Well, it's all but official. According to every major news outlet, the attempt to pass federal climate and energy legislation has failed. Democrats announced Friday they were abandoning the bill, effectively snuffing out any possibility of it passing. But why? After so much hope early in Obama's term, how did the effort to address global warming and reduce our oil addiction die before......read more
Despite the failed attempts to pass sweeping climate change legislation, President Obama said he would would be willing to put the entire weight of his presidency on the issue. In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, the President said that he plans to address climate change in "chunks" starting next year. He said he will devote a massive amount of presidential power to the......read more
In a widely distributed article in The New Yorker this week, Ryan Lizza documents the rise and fall of the climate bill introduced in the Senate by the “tripartisan” trio of John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, and Lindsey Graham ("KLG"). In it, Lizza provides a fascinating and troubling account of the messy legislative process that killed the bill. Entitled "As the World Burns,"......read more
The 2010 midterm election campaigns are in full swing, and Democrats are in jeopardy of losing many seats in both the House and Senate. Many of these positions could be won by candidates supported by the Tea Party, which wants less government and views climate legislation as just another federal power grab. In Indiana, where Democratic Representative Baron P. Hill spoke in defense of his......read more
If you've been hanging out on SHFT lately, you probably know that Prop 23 is a dirty bill that Texas oil companies and out of state special interests are funding to reverse California's environmental laws. These dirty enegy companies make the claim that due to the 12.5% unemployment rate in the state, that we should suspend AB 32 until unemployment drops to 5.5% for four quarters in a......read more
After a midterm election that saw the House of Representatives shift from Democratic to Republican control, it's become abundantly clear that comprehensive climate legislation is going to be incredibly difficult if not impossible to pass. That's all the more evident when you consider that two dozen members of Congress who voted for the Waxman-Markley climate legislation a short while......read more
Goodlifer debuted Heather Heron's second collaboration with Environment Furniture, featuring a nice little range of bags made from surplus military fabric. The collection is available here. Massachusetts will become the latest U.S. state to institute emissions regs, with a plan that's among the nation's most ambitious: slashing emissions by 25% below 1990 levels over the next......read more
I recently met Beth Terry, the author of a great blog on plastic pollution called Fake Plastic Fish (the definitive resource on our culture’s obsession with plastics) at a very sobering event – the return from an expedition to Midway Island with photographer Chris Jordan, who traveled there with a film crew to document the “plastic graveyard.” Midway is literally “midway” from......read more
When not producing hard-hitting journalism from the front lines of COP15 (yaawwwn), or suing the pants off the other WWF (pardon me, WWE), the World Wildlife Fund occasionally drops a great little animated video, like this one here. ...read more
SHFT animator extraordinaire Liz Klein creates a moving message about the environment and climate change, using the tried and true technique of stop motion animation. Just in time for the holidays. Watch this before they run Rudolph....read more