On Friday, Al Gore took questions from the Society of Environmental Journalists, at their annual conference in Madison. The conference was meant to bolster enthusiasm and support for Vice President Gore’s environmental agenda. However, that all went to hell when an Irish filmmaker challenged Gore’s position on polar bears. Behind the microphone was Phelim McAleer. His movie, “Not Evil Just Wrong” is a response to Gore’s acclaimed documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,”... more
Over the past few weeks, I’ve updated readers on the progress of the Waxman-Markey bill. The bill already passed the House, now the Senate is drafting their version. While the bills will be different, Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Environmental and Public Works committee, said she views the House version as a strong foundation for the Senate to build upon. In a previous post, I detailed the effects of “cap and trade” legislation. None of them are good. So why would anyone... more
Yesterday, the Senate committee in charge of climate legislation, began hearings on how to limit carbon emissions. They will attempt to revise the Waxman-Markey bill, to create a more palatable version, capable of passing the Senate. But they’ve got their work cut out for them, as lawmakers in the House added 300 pages of legislation to the bill, the night before it passed, on June 26th. In addition, the financial community has expressed concerns, over the strain this bill would put on our... more
Remember last week, when I said the “Waxman-Markey bill” has a dicey chance in the Senate? Well… maybe not as dicey as I thought. After it passed the House on Friday, I was already nervous, but now even more so. After 7 months of suspense and controversy, Al Franken has been named the winner of the 2008 U.S. Senate Race in Minnesota. Despite the fact that the entire race was marred by controversy and rigging allegations, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously rejected Norm Coleman’s... more
Today, the House will vote on The American Clean Energy and Security Act, otherwise known as the “Waxman-Markey bill.” The proposed measure, would attempt to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy. The question is, how? The Waxman-Markey bill is of the “cap and trade” variety. For those of you not familiar with cap and trade, I’ll explain. Cap and trade legislation puts a cap on how much pollution companies can emit. These restrictions are applied... more
