SmartBlogs for AGC SmartBrief
Meet the Bloggers
Grist | 1 hour 4 minutes ago
By Kate SheppardBrave New Films is starting a Web series called "Meet the Bloggers," where Internet commentators get to ask questions of political types. It's like "Meet the Press," but with better questions from folks who spend all day in the weeds on this stuff.The series launched last week, and today's episode features Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) being questioned by bloggers Kevin Grandia of DeSmogBlog, Nico Pitney of The Huffington Post, and Matt Stoller of OpenLeft. The to...
What about Bob?
Grist | 4 hours 51 minutes ago
By Kate SheppardSen. Robert Menendez.In the Senate debate over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act last month, Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) stood out as one of the most vocal advocates for making polluters pay to emit greenhouse gases rather than giving them free carbon credits. He also spoke up about the need to spend more on clean technology and help developing countries adapt to climate shifts. Menendez floated a handful of proposed amendments to the climate legislation, but didn't get...
Clear and present endangerment
Grist | 14 hours 30 minutes ago
By Kate SheppardSen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) has been foiled in her attempt to obtain and make public a U.S. EPA document on the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases, thanks to Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee that she chairs.The document in question is an endangerment finding that the White House refused to accept when the EPA emailed it to the Office of Management and Budget in December 2007. EPA staffers have said that their findings -- that global warming ...
Gas squeeze
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Russ WalkerInvestigative news startup ProPublica this week blew some fresh air into Albany, N.Y., with a report on state regulators' and lawmakers' headlong rush to open up more areas to natural-gas exploration. In partnership with WNYC, ProPublica called into question the state's conclusion that freshwater sources in the state would not be contaminated by the expanded drilling. To the contrary, the news partners "found that this type of drilling has caused significant environmental har...
'lazy locavores'
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Tom PhilpottNew York Times food reporter Kim Severson has declared a new trend: "lazy locavores," people who want to "eat close to home" but are too time-strapped (or lazy) to put much effort into it. According to Severson, "a new breed of business owner" has arisen to cater to their whims. She opens her piece with a San Francisco entrepreneur who "will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back...
A media boon for Pickens
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Joseph Romm It's official: T. Boone is overexposed. His monotonous TV ad runs on an endless loop, he has testified in front of Congress, he is now appearing on every cable show, and everybody quotes him even though he doesn't actually agree with anybody but himself. What specifically bugs me: His ads say we can't drill our way out of this problem, but then he says we should drill everywhere -- offshore, Alaska, your backyard. He keeps pushing his absurd idea of switching over t...
Target practice
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Ken JohnsonGore's call for 100 percent renewable electricity generation within 10 years may seem, at first blush, to be so far out in left field as to lack any seriousness -- but it has some commonality with established regulatory policy. For example, California's global warming law (AB 32) is rooted in Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-03-05, issued on June 1, 2005, ordering that "the following greenhouse gas emission reduction targets are hereby established for California: by 2...
Not Lovins nukes
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Erik HoffnerIt's not news that Amory Lovins opposes the expansion of nuclear power (unlike Obama and McCain) -- it was gnawed over here at Grist quite a bit. But in case you'd like to hear, rather than read, his arguments against (which are largely economic), then Democracy Now! radio has it all for you here. There's a transcript, too, for you bibliophiles which simply insist on reading.
A renewable win
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Jason D ScorsePutting aside the causes of the oil-price rise and what the future holds, I am concerned that progressives are losing the public debate about what to do about it. Like David, I was extremely disappointed with Gore's interview on Meet the Press this past week, both with respect to the ridiculous questions from Brokaw and Gore's complete inability to get the right message across. And now we have an editorial from The Wall Street Journal (as well as John McCain himself) makin...
Major League
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Kate Sheppard The League of Conservation Voters announced its endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday, touting his energy and environment plans as the "most comprehensive" ever from a presidential nominee. While LCV President Gene Karpinski credits John McCain -- whom LCV endorsed in his 2004 Senate race -- for taking the challenge of global warming seriously, Karpinski says that the "solutions that he suggests aren't nearly good enough." Grist c...
Starfruit punch
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Tom PhilpottIf you love starfruit, you may want to consider giving your habit a rest for a while. A friend emailed me this bit from [PDF] from Wednesday's Federal Register. Declaring an "emergency," the EPA has established a "time-limited tolerance" for residues of fludioxonil, a pesticide, on starfruit. According to the EPA, Florida starfruit is being scourged by a fungus that evidently can only be repelled by fludioxonil. I'm in the process of figuring out exactly how toxic flud...
