If the maladies preventing Congress from enacting effective climate legislation are cynicism and hopelessness, the antidote arrived on Capitol Hill last week in the person of volunteers from Citizens Climate Lobby.

The medicine may take a while to show its effect, but based on the positive r… Read full post »

Senate Democrats pulled the plug on climate legislation Thursday, but it's not the end of the world. In fact, the demise of cap-and-trade might be the best thing that could happen for the Earth's climate.

Although the proposal from Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman… Read full post »

As details emerge about the long-awaited climate bill from senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman, I find it increasingly easier to contain my enthusiasm for their proposal.  

The latest disappointing news is that Kerry plans to drop the tax on transportation fuels. This lea… Read full post »

By Steve Valk  

When policy wonks start talking about carbon pricing, it’s difficult for mere mortals to follow the conversation. There’s a dizzying array of options – cap and trade, cap and dividend, fee and dividend. How do these various systems work and which one is mo… Read full post »

By Steve Valk  

While it looks like the climate and energy bill from senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman won’t be released until mid-April at the earliest, Citizens Climate Lobby has a bill ready to go – The Carbon Fee and Dividend Act. Funny how quickly thing… Read full post »

Although efforts to revive climate legislation are under way in the Senate, odds of enacting a bill to curb greenhouse gases remain quite long.

Not to worry, though. Didn’t the Obama administration say that in the absence of such legislation the Environmental Protection Agency would… Read full post »

Legislation taking a comprehensive approach to reduce greenhouse gases, thought to be dead a month ago, has come back to life in the form of a bi-partisan proposal being hammered out by senators John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT).  

Though details are sketchy… Read full post »

This Tuesday will find me on Capitol Hill once again, talking to members of Congress or their aides about what we can do to end extreme poverty in our world. I’ve been doing this nearly every summer since the 1980s as a volunteer with RESULTS, a little-known but highly effective advocacy… Read full post »

After delaying it for a week of arm-twisting and head-counting, the House leadership brought the $106 billion spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan up for a vote Tuesday. Previously, 51 anti-war Democrats voted against the bill, but by the time the final vote was taken, that number dwind… Read full post »

Funding for the International Monetary Fund, which the Obama administration wants included in the supplemental spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, is looking like an extreme long shot at this point.  

If Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) – a.k.a. the “conscience of the House” &n… Read full post »

That funding for the IMF that's attached to the Senate’s supplemental spending bill is stirring up quite a hornets’ nest in Congress right now and could be dropped from the final bill. Democratic leaders might ultimately find that their best chance to save IMF funding will be to include m… Read full post »

Children at school in Tanzania.   

School will soon let out across the nation for millions of American children. For most, the start of summer vacation brings a sense of liberation. They have the freedom to put down their books and spend time with more leisurely pursuits, be… Read full post »

The Senate debated and passed emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan last night. As mentioned in my previous blog, the bill also included additional funding for the International Monetary Fund that would extend their line of credit by $100 billion. The money is intended to help low- a… Read full post »

Who would that be?

Probably not the guy standing on the corner with the gas can and the Zippo lighter.

To a certain extent, however, this is precisely what’s happening… Read full post »