Keystone Confusion
Obama's rejection of the pipeline will result in jobs lost and worse environmental results
On the Newsstand:Environmentalism
The Midterms: A Climate Legislation Graveyard?
With the midterms less than 50 hours from now, it’s fascinating to note how the environmental furor of the summer, especially in the aftermath of the Gulf Oil Spill, seems to have largely subsided in discussions about the elections. Nevertheless, the outcome of the midterms, especially in the House, could have disastrous ramifications for the future of climate legislation. It’s ... Read More
63% Believe Climate Change is Happening? Not bad!
Last week, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies released a report called Americans’ Knowledge of Climate Change. The document is the result of an extensive analysis of how well Americans grasp the practical and scientific nature of climate change, and by the fifth page, the authors have declared the quality of the knowledge for 52% of those surveyed ... Read More
Environmental Movements: Can They Work?
Last week I mentioned 350.org and the 10/10/10 Day of Work in this space. On Sunday, I went to a small rally on the steps of the Statehouse in Boston. Activists from Greenpeace and a smattering of local groups had gathered on Beacon Hill to rally for environmental change. A microphone was set up on the steps in front of ... Read More
Preliminary Spill Reports Rightfully Criticize Adminstration
On June 14th of this year, President Obama appointed a commission of seven men and women to evaluate the events that contributed to the Deepwater Horizon spill. The commission, organized less than two months after the spill began but a full month before the oil stopped flowing, released its initial reports this week. In one report, a working paper titled ... Read More
Corporate Environmental Responsibility
In 2006, an article in Reason magazine declared an age of “corporate environmentalism.” Reason attributes part of the rise of corporate environmentalism to independent environmental groups. Since the administration of George W. Bush was seen as hostile to their goals, the article suggests, groups shifted their lobbying efforts to corporations. The recent expansion of corporate social responsibility to include environmental ... Read More
Weighing in: China in the Lead
Earlier this week, Will Rafey argued convincingly that “China, moving rapidly into the void left by U.S. inaction, is poised to leap beyond the U.S. and seize control of the emerging clean energy economy.” What he didn’t argue convincingly is that this matters. It doesn’t. For our fall Business of America issue, Will himself wrote in his excellent article “Clean ... Read More
China In The Lead
(Crossposted from the Apollo Alliance Blog) It’s easy to forget that global warming has sparked a global response when the stalemate in Congress over national climate legislation continues, even despite the fact that the latest consequence of our fossil fuel addiction – the “worst” environmental catastrophe in America’s history – flickers across televisions nightly. Yet the global clean energy industry could be ... Read More
Misguided Environmentalism
Last summer I worked for five weeks as a member of an Appalachian Trail crew, living in tents in Northern Maine while performing maintenance on the trail. Apparently I gave them my mailing address, because yesterday I received “The MAINEtainer,” an eight-page newspaper from the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC). One headline stood out: “MATC opposes Highland Plantation wind energy ... Read More
Conservative Revolutionaries
How the European right wing have become unlikely innovators in the worldwide financial crisis The economic crisis the world is currently experiencing has been the worst since the Great Depression. In such a period, nothing could be easier than pointing out market failures and the inefficiencies of deregulated capitalism. Indeed, it should be the perfect setting for an increase in ... Read More
