Politics

News Flash: Senate Will Consider Climate Bill First

It looks like Senator Graham won his fight with the Democratic party leadership over timing: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he is willing to bring up climate change legislation ahead of an immigration bill, the first step toward resolving a dispute with Senate Republicans that threatened to derail a bipartisan effort months in …

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The Offshore Oil Drilling Debate–Revisited (Again)

Earlier this month, the Sacramento Bee published an interesting point-counterpoint debate over the wisdom of re-commencing offshore oil drilling in the U.S., with a particular focus on California and the West Coast.   Arguing in favor of the proposition was U.C. Santa Barbara Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies Eric R.A.N.  Smith, who maintained that …

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Being Lindsey Graham

I posted over the weekend about Lindsey Graham’s about-face on the climate bill.  The Washington Post has a more sympathetic view, which I thought I should report out of fairness: And this is why Graham is angry: He’s taken a huge risk to be the lone Republican on climate change. Patrick Creighton, a flack for …

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Climate Bill 2.0 on Hold

Senator Graham has announced that he’s withdrawing from the effort to pass the bill that he helped to draft, because he’s irked that the Administration is pressing forward on immigration reform.  I’m struggling a bit to understand this.  The charitable explanation is that he’s trying to pressure the administration into giving the climate bill priority.  …

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The Libertarian Case for Controlling Climate Change

Inaction on climate change is inconsistent with libertarian principles and belief in property rights.

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Climate Legislation 2.0

The Washington Post has some details about the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman proposal, along with some encouraging reports of endorsements by utilities and oil companies.  (Those, of course, come with a price in terms of industry concessions.)  Some key features: *The bill would take effect in 2013 and would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 17% by 2020  and …

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Popular Support for “Cap and Dividend”

According to a poll by Public Opinion Strategies, there seems to be strong public support for cap and dividend, at least if the question is framed positively.  Here is the question along with some key results: “Some Democratic and Republican Senators have proposed an overhaul to America’s energy system. The goal is to reduce pollution, …

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Schroeder Confirmed Despite Refusal to Limit Judicial Appointments to Androids.

The Senate has just confirmed Chris Schroeder as head of the Office of Legal Policy by a 72-24 vote.  He was apparently controversial because he had spoken favorably of empathy as a judicial virtue — the opposing position apparently favors the appointment of androids to the bench, such as Star Trek: New Generation’s Commander Data.  …

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SCOTUS Sweepstakes!

With the retirement of the 89-year-old John Paul Stevens, looking imminent, it’s time for the Great Mentioner to, well, start mentioning.  Legal Planet’s own great mentioner, Dan Farber, commenting at TPM about the possibility of Solicitor General Elena Kagan getting the nod, observes “It would be hard for Republicans to explain how they voted to …

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We Interrupt This Blog…

…in order to outsource it to John Cole of Balloon Juice, who pretty much says it all regarding the fact that the scientists involved in “Climategate” were exonerated by a House of Commons investigation: Sadly, Al Gore is Still Fat, So I’m Not Sure Anyone Will Care by John Cole I’m sure the media and …

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