Politics
BREAKING NEWS: Final Hurdle For California’s 2030 Climate Bill Passes Assembly
Governor vows to sign AB 197, SB 32’s “conjoined twin”
There was a bit of added drama to the passing of SB 32 yesterday in the California Assembly, as the passage was dependent on the state enacting AB 197. The Assembly debated AB 197 this morning, and it passed out of the natural resources committee with six votes in favor and one opposed. It then …
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CONTINUE READINGBREAKING NEWS: California Assembly Passes SB 32, the 2030 Climate Bill
With governor’s signature, the state will retain its international leadership position on reducing greenhouse gas emissions
It was a rough year in 2015 for SB 32 (Pavley), California’s major climate bill to extend our greenhouse gas reduction efforts to 2030. The bill went down without a vote on the Assembly floor, due to opposition from “moderate” Democrats. But today, the Assembly passed the bill with 42 votes in favor, 29 opposed: …
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CONTINUE READINGLibertarian Candidate Endorses a Carbon Fee
Gary Johnson has put his weight behind
In an interview in Alaska, Gary Johnson endorsed the idea of a fee on carbon emissions. Here’s what he had to say, according to E&E News: “Johnson described his “free market approach” to global warming to the Juneau Empire in an interview published this weekend. He said his plan would include a fee, “not a …
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CONTINUE READINGNational Park Service Celebrates Centennial Anniversary
It’s Time to Celebrate–and Re-Commit to–“America’s Best Idea”
This week the National Park Service celebrates its 100th birthday. On August 25, 1916, Congress enacted legislation proposed by President Woodrow Wilson to create the Park Service. To this date, creation of the Service remains one of the nation’s most important actions to protect America’s environment. (Documentarian Ken Burns–himself a national treasure–famously called the national …
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CONTINUE READING“We’re Not, You Know, People That Don’t Want Those Things”
Trump promises clean air, clean water, safety, and a free lunch.
Every now and then, you see a car with one bumper sticker that says “Support Our Troops” and another that says “Abolish the IRS.” It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the car’s owner that supporting our troops includes paying and equipping them, and that someone is going to have to collect the taxes to …
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CONTINUE READINGHas Environmental Law Hurt Trump Supports? Could It Help Them?
A major study sheds new light on these issues.
It’s time to update our image of Trump voters. We thought that Trump voters were less affluent, lived in areas that were losing jobs in manufacturing and in areas impacted by immigrants. All of that turns out to be wrong, according to a massive new study from Gallup based on surveys of over eighty thousand …
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CONTINUE READINGConflicting Visions of the Future of the American West
The GOP favors the Old West of ranching, logging, mining, and oil. The Democrats have a different view.
The Democratic and Republican parties have very different ideas about the 640 million acres of land owned by the federal government, mostly in the West. It’s not just that the party platforms disagree about the balance between preservation and resource exploitation. It’s also that Democrats have a much different vision of the future of the American …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Miracle Elixir for Economic Growth: More Pollution!
Trump claims allowing more water and air pollution will boost the economy through the stratosphere.
Is increased pollution the key to economic growth? Can we increase economic growth by dropping restrictions on air and water pollution and ramping up climate change? Donald Trump believes that the answer is yes – indeed, if that if we just get rid of those pesky environmental regulations, we can create 500,000 new jobs every year, …
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CONTINUE READINGA Darker Shade of Green
Jill Stein and her party call for a 40% cut in U.S. carbon emissions in the next four years.
Although the Green Party doesn’t seem to be pulling a lot of voters at this point, it seems only fair to include them in the roundup of the parties’ environmental positions. As you could infer from the name, the Green Party puts a very high priority on environmental quality. Interestingly, the current party platform is dated …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Governor Jerry Brown Launches Initiative Effort to Achieve Climate Change Goals
Governor Brown Decides to Play Offense in High Stakes Political Battle Over Next Stage of State Climate Change Mitigation Efforts
One of 2016’s biggest political battles in California is over whether and how the state will pursue its ambitious climate change mitigation goals past the year 2020. California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act–better known as AB 32–committed California to roll back aggregate state greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels no later than 2020. Through the …
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