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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Australia is drowning… so is China… so is Brazil; EPA smackdown on Mountaintop Removal coal mining; Still more on the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf … PLUS: It’s official: 2010 was the hottest year on record

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The final report from the National Oil Spill Commission on the BP Gulf Oil Disaster; Haiti, one year later; Yet another shutdown of BP’s Alaska pipeline … PLUS: From a unique perspective above the Earth, a word about Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, a clean energy champion …. All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Hot (yes, hot) winter weather across the Northern Hemisphere; EPA moves forward on regulating greenhouse gases; Breaking China’s monopoly on rare earth’s? … PLUS: Surprise, surprise: the more you watch Fox “News”, the less you know …. All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): The reactor on your roof: Caltech breakthrough uses solar power to generate liquid fuel; Fmr. Shell president predicts $5-a-gallon gas by 2012; EPA develops neurotoxicants list; Obama admin takes aim at China’s renewable-energy subsidies;New House Science chair praises ‘tremendous’ BP spill, plans to subpoena climate scientists; 10 Green New Year’s Resolutions … PLUS: The “most heinous climate villains” of 2010 ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Paging Erin Brokovich: carcinogen found in tap water in 31 U.S. cities; California leads the way – again – this time on cap-and-trade; Not to mix metaphors, but there’s a silver lining to that lame duck … PLUS: Having a little fun over Christmas with your climate denier relatives … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Climate Change and ‘Balanced’ Coverage; Deep doo doo: What warming of 2C looks like; Undermining China’s stranglehold on rare earth elements; BP Gulf Disaster: Conflict of interest questions raised in blowout preventer testing; Land grab: Foreign investors evicting African farmers; Green Marines: U.S. Military Sees Great Value in Distributed Renewable Energy; Have a ‘greener’ Christmas! … PLUS: Burying the Lede: We May Hit 400ppm by 2014: A Scientist, His Work, and a Climate Reckoning ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: The Planet strikes back in 2010 — and packs a winter wallop; More Wikileaks: sneaky moves on biotech crops and climate negotiations; Evangelical Christianity’s War on Environmentalists begins; PLUS: Which is better — real or fake? (Christmas trees, we’re talking about Christmas trees!) …. All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Carcinogen found in drinking water of 31 U.S. cities; Ocean acidification may disrupt the marine nitrogen cycle; GM launches new electric hybrid car in US; New federal efforts to control Asian Carp insufficient: states; ‘Shark finning’ ban passes House; CA to launch cap-and-trade system; Investigative Journalist Greg Palast, busted by BP in Azerbaijan; EPA ethanol move slammed by auto, boat manufacturers; Mexico oil pipeline blast kills at least 28; Toxicologist says LA seafood may not be safe for children … PLUS: The Science of Cities: the future or a dead end? ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Make way for the “grolar” bear; Bad week for BP: the Obama Administration finally sues, while BP also gets the Wikileaks treatment …PLUS: Surprise! Leaked email reveals Fox “News” slants climate science! Who knew?! … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Coal industry gets coal ($$$$) in its stocking; Eastern Arctic warming trend alarms scientists; CA solar installer sees growth boom in midst of Great Recession; India’s water is running out; Civic water-to-go program eliminates need for plastic water bottles; Protecting UN climate summit’s “fragile victory”; FDA finally reveals how many antibiotics factory farms use–and it’s a [boat]load; Pros and cons of wind farms … PLUS: This could get interesting: new study finds evidence of abrupt climate change in Earth’s past over a decade or less ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Sorry, Rush. You’re a liar: November 2010 the hottest on record; Visit sunny, glowing Chernobyl; Midwest blizzard now threatens Florida’s crops; PLUS: A New and Improved climate agreement! Now with more U.S. and China! … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): US Southwest could see 60-year drought; Switching to LED Christmas lights saves one family $71,600; Obama’s tax deal: will renewable energy get extended?; Court says EPA can move on carbon pollution standards; FDA: 29 million pounds of antibiotics used in factory farming each year; Feds dismiss need to recall lead drinking glasses; EPA allowed bee-toxic pesticide despite own scientists’ red flags; NY governor vetoes “fracking” bill; New payment option for BP oil spill claims fund; Super-toxic rat poison endangers 10k US children each year; Forged foreman’s license used for inspections before WV mine disaster … PLUS: National security: Why we might fight, 2011 Edition ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Crunch time in Cancun as the UN climate summit races to a close; Major moves in the US over coal, oil and emissions …PLUS: More