Marianne Lavelle
InsideClimate News
Washington, DC, United States
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Past articles by Marianne:
Deep in the Democrats' Climate Bill, Analysts See More Wins for Clean Energy Than Gifts for Fossil Fuel Business
Although Senate leaders have included plenty of favors for the fossil fuel industry in the big climate package they hope to advance this week, most analysts have concluded these concessions amount to consolation prizes in a deal where clean energy is the clear winner. At least three separate analyses by think tanks and academic institutions […] → Read More
Biden Is Losing His Base on Climate Change, a New Pew Poll Finds. Six in 10 Democrats Don’t Feel He’s Doing Enough
Democrats who favor strong action on climate change are deeply dissatisfied with what they see as the slow pace of progress under President Joe Biden, according to a Pew Research Center report released Thursday. The survey of more than 10,000 adults conducted in early May showed a deep partisan divide over Biden’s climate policies—much in […] → Read More
The Supreme Court’s EPA Ruling: A Loss of Authority for Federal Agencies or a Lesson for Conservatives in ‘Be Careful What You Wish For’?
In a finale to a Supreme Court term that radically reshaped American law, the court throttled the U.S. government’s power to act on the climate crisis. But it could take many more lawsuits—and possibly, years—to see whether the Environmental Protection Agency can find some leeway to regulate greenhouse gases from power plants. With its authority […] → Read More
How Climate and the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Undergirds the Ukraine-Russia Standoff
As tensions simmer on the Ukraine-Russia border, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has become an emblem of the energy and climate issues underlying the conflict—even though it has yet to deliver a molecule of natural gas. Last week, the U.S. State Department vowed that Gazprom’s $11 billion conduit beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany would […] → Read More
Heading for a Second Term, Fed Chair Jerome Powell Bucks a Global Trend on Climate Change
Many of the questions Jerome Powell faced at his Senate confirmation hearing last week would have been familiar to any Federal Reserve chair on Capitol Hill: Where is the economy heading? What about inflation? How fast could interest rates rise? But Powell, who is seeking his second term, also confronted a question that underscored the […] → Read More
Climate Activists and Environmental Justice Advocates Join the Gerrymandering Fight in Ohio and North Carolina
Following years of setbacks for clean energy in Ohio, environmental activists in the state decided they needed to take on a bigger and more fundamental battle: democracy. The Ohio Environmental Council has joined other activist groups in seeking to overturn the state’s new political redistricting maps, as allegedly illegal gerrymandering that will extend a veto-proof […] → Read More
Will Biden Be Forced to Give Up What Some Say is His Best Shot at Tackling Climate Change?
Much of the debate over President Biden’s massive infrastructure proposal has been over its $2 trillion price tag. But the most powerful tool for tackling the climate crisis in the American Jobs Plan, in the view of many environmentalists, isn’t money, but Biden’s proposal to create a national clean electricity standard. That idea—a mandate for […] → Read More
Biden’s Climate Credibility May Hinge on Whether He Makes Good on U.S. Financial Commitments to Developing Nations
For poor nations that contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions but are bearing some of the worst impacts of climate change, the most important pledges at this week’s White House summit will be about money. Under President Donald Trump, the United States reneged on $2 billion of its $3 billion commitment to the United Nations’ […] → Read More
Dismissing Trump’s EPA Science Advisors, Regan Says the Agency Will Return to a ‘Fair and Transparent Process’
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan dismissed all members of two key agency science advisory boards on Wednesday, indicating he would rebuild from scratch the committees that the Trump administration tried to use to support its deregulatory agenda. “Scientific integrity is one of EPA’s foundational values,” said Regan in a statement. “Resetting these two scientific […] → Read More
Nine Ways Biden’s $2 Trillion Plan Will Tackle Climate Change
In his “American Jobs Plan,” President Joe Biden aims to achieve unprecedented investment in action to address climate change by wrapping it in the kind of federal spending package that has allure for members of Congress of both parties. The $2 trillion proposal holds out the promise of federal dollars for every Congressional district that […] → Read More
How Much Does Climate Change Cost? Biden Expected to Raise Carbon’s Dollar Value
The Trump administration didn’t put much value on lowering carbon emissions. In fact, it calculated that the benefits of action on climate change added up to as little as $1 per ton of carbon dioxide, and it set policy accordingly. Almost any steps to reduce greenhouse gases seemed too costly, given the paltry potential gain […] → Read More
Even With a 50-50 Split, a Biden Administration Senate Could Make Big Strides on Climate
The Georgia victories have given Democrats control of the Senate. But some ardent advocates of climate action are still pessimistic about how much progress can be made with a 50-50 split, in a chamber that has been inert on climate policy for more than a decade. Yet even the narrow majority the Democrats now have […] → Read More
The Resistance: In the President’s Relentless War on Climate Science, They Fought Back
Every time the word “climate” was deleted from the name of his program at the Environmental Protection Agency, Dan Costa stuck it back in. Chris Frey fought back in the unlikely setting of a hotel conference room, where he and 20 other members of an EPA science review panel dismissed by the Trump administration met […] → Read More
Trump’s Pick for the Supreme Court Could Deepen the Risk for Its Most Crucial Climate Change Ruling
Amy Coney Barrett’s views on precedent could undermine Massachusetts vs. EPA, the case ruling that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. → Read More
Biden Puts Climate Change at Center of Presidential Campaign, Calling Trump a ‘Climate Arsonist’
His remarks came as the president traveled to California, where massive wildfires have consumed more than 3 million acres in 2020 and killed 24 people. → Read More
Biden’s Early Climate Focus and Hard Years in Congress Forged His $2 Trillion Clean Energy Plan
The Democratic nominee has called the Green New Deal a 'crucial framework' for the nation’s future, but he does not support calls for a fracking ban. → Read More
On Climate, Kamala Harris Has a Record and Profile for Action
As Joe Biden’s running mate, the California senator will draw in the activist community that Biden hopes to have behind his candidacy. → Read More
Wheeler in Wisconsin: Putting a Green Veneer on the Actions of Trump’s EPA
By redrawing a line on a map to exclude a monitor with higher pollution readings, the administration has given the appearance of reducing pollution in Sheboygan. → Read More
Biden Names Ocasio-Cortez, Kerry to Lead His Climate Task Force, Bridging Democrats’ Divide
Progressives applaud the former vice president’s embrace of Bernie Sanders’ climate advisors. One analyst called the panel “the Climate Dream Team for Democrats.” → Read More
Trump’s Move to Suspend Enforcement of Environmental Laws is a Lifeline to the Oil Industry
The American Petroleum Institute sought the EPA’s help for companies hurt by COVID-19. One former EPA official called the suspension “an open license to pollute." → Read More