Environmental Politics

The conservative Daily Telegraph yesterday published a headline saying glaciers were growing, when the story beneath it -- and the study it reported -- said glaciers were melting. That is, the headline stated the opposite of the truth, a convenience for deniers of climate change and opponents of regulating greenhouse gases. The Daily Telegraph's reputation on Fleet Street has been burnished in recent years by the publication of no less than four premature obituaries. Kate Sheppard of Mother Jones, pondering why the public are confused about climate change, concludes: "The press has really blown it on coverage of this and other issues of science on global warming in the past year."

"The Environmental Protection Agency said on Wednesday it was again delaying its final rule on smog limits, with the rule now expected by the end of July 2011."

"Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday signaled that he will not mount a challenge to the House GOP Steering Committee’s selection of Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) as chairman of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee next year."

"The overhaul of food safety laws recently passed by the Senate had the support of business interests, consumer groups and lawmakers from both parties, but the bipartisan legislation still generated plenty of work along the K Street corridor."

"Don Blankenship, the outspoken and controversial CEO of Massey Energy, will retire effective Dec. 31, the company announced late Friday."

"The number of Americans who believe that global warming is a scientific fact has been dropping, and environmental groups and climate scientists who say the evidence for warming is clear are scratching their heads over this reversal and scrambling to find a new strategy."

Senate Republicans, led by James Inhofe (OK), are saying they will block any effort by the United States to honor the financial pledges, negotiated at last year's Copenhagen talks, to help developing countries reduce their greenhouse emissions and adapt to climate change.

The food-safety bill passed Tuesday by the Senate does not cover meat, poultry, or eggs and does not sort out overlapping federal agency jurisdictions.

"Despite promises of transparency, the US Environmental Protection Agency has refused to release a contractor study that apparently outlines less harmful alternatives to the Arch Coal's Spruce Mine mountaintop-removal project EPA is currently considering for a permit in West Virginia."

House Republicans will disband the special committee created by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to focus on climate change and energy independence.