• The House is debating the economic stimulus package today, and is likely to vote on it on Wednesday. President Obama was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday lobbying Republican lawmakers to support the bill, though GOP leaders say they are holding out for more tax cuts.
• Meanwhile, mass transit advocates are already miffed that spending for their projects got reduced in favor of more tax cuts. And on the Senate side, the prospects for transit look even bleaker.
• Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Steve Israel (D-N.Y.) announced on Tuesday that they have formed a Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition caucus in the House of Representatives. In his announcement, Inslee noted that the group recently met with Carol Browner, the new assistant to the president on energy and climate policy, and that the caucus members are working on improving green technology provisions stimulus package. “The melting of the Arctic ice cap is speeding up toward a point of no return and the economy is in turmoil,” said Inslee. “We are in need of bold, aggressive action, and that’s exactly what the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition is about.”
• Apparently, a pair of Swiss filmmakers is working on a documentary about what happened to Jimmy Carter’s White House solar panels.
• The brilliant minds at the Reality Coalition have bought ad space on all misdirected web pages on washingtonpost.com.
• Ed Markey, chair of the House Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming and author of the fuel-economy provision in the 2007 energy bill, sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood on Monday asking him to strengthen the standards.
• The Heartland Institute has scheduled its annual climate change skepticism summit for March 8-10 in New York City, if you’d like to go give yourself an ulcer for a few days.
