Fair Proxy Web (Free subscription) | 08/28/2008
DNC: Biden’s time By Kate Sheppard joe biden. photo: ted s. warren / ap After formally receiving the nomination as Barack Obama’s running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden took the stage. His speech focused on his middle-class roots and the lessons he learned from his parents, and transitioned into emphasizing a call to revitalize the “American dream.” While [...]
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/26/2008
By Kate Sheppard David and I caught up with Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) yesterday to talk about climate and energy politics, and the prospects for next Congress. Bingaman is the chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee . We caught him after he appeared on a panel on "The Future of Environmentalism." Here's the video:
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/24/2008
By Kate Sheppard Joe Biden. Photo: senate.gov In a 3 a.m. blast of emails and text messages, Democrat Barack Obama announced that his selection for a vice presidential candidate is Delaware Sen. Joe Biden . And, for the most part, representatives from the environmental community were pleased with the news they awoke to Saturday morning. During his 35 years in the Senate, Biden...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/20/2008
By Kate Sheppard MoveOn is dropping a cool half a million dollars on a new TV ad in North Carolina that accuses Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) of being "in the pocket of Big Oil." The ad highlights their support for tax breaks for oil companies. Dole is facing a tough reelection bid against Democratic challenger and state Sen....
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/20/2008
By Kate Sheppard Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith (R) is in hot water over a water-quality violation at his family's food-processing plant. Wastewater from Smith Frozen Foods in eastern Oregon overflowed into a creek recently while the plant was processing corn, a violation of state environmental regulations. This is bad timing for Smith, who has been touting his eco-credentials in what's...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 07/30/2008
By Kate Sheppard Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens -- the longest-serving Republican in the Senate and a longtime thorn in the side of enviros -- was indicted today . A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., charged the 84-year-old senator with seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms between 1999 to 2006 in order to conceal gifts and in-kind services from...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 07/25/2008
By Kate Sheppard Sen. Robert Menendez. In the Senate debate over the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act last month, Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) stood out as one of the most vocal advocates for making polluters pay to emit greenhouse gases rather than giving them free carbon credits. He also spoke up about the need to spend more on clean technology and help developing countries...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/28/2008
By Kate Sheppard Joe Biden. Photo: Ted S. Warren / AP After formally receiving the nomination as Barack Obama's running mate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden took the stage. His speech focused on his middle-class roots and the lessons he learned from his parents, and transitioned into emphasizing a call to revitalize the "American dream." While emphasizing his friendship with the Arizona...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/28/2008
By Kate Sheppard Former presidential candidate and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on McCain's changing policies: "Candidate McCain criticizes the climate change bill that Sen. McCain wrote ... talk about being for it before you're against it. Before he debates Barack Obama, John McCain should finish the debate with himself."
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/26/2008
By Kate Sheppard Energy, climate, and national-security concerns are inextricably joined in the modern political environment, says former Democratic Colorado Sen. Gary Hart. This fact should elevate sound climate and energy policy to a top-tier issue in this year's election, he said, for both politicians and voters. "I think if ordinary, everyday Americans understood that we are...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/23/2008
By Kate Sheppard "We literally can't afford four more years of this non-energy policy, relying on hostile foreign countries ... literally putting America's security at risk," said Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, in his first speaking engagement as Barack Obama's vice-presidential candidate today in Springfield, Ill. "Barack Obama and I believe -- we believe with every fiber of our being...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/21/2008
By Kate Sheppard The energy debate is playing out in down-ticket races across the country, and Colorado's no exception. In the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R), Rep. Mark Udall (D) and former-Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) are duking it out over oil. Schaffer represented Colorado's fourth district from 1997 through 2003, and in 2004 he made a failed bid in the Republican...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/20/2008
By Kate Sheppard Environment America today became the latest green group to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. "Sen. Obama has publicly committed to fully addressing the pressing problem of global warming and moving the United States toward a new energy future," said Margie Alt, executive director of Environment America. "He has made clean energy one of the...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 08/19/2008
By Kate Sheppard The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is targeting Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) for supporting Big Oil. A new ad highlights the fact that he voted to give oil companies tax breaks and voted against legislation to curb speculation in the oil market. "While oil companies make record profits, Roger Wicker votes to give them $28 billion in tax breaks," the ad...
Gristmill (Free subscription) | 07/29/2008
By Kate Sheppard "Getting a cap-and-trade program enacted is going to be a heavy lift," Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) told a group of reporters over breakfast this morning. Bingaman, chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, spoke today about the challenges and opportunities in both climate and energy legislation, stressing that while he doesn't "despair of it,"...
