Recent Event Highlights: Judge Strikes Down Obama's Offshore Drilling Ban, A Winning Argument for Clean Energy Legislation?, What Obama's Oval Office Speech Could Have Sounded Like (Video), Obama's Oval Office Gulf Spill Speech: Bold Plan or Empty Rhetoric? (Video), The BP Gulf Oil Spill By the Numbers, Obama's Gulf Spill Speech: "We Cannot Consign Our Children to this Future", and 237 more...
Created by TreeHugger on Apr 29, 2009
Last updated: 04/04/11 at 03:32 PM
Decades of research has produced a strong scientific consensus that climate change is occurring, and that it is caused largely by humans' burning of fossil fuels. And over the decades, we've seen firsthand the dangers of relying on oil as a fuel source -- the price gouging, the geopolitical struggles it produces, the pollution it creates. So it's a bummer that Americans still need to be convinced to support clean energy legislation. But they do. And there have been many intense debates over how that convincing should be done. The image above, produced by
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/winning-argument-clean-energy-legislation.php
Photo via the NY Times
...According to Rachel Maddow
Plenty of people felt let down by Obama's oval office speech on the BP Gulf spill, and believed it was as a lost opportunity to rally for more progressive energy policy in a meaningful way. I was one of them, admittedly. But one pundit did more than complain about what was left unsaid -- Rachel Maddow and her writers drafted up their version of a superior speech; one that included taking a hard line on the oil industry, f...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/what-obamas-oval-office-speech-could-have-sounded-like.php
photo: slagheap via flickr
If you've paid attention at all to the headlines today, you've undoubtedly noticed that during his latest trip to view the BP oil spill clean-up efforts President Obama likened the changes this disaster could have in energy policy to the way 9/11 changed US security policy. I've been sitting with this comment all day, wondering if it's accurate or just evocative rhetoric. The thing is, transforming the way we use energy is even more complex than changi...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/bp-oil-spill-really-u-s-energy-policy-9-11.php
At the end of last week, Grist came out with this handy infographic that breaks down where the blame for the BP Gulf spill lies. It's a useful tool to help visualize the scope of the problems that caused the disaster, and I think it more or less gets it right. And there's a reason that BP is only 37% responsible, despite being the public face of the spill (as it should). But...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/breaking-down-bp-gulf-spill-blame-game.php
Photo via Reuters
The Kerry-Lieberman clean energy and jobs bill was handicapped from the day it was introduced -- co-drafter Lindsey Graham (R-SC) had inexplicably jumped ship, and expanded offshore drilling allowances were included in the bill, despite the ongoing BP oil...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/forget-about-climate-bill-bp-spill-bill.php
Image via ScrapeTV
There's been a lot of (mostly inane) discussion lately about whether Obama's been mad enough in his reactions to the BP Gulf spill. This topic was deemed important enough to swallow up time in media across the spectrum: cable news shows, columns in the New York Times, and
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/obama-furious-gulf-spill-bp-media-video.php
Photo via Freedom Blogging
Say what? As millions of gallons of oil spew out of the Gulf, and much of it threatening to make landfall on his state, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has called for ... more offshore drilling. Citing "concerns for the economic impact" of discontinuing drilling, he wrote a letter to Obama asking the president to lift the newly imposed moratorium. Yes, you read that correctly: the man in charge of Louisiana, the state likely to be most devastated b...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/louisiana-governor-calls-for-more-offshore-drilling.php
Photo via the Times Online
Public policy expert and Salon writer Robert Reich thinks he should. In a persuasive piece that's the sort of idea du jour in the green blogosphere, he argues that the Obama administration needs to put BP into a temporary receivership, allowing the federal government to have direct authority over the flailing company. ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/should-obama-temporarily-take-over-bp.php
Photo via Dip Dive
In making one of the centrist compromises designed to lure Republicans towards compromising on energy policy, Obama may have inadvertently nearly killed the climate bill that's been languishing in the Senate for months. The offer to open offshore drilling was intended to meet GOPers halfway in crafting a more comprehensive energy policy that included pricing carbon and more nuclear power -- and now that the offer is off the table, negotiations are sticky to say...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/major-climate-bill-major-possibility-summer.php
