Climate 411

This post is by Nat Keohane, Director of Economic Policy and Analysis at Environmental Defense.

In his December 11 post on Grist, Ross Gelbspan argues that we’ve already passed the point of no return with global warming, and climate activists are full of "hollow optimism".

There’s no doubt we’re already seeing signs of global warming. In our Climate 411 blog, we post signs of it all the time (see here, here, here, and here, for example). But just because the boat has started to leak doesn’t mean it can’t still get much worse. Our most dangerous response to climate change is despair. Now, more than ever, we need to act.

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This post is by Carol Andress, Economic Development Specialist at Environmental Defense.

Climate Vote 2007

This post is part of a series on the work of the Environmental Defense Action Fund to enact an effective climate law. You can help by writing to Congress.

Last night’s committee passage of the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (CSA) means that the bill now can be considered by the full Senate – an important step towards enacting national climate legislation. But for a bill to become law in this country it has to be passed by both the House and Senate, and the House is lagging behind. (See our previous post for more on the legislative process.)

So while we celebrate last night’s Senate victory, we still have our work cut out for us in the House. The House Energy Commerce Committee has been tied up with the energy bill, and has not yet circulated a proposal on climate legislation. Now that a vote on the energy bill is imminent, it’s time for House leaders to turn their attention.

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This post is by Mark MacLeod, Director of Special Projects, Climate and Air Program, Environmental Defense.

Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007 (CSA) is the most promising climate change legislation we’ve seen yet. You may have heard that it’s "out of subcommittee" and "scheduled for mark-up on December 5^th". But what does that mean?

The legislative process is complicated, but here is a basic overview of the process this bill is following, known as "regular order".

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