Articles by Kate Sheppard

Colorado's new senator married to environmental lawyer

While we don't know much about the environmental stances of newly appointed Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D), we do know that the man who will fill Ken Salazar's seat has at least one interesting tie to the green community.

His wife, Susan Daggett, is an environmental lawyer who formerly worked for the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, where she represented environmental groups in litigation related to the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws.

Daggett has also worked for the Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and is now an independent consultant who works with conservation groups on oil and gas development issues in the Rocky Mountain region. She is currently a member of the Denver Board of Water Commissioners, a member of the board of trustees for The Nature Conservancy's Colorado chapter, and a member of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's Greenprint Council, which helps direct the Greenprint Denver sustainable-development initiative.

Bennet is the son of Douglas Bennet, who has served as the CEO of NPR, the president of Wesleyan University, and assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs in the Clinton administration. Michael Bennet's brother, James Bennet, is the editor of The Atlantic Monthly and a former New York Times correspondent.

Obama taps oceans advocate Leon Panetta to head CIA

Obama is poised to nominate Leon Panetta to head the CIA, according to news reports today. Panetta is a long-time advocate for ocean protection, though he's not likely to get much sway in this area as CIA chief.

Panetta has been the chair and commissioner of the Pew Oceans Commission since 2003. In 2005, Pew joined with the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy to create the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, which Panetta now co-chairs. He is also a board member of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. While in Congress, Panetta was active on efforts to protect the California coast, and sponsored legislation to create the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. He continues to be active with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation.

Panetta represented California's 16th district in the House from 1977 to 1993, and was Bill Clinton's chief of staff from 1994 to 1997. Since then, he and his wife have founded the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University at Monterey Bay. He is also the Distinguished Scholar to the Chancellor of the California State University system, and teaches political science at Santa Clara University.

How green will the economic stimulus package be?

Attention in Washington is focused on an economic stimulus plan, which will be the first major agenda item for the new Congress that convenes tomorrow, and for the new president when he's sworn in on Jan. 20. But how green will the stimulus package be?

In his radio/YouTube address on Saturday, Obama said his proposal -- dubbed the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan" -- would create 3 million new jobs, 80 percent of them in the private sector, including jobs in the renewable-energy and efficiency industries. "To put people back to work today and reduce our dependence on foreign oil tomorrow, we will double renewable-energy production and renovate public buildings to make them more energy efficient," he said.

While Obama mentioned that a portion of the stimulus funding would go to repairing roads and bridges, he did not mention funding for public transportation, which many environmental groups and transit advocates are hoping will receive a substantial investment.

On Sunday, Obama's advisers said his plan will include $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses, a move to appease conservatives who are concerned about government spending. The tax cuts would account for approximately 40 percent of the total package, which is likely to total between $675 billion and $775 billion over two years.

On Monday, President-elect Barack Obama met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and other leaders from both parties on the Hill about his plan. "The reason we are here today is because the people can't wait. We have an extraordinary economic challenge ahead of us," he said.

N.J. enviros deeply divided over record of Obama’s EPA nominee

Lisa Jackson. Depending on who you ask, Lisa Jackson is either the best or worst thing that ever happened to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which she led from February 2006 to November 2008. For the most part, New Jersey’s biggest environmental groups praise her work on climate change and celebrate her nomination […]