Politics
Deploying Large-Scale Solar on Marginal Agricultural Land: A New Berkeley / UCLA White Paper
With California committed to achieving 33 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, some solar and wind developers are rushing to propose large-scale installations on California farmland. These sites can be attractive because they are close to existing transmission lines and substations and have good sun exposure. However, proposed projects on farmland tend …
CONTINUE READINGPeet’s Coffee’s Weak Attempts to Rebut Greenwashing Charges
An energetic reader noticed my post last week on Peet’s Coffee’s seeming alliance with the California Chamber of Commerce, the most reactionary anti-environmental force in state politics. He forwarded it to Peet’s PR department and demanded an explanation. Here’s what he got back: We’re disturbed by the blog posting you sent to us which “effectively” …
Continue reading “Peet’s Coffee’s Weak Attempts to Rebut Greenwashing Charges”
CONTINUE READINGDealing with Escalating Global Resource Demands
Matthew Yglisias has a generally free market orientation and doesn’t usually focus on environmental issues. He recently had a very interesting posting, however, about a problem that U.S. policymakers need to start thinking about: Over time, we’ve seen more and more countries engage in spurts of “catch-up” growth in which they rapidly narrow the gap …
Continue reading “Dealing with Escalating Global Resource Demands”
CONTINUE READINGWhen Did “GOP” Start to Mean “Grand Old Polluters”?
I’m old enough to remember a time when environmental protection and public health were bipartisan values. Even in the Reagan Administration, there were positive steps such as Reagan’s support for the international ozone treaty. As late as 1990, Republicans in the White House and Congress supported major new air pollution legislation. Even George W. Bush …
Continue reading “When Did “GOP” Start to Mean “Grand Old Polluters”?”
CONTINUE READINGMore Oil and Coal, Less Nature and Clean Air
USA Today reports on a speech Perry is set to deliver about energy issues. It’s a humdinger. Here are the main points: •Open federal lands to more energy exploration and production, including ANWAR and lands in the Mountain West – but not the Everglades, a tribute to Florida as a primary state. More offshore drilling …
Continue reading “More Oil and Coal, Less Nature and Clean Air”
CONTINUE READINGCall for Nominations: The Five Best Environmental Presidents
About three months ago, my friend Michael Cohen wrote a piece for the Atlantic arguing who were the five best and worst foreign policy presidents of the last century. It got a good bit of well-deserved play in the blogosphere. So what if we tried to do it for environmental policy? The immediate problem is that environmental …
Continue reading “Call for Nominations: The Five Best Environmental Presidents”
CONTINUE READINGIs Your Coffee Destroying California’s Environment?
If you’re looking for the leading anti-environmental organization in California politics, it’s not hard to find: it’s the California Chamber of Commerce. Like its counterpart at the national level (subject of this outstanding Washington Monthly profile), the state chamber is a reliable water carrier for the interests of the ideological right wing. It provides …
Continue reading “Is Your Coffee Destroying California’s Environment?”
CONTINUE READINGWhy Does the GOP Have Greens Seeing Red?
The peerless Ron Brownstein asks why are Republicans, even those in swing districts, going out of their way to attack the EPA and the environment generally. His answers are interesting for the environmental movement. 1) Enormous pressure for GOP caucus cohesion, especially in light of the retirement of Republican environmental stalwarts like former Rep. Sherwood Boehlert …
Continue reading “Why Does the GOP Have Greens Seeing Red?”
CONTINUE READINGCEQA “Reform” in California: 3-For-3
As expected, California Governor Jerry Brown this week signed into law SB 226, the third and final piece of a three-bill package of statutory amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that state legislators enacted last month. Brown last week approved the other two, more controversial CEQA bills, SB 292 and SB 900, as …
Continue reading “CEQA “Reform” in California: 3-For-3″
CONTINUE READINGSearching For EPA’s Poison Pill
For the third time this year, Republicans in Congress seem to be angling for a government shutdown. Not only will there be disagreements on funding levels, but the House will insist on attaching riders to appropriations bills preventing agencies from doing various things. I realize that this may come as a shock, but the House …
Continue reading “Searching For EPA’s Poison Pill”
CONTINUE READINGJoin Our Mailing List
Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.
