Posts by Suemedha Sood

For the last eight years, scientists have accused the Bush administration of tampering with, suppressing or even ignoring scientific findings that conflicted with its policies. Their central question is what could the next president do to restore scientific integrity.

Young people care more about the environment — whether global warming, renewable fuels, clean energy or energy independence — than any other demographic. This proves true across party lines.

I have a piece coming up today on how the environment could factor into the youth vote tomorrow.
In my reporting for the story, I came across a group called the Energy Action Coalition, which has run a nonpartisan campaign called “Power Vote” this election season. The campaign’s purpose is to galvanize young people to persuade [...]

The McCain campaign has launched a very clever ad on global warming. The entire commercial consists of a clip of Sen. Barack Obama saying supportive things about a climate bill that Sen. John McCain co-sponsored with Sen. Joe Lieberman. Take a look:

Shock, surprise! Exxon Mobil Corp. reported record-breaking quarterly profits today. The oil company earned $14.83 billion in its fiscal third quarter, more than any company in U.S. history.
Hearing the news, Sen. John McCain accused Sen. Barack Obama of being in the pockets of Big Oil, a charge Obama has repeatedly leveled at McCain in campaign [...]

As I reported last week, it’s still unclear what consumers may do now that oil and gasoline prices have plummeted. A bit of news from TradingMarkets.com shows that consumers’ mixed reactions to lower gas prices are making things especially difficult for the auto industry.

It looks like Wal-Mart is being forced to scale back expansion due to the struggling economy. That means it’s also being forced to scale back its help in perpetuating the absurd amount of suburban sprawl that the superstore has relied on since its birth. But not by all that much.

The cost of a barrel of oil is sliding as demand weakens and the global economy falters. Economists wonder whether the conservation lessons learned during the time of high energy prices will stick. But a recession may trump all.

Since oil prices plummeted to below $70 a barrel, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has been talking about cutting oil production to respond to a demand that just keeps dropping. Today, OPEC is doing it. It announced a plan to cut oil output by 1.5 million barrels.

Andrew Wetzler, head of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s endangered species project, has been blogging today about the Bush administration’s attempt to rush through new rules that could overhaul the Endangered Species Act. In one post, Wetzler argues that the White House’s actions could be illegal.