Chevron Corp. (CVX) helped write the first-in-the-nation rule ordering reduced carbon emissions from cars and trucks. Its biofuels chief spoke at the ceremony where California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the executive order in 2007, the same year the oil company pledged to develop a gasoline replacement from wood.

Now Chevron is leading a lobbying and public relations campaign to undercut the California mandate aimed at curbing global warming, two years after the state started phasing it …

Read more

One of the big questions that’s come up in the Gosnell case is what role poverty played in leading women to choose his cut-rate clinic, which abortion-rights advocates report offered prices considerably lower than at other facilities in Philadelphia.

It’s never been easy for women to get outside funding for abortion. But during the period when it was illegal in most states, some groups of women pooled funds to help each other obtain them and travel …

Read more

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is sending about 200 soldiers from an Army headquarters unit to Jordan to assist efforts to contain violence along the Syrian border and plan for any operations needed to ensure the safety of chemical weapons in Syria, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Congress Wednesday.

The decision to dispatch the 1st Armored Division troops of planners and specialists in intelligence, logistics and operations comes as several lawmakers pressed the Obama administration for even …

Read more

LONDON — Formula One drivers were arriving on Thursday for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is to go ahead on schedule this weekend after the organizers rejected calls from human rights activists to cancel it.

The controversy over whether the small Arabian Gulf kingdom should host the international event is on the way to becoming an annual fixture of the sporting calendar since the 2011 race was scrapped because of a crackdown on street protests.

Since then, …

Read more

We have far more oil, coal and gas than we can safely burn. For all the millions of words written about climate change, the challenge really comes down to this: fuel is enormously useful, massively valuable and hugely important geopolitically, but tackling global warming means leaving most of it in the ground – by choice. Although we often hear more about green technology, consumption levels or population growth, leaving fuel in the ground is the …

Read more

High-ranking federal employees will not be required to disclose financial information online, after President Obama signed an amendment to a bill that was meant to put an end to insider trading among members of Congress and government staffers.

The provisions to the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act were quietly approved by both chambers of Congress at the end of last week before being passed onto the president’s desk. The bill had previously been delayed …

Read more

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) on Friday said he had no problem with creationism being taught in public schools.

During an interview with NBC host Hoda Kotb, Jindal said students should be taught “the best science” in public schools, but implied that teaching creationism would not interfere with that.

“We have what’s called the Science Education Act that says that if a teacher wants to supplement those materials, if the school board is okay with that, if …

Read more

SACRAMENTO — A bill regulating water use by oil producers cleared its first legislative test Monday night.

Authored by Assemblymember Mark Stone, D-Scotts Valley, the bill would require companies to disclose the source and amounts of water used in production, including fracking. It also demands they get approval from state water regulators on how the water would be disposed.

“Fracking potentially exposes Californians’ water supply to toxic chemicals. Currently, there’s little governmental oversight to ensure that our …

Read more

America is not broke, despite what advocates for austerity would have us believe.

This is a very wealthy country.

Unfortunately, transfers of that wealth are not taxed in the same way as the work of American nurses, carpenters, bus drivers and shop clerks. As a result, the federal government struggles to balance budgets, and a yawning gap, between a super-rich 1 percent and the great mass of everybody else, keeps growing.

Congressman Keith Ellison, D-Minnesota, wants to do …

Read more

Gavin Polone, a major Hollywood producer, is calling for an end to state film incentive programs. His reasons for doing so will seem familiar to Film Works supporters, because we’ve made some of the same points on several occasions on our blog (see here, here and here for some examples). And while the argument Polone makes is virtually identical to ours, there is a critical difference because of where the message is coming …

Read more