Environmental Politics

Interior Brass Under Investigation for Political Interference with Science

Top officials at the Bureau of Ocean Energy, Management, Regulation and Enforcement have been charged with scientific misconduct regarding a possible cover-up over the suspension and sudden reinstatement of Dr. Charles Monnett, who authored a paper suggesting climate change was harming polar bears.

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"Wind Industry Lobbies for Tax-Credit Extension"

"So far 2011 has been a good year f0or wind energy projects. Installations in the first six months of 2011 were almost double what they were in the comparable period in 2010 in terms of total megawatts (2,151 versus 1,250), according to the American Wind Energy Association. But a bipartisan coalition of 24 state governors, fretting that the industry could lose momentum, has already begun lobbying the Obama administration to improve business conditions for wind energy developers."

Source: Green (NYT), 09/08/2011

"Board Game Brings the Difficulties of Climate Negotiations Home"

"The colorful, six-sided tiles with pictures of trees, rocks, and landscapes formed larger hexagons, creating islands across six tables in the second-floor gallery of the Goethe-Institut in Washington, D.C. On a recent Friday evening, more than 60 people gathered to play a game that has sold 15 million copies worldwide since 1995. The tiles were part of 'The Settlers of Catan,' a game where players trade and compete for resources while constructing cities."

Source: ClimateWire, 09/08/2011

"Perry Asks Federal Aid for 'Mean' Texas Wildfires"

"AUSTIN, Texas -- "Governor Rick Perry, a Republican, has reissued his disaster proclamation nine times this wildfire season; it was originally issued on December 21, 2010. Perry, a Tea Party favorite who is campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, cut short a campaign visit to South Carolina to return to Austin to deal with the fires. Well known for criticizing federal government spending, Perry has since April been seeking federal assistance to pay for wildfire relief and preparedness."

Source: ENS, 09/07/2011

"Hundreds Arrested Protesting Keystone XL Oil Pipeline"

"Protesters hope to persuade President Obama not to approve the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline that would run from Canada to Texas. But the State Department already says its safe, and supporters point to thousands of new jobs."

Source: Christian Science Monitor, 09/05/2011

"Cool Climate Paper Sinks Journal Editor"

"The editor of the journal Remote Sensing resigned [Friday], saying in an editorial that his journal never should have published a controversial paper in July that challenged the reliability of climate models used to forecast global warming. The paper, by Roy Spencer and William Braswell of the University of Alabama in Huntsville, proposed that climate researchers have likely made a fundamental error by overestimating the sensitivity of the climate to greenhouse-gas pollution."

Source: Nature, 09/05/2011

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