A Return To Science
ENERGY
A Return To Science
According to the annual Climate Change Performance Index published yesterday, the United States has third-worst record on tackling greenhouse gas emissions, just beating Saudi Arabia. Annual greenhouse emissions are now 17 percent higher than they were in 1990. The Bush environmental record will be remembered as one that placed politics over science, neutered international efforts, and allowed big industry to shape policy. President-elect Obama has shown that he intends to fill the void created by Bush and will allow science to dictate policy. Today, reports indicate that Obama will select Dr. Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy, Carol Browner as head of the new National Energy Council, and Lisa Jackson as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator. Nancy Sutley, Los Angeles's deputy mayor for energy and environment, will chair Obama's Council on Environmental Quality. Although Chu "is likely to focus his attention on the Energy Department's core missions: basic science, nuclear weapons and cleaning up a nuclear-weapons manufacturing complex contaminated since the Cold War," his selection is a strong signal of Obama's progressive intentions for science-based climate policy. If confirmed, the new team will be working closely with leaders in Congress such as Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the new chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, to forge a new path in solving the climate crisis. Commenting on Obama's personnel selections, CAP's Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss said, "After the anti-science Bush administration, this is like going to a Mensa meeting after eight years of being trapped in the Flat Earth Society."
SCIENCE IS BACK: The choice of Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is a clear signal from Obama that he intends to restore the role of science in climate policy (Bush's first Department of Energy (DOE) head, Spencer Abraham, had previously advocated abolishing the department). Chu is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a DOE-funded research institute, where he is on a "mission" to make the lab "the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research, particularly the development of carbon-neutral sources of energy." He was an early advocate of finding scientific solutions to climate change. As Chu explained at this summer's National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, the best way to reduce greenhouse emissions is to reduce energy consumption by investing in energy efficiency -- policies that are congruent with Obama's stated goals. Furthermore, given the Bush administration's history of obstruction at international climate summits, the global community will likely welcome Chu's selection. As one of 30 members of the Copenhagen Climate Council, Chu is currently part of an effort to push the international community to have the "urgency to establish a global treaty by 2012 which is fit for the purpose of limiting global warming to 2ºC."
THE FIRST 'ENERGY CZAR': The Center for American Progress Action Fund's Change For America blueprint for a progressive administration recommends a National Energy Council to shape "both policy and strategic options with respect to energy and climate change." Aides said while the exact role is still under development, Browner would coordinate administration policy across departments and advocate for policies on Capitol Hill. "In her new role, Browner will need her legislative and administrative experience in a job that will cover everything from climate change to energy policy," the Washington Post notes today. Browner, a former aide to Al Gore, was the longest-serving administrator of the EPA, where she successfully beat back conservative efforts to gut safeguards from pollution. She is currently on the Board of Directors of CAP, Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and the National Brownfield Association. Speaking at CAP on Dec. 1, Browner proposed cap-and-trade solutions to global warming that would drive economic growth, observing, "What the government is doing is creating a market opportunity."
RESTORING THE EPA: As the government's chief regulator of air quality, the EPA plays a pivotal role in formulating global warming policy. Thus, perhaps the most important climate policy position will be the new EPA Administrator, who will spearhead efforts to revive an agency torn apart by the abysmal leadership of Administrator Stephen Johnson. Jackson, a chemical engineer, recently led the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). At DEP, Jackson has had a mixed record, earning praise for her work ethic but also criticism for her difficulties achieving the department's mission. Jackson has "worked to pass mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases, to reform the state's cleanup of contaminated sites and to establish a scientific advisory board to review agency decisions," the AP noted today. But the agency has suffered from budget cuts and the loss of thousands of staff positions. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argued that the DEP has engaged in "suppression of scientific information, issuance of gag orders," and "closed-door deal-making with regulated industry executives and lobbyists." Vouching for Jackson's environmental credentials, Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) told The Progress Report that she "is absolutely committed to the kind of clean-up that some her critics would say she should have done more of." He added, "I think Lisa has done a remarkable job of trying to move the environmental agenda forward within a constrained world.
