Priority Changes On Green Policies

By Richard Simon WASHINGTON – Reflecting a shift in priorities under the Democratic majority, Congress is moving to spend as much as $6.7 billion next fiscal year to combat global warming, an increase of nearly one-third from the current year. House appropriations bills call for about $2 billion in new spending on initiatives aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and oil dependency, significantly expanding the budgets for numerous federal research initiatives and launching some new ones. While legislation to raise vehicle miles-per-gallon standards and cap emissions from power plants has been slower moving – because of resistance from some lawmakers – Democrats have turned to the budget to advance their environmental priorities by increasing spending on a variety of lower-profile programs. That is likely to set up a showdown this fall between Congress and President Bush, who wants to spend less on climate-change initiatives. The White House budget office, which has criticized excessive spending in the overall appropriations bills, noted that the president’s proposed budget provides for a 3% increase in spending for climate-change activities. “Congress is putting its money where its mouth is,” said Lowell Ungar, senior policy analyst at the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington coalition of […]

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A House Made of What?

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901685.html Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/19/AR2007081901685.html     

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Arctic Ice at All-Time Low

URL: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070820-global-warming.html Website: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/08/070820-global-warming.html     

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The Environmentally-Friendly Washing Machine

URL: http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/itll-all-come-out-in-the-wash/2007/08/18/1186857837706.html Website: http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/itll-all-come-out-in-the-wash/2007/08/18/1186857837706.html     

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