Politics
DiFi defends the Desert Tortoise
As one example of the growing conflict over use of sensitive lands for renewable energy projects (Ann recently blogged about this tension here), check out Sen. Feinstein’s letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking that the BLM suspend consideration of proposed leases on federal lands near Joshua Tree National Park being considered for solar energy fields. “While …
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CONTINUE READINGShouldn’t Conservatives Be Environmentalists?
It seems to me that the answer is yes, contrary to popular opinion. There are several varieties of conservatism, but in my view each of them should resonate with at least some aspects of environmental protection. Let’s start with social conservatives. What does it mean to have a “culture of life”? Shouldn’t it mean objecting …
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CONTINUE READINGTwo New EPA Nominees
The President announced two new EPA choices: Cynthia Giles as chief of enforcement, and Michele DePass as EPA’s assistant administrator for international affairs. Cynthia Giles is a Berkeley Law grad. She is currently the vice president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island Advocacy Center, focusing on state and regional programs …
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CONTINUE READINGInterior team slowly takes shape
President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar have begun to trickle out the new leadership team for the Interior Department. So far, the team is heavy on legal talent. Like Secretary Salazar, the first three nominees to subordinate positions all hold JDs. David Hayes was nominated late last month to be Deputy Secretary, the number two …
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CONTINUE READINGU.S. state insurance regulators take step toward addressing climate risk
I’ve spent some time over the past two years studying the relationship between the insurance industry and climate change. Yesterday there was an important development in this area: the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) , the group of state regulators that collectively regulate insurance in the U.S., adopted for the first time a requirement that large insurers …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmentalists v. Environmentalists: The Case of Alternative Energy
A shift to alternative forms of energy and away from conventional carbon-intensive fuels like coal forms the centerpiece of virtually all carbon-reducing strategies. 28 states have enacted mandatory renewable portfolio standards (RPS) (requiring their utilities to procure a set percentage of energy from alternative/renewable sources); the President’s stimulus package includes block grant money and tax …
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CONTINUE READINGGood news for gondoliers
The Gallup poll showing increasing public skepticism about the climate change threat, which Holly blogs about below, does not bode well for Venice, California–unless you’re a gondolier. A report was released yesterday, sponsored by several California agencies, giving more detail than ever before about the threats to California’s coast from rising sea levels. Margot Roosevelt of …
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CONTINUE READINGGlobal warming still a partisan issue
The latest Gallup Poll on attitudes toward climate change has a disturbing message for advocates of strong policies either to limit greenhouse gas emissions or to promote effective adaptation. Forty-one percent of respondents think that news coverage generally exaggerates the seriousness of global warming, the highest number since Gallup started asking the question in 1997. …
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CONTINUE READINGBill that would have designated over 2 million new acres of wilderness defeated in House – gun politics to blame?
Today, the Omnibus Public Land Management Act (S. 22), an important land preservation and management bill, was defeated in the U.S. House of Representatives, despite bipartisan support. The bill would have protected over 2 million acres of wilderness in nine states, enlarged the boundaries of several national parks, and authorized land swaps that would have helped …
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia’s Salmon Crisis – Searching for Solutions
All the available scientific evidence indicates that California’s salmon populations are in deep trouble: several sub-species are currently listed as threatened or endangered under federal and state endangered species laws; the commercial salmon fishing season off the Northern California coast will be shut down for the second year in a row; and the resulting economic …
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