Major Climate Change Bill Coming to the Senate Major Climate Change Bill Coming to the Senate
Only an hour before President Obama is expected to deliver his State of the Union address—in which he might “go big” on the issue of combating climate change—two Senators announced they will introduce comprehensive climate change legislation this week, presenting a possible vehicle in the Senate for Obama’s ambitions. Senators Bernie Sanders and Barbara Boxer will outline the legislation on Thursday morning. Details are scant, though it’s being billed as “major” and “comprehensive” legislation, and will have a carbon tax, per a statement from Sanders’s office: Under the legislation, a fee on carbon pollution emissions would fund historic investments in energy efficiency and sustainable energy technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and biomass. The proposal also would provide rebates to consumers to offset any efforts by oil, coal or gas companies to raise prices. Boxer is the chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, so this is not a fringe effort by any means. And some heavy environmental and institutional groups will be on hand Thursday, including Bill McKibben of 350.org and representatives from the Center for American Progress, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, and the National Community Action Foundation. We reported last month that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Henry Waxman launched a Congressional task force, which aims to push the executive branch on new regulations, and to serve as a laboratory for new legislation—and while it’s not clear if Boxer is acting through this working group, the legislation is clearly ready to go. TAKE ACTION: Stop the Keystone Pipeline.
Feb 13, 2013 / George Zornick
Divestment Conversation Moving Forward at UNH Divestment Conversation Moving Forward at UNH
Student activists at the University of New Hampshire have succeed in convincing the school's president to convene a forum on the issue of fossil fuel divestment.
Feb 12, 2013 / StudentNation / StudentNation
NYU Divest Hosts Bill McKibben, Faces Rebuff From Administration NYU Divest Hosts Bill McKibben, Faces Rebuff From Administration
The environmental activist and self-described “professional bummer-out-er" spoke at Cooper Union's historic Great Hall last night.
Feb 6, 2013 / StudentNation / Melissa Cronin and StudentNation
Mike Papantonio: The Climate Change Point of No Return Mike Papantonio: The Climate Change Point of No Return
If the earth's temperature rises by another 2 degrees celsius, our planet faces mass extinctions.
Feb 5, 2013 / On The Earth Productions and The Nation Video
Stop the Keystone Pipeline, Once and For All Stop the Keystone Pipeline, Once and For All
A good first step to putting the US on the path to addressing the climate crisis is for President Obama to reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
Jan 31, 2013 / NationAction
Climate Activists Put the Heat on Obama Climate Activists Put the Heat on Obama
Awaiting a Keystone decision, environmentalists make a historic vow to engage in mass civil disobedience.
Jan 30, 2013 / Feature / Mark Hertsgaard
Environmentalists Are Rankled by Some Details of the Sandy Bill Environmentalists Are Rankled by Some Details of the Sandy Bill
Republicans stripped away important coastal restoration money and screwed a small nature preserve in Connecticut for no reason.
Jan 30, 2013 / George Zornick
Locked Into a Climate Crisis Locked Into a Climate Crisis
We will continue to call for climate justice—because the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice, and because we have no other choice.
Jan 28, 2013 / StudentNation / Alli Welton and StudentNation
Colby Students Call for Divestment Colby Students Call for Divestment
Colby, with its biomass plant and its pledge to be carbon neutral by 2015, is a leader in sustainability. C.A.R.E. believes that Colby should divest from fossil fuels as part of it...
Jan 28, 2013 / StudentNation / StudentNation
New Congressional Task Force on Climate Change Aims to ‘Break Through Barricades of Denial’ New Congressional Task Force on Climate Change Aims to ‘Break Through Barricades of Denial’
Obama now has allies in Congress for his new climate change push, who will also turn to the public for help.
Jan 24, 2013 / George Zornick