ECONOMY -- BUSH'S IRS QUIETLY SLASHING CORPORATE TAXES: In its final days in office, the Bush administration is looking to push through about "about 20 highly contentious rules," that weaken health care and workers' rights and degrade the environment. The administration is also making sure to wreck the tax system on its way out the door. Time Magazine's Stephen Gandel reported that in the past year, the Internal Revenue Service has been "unusually aggressive in doing what it can to lower corporate taxes, going above and beyond what has been allowed in the past." In 2008, the IRS has issued 113 notices, "many of which will lower the taxes companies will pay this year and in the future." Gandel noted that this number breaks the record of 111 notices, set in 2006, "and is nearly double the 65 issued in the last year of Bill Clinton's presidency." These changes "drain billions of dollars of badly needed tax revenue at a time when the federal deficit is mushrooming," and many of the changes "may lower corporate tax revenue for years to come." One proposed change would enable companies to significantly reduce their taxes for as long as 20 years.
ECONOMY -- NEW JOBLESS CLAIMS REACH 26-YEAR HIGH: The Labor Department said today that the number of "first-time filings for state unemployment benefits jump[ed] by 58,000 to a 26-year high of 573,000." The total number of individuals collecting unemployment benefits rose to 4.43 million, the highest level since 1982, while the rate at which total unemployment increased was the highest since 1974. Bloomberg reports this morning that the extended rise of unemployment increases the likelihood that the current recession "will turn into the longest slump in the postwar era." Economic analysts at UCLA are releasing a report today predicting that the recession will "feature four quarters of negative growth (followed by very tepid growth rates) and rising unemployment rates that last through 2010." In addition, the report predicts that the national economy will contract by 4.1 percent in this quarter alone. Notably, the increases in unemployment figures may understate actual numbers of unemployed, because such figures count only those individuals actively looking for work and many workers have all but given up on finding a new job.
TORTURE -- REP. REYES URGES OBAMA TO KEEP TORTURE DEFENDERS HAYDEN AND McCONNELL: CongressDaily reported yesterday that House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Sylvestre Reyes (D-TX) said that President-elect Obama should keep Michael McConnell on as Director of National Intelligence and Michael Hayden as head of the CIA. Reyes said such action is needed to preserve "continuity" in the intelligence sector because we live in "a world that is very dangerous." Reyes dismissed concerns that both Hayden and McConnell have defended the Bush administration's use of torture on suspected terrorists and insisted that "there are some options that need to be available" to interrogators. "We don't want to be known for torturing people. At the same time we don't want to limit our ability to get information that's vital and critical to our national security," Reyes said. Indeed, Hayden and McConnell have similar views. McConnell has refused to make the CIA comply with the Army Field Manual rules, which forbid torture, while Hayden has dismissed torture as a mere "legal term." Hayden also reportedly retaliated against the CIA's inspector general for being an outspoken critic of waterboarding.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, President-elect Obama said his presidency is an opportunity for the U.S. to rebuild its relations with the Muslim world. He is planning to "set the tone with a major speech in a Muslim capital early in his presidency." Obama also said he would take the oath of office using his middle name, Hussein.
76 percent: Share of Americans who believe that financial banks that are receiving bailout funds should not dole out bonuses this year. "Though most Wall Street firms plan to pay employees' bonuses this year, the most senior executives at the companies will see their bonuses slashed by as much as 70 percent."
Despite Secret Service screenings, employees of a Maryland cleaning company used by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for the last four years have "turned out to be illegal immigrants." The owner said five of the company's undocumented employees "were part of crews sent to Chertoff’s home and whom ICE told him to fire because they were undocumented."
One year ago today CIA Director Michael Hayden went before Congress "to answer questions about his agency's destruction of videotaped interrogations of terrorist suspects" being subjected to the "enhanced techniques" authorized by the Bush administration. Hayden may be asked to stay on as CIA director.
