Environment and Energy
Can Bingaman Pass A Climate Bill?
The Outrage, Where Is It? (Cont'd)
Does meaningful climate change legislation stand a chance? Maybe. But, as I wrote yesterday, it's going to take more pressure on Congress. Here's how one senior staffer, via e-mail, describes the situation on Capitol Hill: READ MORE >>
How Gross Is My Valley
Byrd's Late Coal Conversion
I didn't get a chance to mention this yesterday, but Robert Byrd's death definitely jumbles the political landscape for climate/energy legislation—though maybe not in the way most people would assume. For a long time, Byrd had been a staunch coal guy (it's West Virginia, after all) who was firmly opposed to doing anything about global warming. He was one of the Kyoto Protocol's biggest critics, and in 2008 he was the only Democrat who voted against even starting debate about a cap on carbon emissions. READ MORE >>
One Unlikely Malfunction After Another
Over at his new blog, The Oil and the Glory, Steve Levine posts highlights from an early draft of an investigative report on the Deepwater Horizon blowout. Check out the diagram he got his hands on—it gives you a sense for just how many things had to go wrong for a spill this gruesome to take place. READ MORE >>
"Climategate" Continues To Sputter Out
Over at Newsweek, Sharon Begley notes that a couple of newspapers have now retracted some of their "Climategate" allegations. READ MORE >>
What About A Utility-Only Bill?
There are all sorts of rumors swirling around right now about what might be in the energy bill the Senate is planning to take up next month. The most recent involves a carbon cap that would only apply to electric utilities while leaving the rest of the economy uncapped. Would this be an acceptable compromise? Here's Dave Roberts: READ MORE >>
Leaving Global Warming To The Bureaucrats
In his TRB column this week, Jon Chait argues that EPA regulation is the best option left for tackling global warming, given the deadlock in the Senate. True, relying on the EPA's regulatory tools won't be the most elegant or efficient way of reducing greenhouse gases—a market-based cap-and-trade system would be far more flexible. But Senate conservatives are dead-set on blocking the elegant and efficient solution. Meanwhile, Jon's section on why some issues are better left to unelected bureaucrats was interesting: READ MORE >>
Are Oil Accidents Cyclical?
"The last time you saw a spill of this magnitude in the Gulf, it was off the coast of Mexico in 1979. If something doesn't happen since 1979, you begin to take your eye off of that thing." That was what a senior administration official recently told a McClatchy reporter, in regards to the Gulf gusher. As it turns out, this is a pattern with engineering accidents, be they bridge collapses or oil-platform blowouts. READ MORE >>
