Energy

Proponents in the U.S. House of Representatives needed every Democratic vote they could get Friday evening – and even a few from Republicans — to pass the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) by a vote of 219–212 to cheers on the House floor. Eight Republicans backed the climate-change energy bill, with 44 Democrats voting against. Minnesota’s House [...]

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford is due back at work today following a mysterious several-day absence. For Minnesotans whose memories extend to the 1970s, news of an AWOL governor evokes the early days of Gov. Rudy Perpich’s first term in office — days Perpich spent out of the office, whereabouts (then) unknown.

On its surface, it sounds like a wonderful environmental benefit: A program providing thousands of dollars to drivers who scrap their gas guzzlers in favor of more fuel-efficient models. Yet critics on and off Capitol Hill say the so-called “cash-for-clunkers” initiative has morphed into a billion-dollar industry handout, allowing automakers to push large, inefficient and otherwise unsellable vehicles off of bursting lots, in the process undermining separate efforts to reduce the nation’s carbon emissions.

The rapid devolution of print journalism gets regularly lamented for all the right reasons — among them the losses of investigative voices, institutional memories and checks on the powerful. A less-noted side-effect is cities’ loss of revenue from recycling newsprint.

The Obama administration’s plans are running smack into an industry buzz saw that they might not escape.

The woman who infamously said she wanted citizens “armed and dangerous” over Barack Obama’s proposed energy tax is moving a tad closer to the front lines: Rep. Michele Bachmann has been appointed to the House GOP American Energy Solutions Group. She was named to the group, which is dedicated to lowering “energy prices for [...]

Al Franken announced “I’ll be going to Washington soon” to a cheering Earth Day crowd this morning in Minneapolis. But the uncertainty of his status was made plain when he clarified his plans to reporters: “We were thinking of going next week, but I think there’s going to be some real heavy lifting by the Senate so it might not be the best time.”

In her Apr. 8 Star Tribune opinion piece, Rep. Michele Bachmann stated that President Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade plan would increase energy costs for American households by more than $3,100 a year — a claim that had already been debunked by the MIT professor whose research Bachmann was citing. But the Strib ran the piece anyway, [...]

With the press, constituents and bloggers eager to question Rep. Michele Bachmann on myriad controversial statements in recent days, her “cap-and-trade” forums on Thursday left many disappointed.

As we reported yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann has been saying that Barack Obama’s cap-and-trade plan for global warming will cost households $3,100 each year in energy costs. Only trouble is, the author of the MIT study she’s citing said last month she’s flat wrong. Now MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow is calling out the Minnesota Republican for [...]