WikiLeaking: from Nigeria (who loves both Shell and Dick Cheney!) to Canada to BP … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Now hiring: Craigslist ad for a coal baron; Parking lots a major cause pollution in US lakes; Sec. Chu announces Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Export Initiative; “Opportunities and Challenges” in nuclear energy: report; Clearing the air: Is your house making you ill?; Report: Global Clean Power: A $2.3 Trillion Opportunity; Improved car batteries 5 years off … PLUS: US v. China: Building a Skilled Clean Energy Work Force — a Tale of Two Countries ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Happy Birthday, ANWR!; Go to hell, Sen. Inhofe!; You knew it had to be there: the WikiLeaks documents on last year’s UN climate summit in Copenhagen …PLUS: Stop-n-start in high stakes negotiations at this year’s UN climate summit in Cancun, as climate science predictions come true around the world … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Einstein’s Fridge runs on heat; World running out of new places to fish; Massey’s controversial coal baron to retire; USDA removes major barrier to school salad-bar initiative; How some politicians stumble on science; Can wild rice halt mining in Minnesota?; BP: Gulf oyster biz still plagued by BP oil spill; Lobbyists buy big seat at the table of food safety legislation; New developments in harnessing tidal power; 5 Lessons From Haiti’s Disaster … PLUS: Yummy!: Why is flame retardant in your butter? ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Happy birthday, EPA! Now die! (Same to you, FDA!); Huge food safety overhaul passes in the Senate (maybe); Updates from the international climate summit in Cancun …PLUS: USA’s ‘Sputnik Moment’ — Losing the race for clean energy … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Oil spill panel chief ‘mystified’ by GOP block on subpoena power, mulls broader drilling regulations; US lab develops grid controls to handle renewable energy; Leaking Siberian ice raises a tricky climate issue; Homeland Security panel on at-risk chemical plants stacked with insiders; Divers find more oil on Gulf sea floor; U.S. Rescinds Expansion of Offshore Drilling; Coal: EPA withholds study on Spruce Mine alternatives; Appeals court halts U.S.-sanctioned killing of sea lions … PLUS: Breaking away from coal: Utilities increasingly turn to natural gas, away from coal …
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: After failure in Copenhagen, the next climate summit begins in Cancun, Mexico; Bye-bye Bluefin Tuna (Sorry, Charlie!)… PLUS: The Earth, now in 3D … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Greenpeace Sues Chemical and PR Firms for “Unlawful” Spying; Study Warns GMO Salmon pose serious risks to society; For EPA regulations, benefits consistently exceed costs; Accusations of Plagiarism Mount Over GOP’s 2006 Climate Skeptic “Wegman Report”; Pittsburgh Bans Natural Gas Drilling; States Diverting Money From Climate Initiative … PLUS: 8 Electric-Car Myths Busted ….
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As international climate change negotiators confer in Cancn over the next ten days, a sweeping new global agreement won’t be on the table. The groundwork has not been laid for that. Instead they may start to pivot toward a new strategy of gradualism, and that would be a step in the right direction.
Participants in the UN talks, just as in the U.S. Congress, have shied away from comprehensive action on climate change, and the recent elections have left the Obama administration with little ability to advocate for a bolder approach. And yet national and state governments are steadily showing the way forward — with steps toward a clean energy economy that will cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Embracing such a “building block” strategy — with steps that make sense in their own right and reduce the rate at which the world is pumping heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere — can build confidence in the efficacy and attractiveness of action while increasing the momentum behind a greener energy economy.
For better or worse, this is a game in which the United States is now a laggard, not a leader. Most notably, China is setting the pace on energy efficiency — with a 20 percent improvement over the past five years and a commitment to continue those gains — and on renewable energy, in which it reportedly plans to invest $738 billion over the next 10 years to establish clear global leadership in the field.
China is far from alone in this. The other BASIC countries — Brazil, South Africa, and India – as well as Korea, Japan, and the European Union, all have taken impressive steps in the same direction. In the United States, the states have led even as Congress has failed to act. In November California voters overwhelmingly rejected the oil industry’s attempt to overturn the state’s comprehensive global warming legislation.
The way forward in Cancn is to build on these gains and encourage others to follow suit. Investments in energy efficiency are cost-effective for every country in the world. Increased use of renewable energy is particularly attractive in developing countries where the electricity grid is absent or unreliable and where high-cost imported oil is often the fuel source.
