Get Energy Smart! NOW!

The Washington Post has an incredibly uneven nature when it comes to the science related to Climate Change. The editorial page will publish an absolutely dishonest piece, be challenged to such an extent that they will publish multiple letters (including from misquoted scientists/scientific institutions) calling out the fraudulent material, and then give George “Will-ful Deceit” [...]

[Read more →]

This is a guest post from R L Miller looking at messaging against potential climate action in Congress …

The healthcare bill isn’t close to ready for a signature yet, and already concern trolls Senators have started trolling expressing concern for getting a climate bill through the Senate.  Politico has a roundup: moderate Senate Democrats are [...]

[Read more →]

While Sarah Palin might be able to see Russia from her front porch, evidently Representative Joe Barton can’t see the polar ice cap from his.  Throwing aside the adage that politics ends at the water’s edge, Barton and some Republican global warming denying colleagues traveled to Copenhagen to try to undermine the COP15 talks.
As reported, [...]

[Read more →]

Dear Claire,
Perhaps the American public, who are paying your salary (and your health insurance and your retirement), might think that your job is to work on the hard and important problems that require addressing.
Emotions can fly high when dealing with hard and important problems.
And, hard and important problems often have people with significant financial stakes [...]

[Read more →]

Yesterday, a lone Republican, Representative Ahn Cao, voted for the (very weak) House health care reform bill.
I read the versions of the House [health reform] bill. I listened to the countless stories of Orleans and Jefferson Parish citizens whose health care costs are exploding – if they are able to obtain health care at [...]

[Read more →]

There are many things being lost in the discussion of the cost-benefit equation when it comes to mitigating global warming.
When doing cost-benefit analyses, organizations like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are constrained to consider just one quadrant of what could be considered (in simplified form) the four-quadrant cost-benefit analysis structure:

Cost [...]

[Read more →]

Much noise is made over varying calculations associated with climate legislation. There is the disinformation fed from fossil foolish interests misrepresenting the situation. And, there are official studies from government institutions like the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seek to do honest analysis but which are working within financial and [...]

[Read more →]

This morning, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom J. Donahue will make a statement regarding the Chamber’s stance on pending climate legislation in Congress. Mr. Donahue will be available to answer questions regarding the Chamber’s position on the bill, as well as the recent departure of several prominent members of the Chamber.
So started the press [...]

[Read more →]

The incisive Natasha Chart of Campaign for America’s Future has a must read discussion of the standard economist’s failures when considering large scale, complex social and environmental issues like climate change.
It’s remarkable how often economists ignore physical reality. Whether they’re suggesting that economies can act as perpetual motion machines or suggesting that resource availability is [...]

[Read more →]

Electrification of rail is one of the most effective currently available technology paths for reducing carbon emissions.
It should be on the top of the policy agenda.
It is, basically, nowhere to be found.
Here is a guest post by the very thoughtful BruceMcF, looking at this gap and providing a path forward for addressing it.
Transport For America [...]

[Read more →]