Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1164

The White House lamely blames environmentalists for climate bill failure

The blame game has already begun.

One exasperated administration official on Thursday lambasted the environmentalists – led by the Environmental Defense Fund – for failing to effectively lobby GOP senators.

"They didn't deliver a single Republican," the official told POLITICO. "They spent like $100 million and they weren't able to get a single Republican convert on the bill."

No doubt that is a quote from somebody in the Rahm and Axelrod camp.

But while I certainly think that enviros  made ...

Energy and Global Warming News for July 23rd, 2010: Vets vs. Big Oil on Prop 23 in California; MD, DE governors ask feds to join wind energy pact; U.S. funds efforts to turn CO2 emissions into products

Vets vs. Big Oil: Prop 23 in California

Over the past year, VoteVets.org has worked hard to represent the overwhelming majority of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, who not only see our dependence on oil as a security threat, but believe that we need to pass clean energy legislation — even going so far as to say they are in favor of "cap and trade" (and yes, they were polled using that term).

While Washington haggles and delays, California has taken the lead. California being on the...

When you wish upon a tar-ball: Jimmy Fallon sings about the BP oil disaster - And how you can express your feelings on the Tea Party

Jimmy Fallon's instant off-color hit:  "(Tar)Balls In Your Mouth":

h/t Grist

Plus, if you don't like the Tea Party, click here.

Related Post:

BP humor: Best video yet

Sen. Cornyn: "I think a lot of people are looking back with more fondness on President Bush's administration"

Sure, Obama didn't fight hard enough for a livable climate against the pro-pollution, anti-science ideologues.   But he didn't actively try to destroy our future, like his predecessor.  This TP cross-post has the story of right-wing memory loss.

When Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) made an appearance on C-SPAN's "Newsmakers" yesterday, a host asked him whether Republicans plan to embrace the Bush legacy, and Cornyn suggested that they wholeheartedly would. He even claimed that former President...

Big oil companies lobby against U.S. national security interests, try to weaken Iran Sanctions Act

This TP cross-post is by Joshua Dorner and Rebecca Lefton of CAP's Progressive Media.

The recent revelations about BP's alleged role in pressing for the release of convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi in order to secure valuable oil concessions in Libya provides a potent reminder of the influence oil companies and other major corporations exert over foreign policy.  New evidence uncovered by ThinkProgress shows that America's own oil giants are also trying to shape...

The failed presidency of Barack Obama, Part 1 - Rolling Stone: "Instead of taking the fight to big polluters, President Obama has put global warming on the back burner"

UPDATE:  Sens. Reid and Kerry made it official today – the mostly dead climate bill is now extinct.  It has passed on!   It is is no more!  It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir...

The failed presidency of Barack Obama, Part 1 - Rolling Stone explains: "Instead of taking the fight to big polluters, President Obama has put global warming on the back burner"

… the disaster in the Gulf should have been a critical turning point for global warming. Handled correctly, the BP spill should have been to climate legislation what September 11th was to the Patriot Act, or the financial collapse was to the bank bailout. Disasters drive sweeping legislation, and precedent was on the side of a great leap forward in environmental progress. In 1969, an oil spill in Santa Barbara, California – of only 100,000 barrels, less than the two-day output of the BP...

Energy and Global Warming News for July 22: Vestas wins largest wind turbine order; As oil spills, China sends in the bugs

Vestas Climbs After Winning Largest Wind Turbine Order

Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the biggest maker of wind turbines, climbed in Copenhagen trading after winning its largest order for a single power-generation site.

Vestas will supply 190 turbines of its V90-3.0 megawatt model to Terra-Gen Power LLC's Alta Wind Energy Center near Tehachapi in California, the Randers, Denmark-based company said yesterday in a stock-exchange statement.

The order is the fifth Vestas signed in the U.S. this year...

Pro-pollution, anti-science Koch Industries takes credit for the 'spontaneous' tea parties: We're glad we 'helped stimulate' them.

Koch Industries infamously outspends Exxon Mobil on climate and clean energy disinformation.  We've seen anti-science Tea Partiers push climate denial with the help of disinformers like Lord Monckton.

As ThinkProgress has documented, the lobbyist-run Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has been instrumental in orchestrating the Tea Party movement. The group coordinated "grassroots" protests around the country and provided organizations and communications support to the Tea Parties. AFP...

EPA slams State Department tar sands pipeline study

[image error]As John Podesta has said, the phrase "green tar sands" is like "error-free deepwater drilling" and "clean coal".  Thankfully, a key Canadian energy goal – construction of a 1,700 mile pipeline to bring dirty tar sands oil from Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast – has hit a significant speed bump, the U.S. EPA.  CAP's Tom Kenworthy has the story.

In unusually blunt comments the Environmental Protection Agency has sharply criticized the State Department's draft Environmental Impact ...