A particularly attractive near-term focus would be on emissions of black carbon — soot from forest burning, household cooking with wood or coal, and diesel engines. These emissions are the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide and have a much shorter lifetime in the atmosphere — weeks, not years. Immediate action with known technologies — preventing deforestation, using more efficient stoves and cleaner engines — could slow the effects of climate change for a decade or more.
Previous negotiations have cued up building-block agreements — on avoided deforestation and land use change; technology development and cooperation; and adaptation assistance for the poorest countries that are being hit the hardest by a changing climate. However, the United States has called for strict standards of “MRV” — monitoring, reporting, and verification — before green-lighting such deals.
MRV is needed to ensure that countries will take actions they would not do otherwise — when they are being told to take their medicine. But a building-block strategy is good for both the countries implementing them and the rest of the world. That makes rigorous MRV desirable but not a deal-breaker.
Let’s go after the low-hanging fruit now while we are building a ladder to the more difficult to reach. This will build trust among nations and confidence that the transition to a low-carbon economy is both possible and beneficial, setting the stage for a truly comprehensive agreement in South Africa next year or Brazil in 2012.
The atmospheric physics of climate change are not affected by the political maneuverings of the human species. The more heat-trapping gases we put in the air, the hotter the planet will become. Indeed, 2010 is on track to be one of the two warmest years in a steadily warming record.
The goal of the UN climate negotiations has been, and should continue to be, a global agreement to reduce emissions dramatically, decisively, and comprehensively. That will not be politically possible in Cancn. Rather than bemoan our human frailty, let us resolve to make what progress we can, when we can. The rising impacts of climate change — on our poorest neighbors today and on our children and their children tomorrow — demand no less.
Timothy E. Wirth is President of the United Nations Foundation and former Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs. John D. Podesta is President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and former White House Chief of Staff.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: 29 coal miners still trapped in NZ; Summit to save the wild tiger; Inching forward in the UN international climate negotiations …PLUS: Getting ready for Thanksgiving with relatives who are climate change skeptics? There’s an app for that … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): New BP report looks behind-the-scenes in BP oil spill efforts; CA Governor declares emergency over water contamination; Study warns FDA over risks of genetically engineered salmon; Economic data shows EPA regulations consistently cost less than predictions; Nissan Leaf to get 99 mpg … PLUS: If the GOP really cared about grandchildren: debunking the myth that clean energy incentives are “job killers” ….
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Limbaugh continues to hoax America; Vets get Senate help for chemical exposure; Cholera spreads in Haiti; Halliburton in the fracking hot seat (again); Mother Jones wins for BP Oil Spill reporting… PLUS: Sexy, sexy energy efficiency with Joe Biden … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Arctic oil spill clean-up plans are ‘thoroughly inadequate’; EPA to push efficiency on big carbon emitters; House Republican: “God will save us from climate change”; Election poll shows voters still want clean economy; Recognizing and rejecting junk climate science; Testimony: Poor cementing at BP well symptom of wider problem; Scientists see alarming rise in beak deformities; Fast-food wrappers leach chemicals into food; IEA: last year’s inaction on climate goals cost us $1 trillion; …PLUS: Europe’s military leaders differ with U.S. Republicans over urgency of global warming security threats …
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The Climate Post offers a rundown of the week in climate and energy news:
“We are taking the fight to them because we are… tired of taking the hits,” Scott Mandia, professor of physical sciences at Suffolk County Community College in New York, told the Chicago Tribune. “The notion that truth will prevail is not working. The truth has been out there for the past two decades, and nothing has changed.”
A group of some 700 climate scientists have agreed to speak out as experts on questions about global warming and the role of man-made air pollution. While James Hansen from NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies says scientists are bowing to pressure to be conservative in their pronouncements, leading them to under-play the rate of future sea-level rise, which he now projects will be “on the order of meters on the century timescale.”
Meanwhile, regional planners who must help their areas adapt to climate change aren’t waiting for the level of public concern to reach a fever pitch.
Peak Oil Happened in 2006, Says the International Energy Agency — Get Ready for the Climate Disaster That Is Unconventional Fuels
The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook for 2010 is out, and it says we’re never going to produce more conventional crude oil than we did in 2006, when production peaked at 70 million barrels per day.
Simultaneously, a new study suggests we’ll run out of oil approximately 90 years before adequate replacements are ready.
Fatih Birol, head of International Energy Agency, projects rather than a Kunstlerian collapse of civilization or an Amory Lovins-esque graduation to a future of efficiency and renewables, what comes next is a steady ramp up of unconventional fuels, including the tar sands of Alberta and “natural gas liquids.” Look for today’s oil fields to go from around 70 million barrels of oil a day today to around 20 million barrels a day by 2035.
