Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1221

Murkowski's Big Oil Bailout Bombs - NRDC's Beinecke: The Senate Votes in Favor of Science, Oil Savings, and Climate Action

UPDATE:  The Hill has posted, "Analysis: GOP backing for Murkowski EPA plan doesn't sink climate bill," excerpted at the end.

Today the Senate rejected Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-AK) big oil bail out resolution that would have blocked new fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for vehicles.  The motion to proceed to her resolution, S.J. Res. 26, failed on a vote of 47-53.

It failed on a mostly party line vote, with all Republicans voting with big oil, and all but six Democrats voting...

Murkowski's Big Oil Bailout Bombs

Today the Senate rejected Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-AK) big oil bail out resolution that would have blocked new fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for vehicles.  The motion to proceed to her resolution, S.J. Res. 26, failed on a vote of 47-53.

It failed on a mostly party line vote, with all Republicans voting with big oil, and all but six Democrats voting against it.  The Democrats who voted to block efforts to save oil and reduce pollution were:

Evan Bayh INMary Landrieu LABlanche...

The Maine word for "chutzpah" is "Collins" - Senator votes against oil use reductions the same day she calls for oil use reductions

The U.S. Senate is a body with many senators who are not always ideologically consistent.  Nonetheless, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) set a new standard for "Senatorial Chutzpah" today by announcing her support for Senator Lisa Murkowski's (R-AK) big oil bail out bill the very same day she published an article that says on the BP catastrophe that concludes:

… this disaster reaffirms our nation's need for a national energy policy national energy policy. While oil will remain a significant...

Energy and Global Warming News for June 10: Jumpstarting offshore wind; The best and worst of times for China's environmen

On World Oceans Day, a U.S. Plan for Wind

The Obama Administration has launched a new initiative to "jumpstart the offshore wind industry."

Speaking on World Oceans Day at the opening of this year's Capitol Hill Ocean Week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the governors of ten Atlantic states — Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina — to create an offshore...

Energy and Global Warming News for June 10: Jumpstarting offshore wind; The

On World Oceans Day, a U.S. Plan for Wind

The Obama Administration has launched a new initiative to "jumpstart the offshore wind industry."

Speaking on World Oceans Day at the opening of this year's Capitol Hill Ocean Week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the governors of ten Atlantic states — Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina — to create an offshore...

Applying Jacques Cousteau's wisdom

This guest post is by John Englander, former CEO of The Cousteau Society .

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June 11th, marks Jacques-Yves Cousteau's 100th birthday. "The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau" television specials were the "must-see TV" of the 60's and 70's. The "Captain" and his team aboard the Calypso enthralled us. For many generations, he was the exemplification of a conservationist, who was also a genius at communication. While he may be remembered as the premier underwater explorer, he actually evolved to...

Inhofe: Fiorina 'is supporting' my push to gut the Clean Air Act, agrees climate change is a 'hoax'

ThinkProgress spoke to Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) about Senate GOP nominee Carly Fiorina.  I repost the amazing story and video below.

Today on Capitol Hill, Americans for Prosperity, the corporate front group founded and funded by David Koch of the oil conglomerate Koch Industries, hosted an event to urge the passage of Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R-AK) resolution to gut the Clean Air Act's power to regulate carbon emissions. Several Republican Senators came to the AFP event to encourage support for t...

FLASHBACK: Murkowski said oil drilling blowouts were 'impossible,' begged Big Oil to fight 'red tape'

This TP repost spells out the close relationship Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has with the oil industry she is working so hard to protect.

This week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) held a press conference to tout her "Dirty Air Act" resolution that rolls back the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act. As Climate Progress has detailed, Murkowski's bill was drafted in consultation with Jeffrey R. Holmstead and Roger R. Martella Jr — lobbyists for the c...

What about China and India?

Guest blogger Mike Roddy is a long-time CP commenter.  A UC Berkeley graduate, he has pursued many careers, including solar manufacturing, writing and research, and managing social housing projects on four continents.

Of all of the troubling developments concerning global warming in the last few years, accelerated emissions from China and India may be the most difficult to address. Consider:

The China Ministry of industry and information technology reported that coal- fired electricity and...

Why the BP gusher won't be the last tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico

The BP Gulf Oil Gusher has shown the whole world the nightmarish risks of deep sea drilling.  But there is another, older, story of environmental destruction in the Mississippi River Delta wetlands–and it, too, is related to offshore drilling. This tragedy will continue long after BP's well is shut down. And to make matters worse, there's another kind of terrible accident just waiting to happen.  Guest Blogger Dominique Browning, author of the new book Slow Love, has the story.

The first o...