Political Climate Articles
In Sick Around the World
FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies -- the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures
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Survey: Economists see threat in climate change
Researchers who deal in cold numbers rather than warming climates believe the "significant benefits from curbing greenhouse-gas emissions would justify the costs of action," a new survey finds.
In fact, the survey of economists finds 94% believe the U.S. should join climate agreements to limit global warming.
The survey results to be released today come as debate over the economics of global warming moves center stage in Washington, D.C. Republican senators boycotted a hearing Tuesday over an Environmental Protection Agency analysis about the costs of a clean-energy bill. In addition, the United States and European Union are preparing for a December meeting in Copenhagen to discuss a climate treaty.
"An economist tree hugger is an imaginary creature," says Michael Livermore of New York University's Institute for Policy Integrity, which conducted the survey. "But we found that economists really see climate change poses a lot of risk to the economy."
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NYU Law's Livermore discusses consensus among experts on economic impacts
A recent Institute for Policy Integrity study found most expert economists agree that reducing greenhouse gas emissions can help avoid a major economic malfunction. Which policy options will produce the best results? How will an international agreement affect the economy? During today's OnPoint, Michael Livermore, executive director of the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law, discusses the study and explains how its findings can be applied to the congressional climate debate.
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GOP Senators Warn Boxer on Climate-Bill Strategy
WASHINGTON -- Six ranking Republican U.S. senators Monday warned the head of the environment committee that pushing ahead with a vote on a landmark climate bill this week would "severely damage" the chances of passing the legislation.
Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Sen. Barbara Boxer (D., Calif.) has said she's prepared to begin consideration of the climate bill Tuesday despite objections by GOP committee members who want a full economic analysis of the proposal.
The six panel members said they would try to block passage of the bill through committee by not attending the scheduled markup. Under committee rules, at least two members of the minority are needed to vote on legislation.
Ms. Boxer then indicated she may try to push the bill through committee without the Republicans: Senate rules allow bills to be approved in committee by a simple majority. The chairwoman urged her GOP colleagues to reconsider their decision and "come back to work."
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GOP's version of Bipartisanship
During this morning's meeting, Sen. Voinovich, speaking on behalf of the minority party, said they "sincerely" wanted to work with Democrats to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act. Yet past statements indicate otherwise. (Note: All the below statements were made before the Senate bill was even introduced.)
* Sen. Inhofe's prediction for the Senate bill following the passage of Waxman-Markey: "It's dead in the water.'' [June 30, 2009]
* Sen. David Vitter: "I'm predicting - at least as we speak now - that we can kill any major climate change legislation on the Senate floor..." [July 7, 2009]
* He continued: "I'm very hopeful we'll be able to block any major climate change bill like that which came out of the House on the Senate floor."
* Sen. Bond: "I think certain people pushing this bill see me as one of the biggest thorns in their sides. If they don't now, they will." [September 28, 2009]
* Sen. Barrasso [and Sen. Inhofe]: "[W]orking together to make sure the Senate doesn't pass a bill that to me is going to cripple our economy and raise taxes on American families." [July 15, 2009]
See how much money these Senators received from big oil and coal...
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The GOP's phony excuse for delaying the climate and clean energy bill
Senate Republicans are demanding lengthy economic analyses of progressive clean energy policy, despite having spent careers voting for and against major energy legislation without such delay. This week the Republican members of the Environment and Public Works Committee boycotted its debate on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act (S. 1733), claiming that the Environmental Protection Agency's analysis of the economic impacts was not sufficiently thorough. Before they launched their boycott, committee ranking member Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) and Sen. George Voinovich demanded a "full analysis" that satisfied their particular requirements:
As we've noted in previous letters and requests, getting a thorough, comprehensive economic analysis of the Kerry-Boxer bill is an essential component of a meaningful legislative process. To accomplish that, EPA needs to do a series of model runs examining key provisions in the bill, with a number of sensitivity analyses on critical issues, including, among others, the availability of offsets, potential growth in nuclear power, and the extent of emissions reductions by developing countries. Anything less than a full analysis of this kind will be unacceptable.
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Recovery Act Announcement: Hydropower Upgrades to Yield Added Generation at Average Costs Less Than 4 cents per kWh – Without New Dams
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced up to $30.6 million in Recovery Act funding for the selection of seven hydropower projects that modernize hydropower infrastructure by increasing efficiency and reducing environmental impacts at existing facilities. The expanded hydro generation projects have estimated incremental costs of less than 4 cents per kWh on average.
The selections announced today will deploy innovative technologies such as high-efficiency, fish-friendly turbines, improved water intakes, and advanced control systems in order to increase power generation and improve environmental stewardship. Under Secretary Kristina Johnson made the announcement while visiting Voith Hydro Inc.'s manufacturing plant in York, Pennsylvania.
"One of the best opportunities we have to increase our supply of clean energy is by bringing our hydropower systems into the 21st Century," said Secretary Chu. "With this investment, we can create jobs, help our environment and give more renewable power to our economy without building a single new dam."
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Governor Rendell Says PA's Solar Capacity Doubles Under Sunshine Solar Rebate Program
Governor Edward G. Rendell said today that the new PA Sunshine Solar Program is performing better than expected and has helped to double the state's solar generating capacity in less than 6 months.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection, the program has reached its first incentive milestone for small business rebates - the deployment of 5 megawatts of solar power, or enough to supply electricity to about 575 average homes in the state.
The Governor said achieving the goal is good news for those small businesses interested in lowering their electricity costs through clean, renewable energy, and also for Pennsylvania's environment and economy.
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Insurance sector can't cope with climate change: trade group
LONDON (Reuters) - The general insurance industry may not be able to cope with the increased frequency and severity of floods and typhoons brought about by climate change, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) said on Wednesday.
ABI research, commissioned from Britain's Met Office and catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide, examined the implications of 2 Celsius, 4C and 6C increases in global mean temperature on inland flooding and windstorms in Great Britain, and typhoons in China.
The ABI says a 2C is rise inevitable and this will increase average annual insured losses in Britain from inland flooding by eight percent, or by 47 million pounds ($77 million), to 600 million pounds. This would indicate a 16 percent theoretical impact on insurance pricing (with an annual GDP growth of 2.25 percent assumed).
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Grist on the NYT's "baseless hit job on Gore," plus the story's origin in a Fox News doctored video
Al Gore is in the spotlight again with his must-read solutions book - "Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis." And that means the daggers are out. But who would have imagined that one of the first pieces would be by the NYT's John Broder, who repeats the false claims by "Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming skeptics," that "Mr. Gore is poised to become the world's first ‘carbon billionaire,' profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in." I'm going to repost a piece by Media Matters from May that looks at one of the despicable origins of this smear, "O'Reilly Factor guest host Laura Ingraham presented clips of Al Gore's recent congressional testimony that had been edited to remove his statements that he donates the money he makes from his climate-related work to a non-profit organization."
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