"President-elect Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill," a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll finds. Seventy-three percent of Americans approve of his handling of the transition, and two-thirds of the public view him favorably. Meanwhile, just 18 percent say they will miss President Bush when he's gone, and 78 percent say that he is not as good as, or definitely worse than, most other presidents.
The Obama transition site is open for your questions. Change.gov launched a new feature yesterday that allows users to submit questions and then vote on the ones they most want answered. Check it out here.
The House voted yesterday 237 to 170 "to approve a $14 billion government rescue of the American automobile industry" that would "provide emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler." However, the deal is "in jeopardy because of strong Republican opposition in the Senate."
The Coalition of the Willing is nearing its end. Most of the coalition's members are quickly leaving Iraq before the UN mandate authorizing their presence comes to an end on December 31. Currently, "fewer than a dozen" of the 49 countries that once made up the coalition remain.
Self-described "little oinker" Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has "stepped down under pressure" as ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, saying that "he wants to focus on clearing his name in a corruption investigation." Young reportedly made the move after House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) "told him privately he would oppose him if he sought another two years in the post."
And finally: The Washington Post's Mary Ann Akers writes, "Run, don't walk, to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., for an amazing Blowout Sale! Computers, blackberries, televisions, desks, you name it -- everything must go." The McCain campaign is currently having a fire sale, getting rid of all its office equipment at deep discounts. "This is a great opportunity to own a piece of history, finish your Christmas shopping, or simply replace your old laptop," wrote one campaign staffer, pitching the sale.
A Return To Science
According to the annual Climate Change Performance Index published yesterday, the United States has third-worst record on tackling greenhouse gas emissions, just beating Saudi Arabia. Annual greenhouse emissions are now 17 percent higher than they were in 1990. The Bush environmental record will be remembered as one that placed politics over science, neutered international efforts, and allowed big industry to shape policy. President-elect Obama has shown that he intends to fill the void created by Bush and will allow science to dictate policy. Today, reports indicate that Obama will select Dr. Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy, Carol Browner as head of the new National Energy Council, and Lisa Jackson as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator. Nancy Sutley, Los Angeles's deputy mayor for energy and environment, will chair Obama's Council on Environmental Quality. Although Chu "is likely to focus his attention on the Energy Department's core missions: basic science, nuclear weapons and cleaning up a nuclear-weapons manufacturing complex contaminated since the Cold War," his selection is a strong signal of Obama's progressive intentions for science-based climate policy. If confirmed, the new team will be working closely with leaders in Congress such as Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the new chair of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, to forge a new path in solving the climate crisis. Commenting on Obama's personnel selections, CAP's Director of Climate Strategy Daniel J. Weiss said, "After the anti-science Bush administration, this is like going to a Mensa meeting after eight years of being trapped in the Flat Earth Society."
SCIENCE IS BACK: The choice of Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is a clear signal from Obama that he intends to restore the role of science in climate policy (Bush's first Department of Energy (DOE) head, Spencer Abraham, had previously advocated abolishing the department). Chu is the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a DOE-funded research institute, where he is on a "mission" to make the lab "the world leader in alternative and renewable energy research, particularly the development of carbon-neutral sources of energy." He was an early advocate of finding scientific solutions to climate change. As Chu explained at this summer's National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, the best way to reduce greenhouse emissions is to reduce energy consumption by investing in energy efficiency -- policies that are congruent with Obama's stated goals. Furthermore, given the Bush administration's history of obstruction at international climate summits, the global community will likely welcome Chu's selection. As one of 30 members of the Copenhagen Climate Council, Chu is currently part of an effort to push the international community to have the "urgency to establish a global treaty by 2012 which is fit for the purpose of limiting global warming to 2ºC."
