EarthBlips - Latest United States News Articles

Daily Briefing: Tues.

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:22:29 +0000

SETTING LIMITS: The United States will give the world what it wants — a specific, short-term target for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in time for next month's U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen — a senior White House official announced Monday. Global leaders have been pushing their American counterparts to set a number, following the lead of nations ranging from Brazil to Russia, even though fellow super-emitter China is refusing to set an emissions target of its own.

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Obama Going To Copenhagen? White House To Announce Soon

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:58:08 +0000

The White House will announce soon whether President Obama will attend the climate change meetings in Copenhagen, a long anticipated decision that will signal how much effort and political capital the United States wants to spend on promising to curb carbon emissions.

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Nations Unveil Plans to Rein in Emissions

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:37:24 +0000

Prior to a climate change meeting scheduled for Copenhagen, industrialized countries, except the United States, are offering targets to curb greenhouse gases.

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George Pataki: Putting Natural Gas to Work for America

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:32:04 +0000

Every day it's becoming clear to more and more Americans that our continued over reliance on foreign oil is not just an environmental disaster but an economic disaster for this country as well. People appreciate that while we will have great sources of renewable fuel down the road, we need something now. And what is available now and has been proven to be in great abundance in the United States is natural gas. We are fortunate by virtue of geology, science, and technology to have the ability now to access natural gas from shale deposits that in the past were economically off limits. I think it's a tremendous opportunity. But we have to be smart enough to take advantage of that opportunity, by allowing the shale to be developed in a way that enables us to access the natural gas. Then we have to put in place policies that encourage Americans to use natural gas not just in power plants but to replace foreign oil as a transportation fuel for fleets and big trucks. More than 30 states have proven ...

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Where do the pardoned turkeys go?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:33:53 +0000

It’s a bad joke just waiting to be written. Reporter: Mr. Turkey. You’ve just been pardoned by the President of the United States. What are you going to do now?” Mr. Turkey: I’m going to Disney World! Turns out, that’s where the turkeys that are pardoned by the president each Thanksgiving go to live out the rest of their lives.

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Kevin Grandia: Energy industry front group plans "teabagger" protest at Gore's event in Portland

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:23:20 +0000

I just got word that Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is planning on protesting a presentation Al Gore is making tomorrow night in Portland, Oregon. Under the guise of the "teabagger movement" AFP will do what it does best, which is protesting clean energy and green jobs. It's hard to believe this is much of a grassroots "teabagger" movement when the organizers get so much money from the largest private energy company in the United States. Below is everything you need to know about AFP and their president Tim Phillips that I've pulled from our research database. All this will be passed on to the local Portland media to ensure that they include this important context in any reporting they do on this story. If you're from Portland or know anyone from the area, please pass this around to local bloggers and media. Highlights: - Here's a complete rundown of AFP's funding. - AFP is the third largest recipient of funding from the Koch Family Foundations, manged by Charles G. Koch who runs ...

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U.S. Senate puts off action on climate bill to 2010

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:21:22 +0000

by Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate will act in early 2010 on legislation to battle climate change, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday, ending hopes of a breakthrough by next month’s global talks. “We are going to try to do that sometime in the spring,” Reid told reporters, with a White House-backed push to remake U.S. health care still dominating the Senate agenda just weeks before the congressional session ends. The decision confirms that the U.S. Congress will not adopt legislation to combat climate change before the Dec. 7-18 global climate change talks in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen. It also pushes what is likely to be a bitter debate to a midterm-election year, potentially making it harder to corral some of the swing-vote senators needed to ensure passage of the bill. The Grassley isn’t greener Meanwhile, a key U.S. senator on Tuesday rejected any attempt to pin a lack of breakthroughs at next month’s global ...

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Chinese Solar Panel Firm to Open Plant in Arizona

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:44:43 +0000

The solar panel manufacturer, the first Chinese solar company to build a plant in the United States, will initially hire 75 workers.

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Copenhagen calamity: Now what?

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:55:34 +0000

by Grist There were plenty of hints over the past month that world leaders would down-shift expectations for drafting a new, international climate treaty in Copenhagen next month. Still, when news broke over the weekend that key nations, including the United States, were planning to push a final treaty into 2010, it came as shock to climate activists and commentators world wide. Grist editors will be compiling various reactions below. Drop links and your own thoughts into the comments box at the bottom of the page. More Copenhagen Climate Talks Links Related Links: Merkel decides to attend Copenhagen climate summit Environment ministers meet to prepare climate summit World leaders say Copenhagen to be a stepping stone

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Obama Hobbled By Congress In Fight Against Global Warming

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:49:26 +0000

President Obama came into office pledging to end eight years of American inaction on climate change under President George W. Bush, and all year he has promised that the United States would lead the way toward a global agreement in Copenhagen next month to address the warming planet. But this weekend in Singapore, Mr. Obama was forced to acknowledge that a comprehensive climate deal was beyond reach this year. Instead, he and other world leaders agreed that they would work toward a more modest interim agreement with a promise to renew work toward a binding treaty next year.

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Countdown to Copenhagen: The President's lonely dilemma

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000

Can the world reach a new deal to combat climate change without the world's richest country, the world's sole superpower? Such is the question looming over the Copenhagen climate change summit, now only three weeks away, as the international community waits anxiously to see if President Barack Obama can publicly commit the United States to action on global warming. > >

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Leaders Will Delay Deal on Climate Change

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:57:49 +0000

President Obama and other world leaders have decided to put off the task of reaching a climate change agreement at a global climate conference scheduled for next month.

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Tofurky: The other white "meat"

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:53:25 +0000

Each Thanksgiving, 675 million pounds of turkey is eaten in the United States (that'

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Is Peak Oil steeper than we thought?

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:24:56 +0000

This should be a wake up call to us all- the world could be running out of oil faster than officials have previously reported. A whistleblower at the International Energy Agency (IEA) claims that the agency, encouraged by the United States, has been underplaying the rate of decline of existing oil fields while overplaying the discovery rate of new fields.

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U.S. pushes for compromise in Copenhagen climate talks

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:50:04 +0000

by Agence France-Presse SINGAPORE—The United States called Wednesday for a compromise at next month’s global climate talks in Copenhagen and vowed to support a fund to help developing countries cope with emissions cuts. “We cannot let the pursuit of perfection get in the way of progress,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a news conference in Singapore ahead of a weekend Pacific Rim summit to be attended by President Obama. Photo courtesy US Mission Canada via Flickr Clinton said she had “fruitful discussions” on climate issues earlier Wednesday with counterparts from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which includes China, Russia, and Japan. The Dec. 7-18 Copenhagen talks are aimed at achieving a global deal to slash greenhouse gas emissions and ease the impact of climate change before the 2012 expiry of the Kyoto Protocol, which excludes the United States. Obama has brought the United States back into the climate ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change, United States