Political Climate Articles
Obama Presses Case for Renewable Energy
BOSTON - Taking aim at business interests that have lobbied against an energy and climate bill moving through Congress, President Obama urged lawmakers on Friday to rally around the push toward using more renewable energy.
In a wide-ranging speech on energy and the environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Obama called for legislation that would make "the best use of resources we have in abundance, through clean coal technology, safe nuclear power, sustainably grown biofuels and energy we harness from wind, waves and sun."
Mr. Obama chided critics of the proposed legislation, saying, "There are those who will suggest that moving toward clean energy will destroy our economy when it's the system we currently have that endangers our prosperity and prevents us from creating millions of new jobs."
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Exxon Ordered to Pay $105 Million in New York Water Case
NEW YORK--A jury has ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to pay nearly $105 million in damages in a lawsuit over alleged groundwater contamination from gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, New York City officials said Monday.
In a statement, New York City's Law Department said a jury awarded $104.7 million to the city in a product-liability case Monday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
"Our water supply is one of our most vital resources--and we will work to protect it and go after those who damage it," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement.
The city had alleged that in part that Exxon Mobil ignored warnings from its own scientists and engineers not to use MTBE in areas that use groundwater for drinking water, such as the New York City borough of Queens.
The city also claimed Exxon Mobil failed to inform government agencies, gasoline station owners, water suppliers and the public about the dangers from MTBE.
The case revolved around six wells in Queens that are part of the city's drinking water supply system.
In a statement, an Exxon Mobil spokesman said the company was disappointed with the decision and evaluating its legal options. "As we've maintained throughout, our service stations were not the source of the MTBE contamination at the Station 6 wells and the city's own principal expert identified three non-Exxon Mobil sources," the spokesman said. "We do not believe we should be required to compensate the City of New York for someone else's contamination."
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New York State banned the use of MTBE as of 2004. About 20 other states have also banned MTBE, city officials said Monday.
'We can't compromise with Earth': PM urges action on climate change
World leaders must break the impasse over faltering climate-change negotiations as preparations intensify for the UN meeting in Copenhagen this December, Gordon Brown will urge today.
Copenhagen could change the course of history, but negotiations over a new climate-change agreement have stalled with the risk of catastrophic global warming this century, the Prime Minister will say in an address to the Major Economies Forum (MEF) in London.
"We must frankly face the plain fact that our negotiators are not getting to agreement quickly enough," he intends to say. "So I believe that leaders must engage directly to break the impasse. We cannot compromise with the Earth. We cannot compromise with the catastrophe of unchecked climate change; so we must compromise with one another. I urge my fellow leaders to work together to reach agreement amongst us, recognising ... the dire consequences of failure."
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Is green business good business?
You wouldn't think accounting would have an environmental angle
Number crunching and tree hugging ... two images not normally associated with each other. But a Ryerson professor's research using accounting methods appears to have proven that new green technology enhances profit margins, which may affect everything from how investors value companies to carbon trading.
Dr. Vanessa Magness's research is now being hailed as "very important" by industry leaders like Doug Baker, chairman of the board at the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and himself managing director of an oil and gas company - Thoroughbred Energy Ltd. of Calgary.
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Cost of "Cap-and-trade" Reduction in CO2 Emissions Not so Dire According to Stanford Business School Research
There`s good news for supporters of the Waxman-Markey climate bill from Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Stefan Reichelstein. Although passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2009, the bill is expected to spur a contentious debate in the Senate starting this fall. Opponents argue that the bill`s proposed "cap-and-trade" system will take a high financial toll on energy consumers and companies alike, and devastate the economy at a time the country can least afford it.
According to research reported in today`s StanfordKnowledgebase Reichelstein and doctoral student Ozge Islegen believe they have evidence to the contrary.
Reichelstein and Islegen have examined the financial impact of regulating coal-fired power plants that produce carbon dioxide emissions under a cap-and-trade system and found the financial burden to be much less than previously projected.
"We were very pleasantly surprised with the results, especially in light of previous cost estimates," said Reichelstein, Stanford Business School`s William R. Timken Professor of Accounting, who said that everyone agrees there will be a price associated with regulating carbon emissions. "But after several dire scenarios reported in the popular press, we became interested in measuring and quantifying exactly what that cost would be."
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"We hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition." Rep. (R-MS) Gregg Harper
In a new interview with Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS), Politico asks the congressman what the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus does. Harper's response:
We hunt liberal, tree-hugging Democrats, although it does seem like a waste of good ammunition.
Harper represents Mississippi's 3rd congressional district, which contains Neshoba County - the place of one of the most infamous race-related crimes in American history. In 1964, white supremacists lynched three civil rights workers. In recent months, sportsmen around the country have been joining up with "tree-hugging" liberals on climate legislation. In April, the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus and other sportsmen's and environmental groups "called for Congress to pass global warming legislation that includes increased funding for natural resource protection."
