Energy & Environment

As Comic Book Guy would say, “Worst … pledge … ever.”

• Demand that my country join an international treaty within the next two years that cuts global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth.
• Take personal action to help solve the climate crises by reducing my own C02 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become “carbon neutral."
• Fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the C02.
• Work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship and means of transportation.  Read more...

A lower court in Brazil has decided to cancel the Live Earth Concert in Rio because 700,000 Brazilians are planning to attend and the court believes the government of Brazil cannot ensure the safety of the attendees.

This morning I am writing to the Brazilian ambassador to the U.S. urging that the concert proceed. Surely the government of Brazil is very capable of making security arrangements for an event that was long planned.

I am urging concerned Americans to contact the Brazilian Embassy in Washington in support of this concert. For those who do, please be respectful, professional and courteous, but make it clear that Brazil should always act as one of the world's greatest democracies, and a friend to America and those who act to protect the earth.  Read more...

The Democratic philosophy on energy security is simple: Stick it to the consumers.

Energy independence in Democratic parlance is code for higher costs through mandates.

They say they want to take away tax breaks for oil and gas companies. What they will do is take away incentives to create more exploration and expand refining capacity.

They say they want to increase mileage standards for automobiles. What they will do is make it harder for the average consumer to buy the SUVs and minivans, by sharply increasing their costs of production. Read more...

You don't think Congress can pass tough global warming legislation. We asked in our latest Quick Poll! and 71% of you said no while only 29% said yes. That seems an acute analysis; it is going to be vary hard to pass a stringent bill, much though there are loud voices calling for it.

Many of you commented that congressional failure in this case would be a good thing because alarm over climate change is unwarranted. Many commentators expressed the view, summed up by Czech President Vaclav Klaus today at FT.com, that freedom, not the climate, is at risk as conviction about the dangers of global warming grows.

Here's a new poll question: "Is it OK for Alberto Gonzales to stay as Attorney General?" Scroll to the Quick Poll! and vote.

Tension between environmentalist pressures and concern over blue-collar jobs is driving a wedge into the Democratic caucus on Capitol Hill. At issue is whether higher fuel economy standards for automobiles and trucks should be imposed on the Big Three. So our latest Quick Poll! question asks: Can This Congress Pass Tough Legislation on Global Warming? Scroll down the page and vote.

On July 7, 2007, Al Gore and a galaxy of entertainment superstars, a worldwide army of idealists, and 2 billion concerned

citizens from seven continents will take a stand on global warming that will advance a new political era of optimism and hope.

Sooner than people realize, Americans are going to be astonished and amazed at the rekindling of American optimism and the can-do attitude that good people who care passionately can make a difference.

In recent years American politics, culture and media have been so drenched in negativity, pessimism and civic poison that our institutions of political and media power have lost sight of the classic American spirit of can-do optimism.

On July 7 the Live Earth concert will fire a cannon of hope that will be heard around the world. It will be a moment for generations, a shared communion based on the ancient idea that every generation leaves a better world for the next. Read more...

Should state and federal governments, trial lawyers and insurance companies across the country band together and sue the auto industry just as they sued tobacco companies more than a decade ago as a way of recouping hundreds of millions of dollars in healthcare costs from a product (in this case, petroleum) they claim is a nuisance?

There is a movement afoot — slow and steady — leading in that very direction. Sue Big Auto for the costs incurred in providing medical care to people with birth defects, asthma, emphysema and cancer.

Big Auto is to blame, and Big Auto owes us. That, in essence, is the claim of an obscure man you've probably never heard of who is running for president of the United States. His name is Terry Tamminen, and before you blow him off (preferably through tailpipe emissions out of your massive Hummer), know that he is a close friend and adviser to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and is the former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Oh yes, and he has written a book: Lives Per Gallon. (I'd make a snarky comment about people who run for president to sell their books, but that criticism cuts across both parties, doesn't it?) Read more...

The Democrats continue to try to have it both ways when it comes to gas prices.

Congressional Democratic leaders, on the one hand, complain bitterly about rising gas prices, as they oppose efforts to increase the domestic refining and exploration capabilities that would make gas more affordable.

On the other hand, the liberal left, led by Al Gore, believe that the combustion engine should be eliminated and that there should be a heavy gas tax that would hit consumers the hardest.

Well, which one is it? Do you support higher gas prices or do you not?

My theory is that the Democratic Party is secretly delighted with high gas prices. Read more...

The Washington Post reports today: “Astronomers have spotted a cataclysmic explosion that marked the death of a huge, distant star in a blast five times as bright and powerful as any they had seen previously. They said yesterday that a similar fate may be imminent for a star in Earth’s galactic neighborhood.

“The size and energy of the newly recorded blast, 240 million light-years away, have already begun to transform scientific understanding of how especially large stars explode, and have left awestruck researchers concerned — and a little excited — about what might happen to the similarly enormous and unstable star closer to home.”

Was this caused by global warming? Read more...

Two interesting articles today about environmentalism — not just as a feel-good weekend activity, but as a way of life, a religion and, yes folks, a rationale for birth control. Can Al Gore purchasing carbon emission credits from Planned Parenthood be too far in the future? No, I dare say not.

"John Guillebaud, co-chairman of OPT and emeritus professor of family planning at University College London, said: 'The effect on the planet of having one child less is an order of magnitude greater than all these other things we might do, such as switching off lights.The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child.'

"In his latest comments, the academic says that when couples are planning a family they should be encouraged to think about the environmental consequences. Read more...