How high’s the water, mama? Five feet high and rising How high’s the water, papa? She said it’s five feet high and rising Well the rails are washed out north of town We gotta head for higher ground We can’t come back till the water goes down Five feet high and rising… –Johnny Cash, “Five […]
climate change
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Men Who Knew Too Much: Exxon’s Climate Cruelty
What they did was nothing short of sick, nothing short of twisted, nothing short of unforgivable. No wonder one of their executives couldn’t wait to serve the Trump agenda. As David Roberts observes, ExxonMobil’s behavior has been every bit as reckless, selfish and vile as the behavior of the 45th President: The world’s largest oil […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Hurricane Harvey and Trump’s Treachery
You can’t have limited government when there’s unlimited flooding. Surely, among the many residents of Texas and Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Harvey are Republicans who voted for Donald Trump because they wanted to “get the federal government out of their lives,” and because they didn’t want “liberal tree-hugging central-planning do-gooders” making decisions in Washington. Of […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Of Course Trump Will Suppress New Report on US Climate Impacts
Has he called it “fake news” on Twitter yet? There isn’t a chance in hell that the Trump administration will ever officially release the latest National Climate Assessment Report showing the severe risk carbon pollution poses to the United States. Trump will surely take a page from George W. Bush, who taught Trump all that […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
The Courts Will Not Save Us from Trump’s Climate Callousness
Last year, I argued that an effort by young climate activists in Oregon to compel the federal government to reduce carbon emissions was well-intentioned but doomed. I didn’t anticipate that this effort would be doomed so quickly: A landmark climate change lawsuit, brought against the federal government by 21 children, has encountered yet another hurdle […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
An Administration That Is Choosing Silence Over Science
A whistleblower at the Department of Interior speaks out.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Green Lantern: Gore’s Return to the Spotlight Has Implications for 2018 and Beyond
Accepting the Vice Presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention 25 years ago today, then-Tennessee Senator Al Gore declared: I’ve spent much of my career working to protect the environment, not only because it is vital to the future of my State of Tennessee, our country and our earth, but because I believe there is […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Hiding Out: Why Republicans Really Don’t Want an August Recess
Republicans are scared to face the wrath of their constituents.
Posted inPolitical Animal
Will Steve Scalise Show James Brady’s Courage?
It couldn’t possibly happen, could it? It has been just over two weeks since a would-be assassin tried to take the life of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) in Virginia, the first time in six years that a sitting member of Congress has fallen victim to gun violence. Scalise will likely never return to Congress; the […]
Posted inPolitical Animal
Golden State Warrior: Jerry Brown’s Vision Trumps Right-Wing Folly
These days, you have to find Presidential leadership on the West Coast, not in the West Wing. California Governor Jerry Brown deserves tremendous praise for demonstrating the sort of climate courage Donald Trump refuses to. Just as former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took steps to curb carbon pollution while George W. Bush dithered a decade […]
