Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1222

Gulf Coast birds may be cooked alive by the oil spill.

This week, MSNBC did a segment with NBC reporter Kerry Sanders, who was live in East Grand Terre Island, LA, one of the places hardest hit by the BP oil spill. The area is covered with "thick, goopy oil" that is "hot because the oil absorbs the heat of the sun." Sanders talked about the deadly mix of oil and heat for wildlife:

As you know, a bird has a natural repellent in its feathers that keeps the water out. That's a little area — a little cushion — that keeps it cool. Well, this oil here...

Public support for action on global warming has grown since January

The Yale Project on Climate Change just released a poll that found growing support for measures to reduce global warming pollution.   It interviewed 1,024 people from May 14 to June 1, and compared the results to a similar poll it conducted in January 2010.  CAP's Daniel J. Weiss and intern Ariel Powell have the story.

There was more support or more intense support in the June survey for the following actions.

Global warming should be a very high or high "priority for the president and...

Vitter: Obama's temporary moratorium on deepwater drilling causes more 'devastation' than BP's oil spill

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has been fighting aggressively to defend the oil industry even as BP's oil disaster gets worse and worse by the day.  TP has the story in this repost.

Yesterday, Vitter blasted an e-mail attacking his Democratic opponent this November, Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-LA), for having the audacity to point out that unregulated free-market policies have allowed the "oil industry to ruin our wetlands."

Also on Monday, Vitter sent yet another letter to the Obama administration...

Murkowski 'dirty air' proposal would increase oil dependence, cost consumers at gas pump

The U.S. Senate is poised to vote Thursday on the Murkowski Resolution (see "Clean air Lisa vs. dirty air Lisa").  EPA chief Jackson says passage would "increase our dependence on oil … by billions of barrels."  Environment America has a new state-by-state analysis, confirming that conclusion, which I repost below:

Washington, DC—As oil continues to pour into the Gulf of Mexico and just days before a major U.S. Senate vote on legislation that would block new rules requiring cars to use less...

The pictures BP doesn't want you to see: Round 2.

Last week, AP photographer Charlie Riedel published disturbing photographs of oil-soaked birds suffering in the wake of the BP disaster on the Gulf Coast.

The images quickly spread, appearing on the front pages of newspapers around the country. But as the oil keeps gushing, the devastation to Gulf wildlife continues to spread. As of yesterday, 874 animals (birds, sea turtles, other mammals, and reptiles) had been collected dead in the affected area. Another 466 had been collected with alive...

Cheney's culture of deregulation and corruption - How Bush Administration inaction created the BP disaster

A look at the culture of deregulation, self-regulation, and corruption ushered in by VP Dick Cheney underscores why the BP oil catastrophe should forever be remembered as Cheney's Katrina, by CAP's Joshua Dorner.

Big Oil spent millions of dollars to sweep—and keep—George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the White House. And it got its money's worth.

The new administration and its staunchly pro-oil congressional allies returned the favor by enacting one of the most pro-oil, anti-environment pieces of...

American Power Act is a "model" for economic growth

The best analyses available show comprehensive climate and clean energy jobs legislation is a very good investment.  CAP's Richard W. Caperton looks at several recent economic studies.

For the last five weeks the Environmental Protection Agency has been analyzing economic impacts of the American Power Act, climate legislation written by Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT). EPA's analysis will influence whether or not other senators support the legislation and ultimately whether...

In the mother of all flip-flops, Graham rejects his own climate bill, endorses Lugar's "half-assed energy bill," which means he "just made the problem worse" - Graham flashback: "The idea of not pricing carbon, in my view, means you're not serious about e

This is the time, this is the Congress, and this is the moment.  So if we retreat and try to just go to the energy only approach which will never yield the legislative results that I want on energy independence, then we just made the problem worse (2/3/10)

In one of the fastest wholesale flip-flops in Senate history, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has  rejected his own climate bill and embraced an energy-only bill — just months after  declaring such an approach intellectually dishonest and worse t...

In the mother of all flip-flops, Graham rejects his own climate bill, endorses Lugar's "half-assed energy bill," which means he "just made the problem worse" - Graham flashback: "The idea of not pricing carbon, in my view, means you're not serious about e

This is the time, this is the Congress, and this is the moment.  So if we retreat and try to just go to the energy only approach which will never yield the legislative results that I want on energy independence, then we just made the problem worse (2/3/10)

In one of the fastest wholesale flip-flops in Senate history, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has  rejected his own climate bill and embraced an energy-only bill — just months after  declaring such an approach intellectually dishonest and worse t...

In the mother of all flip-flops, Graham rejects his own climate bill, endorses Lugar's "half-assed energy bill," which means he "just made the problem worse" - Graham flashback: "The idea of not pricing carbon, in my view, means you're not serious about e

This is the time, this is the Congress, and this is the moment.  So if we retreat and try to just go to the energy only approach which will never yield the legislative results that I want on energy independence, then we just made the problem worse (2/3/10)

In one of the fastest wholesale flip-flops in Senate history, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has  rejected his own climate bill and embraced an energy-only bill — just months after  declaring such an approach intellectually dishonest and worse t...