Under the Bush administration, greenhouse-gas emission legislation was considered excessive regulation that could prove harmful to U.S. businesses. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under Bush, denied a request under the Clean Air Act to establish tail-pipe emission standards – claiming that such regulations were not within their authority. In Massachusetts v. EPA in 2007, the [...]

On 10 April, the Government and the ruling parties, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito, officially compiled the nation’s largest-ever economic package, worth 56.8 trillion yen in total, including 15 trillion yen in fiscal spending. In the new package, they proposed the introduction of the ‘eco-point’ (or eco action point) scheme.  Then, on [...]

France is known for nuclear energy, but it seems that the winds of change are gathering momentum.  The vast majority of the electricity generated in France comes from its 59 nuclear reactors.   The country has not historically been considered a global leader in renewable energy, but France has taken some bold steps recently to support [...]

As predicted in Climatico’s last national climate policy report, Australia has just taken the lead, along with Britain, in the development of Carbon Capture and Storage. A few days ago, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd inaugurated the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute in Canberra, with its 85 members, ranging from the governments of Japan and [...]

California, the US’s most populous and wealthy state and Alberta, a far less populous but nonetheless vital part of Canada’s economy sparred this week, as California seeks to push forward ever bolder Climate Change initiatives. The battle pits two states that could hardly be more dissimilar when it comes to Climate Change. California has trail [...]

During the past week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held hearings on the draft legislation of ‘American Clean Energy and Security Act 2009′. Over 60 witnesses testified, including Energy Secretary Steven Chu, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Nobel laureate Al Gore, as well as representatives of environmental groups, electricity producers, auto manufacturers and [...]

Wednesday saw Chancellor Alastair Darling announce the first official UK carbon budget to tackle the problems of climate change, which is designed to finance existing policy commitments to achieving a low carbon future. Darling announced that: – £405 million will be provided to finance the development of low-carbon energy and advanced green manufacturing sectors. – £375 [...]

In addition to conflicts over resources, border disputes, and civil war, the South Asia region is also predicted to be one of the most vulnerable areas in climate change models. Without a doubt, it is a neighborhood where tensions and stakes are high.  Such issues are high on the agenda for the Government of India [...]

Voters in South Africa’s 5th democratic election will mainly be concerned by a 21% unemployment rate, fundamental problems with service provision and the economy’s track for 2009, but for a few climate change will be on their agenda. The African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma is widely anticipated to become the next President of [...]

Earlier in my writing on Climate Change politics in Canada, I was struck by the sharp disconnect between Climate Change politics at a federal level (see Derek’s article for example on Canada’s Tar Sands) compared with its movement at a state level. It’s not just that states have been quicker in passing legislation, have advocated [...]