photo: Stig Nygaard via flickr
Some small measure of sanity... BBC News, CNN, and others are reporting that President Obama will extend a ban on new deepwater offshore oil drilling for six months, while the causes of the BP oil spill are investigated. ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/obama-extend-deepwater-drilling-ban-six-months.php
Photo via An Inspiring Voice
Many greens have been wondering when Obama would take the opportunity (as unfortunate as it is) presented by the disastrous BP Gulf spill to make the case for cleaner sources of energy. It seems that the president is finally doing so, touring a solar power plant and giving a speech on the economic benefits and potential for job creation held by renewable energy. ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/obama-finally-starts-talking-clean-energy-wake-gulf-spill.php
Photo via the Telegraph
Who doesn't love a good Palin-ism? While this one probably won't rank among her best, it's still quite silly. In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News (where else?) Palin suggested that Obama was slow to respond to the spill ("it took him so doggone long to get down there") because he took campaign contributions from BP employees. The ex-governor wondered why the mainstream media wasn't digging into this sinister connection. So I'll tell her why not: because her allegation doesn't make any sense. At all....
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/palin-obama-botched-spill-response-bp-contributed-campaign.php
photo: Wikipedia
While characterizing Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a "nominee for the global warming century" as Climate Progress does might be placing a bit too much flourish on the situation, should Kagan be confirmed all signs do point to the environment having a new ally...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/supreme-court-nominee-elena-kagan-gets-green-thumbs-up.php
photo: US Coast Guard via flickr.
It somehow boggles the mind, doesn't it? But you're reading the title correctly. BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig was exempted from having an detailed environmental impact study done by the Department of Interior last year. The Washington Post looked at federal documents and found that the department's
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/why-obama-administration-exempt-deepwater-horizon-environmental-impact-study.php
Photo via PBS
In the wake of just about any major disaster, there are bound to be a bevy of pronouncements from politicians -- condemning it, exploiting it, explaining it, and so on and so forth. And in a major ongoing disaster, where, say, hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil are pouring into a fragile ecosystem every day, those statements and reactions are even more complicated and harder to pin down. But the germ of genuine policy and action can also be planted during the course of such a disaster -- so in a...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/political-impact-bp-gulf-spill.php
Photo via CBC
MoveOn, Paul Krugman join chorus of calls for clean energy action
Although Obama has already placed a moratorium on new offshore drilling expansion -- an expansion he himself approved just a few weeks back -- a growing chorus of advocates, activists, and thinkers are calling on the president to heed the disaster in the Gulf as a wake up ca...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/05/obama-hail-oil-disaster-clean-energy-wake-up-call.php
Image via Red, Green & Blue
The fate of what would become the nation's first offshore wind farm has been hotly debated for the better part of a decade now -- the farm, proposed off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is controversial for precisely that reason. Cap Cod residents and vacationers (many of them wealthy, powerful, and Kennedys) have objected to the wind farm being constructed on the grounds that it ruins the views from the region's historical sites. Wind power advocates, along with 6 governors of east coast states, are calling for the farm's approval. And we'll know the fate of the nation's...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/fate-first-us-offshore-wind-farm-determined.php
Photo via Reuters
About a week before the Senate climate and clean energy jobs bill is expected to be released, the 5th US Climate Action report has been drafted by the State Department, according to Reuters. And here are the wholly unsubtle opening lines: "Global warming is unequivocal and primarily human-induced ... Global temperature has increased over the past 50 years. This observed increase is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases." Indeedily do. ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/5th_us_climate_action_report_global_warming_unequivocal.php
Photo via Reuters
Get ready to git your wonk on. The long, long, long-awaited senate clean energy reform bill crafted by the bi (or tri) partisan team of John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will be unveiled on April 26th. But wait, you say, I thought it was coming out on Earth Day, April 22nd--why has it been bumped back?
