Climate Politics
All Stories
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A review of Arctic Refuge
First, the facts. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge covers about 19 million acres in northeastern Alaska, almost all north of the Arctic Circle. It was created in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which renamed and more than doubled the size of an existing wildlife range, designated about 8 million acres within the refuge as wilderness, and prohibited oil and gas production in the refuge unless authorized by Congress.
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In a confidential memo, President Bush tells EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman what's on his
Christie — Heard they hammered you in Montreal about the Kyoto thing. Don’t let it get you down, Whitman! They’re foreigners, these people, and foreigners feed on confrontation. It’s cultural. Did you see that recent French or German movie, in black and white? Cultural. Good of you to leave the conference early. I take it […]
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Fear and Loathing in D.C.
Christie Todd Whitman. When it comes to listing body blows inflicted on the environmental movement by the Bush administration in recent days, it’s hard to know where to start. Pick up the paper any day of the week and you’ll likely find a fresh slap in the face of U.S. EPA “Administrator” Christie Todd Whitman. […]
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And other words from readers
Re: The Noble Citizen Dear Editor: This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt moved to cry upon hearing that someone I didn’t know personally had died. I feel that I’ve come to know Donella Meadows in the past couple of years. Many times I have praised her writing, her clear […]
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Boxer Rebellion
Democrats say that President Bush’s recent moves to roll back environmental protections have given them their first rallying point since Bush took office. “We believe that George W. Bush has declared war on the environment,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) last week. Mark Mellman, a leading Democratic pollster, said, “I think Bush is in the […]
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The case for oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Who doesn’t want to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? It’ll be fun! We will wear special outfits, and when the oil gets in our mustaches, we’ll take silly pictures and send them as postcards. The future, now more than ever, is a vast, inky utopia. Babies will squeal with delight and […]
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Can laws be written that inspire reverence for the land?
As usual, Charles Wilkinson is pacing. Hands stuffed in the front pockets of his Levi’s, head down, he paces the lecture hall, up one stairway and down the other, his students’ heads swiveling to follow him. Charles Wilkinson, law man. Photo: Larry Harwood, University of Colorado at Boulder. But on this December morning, during the […]
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Recount!
1.2 billion — number of dollars raised by Democratic and Republican candidates for federal office in the 2000 election cycle 110:1 — ratio of anti-environmental (construction, chemical, and energy/natural resource) PAC contributions to environmental PAC contributions 9 — estimated number of dollars spent by candidates for federal office per registered voter in the United States […]
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Whitman Sampler
Muckraker hears from a reliable and informed source that Linda Fisher, EPA assistant administrator for toxics and pesticides under Bush the Elder, will return to the agency to serve as Christine Todd Whitman’s number two. The source described the Fisher appointment as close to a done deal, a fact that did not sit altogether well […]
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Some Assembly Required
Causing anti-globalization activists to cry foul, the World Trade Organization decided yesterday that it will hold its first top-level meetings since the infamous 1999 Battle in Seattle in Qatar, a Persian Gulf nation with a questionable human rights record and little history of public protest. In the past, the U.S. State Department has said that […]