Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – T.C. Norris points out that one of the most important developing themes in economic research is the recognition that reductions in employment insurance benefits only force job-seekers into damaging situations rather than creating economic benefits. But as we all know, mere facts won’t
Continue readingTag: Lobbying
DeSmogBlog: U.S. Chamber Hits The Road To Promote "Oily" Highway Transportation Bill
us_chamber_of_commerce_0.jpg A bitter fight has erupted in Washington, D.C. in recent weeks surrounding the fate of a much-needed transportation and infrastructure bill. Congressional Democrats wanted to pass a bill that would fund projects to help rebuild roads and bridges, but Republicans were against the idea. So, in an attempt to
Continue reading350 or bust: Citizens Climate Lobby: Wanted, Men & Women for Hazardous Journey
* Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, and renewable energy pioneer and a giant in that field, is the speaker on this month’s Citizens Climate Lobby international conference call, this Saturday February 4th. His most recent book is “Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: No Heat, No Light
Contrary to expectations and all the advance hype, it was quite a flat, disappointingly ineffective, and weirdly obtuse Republican “debate” hosted by NBC in Florida tonight. That was probably the most heated exchange of the evening – a pointless quibble over what constitutes “lobbying” on behalf of government sponsored entities…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your Monday reading. – Roy Romanow, Linda Silas and Steven Lewis make the case for significant federal involvement in shaping health policy in Canada: Provinces can’t transform their systems on their own regardless of how much money they spend. The politics of health care are simply too
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Fracking
Earthjustice-Fracking.jpg The practice of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has taken center stage this year as one of the most important environmental threats facing North America (and increasingly in other parts of the world). Thanks to inadequate state oversight and Dick Cheney's hamstringing of EPA oversight with the Halliburton Loophole, fracking has
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Keystone XL
tarsands protests.jpg This year, a deal between TransCanada and the U.S. government almost allowed one of the most disastrous plans in energy history to win aproval. The deal would have allowed TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline across the U.S. border to carry an exceptionally dirty form of oil
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: Money, Corruption, And Misinformation
Handcuffed_to_Money.jpg It is said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. That statement has proven itself true time after time in both politics and business, but I would like to amend that statement slightly: Power corrupts, but money and power corrupt absolutely. This year has been no different. We’ve
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: The Year In Dirty Energy: The Koch Brothers
Kochtopus money bags.jpg Over the last 12 months, DeSmogBlog contributors have helped spread the word about some of the most dastardly deeds of Charles and David Koch. Here are some of the biggest stories we covered this year on the issue of corruption and dirty energy money. It is impossible
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Report: Arsenic From Coal Ash Disposal Sites Leaching Into Groundwater
toxic water 2.jpg The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) has released a startling report showing that coal ash dumps near coal-burning power plants are leaching arsenic and other toxic chemicals into water supplies. The new report identifies 20 new sites in 10 different states where coal ash is contaminating water supplies.
Continue readingImpolitical: Contrasts
Here in Canada we have media reports on Rahim Jaffer breaking the lobbying rules but there being absolutely no consequences. Shepherd says she sent the file to the RCMP because she had reasonable grounds to believe Jaffer and Glémaud broke the rules, and the RCMP decided not to proceed. “The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the need to make sure that any lobbying legislation in Saskatchewan doesn’t merely create new ways for an already-insular government to peddle access and shut out dissent. For further reading, Murray Mandryk has discussed the issue as well in a couple of recent columns. And I’ve posted before
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: To Understand What’s Happening with Fracking Decisions in New York, Follow the Money
Money.jpg In a November 25 article titled, "Millions Spent in Albany Fight to Drill for Gas," The New York Times reported: Companies that drill for natural gas have spent more than $3.2 million lobbying state government since the beginning of last year, according to a review of public records. The broader natural
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Charlie Angus’ concerns about the Cons’ Albany Club schmoozing nicely parallel my take on the entire lobbying apparatus they’ve built up: Mr. Angus said the Albany Club reception is an example of the kind of informal lobbying, through cozy relationships, that has grown
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: TransCanada Spent $540,000 Lobbying in Third Quarter For Keystone XL Pipeline
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TransCanada Corp, the company hoping to build the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, spent $540,000 on lobbying in the third quarter of 2011, according to lobb…
Continue readingThe Sir Robert Bond Papers: @cbcnl using Nalcor lobbyist as election commentator #nlpoli #cdnpoli
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador will be using registered Nalcor lobbyist Tim Powers as an election commentator but Powers will apparently be commenting as part of a group of journalists and a political scientist, not as an identified partisan or …
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: New West Partnership Includes CAPP Lobbyists in Fracking Policy Development
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The British Columbia Ministry of Energy was designated a “lead agency” in a backroom collaboration with Alberta and Saskatchewan to address water concerns for the provin…
Continue readingImpolitical: Incredible catch
(h/t)James Fallows at the Atlantic is having a blast with it. These things don’t happen in Canada, thankfully.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog - Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: NY Times Editorial Urges Obama Administration To Reject Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
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The New York Times editorial today calls on the State Department and President Obama to reject the disastrous Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which it correctly label…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On privileged access
It’s somewhat surprising to see one of the architects of a PMO noted for an obsessive aversion to transparency pushing for a lobbying registry in Saskatchewan. But I have to wonder whether the pitch has something to do with the flaws in the Harper Cons…
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