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Oregon entrepreneurs see profits in carbon market
Oregon Public Broadcasting
11/18/2009
Many hope the Copenhagen summit will set up a global carbon trading market, along the lines of what's now being established in California. In Oregon, some entrepreneurs see a public good -- and private gain -- in these markets.
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Senate to put off climate bill until spring
Wall Street Journal
11/17/2009
Senate Democratic leaders said Tuesday they would put off debate on a big climate-change bill until spring, in a sign of weakening political will to tackle a long-term environmental issue at a time of high unemployment and economic uncertainty.
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A Q&A with Al Gore
Seattle Times
11/17/2009
On a book tour in Seattle, former Vice President Al Gore weighs in on the Copenhagen climate summit, Obama's efforts so far, the prospects for US legislation, pseudo-science and garden-variety denial.
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Official: Canada climate change laws years away
CBC BC
11/17/2009
The federal environment minister says it may be a few years before Canada tables regulations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Jim Prentice said the world has to first negotiate a new climate change treaty and Canada and the United States must finish their continental agreement on the same issue.
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Views: We need another carbon tariff
Toronto Globe and Mail
11/18/2009
A carbon tariff is an indispensable component of any economically viable carbon policy that Western economies must ultimately adopt. A carbon tariff is an indispensable component of any economically viable carbon policy that Western economies must ultimately adopt.
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Two senators seek new US approach on climate change
Recharge
11/17/2009
Two senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that proposes to double US nuclear power in 20 years, provide $100bn in loan guarantees for carbon-free electricity projects and ramp up alternative energy and carbon capture research and development.
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Views: Imperfect 'cap-and-trade' is best option
USA Today
11/17/2009
Reasonable people can disagree about how bad global warming will eventually be if nothing is done, and some of the doomsday scenarios might well be overblown. But virtually all climate scientists concur that it's a dire enough threat that the wise course of action is to sharply curb use of carbon-based fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.
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Environment or economy? Obama's balancing act
NPR
11/17/2009
President Obama's China visit touched on the issue of climate change and cooperation on green energy research. But his week-long trip to Asia has also brought an acknowledgment that next month's big climate change conference in Copenhagen will not result in a new treaty.
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Views: Political will needed for climate fix
New York Times
11/15/2009
Putting a price on carbon in the face of powerful opposing forces - from consumers who will always want their fuel, electricity, food and clothing to be cheaper than it is, to corporations driven by the bottom line - will ultimately be a matter of sheer political will.
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Report: Ignoring climate change will be costly
Los Angeles Times
11/11/2009
Governments must act now to ward off catastrophic climate change or face additional costs of $500 billion per year of delay, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency.
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Tribal leaders asked to support climate legislation
Indian Country Today
11/10/2009
A group of tribal, advocacy, environmental and legal organizations is requesting that tribes support climate legislation, especially given current incentives proposed in Congress.
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Views: Making small steps on climate change
Juneau Empire
11/10/2009
The long-awaited Copenhagen conference now just weeks away, it has become clear that the talks will not produce a grand, new accord mandating global reductions in carbon emissions. The United Nations' envoy conceded as much last week in Barcelona, the site of the last formal talks before Copenhagen. The letdown can be explained in three words: the U.S. Senate.
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No clear map to new energy plan
New York Times
11/08/2009
Congress is unlikely, this year or next, to establish the "cap and trade" system for curbing carbon emissions that President Obama and Democratic party leaders seek. Nor are world leaders next month likely to strike a concrete deal to limit emissions. The Democrats' challenge is to make enough progress to avoid defeat in the near term and achieve their priorities in the long run.
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Views: Climate change bill is in trouble
Los Angeles Times
11/08/2009
If you think the partisan divide over healthcare reform is ugly, take a look at the animus in the Senate as debate continues on a key climate change bill. So wide is the gulf that long-held Senate traditions on decorum are breaking down. And as Washington fiddles, the Earth burns.
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Climate change: Threat or opportunity?
Washington Post
11/06/2009
A curious debate has broken out among American environmental groups, as the Senate balkily starts to focus on the threat of climate change. Is this really the time to talk about shrinking glaciers?
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Democrats push climate bill without GOP
New York Times
11/05/2009
Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee pushed through a climate bill on Thursday without any debate or participation by Republicans. The move suggests that President Obama and bill supporters will have serious problems assembling the votes needed to enact it when it comes to the Senate floor, probably not before next year.
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Baucus votes against climate change bill
Missoulian
11/06/2009
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., was the only Democrat on Thursday to vote against a climate change bill that Democrats rammed through a Senate committee - but said he still supports the effort to limit greenhouse gases and pass a bill.
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Views: Want to cut emissions in the US? Change the discussion
Christian Science Monitor
11/02/2009
In times of war, the US government has successfully appealed to citizens' patriotism. That can work now, too.
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GOP senators balk on votes on climate change
Seattle Times
11/02/2009
Republican senators on Monday demanded additional studies on the cost and job impact of a climate bill before it is voted on by a key committee, exposing the sharp partisan divide in Congress over legislation aimed at addressing global warming.
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GOP senators absent at start of climate debate
USA Today
11/03/2009
All Republicans except one are boycotting the start of committee debate on a bill to curb greenhouse gases in a protest that the bill's economic costs have not been fully examined.
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Senate hearing on climate bill heats up
NPR
10/29/2009
The Senate's Environment and Public Works committee has begun hearings on climate legislation, and the heat in the hearing room is spiraling upward. Predictions of what will happen with, or without, the legislation, range from dire to apocalyptic.
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Economics of climate change move to the fore
Washington Post
10/28/2009
For a decade or more, the political battle over climate change has been fought largely over the validity of the science of global warming. But Tuesday, as the Environment and Public Works Committee opened its first hearing on a Senate climate change bill, those concerns took a rear seat to a different issue: the potential economic impact of climate change.
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Arcata Forest signs on to new carbon program
Eureka Times-Standard
10/25/2009
Arcata has committed just more than 20 percent of its community forest to grow trees and store carbon, part of a contract with the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. meant to reduce greenhouse gases.
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US Senate begins hearings on Democrats' climate bill
Recharge
10/27/2009
The Senate will begin long-awaited hearings later today on a climate bill drawn up by majority Democrats, as opposition Republicans say they will offer an alternative to carbon cap-and-trade.
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Thousands rally for action on climate
Vancouver Sun
10/25/2009
About 5,000 people, including a shouting, sign-waving group of secondary school students, demonstrated on Vancouver's Cambie Bridge as part of the International Day of Climate Change. They were among millions of people around the world who took part in weekend demonstrations demanding government action on climate change.
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