Environmental Politics

NY state Senator Thomas Moran (R) played a critical role in passage of a $5-billion green jobs and energy bill for the state.

"Another member of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity is leaving the coal-and-utility trade group, citing concerns about whether the alliance wants to obstruct legislation to cap greenhouse gas emissions."

"While [Van] Jones was criticized as a left-wing zealot, the Obama team's record so far on the environment has been far from radical."

"In a victory for Republicans and the Obama administration’s conservative critics, Van Jones resigned as the White House’s environmental jobs 'czar' on Saturday."

"Duke Energy’s departure from the star-crossed American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity seems to have less to do with the viability of clean coal than with the viability of the groups that promote it."

Another allegedly grass-roots PR campaign funded by the coal industry has been embarrassed by the revelation that photos of the "real" people who support coal were obtained from a commercial stock-photo outfit.

"The White House budget update released on Tuesday still reflects a controversial Obama administration plan to combat global warming by auctioning all permits to emit greenhouse gases even though Congress has said it will give away a substantial portion to industry."

Feuds and politics seem to have kept former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's state EPA from referring criminal pollution cases to Attorney General Lisa Madigan for at least 2 years.

Investigation shows that even the local organizers of astroturf rallies against climate legislation are registered oil lobbyists.

"For decades, the chemical industry has been able to control the debate on whether BPA is harmful to human health. Now the Food and Drug Administration, which had relied on industry-financed studies to declare the chemical safe, is reconsidering its determination. ... Plastics makers [have launched a campaign] to fight federal regulation of BPA, downplay its risks and discredit anyone who characterizes the chemical as a health threat."