Energy, Climate and the 2020 Election
The Elephant at the State of the Union
By William S. Becker Deep in the inner sanctums of the federal bureaucracy, Donald Trump’s lieutenants are writing the early drafts of the President’s State of the Union address, coming up on Jan. 29. It’s possible that the annual speech
Shooting at the Wrong Tax Target
By William S. Becker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been in Congress just a few days, but she's already looking like the Robin Hood of the climate-action movement. She and her merry band of progressives in the House of Representatives are
Building the Green New Deal
By William S. Becker The always informative blog Grist reports that the proposal for a national Green New Deal is stirring up criticism from grassroots organizations that have worked for a long time on social justice, renewable energy, the sovereign
2019: Year of the Carbon Revolution?
Second in a series of occasional articles about the new Congress and climate change. The clear and present danger of climate change means we cannot burn our way to prosperity. We already rely too heavily on fossil fuels. We need
Proposed: A Select Committee For A Green New Deal
There is significant post-election buzz among progressives about a "Green New Deal" -- a national program with the intensity of America's efforts during World War II. The core of the idea is "the transition of the United States economy to
Uncle Sam the Carbon Pusher
By William S. Becker This column is for all good citizens who hear the static about global climate change, but who don’t understand what the fuss is. It’s for those people who have not yet grasped that the world has
Riots Haven’t Killed Carbon Fees
By William S. Becker As riots continued across France this week, President Trump and several news outlets jumped to the conclusion that the uprising was “part of a global backlash against climate change taxes.” Trump gloated that the riots prove
Trump’s Latest Collusion
By William S. Becker The world is waiting to learn whether Donald Trump colluded with Vladimir Putin to win the U.S. presidency two years ago. We don’t have to wait for an investigation, however, to prove another collusion between Trump
What’s New?
Restoring the Presidency
The Brennan Center for Justice has launched a bipartisan task force to identify how fundamental norms and rules can be restored in the American presidency after the tenure of Donald Trump. Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a member of PCAP’s National Advisory Committee, is one of the task force co-chairs. Here, she and co-chair Preet Bharara explain what they have in mind. Their op-ed first appeared in USA Today.
The First Climate Election
Bill Becker posts a series of blogs on the importance of this year’s midterm elections to climate action in the U.S.
Part 1: The Big Issues
Donald Trump’s performance, the flaws in our democracy and climate change should be among the issues in the 2018 midterm elections.
Part 2: Unrigging Democracy
Democracy is being sabotaged, and not just be the Russians. Here’s how and what we can do about it.
Part 3: No More Nice Days.
Why 2018 and 2020 should be America’s historic climate elections.
We can fight climate change without Washington.
By Bill McKibben
A frontal approach to climate action in the United States may not be successful, but the flanks are wide open
U.S. Military assesses its climate vulnerability
In its latest vulnerability assessment, the Department of Defense says half its facilities are vulnerable to climate effects.
This map from the Department of Defense shows the military sites in the lower 48 states that are vulnerable to flooding, extreme temperatures, wind, drought and/or wildfires.
Antidotes to the Poison of Campaign Finance
By Timothy E. Wirth
Secret and corrupting funding will always try to find a way into politics, but as in the past, our democracy can survive and succeed if citizens and their..
Finding Freedom in Restraint
By William D. Ruckelshaus Whether you believe it a moral obligation to care for other living things or an intelligent instinct for self-preservation, we need collectively to constrain our conduct so we…
GOP Alienates Young Conservatives on Climate Change
Commentary by Kiera O’Brien and Ben Zollinger published originally in February by CNBC
The Republican Party is alienating an entire generation of young conservative voters by continuing to downplay climate science and sidestep solutions.
Among the many internal battles over the heart and soul of the GOP, the most overlooked yet consequential may center on energy and environmental policy. Here, party leaders risk driving away the millennial generation that is the future of both parties, and already the largest voting bloc
Climate & Energy
New developments in climate science and the transition to clean energy.
Commentary
Latest news along with blogs by PCAP’s Bill Becker and other prominent commentators.
Kindred Groups & Resources
Other groups working on climate change and the clean energy transition, regardless of political affiliations, along with resources climate activists can use.
PCAP Archive
The most important of PCAP’s previous reports and studies.
“As we peer into society’s future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.”
“We have, I hope, finally put to rest the false choice between the economy and the environment, for we have the strongest economy perhaps in our history, with a cleaner environment.”
“The great question of the seventies is, shall we surrender to our surroundings, or shall we make our peace with nature and begin to make reparations for the damage we have done to our air, to our land, and to our water?”
“I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that’s beyond fixing.”
“Laws change; people die; the land remains.”