Climate Change
Basics
Message From Copenhagen: Climate Plan Must Include Walkable Urbanism
At a panel discussion yesterday at the Copenhagen climate summit, American policymakers and transit experts delivered a clear message: Walkable urban development must be part of any effective plan to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to the magic of live webcasts, I can relay a few highlights for Streetsblog readers.
December 9, 2009
EPA Makes it Official: Emissions Threaten Public Health
Acting under a Supreme Court mandate, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled today that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and contribute to the harmful environmental effects of climate change, paving the way for pollution regulations under the Clean Air Act.
December 7, 2009
Climate’s 17 Undecided Dems Got $2.3M From Transport & Electric Lobbies
The trouble with broad analysis pieces on campaign cash is that they often go for eye-popping numbers while obscuring uncomfortable political realities. For example, Greenwire reported this morning that the 27 senators who remain undecided on the chamber's pending climate bill took "more than $20 million ... over the past two decades from energy interests with a direct stake in pending legislation."
November 30, 2009
Higher Gas Prices Alone Won’t Make Cleaner Cars a Reality
It's a storyline that the media and the auto industry have embraced: Higher gas prices are the magic ingredient that U.S. carmakers need in order to sell more fuel-efficient vehicles to consumers.
November 20, 2009
Introducing the Samuelson Gas Tax Increase: A Penny Every Month
Democratic lawmakers are discussing the possibility of a one-year stopgap transportation bill but have yet to reach consensus on how to pay for the measure, Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) said today.
November 17, 2009
Coal-Burning Electric Utilities Still Commanding Dem Senators’ Attention
As reported here yesterday, transportation is a close second to electric power generation in the not-so-great race to become the nation's fastest-rising source of emissions.
November 13, 2009
Which is the Fastest-Rising U.S. Emissions Source: Transport or Electricity?
The climate change bills being considered by Congress treat electric utilities very well, giving more than a third of the revenue generated by CO2 regulation away -- for free -- to power providers. This move pleased coal country Democrats while seeking to lock down benefits for consumers by averting electricity rate hikes.
November 12, 2009
Grassley: ‘Two or Three Other’ Republicans Open to Climate Change Deal
The Senate's propensity for filibusters, delay, and fruitless attempts at bipartisan deal-making is earning it quite the reputation these days. And climate change legislation, with its big-ticket implications for transit and urban development in general, is becoming increasingly caught up in the Senate's peripatetic politics.
November 10, 2009
Senate’s Next Climate Hearing to Feature Big Oil-Backed Critics
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) may have voted against the Senate environment committee's climate bill yesterday, but The New Republic picked up on some pretty optimistic (for Washington) rhetoric from him on the issue this morning:
November 6, 2009
How Important is a United Front on the Climate Bill?
As fans of clean transportation and sustainable development join the push for a strong climate change bill to emerge from Congress, it's worth remembering that not all environmental groups support the approach congressional Democrats have chosen.
November 5, 2009