In the News

Turn ‘Em on! Turn ‘Em All On!
Meghan Cox Gurdon, San Francisco Examiner, 26 March 2009

In a press release, CEI cheerfully applauded organizations such as the Kennedy Center, Wal-Mart, Target and the United States Marine Corps for keeping the lights on (and, in the case of the Marines, for continuing “combat and humanitarian operations around the world”) throughout Saturday night.

Obama To Delay Signing Agreement at Copenhagen?
Patrick Wintour, The Guardian, 26 March 2009

Barack Obama may be forced to delay signing up to a new international agreement on climate change in Copenhagen at the end of the year because of the scale of opposition in the US Congress, it emerged today.

Economy vs Environment
David Owen, New Yorker, 30 March 2009

So far, the most effective way for a Kyoto signatory to cut its carbon output has been to suffer a well-timed industrial implosion, as Russia did after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991.

New Poll: Global Warming Last on Americans List of Green Concerns
Lydia Saad, Gallup, 25 March 2009

The folks behind World Water Day — a largely U.N.-sponsored effort to focus attention on freshwater resource management, observed this past Sunday — may be on to something. Pollution of drinking water is Americans’ No. 1 environmental concern, with 59% saying they worry “a great deal” about the issue. That exceeds the 45% worried about air pollution, the 42% worried about the loss of tropical rain forests, and lower levels worried about extinction of species and global warming.

A Cap-and-Trade Calamity?
William Galston, The New Republic, 23 March 2009

It is gradually dawning on Washington that cap-and-trade legislation won’t pass anytime soon–certainly not this year, and probably not next year either. One reason is public opinion: a Gallup survey released last week revealed that “for the first time in Gallup’s 25-year history of asking Americans about the trade-off between environmental protection and economic growth, a majority of Americans say economic growth should be given the priority, even if the environment suffers to some extent.” Just four years ago, protecting the environment enjoyed a 17-point edge; today, the advantage goes to the economy, 51-42.