In Oil Spill Address, Obama Offers No Answers on Climate Bill

In his speech to the nation from the Oval Office Tuesday night, President Obama laid out a three-step plan to mitigate the damage from the BP oil spill and compensate affected residents along the Gulf Coast.

Missing from his address, however, was a concrete proposal for how to wean More…

Obama: ‘We Will Fight This Spill With Everything We’ve Got’

Addressing the nation from the Oval Office for the first time, President Obama tonight laid out his plan to contain the oil spill and compensate people and businesses who have suffered from its effects.

Obama called the crisis “the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced” and “an epidemic, one More…

EPA Analysis Says Climate Bill’s Cost for Households Would Be ‘Modest’

All the attention on the energy front today is going to the BP spill, but the Environmental Protection Agency quietly released its long-anticipated analysis of the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill (PDF). The verdict? Much like its counterpart in the House, the bill would impose a “modest” cost on American households, More…

Exempt From Disclosure Rules, NRA Drops Opposition to Post-Citizens United Bill

Yesterday, we reported that in response to pressure from the National Rifle Association and other groups, House Democrats decided to exempt the NRA and some other large organizations from the DISCLOSE Act, which will require corporate funders of campaign ads to attach disclosure messages to the ads.

It seems More…

Markey Blasts Oil Companies for ‘Carbon Copy’ Safety Plans

At a hearing this morning with executives from five leading oil companies, House Energy and Environment Subcommittee Chairman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) lambasted the executives for their companies’ lack of preparation for an oil spill like the one that has been spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico for 57 days. More…

NRA Shows Who’s Boss

Two weeks ago, we ran a piece on lobbying efforts to derail the DISCLOSE Act, which would roll back the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision by forcing companies that finance campaign ads to issue disclosure messages. One of the main opponents of the measure was the National Rifle Association, More…

As Obama Steps Up Engagement on Spill, Energy Battles Loom

President Obama is stepping up his engagement on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill this week, conducting a two-day tour of the Gulf states and returning to make his first speech from the Oval Office on Tuesday, in which he’ll lay out his plan to force BP to create More…

Plurality of Americans Now Oppose Offshore Drilling Expansion

Just 44 percent of Americans support an expansion of offshore oil drilling, according to a new Fox News poll — down from 54 percent three weeks ago and 70 percent in early April, before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sent 25,000 barrels of oil a day More…

Senate Votes Down Murkowski Resolution, 53-47

The Senate just voted down Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) resolution to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s finding that greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to public health. The final vote was 53-47, with six Democrats joining all Republicans in voting for the resolution.

The EPA was required by the Supreme More…

Florida Goes Topsy-Turvy in New Poll

The hype around the Florida Senate race was focused on Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio, who sparred for the GOP nomination before the former was forced to go independent. But now there’s a new twist: Presumptive Democratic candidate Rep. Kendrick Meek is now in a dead heat with billionaire More…