Politics
A 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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CONTINUE READINGThe Indian Style of Climate Policy
If India ever does something about its growing carbon emissions, this is the book that tells you how it will happen. Rob Jenkins’ Democratic Politics and Economic Reform in India is the best source I have seen so far that really gets into the guts of how the country’s political economy works. And that’s what …
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CONTINUE READINGUS-India Climate Dialogue Agenda I: A TRIPS Protocol
Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away — well, no, actually two months ago in Washington, DC, President Obama and Indian Prime Minister Singh inked something called the US-India Climate Dialogue. It was a pretty transparent attempt to salvage something from the fact that India would never agree to binding emissions cuts (and …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Top 10 Environmental Developments of 2009
10. Cass Sunstein becomes regulatory czar. Sunstein is a true believer in cost-benefit analysis, the bête noire of many an environmentalist. Obama’s appointment of Sunstein to oversee health and environmental regulations may put the brakes on regulatory initiatves. 9. California passes AB 758. The first mandate for energy efficiency standards for existing buildings. 8. Water …
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CONTINUE READINGChristianity and Environmental Stewardship
The title of this post refers to a subject that I lack standing to discuss. But this being Christmas, I thought it might be appropriate to link to the Evangelical Environmental Network, which has this to say: The earthly result of human sin has been a perverted stewardship, a patchwork of garden and wasteland in …
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CONTINUE READINGMore on today’s White House announcement re Copenhagen
Dan writes immediately below about Obama’s announcement that he’ll attend the talks in Copenhagen in two weeks, and with a U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of the 17% below 2005 levels found in the House bill. At the press conference on this announcement, a little more was said about the kind of agreement the White House is …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Climate “Partnership” with India
At least that’s what the White House is calling it. (Okay, okay: technically, the White House calls it the “Green Partnership to Address Energy Security, Climate Change, and Food Security.”). Does it mean anything? Maybe. Essentially, it provides for some technical assistance to improve governance capacity and scientific knowledge, and some new initiatives to foster …
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CONTINUE READINGWar Tax=Carbon Tax
Congressman David Obey yesterday called for a war tax to pay for troops in Afghanistan. While the idea of a war tax makes all the sense in the world (if health care can’t add to the deficit, why should our wars?), Obey’s proposed tax on upper-income earners is aimed at the wrong source. Instead of …
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