Green Change

With no Obama push, Senate punts on climate

Thu, 22 Jul 2010

As signs grew that the Senate was in no mood to set up a trading system for curbing carbon dioxide emissions, as I noted how the climate policy debate had circled back lately to the emissions-capping plan for power plants that had been proposed in the 2000 Bush campaign for the presidency, I found myself thinking about the vacuum that’s persisted where President Obama should have been on this issue (if he planned to live up to his campaign commitments).

Big Coal's new Democratic US Senator blasts climate change legislation

Fri, 16 Jul 2010

So much for any chance that Gov. Joe Manchin’s choice to temporarily replace the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd would support broader efforts in the Congress to try to do something about the looming threat to humanity from global warming …

Did Democratic leaders try to buy a House seat with a $25 billion nuclear bailout?

Fri, 16 Jul 2010

Today, the House Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee included a $25 billion preemptive bailout of the nuclear industry, in the form of loan guarantees for new reactors, in the Energy and Water Appropriations bill.

Obama hasn't kept his promises on scientific integrity

Sun, 11 Jul 2010

When he ran for president, Barack Obama attacked the George W. Bush administration for putting political concerns ahead of science on such issues as climate change and public health. And during his first weeks in the White House, President Obama ordered his advisors to develop rules to "guarantee scientific integrity throughout the executive branch."

Here come the genetically engineered salmon

Sun, 11 Jul 2010

Though genetically engineered crops such as corn and soybeans have been part of the American diet for several years, if the Food and Drug Administration approves it, the salmon would be the first transgenic animal headed for the dinner table.

Federal judge rules US same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Fri, 09 Jul 2010

In a victory for gay rights in the United States, a U.S. district court judge in Massachusetts ruled on Thursday that a federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

How income inequality hurts our economy and prosperity for all

Thu, 08 Jul 2010

Wall Street's banditry was the proximate cause of the Great Recession, not its underlying cause. Even if the Street is better controlled in the future (and I have my doubts), the structural reason for the Great Recession still haunts America. That reason is America's surging inequality.

Weighing safety of weed killer Atrazine in drinking water, EPA relies heavily on industry-backed studies

Thu, 08 Jul 2010

Companies with a financial interest in a weed-killer sometimes found in drinking water paid for thousands of studies federal regulators are using to assess the herbicide’s health risks, records of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency show. Many of these industry-funded studies, which largely support atrazine’s safety, have never been published or subjected to an independent scientific peer review.

One quarter of flowers face extinction

Thu, 08 Jul 2010

Scientists say human activity could spell end for a quarter of all flowering plants, with huge impact on food chain

How the rule of law really works in America

Wed, 07 Jul 2010

I just wanted to review the contemporary rules governing the Rule of Law in the U.S.

The BP/Government police state

Tue, 06 Jul 2010

Last week, I interviewed Mother Jones' Mac McClelland, who has been covering the BP oil spill in the Gulf since the first day it happened. She detailed how local police and federal officials work with BP to harass, impede, interrogate and even detain journalists who are covering the impact of the spill and the clean-up efforts.

Obama should require federal contractors to pay a living wage

Tue, 06 Jul 2010

With the stroke of a pen, President Obama could do more for the economy than the second stimulus measure that's going nowhere fast. He can create the good jobs our economy needs by using the power of federal contracting to reward employers that improve job standards.

Global emissions targets will lead to 4C temperature rise, say studies

Tue, 06 Jul 2010

The world is heading for an average temperature rise of nearly 4C (7F), according to analysis of national pledges from around the globe. Such a rise would bring a high risk of major extinctions, threats to food supplies and the near-total collapse of the huge Greenland ice sheet.

BP has steady sales at Defense Department

Mon, 05 Jul 2010

BP, meanwhile, remains a heavy supplier of military fuel under contracts worth at least $980 million in the current fiscal year, according to the Defense Logistics Agency. In fiscal 2009, BP was the Pentagon's largest single supplier of fuel, providing 11.7 percent of the total purchased, and in 2010, its contracts amount to roughly the same percentage, according to DLA spokeswoman Mimi Schirmacher.

The huge gusher of corporate welfare to the oil industry

Mon, 05 Jul 2010

But an examination of the American tax code indicates that oil production is among the most heavily subsidized businesses, with tax breaks available at virtually every stage of the exploration and extraction process.