From your drinking water to food prices, here are the climate stakes of the Harris-Trump election
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Articles by Joseph Romm

Joseph Romm is the editor of Climate Progress and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

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  • Climate plan is unveiled

    Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) -- does this make him an icon? -- and John Warner (R-Va.) unveiled their long-awaited climate plan. It looks pretty good to me because:

    • It is bipartisan -- indeed, it follows the strategy recommended by moderate senators, such as Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.)

    • It starts quickly -- by 2012 we must return to 2005 levels.

    • It has a credible 2050 target -- and requires regular reports from the National Academy of Sciences on the "extent to which the emissions reductions achieved under the Act no, together with actual steps taken by other nations, stabilize atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at a level adequate to forestall catastrophic impacts of climate change."

    • It does not have a safety valve, but instead has banking and borrowing.

    This plan will be the starting point for legislation from Sen. Boxer (D-CA). Here is a detailed summary from Greenwire (subs. req'd):

    Joseph Romm Politics

  • Sadly

    E&E Daily (subs. req'd) confirms earlier press reports:

    Markey [D-MA] said in a statement yesterday that he decided to pull his amendment after consulting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), even though he believed he had the votes to move the legislation. While Pelosi personally favored a CAFE standard of 35 miles per gallon, industry lobbyists said she did not whip votes on the legislation and it appeared Markey was not assured of the votes needed to pass the bill.

    Joseph Romm Politics

  • Should we be surprised?

    This post was written by Kari, the ClimateProgress assistant.

    A year and a half overdue, the Bush Administration finally submitted its Climate Action Report -- 2006 (CAR) last Friday afternoon, with hardly any mention by government officials of the report or its shameful findings (like a 15.8 percent increase in U.S. emissions since 1990).

    While the mainstream media has been either silent or blind to the report's release, major kudos are due to the blogosphere. The few adept, new media journalists to blog on the report include Kevin Grandia from DeSmogBlog and Rick Piltz at Climate Science Watch.

    Joseph Romm Climate & Energy

  • The latest from Congress

    The Washington Post reports today:

    Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) claims to have rounded up about 200 votes for an amendment raising fuel economy standards, while the Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, John D. Dingell (Mich.) and 50 other Democrats have signed on to a weaker version ... But yesterday, Pelosi said the bill was not likely to address fuel economy at all, postponing the issue until a conference committee reconciles House and Senate energy bills in September ...

    Pelosi is eager to avoid a breach with the powerful Dingell, who opposes the Markey amendment and whose committee will handle many important pieces of legislation, including health care. The United Auto Workers union and automakers have also lobbied against the Markey measure.

    Unfortunately for the nation and the planet, Dingell is working to make fuel economy standards and serious action on climate as politically unpalatable as possible with a classic poison pill strategy:

    Joseph Romm Politics