...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/climate-bill-launch-earth-day-green.php
Photo via drkatesview
Yes, another Supreme Court Justice is retiring: this time, it's the esteemed liberal leader John Paul Stevens. As the speculative stories of who will be nominated by the Obama administration as his replacement continue (Hilary Clinton?), let's turn to something a little less examined by the MSM--namely, out of the apparent front runners, which has the strongest record in voting in favor of the environment and clean energy policy? Who should greens be hoping is the n...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/green-root-supreme-court-justice.php
Photo via the Guardian
The Guardian has obtained a confidential document accidentally left on a hotel computer in Europe by a member of the Obama administration. The British newspaper says it "reveals the US government's increasingly controversial strategy in the global UN climate talks." They've reproduced the entire document online--but what does the classified paper reveal about US plans for brokering a climate agreement on the international stage? I'll include the entire...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/leaked-confidential-document-reveals-obama-climate-strategy.php
photo: Steve Ryan via flickr.
Saying it would "unleash the forces of innovation in homes and businesses" Google and The Climate Group have sent a letter to President Obama asking him to adopt the goal of giving every household and business in the nation a
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/04/google-climate-group-tell-obama-give-everyone-smart-meters.php
Photo via Earth First
Well, we knew the announcement was coming, and sure enough, here it is: Obama has unveiled his offshore drilling plans, and to the eyes of the environmentally conscious, it ain't pretty. Matt already detailed most of the provisions, which were revealed last night in a leak to reporters. But in case you missed it, the new plan opens up vast swaths of American coastline: some on the east coast and some around Alaska for drilling--a more expansive offering to...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/wtf-obama-expands-offshore-drilling-beyond-bush.php
Photo via Life
A recent Washington Post/ABC poll reveals that the issue which Democrats are most trusted with is Energy Policy--by a long shot. The poll asked citizens this question: "Which political party, the (Democrats) or the (Republicans), do you trust to do a better job handling (Issue)?" And when "Energy Policy" was placed in the "Issue" box, 49% of respondents said that they trusted Democrat...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/democrats-most-trusted-energy-issues-why-cant-act-together.php
Photo via How Green Is My Blog?
Just now, the EPA has formally announced that it will delay regulating greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's biggest polluters until next year. However, in issuing the announcement, the agency affirms that it will indeed commence regulation in 2011. The delay is intended to give businesses more time to prepare their carbon reduction strategies, and ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/epa-wont-regulate-greenhouse-gases-2011.php
Photo via Life is Living
Most of you likely know the story of Van Jones by now--how, after being appointed to the position of Green Jobs Advisor in the Obama Administration, a series of attacks from right wingers, especially Glenn Beck, on his activist past led to his untimely resignation. Those who follow green goings-on, of course, know him as one of the finest proponents for green jobs and clean energy there is. Jones stayed quiet for a long s...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/van-jones-speaks.php
Photo via the Political Elite
Yesterday I noted that though it would likely to be a pretty tough slog, there are still a number of factors working in favor of the bipartisan effort to bring about clean energy reform. Key among those factors was momentum--Democrats, after all, scored a major victory with the passage of health care reform. Fresh on the heels of the b...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/following-health-care-victory-22-dem-senators-call-clean-energy-reform.php
Photo via Healthline
Are you satisfied with the overall standard of environmental quality in the United States? According to a new poll, 46% of Americans are, saying that quality is either excellent or good. The number is up from 39% last year, and according to Reuters it's the highest satisfaction Americans have had with environmental quality since 2002. Whatever could be responsible for the rise?...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/americans-most-satisfied-environmental-quality-2002.php
Photo via LimJunYing
It's been a couple months of seriously bad PR for climate science, both due to unfortunate errors made by scientists and (okay, mostly) a well-funded noise machine intent on preserving the status quo at any cost. So how can climate scientists dig themselves out of the negative publicity trench and help reeducate the public on the dangers of climate change? The
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/should-obama-science-team-national-campaign-climate-science.php
President Obama is set to announce a new residential renovation funding program that they call a "triple win": a jolt to the sickly construction industry, saving Americans money on their energy bills and reducing dependence on oil and other fossil fuels. Last month they might have called it a "quadruple win" and mentioned greenhouse gas reductions, but they don't do that any more, Senator Inhofe would complain.
