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House passes health care bill on close vote- In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.
Some saw trouble ahead with Fort Hood shooter- In retrospect, the signs of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's growing anger over the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan seem unmistakable. But even people who worried his increasingly strident views were clouding his ability to serve the U.S. military could not predict the murderous rampage of which he now stands accused.
Ida becomes hurricane a 2nd time off Mexico coast- Ida grew into a hurricane for a second time as it roared over the Caribbean on a path that could take it between Mexico's resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba before heading for the southern United States.
- Twenty years ago Monday, they danced atop the Berlin Wall, feet thudding on the cold concrete, arms raised in victory, hands clasped in friendship and giddy hope.
- A suicide bomber apparently targeting an anti-Taliban mayor struck a crowded market Sunday in northwest Pakistan, killing the mayor and 11 other people and injuring dozens, police said.
- If holiday travelers on the same plane compare what they paid to fly, they're likely to find quite a spread, depending on when they bought their tickets.
Mickelson rallies to win HSBC Champions- Phil Mickelson won the HSBC Champions on Sunday by rallying against a familiar foe. Only it wasn't Tiger Woods.
Capitol Hill Briefing on Enacting Effective Climate Policy
WASHINGTON
(Map)
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WHAT? An expert briefing on Capitol Hill for members of Congress and their staffs, NGOs, and journalists on enacting meaningful climate legislation in the wake of a narrow plurality for the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill in the House and uncertain prospects for it in the Senate. Briefers will address the science, economics and politics of how we get from the currently divided House and compromised bill to a better architecture and brighter prospects for legislation that can gather wide support and actually be effective in preventing catastrophic climate change.
WHO? Speakers include:
-- Dr. James Hansen, NASA lead climate scientist, speaking on the science of climate change and the urgency of enacting better climate legislation. -- Dr. Robert Shapiro, economist and former Undersecretary of Commerce during the Clinton administration, on the politics and economics of cap-and-trade and how direct pricing of carbon can avoid the volatility and gaming while driving innovation and efficiency. -- Cecil Corbin-Mark, policy director of WeACT for Environmental Justice, based in West Harlem, New York City, on how a direct carbon fee approach can help our communities and gain popular support for building the green economy on a platform of economic justice. -- Professor Janet Milne of Vermont Law School, on the recent Canadian experience with carbon pricing. British Columbia enacted an effective and politically viable carbon tax, after which incumbents were reelected. -- Moderator: Brent Blackwelder, president, Friends of the EarthWHEN?
WHERE? Room 208/209, Capitol Visitors Center, 100 E Capitol St NE,
WHY? The overwhelming consensus among climate scientists is that we must act boldly to reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily from fossil fuel burning. The overwhelming consensus among economists is that carbon pricing is the most powerful tool to accomplish this. A direct carbon pricing approach has the potential to gain bipartisan support as the most effective, fairest and most easily implemented way for the U.S. to lead the world into a low-carbon economy without massive bureaucracy, huge unregulated markets or the gaming and fraud that plague cap/trade systems.
RSVPs welcome. Journalists, members of Congress and their staffs can attend without RSVP but should bring credentials. Box lunch will be served.
Sources: Climate Crisis Coalition www.climatecrisiscoalition.org
Carbon Tax Center www.carbontax.org
Citizens Climate Lobby www.citizensclimatelobby.org
SOURCE Climate Crisis Coalition; Citizens Climate Lobby; Carbon Tax Center
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