As the nations of the world prepare to meet in Denmark in December, there is some well publicized noise being emitted to lower expectations for a climate treaty. The United States and China-the two largest emitters of greenhouse gasses (over 40% of the world’s pollutant load)-appear to be at the center of this effort at Read More
Watching Jon Stewart use Capn’ Crunch as the logo for climate cap and trade regulation the other night started me thinking about the need for our society to get more sophisticated about its understanding of economics, policy, and science. My reaction to the pitiful state of our public policy dialogue is what you might expect Read More
On August 6th, ten Midwestern Democratic Senators sent a letter to President Obama that began the hardball phase of creating climate policy as it moves from the House’s Waxman-Markey bill to Senate deliberations in the fall. In this letter, the Senators insist that climate change legislation must protect U.S. manufacturers from unfair foreign competition. They Read More
As expected, the counter offensive to climate change policy is well underway. The coal industry is gearing up its lobbying effort and even Sarah Palin is calling cap and trade “cap and tax”. Her view is that regulating greenhouse gasses will cost rather than create jobs. There will be much more of this, and the Read More
Watching the Obama Administration’s “green team” in action is inspiring. In a very short period of time, these folks have revitalized our environmental agenda. They are doing it with words and with deeds. While there is plenty of rhetoric and lots of symbolic action, there is also significant and Read More
I had high hopes for David Paterson when he became governor, but I have to admit I’ve pretty much given up on him. I was appalled by the way he treated Caroline Kennedy when she expressed interest in New York’s vacant Senate seat: Hey Governor, a simple no would have sufficed. Is it really a Read More
In Sunday’s New York Times, the reporter, Melanie Warner, (or her editor) poses the question: "Is America ready to give up coal? Describing the situation, Warner writes that:
"With concerns over climate change intensifying, electricity generation from coal, once reliably cheap, looks increasingly expensive in the Read More
