April 2010

With startling consistency, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) withdrew his support for the climate bill that will bear his name for a third time this weekend, and then reportedly, for a third time, reconsidered.
In mid-December Graham announced he would…

Lewis Lapham: Conquerors, tap that booty

It’s Earth Day, and I should join the green media in writing about the big climate bill that’s coming down the pipe. But I find myself interminably distracted by Lewis Lapham’s latest.
Lapham links the New Puritanism to the commodification of sex,…

Bolivia pushes for climate crimes tribunal

Diplomats from the 17 largest economies are meeting behind closed doors for a second day today in Washington D.C. to work out their differences on climate change. As the name suggests–the Major Economies Forum–all the major players are there: the…

Horrors of spring

I awoke to desperate screams. It was a bird, I knew next, and I got up to find my cat.
Luna was on our balcony over Emerald Avenue, a residential street on the South Side of Chicago bordered with maples and ashes. She had not caught a bird, but like…

China, India steal U.S. solar jobs

One of the more specious Republican claims about a carbon bill is that it will cost America jobs.
China and India are taking advantage of America’s climate bill stalemate to build an industry in renewable energy sources that has already cost America…

UN postpones climate hopes for another year

While Bolivia stole the headlines at this weekend’s climate talks in Bonn, the usual suspects took the blame as the United Nations lowered expectations once again for a binding international agreement on climate change this year.
“There is a standoff…

U.S. puts hammer lock on Copenhagen balkers

The United States is withholding climate-related aid to nations that do not endorse the Copenhagen Accord, leveraging its financial clout to force that beleaguered document to the forefront of efforts to halt global warming.
The Washington Post…

Earth Hour was a big hit a couple of years ago–don’t you think?– when millions noticed the voluntary blackout rolling around the earth like the wave in a stadium full of bored fans. Isn’t it long past time we upped the ante: Earth Week, Earth Month,…

Republicans cozy up to coal on a dirty, deadly day

Ron Paul’s son Rand is a leading Senate candidate in Kentucky’s Republican primary, campaigning against change (he’s not averse to riding change’s coattails, though: he’s the latest to swipe his campaign’s Web design from Barack Obama).
Currently on…