If they do it right, the six billion dollar program can create a lot of jobs; caulking and sealing is labor intensive, and can put a lot of people to...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/obama-announces-cash-for-caulkers.php
Prominent environmental organization Friends of the Earth has already made clear its opposition to the Obama Administration's support for the nuclear industry, which it is calling a
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/spooky-anti-nuclear-campaign.php
16 gigawatts is a lot of power. The average nuclear power plant in operation today provides less than just one gigawatt of power (I believe the average is around 850 MW). Which is why it's good news that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, otherwise known as the stimulus bill, is on track to add 16 GW of renewable energy to the US grid. ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/16-gw-renewable-energy-stimulus-bill.php
(Climate) Change we can believe in. Photo via Foreign Policy
Okay, so if his goal was to rebut the rampant allegations from conservative politicians that the mere presence of snow disproves climate change, Obama was a little late. Nonetheless, it is (still) heartening to see that the president has a firm grasp of climate science, and how climate change can influence weather events like precipitation--and that he's w...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/obama-explains-climate-science-video.php
digg_url = 'http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/obama-announces-plans-first-nuclear-power-plant-3-decades.php';
US to Build 1st Nuclear Plant Since the 70s
Obama just gave a speech on clean energy after touring a clean jobs training facility in Lanham, MD. In the speech, he made the announcement that his administration has approved an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to build the first nuclear power plant in the US in three decades. Video of the a...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/obama-announces-plans-first-nuclear-power-plant-3-decades.php
Historic buildings sure looked good a year ago. What happened? Wikipedia commons
We have noted before that the greenest brick is the one already in the wall, and that renovation and restoration are labor-intensive, giving twice as much stimulus bang for the buck than new construction. They are green jobs, creating more efficient buildings and saving energy at a lot less cost...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/preservationists-outraged-obama.php
photo: morisius cosmonaut via flickr.
DC has been just showering love on nuclear power these days, and there's been some on TreeHugger as well, but as recent articles over at Mother Jones and on
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/theres-lots-of-drive-nuclear-power-but-still-financial-dead-end.php
Photo via University of Manitoba
It looks like Obama is attempting to hammer down his clean energy strategies--while the big news last year was the flood of investment in cleantech unleashing in the stimulus bill, this year appears to be about making tougher, more concise calls. For example, clean energy and efficiency initiatives received careful markups, nuclear power funding was expanded, plans fo...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/biofuels-strategy-unveiled-obama-administration.php
Photo via WN
Obama's budget for 2011 is filled with peculiarities. There are a few primary points of interest when it comes to energy--the empty cap and trade framework outlined within, the severing of multi-billion fossil fuel subsidies (which I'll get to in a post later today), and perhaps most surprisingly, over $54 billion for nuclear power. That's up almost $20 billion from the year before....
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/54-billion-nuclear-power-obama-budget.php
Photo via DC Streets Blog
Last year, a minor ruckus--I say minor because over the course of the year and a few town hall 'debates' about 'death panels' later we got to see what real ruckuses looked like--ensued when the Obama administration included an outline for a cap and trade program in his budget. Republicans were angry that it projected that there would be $646 billion generated in revenues from a carb...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/obamas-budget-includes-carbon-market-outline.php
Photo via CBC
Many environmentalists were discouraged last week when Obama noted in his SOTU that in order to achieve comprehensive energy reform, he was willing to discuss adding offshore drilling, a nuclear title, and more clean coal initiatives into the mix--which happen to be, of course, largely Republican interests. In fact, Virginia Governor McDonald was clearly unprepared for Obama to make such an offer--in his response speech to the SOTU, he condemned the president for not putting offshor...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/02/offshore-drilling-clean-coal-nuclear-obama-clean-energy-agenda.php
Image via Wired
Yes, high speed trains are finally coming to the United States. It's been a long time coming, but thanks in part to funding from last years stimulus bill, 13 high speed rail lines may be up and operating as soon as 2025. Yes, in less than fifteen years, you may be able to take a bullet train from San Diego to San Francisco, or from St. Louis to Chicago. It's about time. ...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/high-speed-rail-finally-us-plans.php
Photo via the Marine Mammal Conservancy (!)