THE FIRST 'ENERGY CZAR': The Center for American Progress Action Fund's Change For America blueprint for a progressive administration recommends a National Energy Council to shape "both policy and strategic options with respect to energy and climate change." Aides said while the exact role is still under development, Browner would coordinate administration policy across departments and advocate for policies on Capitol Hill. "In her new role, Browner will need her legislative and administrative experience in a job that will cover everything from climate change to energy policy," the Washington Post notes today. Browner, a former aide to Al Gore, was the longest-serving administrator of the EPA, where she successfully beat back conservative efforts to gut safeguards from pollution. She is currently on the Board of Directors of CAP, Gore's Alliance for Climate Protection, and the National Brownfield Association. Speaking at CAP on Dec. 1, Browner proposed cap-and-trade solutions to global warming that would drive economic growth, observing, "What the government is doing is creating a market opportunity."
RESTORING THE EPA: As the government's chief regulator of air quality, the EPA plays a pivotal role in formulating global warming policy. Thus, perhaps the most important climate policy position will be the new EPA Administrator, who will spearhead efforts to revive an agency torn apart by the abysmal leadership of Administrator Stephen Johnson. Jackson, a chemical engineer, recently led the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). At DEP, Jackson has had a mixed record, earning praise for her work ethic but also criticism for her difficulties achieving the department's mission. Jackson has "worked to pass mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases, to reform the state's cleanup of contaminated sites and to establish a scientific advisory board to review agency decisions," the AP noted today. But the agency has suffered from budget cuts and the loss of thousands of staff positions. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argued that the DEP has engaged in "suppression of scientific information, issuance of gag orders," and "closed-door deal-making with regulated industry executives and lobbyists." Vouching for Jackson's environmental credentials, Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) told The Progress Report that she "is absolutely committed to the kind of clean-up that some her critics would say she should have done more of." He added, "I think Lisa has done a remarkable job of trying to move the environmental agenda forward within a constrained world.
ECONOMY -- BUSH'S IRS QUIETLY SLASHING CORPORATE TAXES: In its final days in office, the Bush administration is looking to push through about "about 20 highly contentious rules," that weaken health care and workers' rights and degrade the environment. The administration is also making sure to wreck the tax system on its way out the door. Time Magazine's Stephen Gandel reported that in the past year, the Internal Revenue Service has been "unusually aggressive in doing what it can to lower corporate taxes, going above and beyond what has been allowed in the past." In 2008, the IRS has issued 113 notices, "many of which will lower the taxes companies will pay this year and in the future." Gandel noted that this number breaks the record of 111 notices, set in 2006, "and is nearly double the 65 issued in the last year of Bill Clinton's presidency." These changes "drain billions of dollars of badly needed tax revenue at a time when the federal deficit is mushrooming," and many of the changes "may lower corporate tax revenue for years to come." One proposed change would enable companies to significantly reduce their taxes for as long as 20 years.
ECONOMY -- NEW JOBLESS CLAIMS REACH 26-YEAR HIGH: The Labor Department said today that the number of "first-time filings for state unemployment benefits jump[ed] by 58,000 to a 26-year high of 573,000." The total number of individuals collecting unemployment benefits rose to 4.43 million, the highest level since 1982, while the rate at which total unemployment increased was the highest since 1974. Bloomberg reports this morning that the extended rise of unemployment increases the likelihood that the current recession "will turn into the longest slump in the postwar era." Economic analysts at UCLA are releasing a report today predicting that the recession will "feature four quarters of negative growth (followed by very tepid growth rates) and rising unemployment rates that last through 2010." In addition, the report predicts that the national economy will contract by 4.1 percent in this quarter alone. Notably, the increases in unemployment figures may understate actual numbers of unemployed, because such figures count only those individuals actively looking for work and many workers have all but given up on finding a new job.