To the extent biofuels are a part of that mix, a new paper says they are even worse than conventional fossil fuels because of the land-use changes they will cause the conversion of “69,000 square km of wild land into fields and plantations, depriving the poor of food and accelerating climate change.”
This November, the Biggest Winner of All Was … Coal!
By now most of us know West Virginia just replaced veteran Senator Robert C. Byrd, who had begun to voice concerns about the intersection of coal and climate change, with Joe Manchin, a candidate who gave us one of the campaign season’s most memorable ads, in which he shot the climate bill. It’s part of a larger trend in state, federal and even global politics, says author Jeff Goodell, who also argues the more or less unmitigated explosion of the use of coal is driven as much by campaign contributions as its status as the world’s cheapest fuel.
Speculation is rampant Manchin is being courted to switch parties by the GOP. Notable among the goodies supposedly being dangled in front of Manchin include support for one of his “pet projects” — a plant for turning coal into diesel automotive fuel.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) thinks now that the climate bills introduced by legislators have been declared finally, totally, utterly and completely dead, there’s plenty of opportunity for bipartisan action on energy, as long as it’s limited to nuclear power, electric vehicles and clean coal.
Failure at Copenhagen Upped the Price of Avoiding Klimakatastrophe $1 Trillion
Last year’s International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook pegged the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions so as to avoid exceeding 450 parts per million of atmospheric carbon dioxide (the threshold the UN has set as the upper limit for a “safe” climate) at $10.6 trillion. Failure at Copenhagen has boosted that price to $11.6 trillion, which suggests Mother Nature is engaging in some seriously usurious carbon accounting.
Is Europe Going to Tax Our Dirty Carbon-Emitting Goods?
“If countries such as the United States continue to avoid climate cuts, while the EU [European Union] keeps making its industry pay for permits to emit carbon dioxide, trade imbalances will start to occur. Some EU companies are already calling for border tariffs to be slapped on imports to restore the balance.”
Battle for the Soul of the Clean Air Act
Everyone wants to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to prevent it from regulating greenhouse gases, even though its powers are already constrained. Food and farm groups have joined forces with the oil industry to sue the EPA over what they say is inadequate research into whether or not the new 15 percent blend of ethanol is safe for people and cars. In a preview of 2011, the war of words between the EPA and Congressional Republicans continues to escalate.
The Climate Post is produced each Thursday by Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Not-so-bad news in Haiti; Nuclear waste blocked in Germany; Obama vs. the Volcano in Indonesia; Climate scientists fight back (finally!); PLUS: Was money the matter in the BP Oil Spill? … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN ‘GREEN NEWS EXTRA’ (see links below): Another salmonella egg recall from another DeCoster-related company; Proposition 26 will not stop AB 32; BPA is bad for your semen; KS environment official fired for slowing coal plant permit; Development changes bird flight patterns; Getting even more aggressive about the super-energy efficient Passivhaus; First gen. biofuels worse for climate than fossil fuel; Oil demand to rise for 25 years despite green push; Hillary Clinton’s Canadian pipeline problem; CO2 caused catastrophic global warming 40 million years ago …PLUS: To block EPA, Koch Industries launches lobbying campaign targeting children …
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After the election, I immediately received an e-mail from a national environmental foundation urging the recipient to contact their Congressperson to request passage of “strong climate legislation.”
This has been the strategy for some time. And we know the results: No passage of climate legislation by Congress even with a Democrat majority in both chambers.
The problem? It is high time that environmental and consumer organizations change their strategy for moving a clean energy agenda. A national survey recently released by the Civil Society Institute (a non-partisan think tank) in Boston informs us of what that strategy might be. Not only can an effective strategy and message be structured around the findings of the survey, the survey demonstrates how essentially the entirety of the political spectrum can be unified around true clean energy policies and programs.
The survey breaks down answers according to various parameters including political leaning, i.e. Democrat, Independent, Republican and Tea Party supporters. The survey shows great disparities in perspective when broad concepts were presented, such as the question posed about global warming. Although a majority of Americans believe global warming is a problem, for instance, there is a vast difference of opinion between independents and tea party supporters.
However, when specific problems are presented that require a solution, the differences begin to fade. The subject of water use and electric generation is one such example. Although gradations of support are apparent, the majority of each political affiliation, nonetheless, support the idea of using electric generation technologies the use less water and are much less polluting to water.