Okay, so I know that I just reported that Obama has formally "associated" the US with a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 17% below 2005 by 2020 levels. But Obama's not content with that flimsy, unsubstantiated-until-the-Senate-gets-its-ass-in-gear pledge. So he's decided to lead by example--by having the entire federal government reduce its emissions so it might lead by example. Here's the pledge:...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/us-government-reduce-emissions-28-2020.php
Photo via the NY Times
If you watched Obama's State of the Union Address last night, and you happened to be paying attention during the part where he spoke on energy policy, you might have noticed a funny thing. Obama noted the "overwhelming scientific evidence on climate change"--and Republicans in Congress responded by laughing out loud. Watch after the jump....
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/how-republicans-really-feel-science-congress-video.php
Photo via WhiteHouse.gov
" . . . And America must be that nation"
So said Obama at tonight's State of the Union Address, in urging Congress to pass bipartisan clean energy reform. Obama spoke out strongly in support of the legislation, in a speech that saw the president strike a tougher tone than usual. Obama asked for a compromise on a clean energy bill that would include more nuclear development and allowances for offshore drilling, in move designed to entice Republican interest. The call for America to lead in clean energy seemed to resonate thoroug...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/obama-state-of-union-clean-energy.php
Image credit: Good
The decision from the Supreme Court of the United States prohibiting government limits on campaign contributions stood out among all of yesterday's big news.
Good takes a look at what the decision might mean for the climate bill....
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/good-looks-at-scotus-campaign-finance-and-the-climate-bill.php
Photo via CNQ
Well, it looks like there may be some hope for clean energy reform yet--even after the new decision from the Supreme Court has allowed corporations to use limitless funds to influence political elections. Today, a group of 80 major US companies, including eBay, PG&E, Virgin America, and Exelon, have issued a call for Obama and Congress to enact the clean energy legislation this year....
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/80-us-ceos-obama-congress-enact-clean-energy-reform.php
Photo via Core-Metal
The League of Conservation Voters has released its annual presidential report card, where the man in the highest office in the land is taken task for the quality of his environmental policies. The results surprised me a little: the group awarded Barack Obama a B+ for his first year in office (I summed up the president's 11 green milestones here). It's pretty damn high rating--for a point of reference, consider that Bil...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/barack-obama-b-plus-league-conservation-voters.php
Photo via UFOBC
This will be news to no one: some have soured on Barack Obama. The list of his missed opportunities and non-accomplishments thus far irks his supporters and gives ammunition to his enemies. But before we all get too disappointed, it's worth remembering that he actually accomplished a lot his first year, too. For every not-so-abolished Don't Ask Don't Tell law, there's a promising national auto emissions standard, for each not-closed-yet Guantanamo, there's an EPA mobilizing to regulate greenhouse gases. Here are some of his best accomplishments of 2009....
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/01/barack-obama-first-year-fresh-air.php
Photo via Inhabitat
The general reaction to the Copenhagen Accord, as you're likely well aware, has been disappointment. Especially in green circles, the lack of legally binding initiatives and the vague parameters outlined seemed like an overwhelming cop out (pardon the pun). But not everyone is down on COP15--the
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/copenhagen-silver-lining-big-step-forward.php
It's a bumper version of TH Blog Love this week as we come down to the wire at Copenhagen. Tck Tck Tck! As predicted we're all waiting for Obama to wave a magic wand to bring about an agreement at the very last minute. Is he, to quote a friend's recent Tweet, 'looking in the mirror and thinking "**** I'm about to let 6.5 billion people down" or is he trying on his cape and pants?' Our amazing TreeHugger writers Matthew,
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/12/copenhagen-roundup-th-blog-love.php
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