Articles by Joseph Romm

Personal ethics pledge my left foot

At the Environment and Public Works hearing yesterday, Sen. Inhofe (R-Okla.) displayed an amazing lack of understanding about energy as he tried to get Gore to make a meaningless pledge. Now the EPW Minority web page repeats the inane charge:

Former Vice President Al Gore refused to take a "Personal Energy Ethics Pledge" today to consume no more energy than the average American household.

But why should Gore take such a pledge? Gore is a champion of greenhouse gas reductions, not energy reductions. Gore explained he buys 100 percent renewable power and is planning to build a solar power system. Thus the electricity Gore consumes in his Tennessee home does not contribute to global warming.

Come on, Drudge. You can do better

Al Gore is testifying on Capitol Hill twice on Wednesday -- before John Dingell's House Energy and Commerce Committee and Barbara Boxer's Senate Environment Committee. According to the Drudge Report (link may only be temporary), "Proposed questions for Gore, which are circulating behind-the-scenes, have been obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT -- questions that could lead Gore scrambling for answers!"

Here are the questions, which would not cause a fifth grader to scramble, but I am flattered to make the list:

2006, the year global warming came into focus

Steve Connor from the U.K.'s The Independent summarized what we learned in 2006 with the article "Review of the year: Global warming," subheaded with, "Our worst fears are exceeded by reality."

Evangelical environmental movement gathering strength

For some Christians, teaching the science of climate change contradicts religious beliefs. But a growing group of evangelical environmentalists has been working to change that view.