Moreover, the same trend is seen when participants were presented with a true clean energy vision. There was across-the-board support for a clean energy strategy (focused on renewable energy) that is geared toward addressing technological advancement, job creation, and avoidance of war. In this vein, the majority of each political affiliation supports a “new industrial revolution” that envisions “the phase out of fossil fuels and the phase in of clean renewable energy sources…”
Interesting as well is that the majority of Americans do not support a shotgun approach to energy policy. Rather, Americans prefer renewable energy. This conclusion is reinforced in that, according to the survey results, only 23 percent favor federal subsidies for nuclear power and 5 percent for coal.
It may be politically expedient to support all sources of energy. However, the public doesn’t appear to be impressed. This may be why 68 percent of Americans “see the US as weak or very weak on ‘practical, problem-solving’ and leadership in relation to ‘energy independence and dealing with climate change or global warming,” and 71 percent have little or no confidence that elected officials in the US “will act decisively on energy issues.”
How one defines the problem is important for furthering renewable/efficiency goals — general climate concepts do not create the necessary vision for people to rally around. People do not relate to abstractions and scientific uncertainty.
There is strong evidence to support the perspective that the lack of an effective strategy from the advocates and a clear vision that addresses the public’s concerns on the part of policymakers has polarized the debate and ground a true clean energy policy reflective of public opinion to a halt. Congress is not in line with the public in terms of its continued support for coal and nuclear power. The all-in approach, i.e. the lack of a vision that addresses real economic, public health and national leadership concerns, has contributed to the public perception that there is no real political leadership in the country.

Source:www.huffingtonpost.com

Obviously some things have changed in Washington and around the country in the last 24 hours. But what will this shift in power mean for the green business movement and for the sustainability agenda in general? It may not change as much as you think, and I see a number of reasons to maintain hope.
Here are my three big takeaways from the elections in general, and the defeat of Proposition 23 in California specifically. (Quick reminder: Prop 23 was an oil-funded ballot measure that would’ve suspended the far-reaching environmental law AB32).
1. Federal legislative action on climate and energy is dead. But we knew that already — the defeat of the climate bill this past summer, even when Democrats held huge majorities in both houses, sealed that fate. But to be more nuanced about this point, this election does not mean that all government action is stymied. At the national level, the EPA will move forward with plans to regulate carbon, and it will continue its transparency initiatives, such as the mandate for the largest facilities in the country to measure and release data on greenhouse gas emissions. But let’s not kid ourselves: the new majority in the House, with some Democratic support from coal states, will be attacking the EPA aggressively. So all federal action will be a tough slog right now.
But the regional and local players will continue to advance sustainability agendas that affect businesses and consumers alike. Yesterday, I gave the keynote address at the State EPA Innovation Symposium in Wisconsin. I sat in on some sessions and heard about some really innovative ways states are using stimulus funds (or continuing existing programs) to reduce emissions and save money in schools, businesses, and homes. The innovation will not stop. Cities are promoting green lifestyles and business aggressively. Cleveland recently announced a program to give sustainable businesses a leg up on getting city contracts, for example.
But the best indication that climate action in particular is not on hold comes from California. The state announced yesterday that it’s moving ahead with a cap-and-trade program, and the defeat of Prop 23 ensures that the program will continue. Which brings me to…
2. A broad consensus on building a clean economy future is not dead. The defeat of Prop 23 shows that coalitions for clear economic and environmental winners can be surprising. As green job advocate Van Jones put it a few days ago, defenders of the landmark clean energy legislation AB32 put together “a beautiful coalition,” including clean tech business leaders, faith-based groups, Governor Schwarzenegger, President Obama, and people from “every political, ethnic, faith, and socio-economic spectrum.”
But I believe that one of the main reasons the logic of AB32 won the day was that a range of business interests saw that tackling climate was good for the economy. The greening of industry and society makes perfect business sense.
3. Business can, and will, lead the sustainability movement. It will have to. With federal support on the ropes, business will continue its leadership. For some that statement may sound odd, but I believe that over the last five years, the private sector has shown more sustained, creative drive toward a lower-carbon, resource-efficient economy than the government has. Corporate giants such as Wal-Mart, HP, IBM, and P&G have set tough goals for suppliers that are often much more strict than federal standards. They have also reduced energy use aggressively in stores, data centers, and fleets saving billions of dollars.
Clearly not all companies have kept up the momentum during the recession. But most of the leaders have. And the green business movement continues for one fundamental reason: it’s profitable. As GE’s Jeff Immelt said a few years back, “green is green.”
