Blog
New U.S. -China Carbon Targets Fall Short of Reductions Needed to Avert Climate Change Disaster
Interview with Karen Orenstein, senior international policy analyst with the environmental group Friends of the Earth, conducted by Scott Harris. Just one week after the Democratic Party suffered a string of mid-term election defeats including losing control of the U.S. Senate, President Obama made a joint announcement with Chinese President… Read More
Keystone has no redeeming value: Opposing view
We must lay to rest the tired argument that we should invest in dirty energy in order to create jobs. The oil that would be carried by the Keystone XL pipeline is the most environmentally destructive on the planet, and would traverse the American agricultural heartland, only to then be… Read More
To stop the killings of environmental defenders, we need land reform and binding laws
Two months ago, in early September, four Asháninka indigenous forest defenders were brutally slain in a remote region along the border of Peru and Brazil. One of the activists, Edwin Chota (pictured at left) had received frequent death threats from loggers he had previously tried to expel from the lands… Read More
Landrieu Tries to Gather Enough Votes on Keystone Pipeline
Senator Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana continued to work on Tuesday to round up votes for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, part of a last-minute effort to help her survive a close runoff and one of the toughest battles of her political career. Even if the Senate supports building the… Read More
Obama’s $3bn for climate fund could kickstart action on global warming
Barack Obama’s handshake deal with China and $3bn pledge for climate finance could break down the wall between rich and poor countries that has blocked action on global warming for 20 years, observers of the negotiations said. The White House announced the $3bn pledge on Friday, putting climate change firmly… Read More
Obama, in latest climate move, to pledge $3 billion for global fund
President Barack Obama will announce a $3 billion U.S. contribution to an international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change, an administration official said on Friday. The large size of the contribution took climate policy watchers by surprise and doubles what other countries had previously… Read More
US pledges $3bn to climate change fund for poor countries
US pledges $3bn to climate change fund for poor countries -Financial Times 11/14/2014… Read More
House Passes Bill to Approve Keystone Over Objections From Obama
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — The House of Representatives passed a bill to approve building the Keystone XL pipeline in defiance of President Barack Obama, who today challenged supporters’ arguments that the pipeline will help the U.S. economy. The Republican-led House passed the measure 252-161, with 31 Democrats in support. The… Read More
Three things Big Oil wants to buy with its new Congress
Last Tuesday was the most expensive midterm in U.S. history, with an estimated price tag of nearly $4 billion. Exactly who spent what is still a little unclear. What is known is that in the final weeks an infusion of cash was dropped into tight Senate races, specifically… Read More
Public excluded, industry welcomed at North Carolina meeting about offshore drilling
For those who remember the closed-door secrecy and fossil fuel bias of the Bush-Cheney Energy Task Force, then last Thursday, November 6, was like déjà vu. An invite-only meeting, closed to the public, environmental groups, and the press, was held at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh,… Read More