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No to Keystone, yes to the planet
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on November 7th, 2015
New York Times: Nearly every mainstream climate scientist has said that a big portion of the fossil fuels now in the ground must remain there if the world is to avoid the worst consequences of global warming. That simple fact lay at the heart of President Obama’s decision on Friday to say no to the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Stories from Our Advertisers The decision, which ends seven years of legal and political wrangling, was correct, on moral as well as scientific grounds. The pipeline, when completed,...
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G.O.P. Assault on Environmental Laws
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on June 8th, 2015
New York Times: President Obama has announced or will soon propose important protections for clean water, clean air, threatened species and threatened landscapes. Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, and other Republicans in Congress are trying hard not to let that happen — counterattacking with a legislative blitz not seen since Newt Gingrich and his “Contract With America” Republicans swept into office after the 1994 midterm elections bent on crippling many of the environmental statutes enacted under Presidents...
Playing politics with tar sands oil
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on November 17th, 2014
New York Times: Just when President Obama marches forward on the issue of climate change, Congress scuttles backward. Last week in Beijing, America and China agreed to significant joint reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Over the weekend, at the G-20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia, Mr. Obama pledged a $3 billion contribution to the Green Climate Fund, a multilateral effort to help vulnerable countries develop clean energy sources and adapt to the impacts of global warming. And Congress? On Friday, the House...
How to Buy a Mine in Wisconsin
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on September 1st, 2014
New York Times: Last year, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and the Republican-controlled State Legislature approved the world’s largest open-pit iron ore mine, a gash in the northern part of the state that could be as long as 21 miles, a half-mile wide and 1,000 feet deep. The mine legislation was bad enough from an environmental point of view: It allows the operator to fill streams with mine waste, eliminates public hearings and reduces the taxes the operator would have to pay. It turns out to be even more shocking...
Sandy’s unfinished business
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on October 29th, 2013
New York Times: A year ago Tuesday evening, Hurricane Sandy slammed into the Eastern Seaboard, destroying lives and homes and entire neighborhoods. On the first anniversary of the storm, politicians are busily touting what they’ve done since, while, at the same time, assiduously dodging legitimate complaints from people who are still suffering. The delays have been excruciating for many. Although the federal government approved almost $60 billion in aid for the region, thousands of homeowners have seen barely a...
The next hurricane, and the next
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on August 24th, 2013
New York Times: Hurricane Sandy, the monster storm that hit the Atlantic Seaboard on Oct. 29, left at least 159 dead and caused $65 billion in damages. But as a presidential task force made clear this week, Sandy cannot be considered a seasonal disaster or regional fluke but as yet another harbinger of the calamities that await in an era of climate change. With that in mind, the report says that individuals, local governments and states that expect federal help cannot simply restore what was there but must adopt...
The E.P.A.’s Keystone report card
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on April 27th, 2013
New York Times: In the bland, formal language of interagency correspondence, the Environmental Protection Agency has written a trenchant review of the State Department’s most recent effort to assess the consequences of building the Keystone XL pipeline. The E.P.A’.s letter, issued Monday, at the end of the public comment period on the department’s latest draft environmental impact statement, is hardly a favorable report card. The letter commends the State Department for inching slowly toward an understanding of...
Heating Up
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on July 11th, 2012
New York Times: The recent heat wave that has fried much of the country, ruined crops and led to heat-related deaths has again raised the question of whether this and other extreme weather events can be attributed to human-induced climate change. The answer, increasingly, is a qualified yes. Mainstream scientists have always been cautious about drawing a causal link between global warming and any specific weather event; the world has experienced calamitous heat waves, droughts, wildfires and floods throughout its...
Drilling in New York
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on June 14th, 2012
New York Times: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s preliminary blueprint for hydraulic fracturing in New York State strikes a sensible balance between the need for economic development and the need to protect the environment and human health. Many important issues must still be addressed — and tough, detailed regulations issued — before Mr. Cuomo can think of greenlighting drilling. But he appears to be on the right track. As reported in The Times on Wednesday, the plan would restrict hydraulic fracturing to economically depressed...
In the Land of Denial on Climate Change
Posted by New York Times: Editorial on September 7th, 2011
New York Times: The Republican presidential contenders regard global warming as a hoax or, at best, underplay its importance. The most vocal denier is Rick Perry, the Texas governor and longtime friend of the oil industry, who insists that climate change is an unproven theory created by "a substantial number of scientists who have manipulated data so that they will have dollars rolling into their projects." Never mind that nearly all the world's scientists regard global warming as a serious threat to the planet,...