Politics
Climate bill has votes to get through key House panel, says Waxman
Breaking news: Greenwire (via the New York Times) and Grist.com are reporting that Rep. Henry Waxman said tonight he “believe[s] we’ll have the votes for passage” to move his climate bill through the House Energy and Commerce Committee. (The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Rep. Waxman “expects” to have sufficient votes but takes a tone of skepticism.) Waxman …
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CONTINUE READING“Smoking gun” OMB memo on EPA climate change rulemaking is not what it seems
As Dan has mentioned, there has been a bit of a dust-up over a document in EPA’s rulemaking docket relating to EPA’s recent finding that greenhouse gases pose an endangerment to public health and welfare. As Dan notes, the memo, apparently originating at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is harshly critical …
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CONTINUE READINGBreaking News: Interior Nominee Blocked
HuffPost reports: Republicans have blocked President Barack Obama’s pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department because of a flap over oil leases in Utah. In a 57-39 Senate vote, Democrats fell short of the 60 votes they would have needed to advance the nominee past GOP obstacles. It’s the first time Republicans …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Hypocrisy
Recently, CBS’s 60 Minutes ran a story on the current environmental damages litigation 30,000 Ecuadorians are bringing in that country’s courts against Chevron. The case arises out the toxic oil wastes a Chevron subsidiary left behind in the Ecuadorian rain forest following decades of oil production deep in the headwaters of the Amazon. The plaintiffs, …
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CONTINUE READINGDitching cap and trade (the phrase, not the proposal)
Looks like the White House is taking note of the same polling data Dan blogs about here on the public’s antipathy toward, or misunderstanding of, the phrase “cap and trade”. This from the LA Times, in a story generally chronicling the administration’s efforts to figure out the best language and framing for its climate policies: …
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CONTINUE READINGFollow the money
EPA has released its 2010 budget request. EPA is seeking $10.5 billion,which it describes as “the highest level of funding for EPA in its 39-year history,” and which Science‘s Erik Stokstad says (subscription required) would be “a whopping 38% increase over last year’s budget.” Nearly $4 billion would go toward revolving funds to support state …
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CONTINUE READINGChemical Policy and Homeland Security Redux
The Bureau of National Affairs reported recently that the House Homeland Security Committee is considering draft legislation that would require major chemical facilities to evaluate the use of inherently safer design to reduce chemical security risks. Generally speaking, inherently safer design attempts to reduce risks associated with the storage and use of hazardous chemicals by …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Ninth Circuit: 0-for-the Supreme Court Term
It’s been a very rough U.S. Supreme Court Term for the Ninth Circuit. Four of the five major environmental cases on the Supreme Court’s docket this year emanate from the Ninth Circuit. With the justices’ issuance of their major CERCLA decision in Burlington Northern this week, four of those environmental cases have now been resolved, …
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CONTINUE READINGMarketing climate change policies
Writing in the New York Times last week, John Broder reported that ecoAmerica, described as “a nonprofit environmental marketing and messaging firm in Washington,” has been researching the best rhetoric to build political support for legislation addressing greenhouse gas emissions. I confess that this story makes me a bit queasy. As an academic, I’m committed …
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CONTINUE READINGJack Kemp’s Death
Jack Kemp died a few days ago. He had served as a fellow at the Competitive Enterprise institute, where he worked on environmental matters:Jack Kemp is a distinguished fellow at CEI. The CEI page on him states: His work at CEI centers on promoting rational, free-market environmental policies. He has spoken out against the Kyoto …
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