This page features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the environment from members of The Media Consortium. For the best progressive reporting on critical economic, health care and immigration-related issues, check out The Audit, The Pulse and The Diaspora.
featured post
Weekly Mulch: How Reid’s Energy Bill Undermines Senate Climate Efforts
by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced a limited energy bill that responds to the oil spill and promotes energy efficiency. Reid’s action is a signal that the Senate will not pass climate legislation before November, although Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) said that a climate bill could come up in the lame-duck session following the election.
“The Senate’s climate bill is officially dead,” Kate Sheppard writes at Mother Jones. “And given that Democrats will almost certainly hold fewer seats in Congress next year, major action on the climate is unlikely to be revived anytime soon.”
Since 2009, expectations for a bill regulating carbon emissions have steadily declined. After this latest failure in the Senate, the best near-term hope for addressing climate change comes from the Environmental Protection Agency, which still has the power to regulate carbon emissions.
At the Washington Independent, Andrew Restuccia reports that Sen. Reid’s bill will likely hold oil companies more financially accountable for spills by lifting the cap on their liability for economic damages and will nudge homeowners towards energy efficiency. READ MORE…
from our members
- EPA ups estimate of how much oil has leaked
MICHIGAN MESSENGER: Wednesday night the Environmental Protection Agency revised its estimate on the amount of oil that has flowed into the Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River in Calhoun County. The EPA now says more that one million gallons of crude oil... - EPA puts up website for Calhoun County oil spill
MICHIGAN MESSENGER: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a website devoted specifically to the oil spill in lower Michigan that has sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil flowing into the Kalamazoo River and on its way to Lake... - The filibuster is what enables the ‘secret hold’ in the Senate | Rules of enragement: The filibuster and Senate reform
GRIST: Besides blocking legislation that enjoys majority support from coming to a vote, the filibuster lies at the heart of a number of disruptive and anti-democratic practices in the Senate, including the so-called "secret hold." - The filibuster undermines democratic accountability | Rules of enragement: The filibuster and Senate reform
The filibuster stands today as the single most important impediment to the significant reforms needed in America's climate/energy policies, its immigration policies, its labor law policies, and its need for a functioning judiciary. But beyond that, the... - Rules of enragement: The filibuster and Senate reform
GRIST: What’s the biggest barrier to progress in American politics? Ask a dozen people at random and you’ll hear everything from “bad messaging” to “poor grassroots organization” to “corruption.” What you probably won’t hear much about is... - Oil spill sends more than a million gallons into Michigan waters
GRIST: A new oil spill is sullying waters in Michigan after a pipeline leak sent more than a million gallons of crude into a river tributary, officials said Wednesday. - Will Frito-Lay’s new traveling greenhouse really sell more potato chips?
GRIST: What comes to mind when you bite into a Lay's® potato chip? Do you think: Mmmm, crunchycrispysaltyfatty junkfood goodness -- I wonder how many calories are in these? I really should put this bag down now.
earlier from the consortium report
Weekly Mulch: Politics, Power, and the Environment Beyond BP
by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
Washington has a blind spot when it comes to the environment. BP and the oil spill brought the government’s failures into the spotlight, but the same problems crop up across industries: Corporations pollute water, blast through mountains, and pour carbon into the atmosphere with insufficient oversight. But no one—Congress, the... Read More
Weekly Mulch: When will America be free from BP?
by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium blogger
On July 4th, Americans are supposed to celebrate their independence. We may no longer have to worry about a greedy, distant monarch. But our country is still held in thrall to powerful interests that prize profit over individuals and their freedom—the energy industry comes to mind. As Jason Mark puts... Read More
Weekly Mulch: As risks for oil and gas grow, USSF offers change
By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
BP oil has been spilling into the Gulf of Mexico for more than two months, and while attention has focused there, deepwater oil drilling is just one of many risky methods of energy extraction that industry is pursuing. Gasland, Josh Fox’s documentary about the effects of hydrofracking, a new technique... Read More
Weekly Mulch: Can Washington Stand Up to the Energy Industry?
By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger
President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders spent this week trying to stand up to the oil industry. In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Obama pushed BP to siphon $20 billion into a escrow fund that will cover liability claims, and Congress grilled BP... Read More