, only in real life
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By JMGCaring for the world is good for geezers -- and the world too! (I can use "geezer" because ... hey, you kids, get off my lawn!)
WCI's new proposal
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Eric de PlaceDraft is here [PDF]. Just the major points. First off, the proposal is basically pretty good. We should keep in mind that what WCI is doing represents a big -- gigantic -- step in the right direction for the climate. So I'll raise a glass to everyone who's worked so hard on the WCI proposal so far. But there's room for improvement. Below, I highlight the core areas of the proposal. These are bedrock issues that make me concerned.Transportation is in. Sort of. It appears...
You got to know when to hold 'em
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By David RobertsRepublicans have mastered a political technique that seems to work on Democrats every time: the projection of strength. No matter the issue, when it comes up for dispute Republicans claim that Americans support their position; they claim that Democrats are out of touch with ordinary folk; they claim that Democrats are on defensive; they put forward bill after bill, press release after press release, stunt after stunt, trumpeting their alleged advantage. Faced with this predic...
The biggest low-carbon resource, by far
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Joseph Romm Energy efficiency is the most important climate solution for several reasons: It is by far the biggest resource. It is by far the cheapest, far cheaper than the current cost of unsustainable energy, so cheap that it helps pay for the other solutions. It is by far the fastest to deploy. It is "renewable" -- the efficiency potential never runs out. This post focuses on number one -- the tremendous size of the resource.Of the 14 or so wedges we need to deploy globally ...
Slippery troupe
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Kate Sheppard The McCain campaign held a press call this morning with senior policy advisers Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Nancy Pfotenhauer on the candidate's energy plan. The subjects of yesterday's tanker spill near New Orleans and McCain's canceled trip to an offshore rig because of Hurricane Dolly came up during discussion of McCain's call for more drilling. "This [offshore drilling] is the right thing for the economy, it is the right thing for national security. And, as [McCain] is ...
Retire your carbon, offset your guilt
Grist | 15 hours 51 minutes ago
By Joseph Romm Carbon Retirement -- you read it here first (or maybe second). I don't normally endorse individual companies. But I have long thought European allowances were the best alternative to offsets and am delighted someone has made a business out of it. The business opportunity is clear -- offsets suck. At a policy level, they can destroy the environmental value of climate legislation. At a personal level, lots of vendors are selling very dubious offsets, including CCX....
Retire your carbon, offset your guilt
Grist | 16 hours 22 minutes ago
By Joseph RommCarbon Retirement -- you read it here first (or maybe second).I don't normally endorse individual companies. But I have long thought European allowances were the best alternative to offsets and am delighted someone has made a business out of it.The business opportunity is clear -- offsets suck. At a policy level, they can destroy the environmentalvalue of climate legislation.At a personal level, lots of vendors are selling verydubiousoffsets, including CCX. I can't imagine...
Slippery troupe
Grist | 17 hours 13 minutes ago
By Kate SheppardThe McCain campaign held a press call this morning with senior policy advisers Doug Holtz-Eakin and Nancy Pfotenhauer on the candidate's energy plan, in which the subject of yesterday's tanker spill near New Orleans and McCain's canceled trip to an offshore rig because of Hurricane Dolly made him think twice about his call for more drilling."This is the right thing for the economy, it is the right thing for national security. And, as he is always committed to pursuing these en...
The biggest low-carbon resource, by far
Grist | 17 hours 44 minutes ago
By Joseph RommEnergy efficiency is the most important climate solution for several reasons:It is by far the biggest resource.It is by far the cheapest, far cheaper than the current cost of unsustainable energy, so cheap that it helps pay for the other solutions.It is by far the fastest to deploy.It is "renewable" -- the efficiency potential never runs out.This post focuses on number one -- the tremendous size of the resource.Of the 14 or so wedges we need to deploy globally by 2050, I have ar...
You got to know when to hold 'em
Grist | 18 hours 36 minutes ago
By David RobertsRepublicans have mastered a political technique that seems to work on Democrats every time: the projection of strength. No matter the issue, when it comes up for dispute Republicans claim that Americans support their position; they claim that Democrats are out of touch with ordinary folk; they claim that Democrats are on defensive; they put forward bill after bill, press release after press release, stunt after stunt, trumpeting their alleged advantage.Faced with this predicta...
