illinois’s Future Energy Jobs bill shows that cooperation across party lines is possible.
It went pretty much unheralded by the national media, but in December Illinois adopted a major new energy lawl — and with strong bipartisan support. Each side had some things to celebrate. The Republican Governor touted the impact of the bill on utility bills. According to the Governor, the “contains a guaranteed cap that energy …
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CONTINUE READINGGOP Mayor: “Let’s Talk About the Octopus in the Room”
An octopus in a parking garage? It’s a sign of the times.
Jim Cason, the GOP mayor of Coral Gables, Florida, wants us to talk about climate change: “‘We’re looking to a future where we’re going to be underwater, a great portion of South Florida,’” Cason said. ‘For all of us down here, this is really not a partisan issue. We see it. We see the octopus in …
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CONTINUE READINGGOP Climate Denial Is Way Out of the U.S. Mainstream
The Party’s stance is out of touch with businesses, the public, scientists, and many GOP voters.
The national GOP seems to be locked into climate change denial. This stance puts the GOP leadership increasingly alone. They’re out of touch with the business community, the public, scientists, and even many of their own voters. Out of Touch with the Business Community In 2015, Shell and BP called for international cooperation to achieve the …
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