A group of eight “freshman” Democratic senators have introduced legislation that would impose a windfall profits tax on oil companies as well as revoking some government subsidies. The legislation, proposed by Senator Robert Casey, D-Pa., would impose a 50 percent tax on profits after oil prices rise above $50 a barrel. It also repeals tax … Read More
US politics
EU-US Divided Over Climate
Divisions over climate change threaten to derail next week’s set piece EU-US summit. The meeting, which will be hosted by George Bush and attended by Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was seen as an opportunity for Europe and the US to align their positions on climate change before a G8 meeting in June.
McCain Warns of Vulnerability of Foreign Oil
In the third of three major policy addresses, Republican presidential candidate, John McCain has talked about the “great and urgent challenge – breaking our nation’s critical dependence on foreign sources of oil”. In a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) McCain warned that America’s “dependency on foreign oil and the way … Read More
New report shows global warming pollution up in 48 U.S. states
Global warming pollution increased in all but two states nationwide between 1990 and 2004, according to “The Carbon Boom,” a new analysis of state fossil fuel consumption data released earlier this month by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (U.S. PIRG). The past nine years have been among the 25 warmest for the contiguous United … Read More
New York to Issue Congestion Charge
So New York plans to follow Oslo, Singapore and London in introducing a “Congestion Charge” for driving into the city. Michael Bloomberg, the city’s mayor, has unveiled plans for a congestion charge on cars entering the busiest parts of Manhattan. Compared with London’s $16, New York’s proposed charge will be a snip at $8.
ConocoPhillips Calls For Mandatory Caps on Emissions
ConocoPhillips has become the first major US oil company to urge Congress to require mandatory limits on greenhouse. The company says it has joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an alliance of big business and environmental groups that in January sent a letter to President Bush stating that mandatory caps are needed to reduce carbon … Read More
The Geopolitics of Climate Change
The CIA, National Security Agency, the Pentagon and FBI should undertake a comprehensive review of the national security threat posed by climate change, according to two US Senators Dick Durbin and Chuck Hagel. Last week, Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, and Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska, introduced bipartisan legislation that would require a National Intelligence Estimate … Read More
Bush: I Have Done Enough on Climate
A day after the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government had the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, President Bush said he thought that the measures he had taken so far were sufficient. Mr. Bush made it clear that he thought his proposal to increase automobile fuel efficiency was sufficient for the moment; he gave … Read More
Historic Supreme Court Ruling Over EPA and Emissions
It is being billed as one of the most important environmental decisions in years. It is also a severe rebuke for President Bush. A real poke in the eye, as it were. The US Supreme Court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency does have the authority to regulate greenhouse gases from automobiles.
Skeptics Lose: Its Time for Real Action
The New York Times reports how “politicians who deny that global warming is a problem used to be the biggest obstacle to a solution. They’re not anymore. They have lost the argument”. It continues: “When former Vice President Al Gore came back to Capitol Hill to testify last week, a few of the global-warming holdouts … Read More