, only in real life
Grist | 19 hours 8 minutes ago
By JMGCaring for the world is good for geezers -- and the world too!(I can use "geezer" because ... hey, you kids, get off my lawn!)
WCI's new proposal
Grist | 19 hours 8 minutes ago
By Eric de PlaceDraft is here [PDF].Just the major points. First off, the proposal is basically pretty good. We should keep in mind that what WCI is doing represents a big -- gigantic -- step in the right direction for the climate. So I'll raise a glass to everyone who's worked so hard on the WCI proposal so far.But there's room for improvement. Below, I highlight the core areas of the proposal. These are bedrock issues that make me concerned.Transportation is in. Sort of. It appears that tr...
Starfruit punch
Grist | 19 hours 21 minutes ago
By Tom PhilpottIf you love starfruit, you may want to consider giving your habit a rest for a while. A friend emailed me this bit from [PDF] from Wednesday's Federal Register. Declaring an "emergency," the EPA has established a "time-limited tolerance" for residues of fludioxonil, a pesticide, on starfruit. According to the EPA, Florida starfruit is being scourged by a fungus that evidently can only be repelled by fludioxonil. I'm in the process of figuring out exactly how toxic fludioxonil ...
Major League
Grist | 20 hours 7 minutes ago
By Kate SheppardThe League of Conservation Voters announced their endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday, touting his energy and environment plans as the "most comprehensive" ever from a presidential nominee.Grist caught up with LCV President Gene Karpinski this week to talk about the endorsement. While Karpinski credited Obama's opponent John McCain, who LCV endorsed in his bid for the Senate in 2004, for taking the challenge of global warming seriously, he s...
A renewable win
Grist | 20 hours 56 minutes ago
By Jason D ScorsePutting aside the causes of the oil-price rise and what the future holds, I am concerned that progressives are losing the public debate about what to do about it. Like David, I was extremely disappointed with Gore's interview on Meet the Press this past week, both with respect to the ridiculous questions from Brokaw and Gore's complete inability to get the right message across.And now we have an editorial from The Wall Street Journal (as well as John McCain himself) making th...
Not Lovins nukes
Grist | 21 hours 30 minutes ago
By Erik HoffnerIt's not news that Amory Lovins opposes the expansion of nuclear power (unlike Obama and McCain) -- it was gnawed over here at Grist quite a bit. But in case you'd like to hear, rather than read, his arguments against (which are largely economic), then Democracy Now! radio has it all for you here. There's a transcript, too, for you bibliophiles which simply insist on reading.
Target practice
Grist | 22 hours 3 minutes ago
By Ken JohnsonGore's call for 100 percent renewable electricity generation within 10 years may seem, at first blush, to be so far out in left field as to lack any seriousness -- but it has some commonality with established regulatory policy. For example, California's global warming law (AB 32) is rooted in Governor Schwarzenegger's Executive Order S-03-05, issued on June 1, 2005, ordering that "the following greenhouse gas emission reduction targets are hereby established for California: by 2...
A media boon for Pickens
Grist | 22 hours 38 minutes ago
By Joseph RommIt's official: T. Boone is overexposed. His monotonous TV ad runs on an endless loop, he has testified in front of Congress, he is now appearing on every cable show, and everybody quotes him even though he doesn't actually agree with anybody but himself.What specifically bugs me:His ads say we can't drill our way out of this problem, but then he says we should drill everywhere -- offshore, Alaska, your backyard.He keeps pushing his absurd idea of switching over to natural gas ...
'lazy locavores'
Grist | 23 hours 24 minutes ago
By Tom PhilpottNew York Times food reporter Kim Severson has declared a new trend: "lazy locavores," people who want to "eat close to home" but are too time-strapped (or lazy) to put much effort into it. According to Severson, "a new breed of business owner" has arisen to cater to their whims. She opens her piece with a San Francisco entrepreneur who "will build an organic garden in your backyard, weed it weekly and even harvest the bounty, gently placing a box of vegetables on the back po...
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SmartBrief's simple blog reader, designed for the busy executive, does the work so you don't have to. "SmartBlogs" delivers in real time the influential voices of must-read industry bloggers, hand-selected and maintained by our expert editors. Be sure to bookmark this page and visit often.
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