Climate Change

The Obama Administration’s Push for High-Speed Rail

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJhM3BpBPp8] Fresh from a State of the Union Address that focused heavily on domestic economic issues, President Obama and Vice President Biden journeyed to Tampa, Florida last week to announce federal support–and $8 billion in government funding–for high speed rail projects across the country. That’s a most welcome development. American train buffs who’ve traveled in …

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US reportedly submits Copenhagen Accord pledge today

Reuters is reporting that the US has officially notified the UN today of its intention to associate itself with the Copenhagen Accord negotiated at last month’s FCCC Conference of Parties.  No surprises in the content of the pledge: Todd Stern, the top U.S. climate negotiator for the Obama administration, also gave notice that, as expected, it will …

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Obama’s SOTU speech on climate change

Last night, President Obama devoted a chunk of his state of the union speech to climate change and energy issues. He focused on the economic benefits of making our society more energy efficient and bringing more renewable power on-line, particularly the job-creation potential. Surprisingly, he didn’t mention the national security benefits of reducing our dependence …

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The Corporate Side of Climate Change

I was surprised a few years ago when one of the speakers at a conference on climate change turned out to be a lead partner at a Wall Street law firm who counseled corporations about disclosure of climate risks.  He may have been just a few years ahead of the curve. According to E&E News, …

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Priming the Political Pump for Climate Legislation

Dan, Rick, and Jonathan have all discussed the implications of the political events of the last week for climate change policy.  Certainly, it seems clear that both from a vote-counting perspective and from a political momentum perspective, the special election last week made passage of a climate change bill through the Senate generally harder.  And …

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Murkowski May Have Another Tactic to Defeat Climate Change Legislation

As Holly previously described, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has introduced a resolution to express disapproval over the EPA’s greenhouse gas endangerment finding.  Murkowski is also considering a different tactic to wreak havoc with efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.    She may introduce an amendment to the Senate bill to raise the debt ceiling.  The amendment would force an up or …

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Murkowski seeks to block EPA GHG regulation

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has introduced a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to disapprove EPA’s Clean Air Act endangerment finding for greenhouse gases, which in turn would remove the basis for Clean Air Act regulation. It’s not going to pass or be signed by the President, of course, but the resolution is designed to …

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Massachusetts’ Special Election & the Prognosis for U.S. Climate Change Legislation

Colleague Jonathan Zasloff recently opined on this site that Scott Brown’s election to the open U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts could actually be good news when it comes to prospects for passage of federal climate change legislation. Let me file a congenial dissent to Jonathan’s prediction, though one that–like his–contains some seeds of optimism. I …

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Why Scott Brown’s Victory Helps Climate Legislation

Really.  The debacle in Massachusetts may have turned the Democrats into a bunch of sniveling, spineless wimps — or simply reaffirm their identity as such — but it might actually help climate change legislation. How?  A one-word answer: reconciliation. A budget reconciliation bill cannot be filibustered: according to the Budget Act of 1974, the Senate …

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Moving Forward With Cap-and-Trade in California

In 2006, the California Legislature enacted the Landmark Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32), which authorized–but did not compel–the California Air Resources Board to adopt a cap-and-trade program as part of a comprehensive strategy to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions. A year ago, CARB adopted its AB 32 “Scoping Plan,” in which it commits to …

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