Politics
The Best Defense….
Ann cautions about downplaying the findings that the IPCC report erred in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035, and in the resistance of researchers to respond to FOIA requests from a climate skeptic site. She’s right. We shouldn’t downplay the reports: instead, we should ridicule them. So the glaciers won’t actually melt by …
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CONTINUE READINGWho’ll Stop the Rain?
Maybe the City of Los Angeles. I complained a couple of weeks ago that during the (rare) times when the Southland gets a downpour, all the water get sent out to sea ASAP, even though cistern technology exists that could conserve water, reduce pollution, and reduce the costs of purchasing it from elsewhere. Well, as …
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CONTINUE READINGThe 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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CONTINUE READINGPriming 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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CONTINUE READINGMurkowski 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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CONTINUE READINGMassachusetts’ 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 …
CONTINUE READINGWhy 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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CONTINUE READINGOf the Corporations, By the Corporations, and For the Corporations?
Today’s decision in Citizens United was something of a foregone conclusion. Still, it was a bit breathtaking. The Court was obviously poised to strike down the latest Congressional restrictions on corporate political expenditures. But the Court went further and struck down even restrictions that had been upheld thirty years ago. Seldom has a majority been …
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CONTINUE READINGA Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall — and Then Get Wasted
A friend from New York, recently transplanted to Los Angeles, has watched aghast as, again and again, weather reporters have greeted any local rainfall more than 1″ with feverish STORMWATCH headlines. That said, the Southland got hit with quite a storm these last 48 hours. “Well,” say most Angelenos unaccustomed to precipitation. “At least we …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Supreme Court Backs Off on Consumer Protection and (Maybe) the Environment
In a decision issued last week, the U.S. Supreme Court continued to chip away at consumer protections embedded in the Federal Power Act, and it is the environment that ultimately may take the biggest hit. First, let’s consider those consumer protections. The Federal Power Act requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure that …
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