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Pennsylvania, State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R) blasted the veterans as "traitors"
A coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, under the name Operation Free, is on a 21-state bus tour to alert the public about the dangers of global warming and its threat to national security. Upon hearing about the group's visit to Pennsylvania, State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R) blasted the veterans as "traitors" and compared them to Benedict Arnold:
"As a veteran, I believe that any veteran lending their name, to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in our economy, through cap and tax type policies, all in the name of national security, is a traitor to the oath he or she took to defend the Constitution of our great nation!" Mr. Metcalfe's email reads. "Remember Benedict Arnold before giving credibility to a veteran who uses their service as a means to promote a leftist agenda. Drill Baby Drill!!!"
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Limbaugh to NY Times environment reporter Revkin: "Why don't you just go kill yourself?"
The environmentalist wackos are the same way. This guy from The New York Times, if he really thinks that humanity is destroying the planet, humanity is destroying the climate, that human beings in their natural existence are going to cause the extinction of life on Earth - Andrew Revkin. Mr. Revkin, why don't you just go kill yourself and help the planet by dying?
Yes, one of the few remaining intellectual leaders in the conservative movement - whose views dominate conservative discourse because few if any conservative politicians will publicly disagree with him - has just told the lead climate reporter for the New York Times to commit suicide. Who among the deniers and delayers will have the courage to denounce Limbaugh here?
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GOP proposes to cut solar technology funding and the clean energy jobs it would bring
Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) is continuing his effort to limit the scope and spending of a solar technology bill headed to the House floor today with an amendment that would limit the length of the program and cut its funding levels.
Broun has proposed a new amendment to H.R. 3585 that would provide $750 million to the program over three years rather than $2.5 billion over five.
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Beck escalates feud with Lindsey Graham: "I'm going to stick with the angry people"; Pence, chair of House GOP Conference, sides with Beck
As is his routine, Beck employed some bizarre props and metaphors to highlight his point. He likened Lindsey Graham to a Diet Coke version of the real Coke and a non-alcoholic version of beer. "I'm drinking alcohol for the buzz," Beck said, explaining that most consumers want the "real thing" and not a fake substitute. After meandering through his comedy performance, Beck concluded that he doesn't want to be associated with a Republican Party if it includes Graham:
So thanks for the invite Lindsey, I appreciate it. Thanks for the gumball Mickey. And thanks for the hope and change, Barack. But I think I'm going to stick with the angry people over there. Because they're only angry about you.
Then, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), the chairman of the House Republican Conference, defended Glenn Beck's influence over the Republican Party. It's "hogwash" to say Beck and Rush Limbaugh are only speaking for a small number of Americans, Pence said. He added, "So to my friends in the so-called ‘mainstream media' I say, ‘conservative talk show hosts may not speak for everybody but they speak for more Americans than you do.'"
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18 leading scientific organizations send letter to Senators affirming the climate is changing, "human activities are the primary driver," impacts are projected to worsen "substantially"
Scientists all over this world say that the idea of human induced global climate change is one of the greatest hoaxes perpetrated out of the scientific community. It is a hoax. There is no scientific consensus.
Here are all the organizations that signed on:
* American Association for the Advancement of Science
* American Chemical Society
* American Geophysical Union
* American Institute of Biological Sciences
* American Meteorological Society
* American Society of Agronomy
* American Society of Plant Biologists
* American Statistical Association
* Association of Ecosystem Research Centers
* Botanical Society of America
* Crop Science Society of America
* Ecological Society of America
* Natural Science Collections
* Alliance Organization of Biological Field Stations
* Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
* Society of Systematic Biologists
* Soil Science Society of America
* University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
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Editing Scientists: Science and Policy at the White House
How much do policymakers shape the science that comes out of government agencies?
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform found that significant editing of science documents had occurred during Connaughton's tenure and the issue remains fraught with controversy: Just how much editing of government-funded science was done, and will it continue in future?
"CEQ reviews and provides comment on innumerable documents inside the White House and under development at the agencies," Connaughton says. "I don't know how you provide expert commentary on presidential documents without having a hand in writing down what those views are."
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Prepare for climate change, U.S. report warns W.House
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Congress considers curbs on carbon dioxide pollution, a U.S. report on Thursday urged the White House to prepare now for flooding and other natural disasters brought by global warming.
Federal agencies, working with Congress, state and local governments, should "develop a national strategic plan that will guide the nation's efforts to adapt to a changing climate," said a report by the Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress.
John Stephenson, director of GAO's natural resources and environment office, told a congressional panel that higher concentrations of greenhouse gases may have significant effects, including threats to coastal areas from rising seas.
The GAO found there was no coordinated national approach for dealing with such problems.
While government has been slow to get ready, Stephenson said, "Natural disasters such as floods, heat waves, droughts or hurricanes raised public awareness of the costs of potential climate change impacts."
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