So on some level, when it comes to green business, the election doesn’t matter at all. Economic logic always wins out and sustainable businesses will be more profitable. Of course, without government support, the pace of change may not be fast enough to fully beat back the challenges of climate change, water scarcity, or biodiversity loss. But business and some unusual coalitions will continue on the sustainable path nonetheless.
For those of us who are working for a more sustainable, healthy, and profitable future for companies, communities, and our country, we should channel Martin Luther King, Jr. who once said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Steppin’ awaaay from the politics and midterm madness (almost…and just for today): Historic UN agreement on biodiversity; Establishing a price for “natural capital”; Halliburton’s bad cement job; Last call for Discovery … PLUS: Van Jones – The most positive man in America on the fight for clean energy … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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IN TODAY’S RADIO REPORT: Congrats ExxonMobil, ya did it again!; Have a greener Halloween; The Governator slams “wimps” in D.C., and his director James Cameron jumps in; PLUS: It’s Crazy Time in the final stretch before Tuesday’s pivotal elections, and the fists, dollars and puns are flying … All that and more in today’s Green News Report!
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When the US Climate Action Partnership formed a few years back, I thought it was too good to be true — oil companies and big corporate polluters coming to the table with environmentalists to craft a cap-and-trade bill. Turned out I was right. The result of this unholy partnership was an unholy “blueprint” for an unholy congressional climate bill that recently died an unpleasant death in the US Senate thanks at least in part to big-oil lobbying. It was an altogether a brilliant coup for the oil industry: help forge a crap bill that environmental groups will expend all their energy and political-capital defending, and then underwrite lobby efforts to kill it. Score one for the bad guys.
Of course, after all that, you would think outwardly progressive organizations would have learned their lesson and foresworn the whole lions-and-lambs, utopianism-as-pragmatism approach to climate policy, right? Well, think again.
This past week, the Brookings Institution took USCAP’s “pigs-can-fly” policy model to new heights by climbing into bed with the infamous climate deniers of the American Enterprise Institute to spawn something even more abominable than the intellectual offspring of oil companies and environmental organizations. Entitled “Post-Partisan Power”, the 36-page study suggests an approach to climate policy that is purportedly so “post-partisan” that it has the power to break through Washington’s bitter partisan gridlock and get Republicans and Democrats working harmoniously on clean-energy solutions. The secret? Simple: just invest 25 billion a year in clean-energy innovation. That’s right; it’s just the opportunity every big-oil Republican shill and coal-state Democrat has been waiting for. Kumbaya!
Now it’s not 100 percent clear what the authors of the report were thinking when they decided to craft this fairy-tale policy approach — perhaps they imagined that the whole Senate climate debacle had reduced proponents of climate action into such a state of battered incoherence or desperate childlike credulity that they would accept whatever pabulum they were offered. Perhaps. But regardless of the reasoning behind the report, as far as intent is concerned, my sense is that — at least from the perspective of the American Enterprise Institute — it was written not to help but to hinder real action on climate change.
Indeed, as Joe Romm expertly details over at ClimateProgress, the policy suggestions in the report are far too politically nave to be anything but disingenuous. But I’d say what makes the “post-partisan” recipe for saving the world stink more than anything else is the distinctly conservative ingredients that it’s concocted of. Of course there’s nothing conservative and everything wonderfully progressive about investing $25 billion per year in clean-energy innovation. But to make that investment possible the report suggests promoting some of the very conservative policies which have actually stood in the way of real climate action: cutting government tax breaks for clean energy, promoting economic growth, advocating for innovation without complementary regulation, and wasting more tax dollars on the military and nuclear power.
Sounds like the ingredients of a typical conservative stump speech, right? And therein lies the real disingenuousness of the report: it suggests a climate-policy approach that sounds conservative enough to appear politically feasible but which is ultimately doomed to failure, and which even if it did pass would ensure the preservation of the status quo and send even more pork towards AEI’s buddies in the military and the nuclear industry. Score another one for the bad guys.
Well, we can only hope that’s not way things turn out. Hopefully, this time around, lawmakers will be wise to the tricks of the oil industry and their AEI minions and not waste any more precious time promoting their dead-end climate prescriptions. Instead, maybe lawmakers will wake up to the real post-partisan solutions — solutions like Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Susan Collins’ (R-Maine) cap-and-dividend bill the CLEAR Act, which even in the current political climate has a much better chance at passing, and certainly has a much better chance to put the brakes on climate change than the AEI-Brookings monstrosity.

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