TORTURE -- REP. REYES URGES OBAMA TO KEEP TORTURE DEFENDERS HAYDEN AND McCONNELL: CongressDaily reported yesterday that House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Sylvestre Reyes (D-TX) said that President-elect Obama should keep Michael McConnell on as Director of National Intelligence and Michael Hayden as head of the CIA. Reyes said such action is needed to preserve "continuity" in the intelligence sector because we live in "a world that is very dangerous." Reyes dismissed concerns that both Hayden and McConnell have defended the Bush administration's use of torture on suspected terrorists and insisted that "there are some options that need to be available" to interrogators. "We don't want to be known for torturing people. At the same time we don't want to limit our ability to get information that's vital and critical to our national security," Reyes said. Indeed, Hayden and McConnell have similar views. McConnell has refused to make the CIA comply with the Army Field Manual rules, which forbid torture, while Hayden has dismissed torture as a mere "legal term." Hayden also reportedly retaliated against the CIA's inspector general for being an outspoken critic of waterboarding.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, President-elect Obama said his presidency is an opportunity for the U.S. to rebuild its relations with the Muslim world. He is planning to "set the tone with a major speech in a Muslim capital early in his presidency." Obama also said he would take the oath of office using his middle name, Hussein.
76 percent: Share of Americans who believe that financial banks that are receiving bailout funds should not dole out bonuses this year. "Though most Wall Street firms plan to pay employees' bonuses this year, the most senior executives at the companies will see their bonuses slashed by as much as 70 percent."
Despite Secret Service screenings, employees of a Maryland cleaning company used by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for the last four years have "turned out to be illegal immigrants." The owner said five of the company's undocumented employees "were part of crews sent to Chertoff’s home and whom ICE told him to fire because they were undocumented."
One year ago today CIA Director Michael Hayden went before Congress "to answer questions about his agency's destruction of videotaped interrogations of terrorist suspects" being subjected to the "enhanced techniques" authorized by the Bush administration. Hayden may be asked to stay on as CIA director.
"President-elect Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill," a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll finds. Seventy-three percent of Americans approve of his handling of the transition, and two-thirds of the public view him favorably. Meanwhile, just 18 percent say they will miss President Bush when he's gone, and 78 percent say that he is not as good as, or definitely worse than, most other presidents.
The Obama transition site is open for your questions. Change.gov launched a new feature yesterday that allows users to submit questions and then vote on the ones they most want answered. Check it out here.
The House voted yesterday 237 to 170 "to approve a $14 billion government rescue of the American automobile industry" that would "provide emergency loans to General Motors and Chrysler." However, the deal is "in jeopardy because of strong Republican opposition in the Senate."
The Coalition of the Willing is nearing its end. Most of the coalition's members are quickly leaving Iraq before the UN mandate authorizing their presence comes to an end on December 31. Currently, "fewer than a dozen" of the 49 countries that once made up the coalition remain.
Self-described "little oinker" Rep. Don Young (R-AK) has "stepped down under pressure" as ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, saying that "he wants to focus on clearing his name in a corruption investigation." Young reportedly made the move after House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) "told him privately he would oppose him if he sought another two years in the post."
And finally: The Washington Post's Mary Ann Akers writes, "Run, don't walk, to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., for an amazing Blowout Sale! Computers, blackberries, televisions, desks, you name it -- everything must go." The McCain campaign is currently having a fire sale, getting rid of all its office equipment at deep discounts. "This is a great opportunity to own a piece of history, finish your Christmas shopping, or simply replace your old laptop," wrote one campaign staffer, pitching the sale.
Chu was in Rolling Stone- his father was a Chinese immigrant. Chinese built the railroads over Donner Pass and were very healthy. There was an all-Chinese village near Sacramento that had old roots. Some people think that Zheng He came to the West Coast around 1421.
ReplyDeleteIts unfortunate that the environmental agreement was called a Kyoto Protocol. It sounds awful, like a giveaway to some other country, W. Bush said that he wouldn't sign it, in a 2000 debate with Al Gore, because it would be at the expense of our economy. Perhaps that was a wise move- I suppose that the U.S. economy could be even worse now, if government regulations of CO2 and other environmental things had taken place several years ago. It is possible. Environmental regulations could have a shadow side, like high food and water prices.
On balance, though, we consume a lot in this country. Men, women, children, the elderly, black,white, Latino, dead bodies and their preparation, all often consume a lot.
great blog bill
ReplyDelete