There’s new climate legislation in the House (Waxman-Markey), and bloggers have a lot to say about it:
- David Doniger at NRDC’s Switchboard explains what’s in each of the bill’s four titles.
- Also at Switchboard, Melanie Nakagawa examines what the bill does for clean technology in developing countries.(And check the blog’s US Law and Policy page for more NRDC analysis.)
- Matthew Madia at The Fine Print warns that the bill will strip EPA of the power to regulate greenhouse gases as pollutants, but Andrew Leonard at How the World Works suggests that might be smart politics.
- Kate Sheppard at Gristmill highlights one thing the bill doesn’t allow for: using budget reconciliation to pass it. That means it’ll take 60 votes to pass.
Elsewhere:
Sarah Janssen at Switchboard rebuts a Consumer Product Safety Commission scientist’s claims about the science on which a federal phthalate ban is based.
Harold Pollack at The Treatment warns that the stripping of smoking cessation funds from the stimulus package has left us unable to help many smokers who are motivated to quit by the recent increase in cigarette taxes.
Sarah Rubenstein at WSJ’s Health Blog has the scoop on a new study that found almost all of the psychiatrists shaping the field’s latest treatment guidelines had financial ties to drug companies.
Merrill Goozner at GoozNews wonders if professional medical societies will pay attention to a new proposal calling on them to cut financial ties to industry groups.
Katherine Franke at RH Reality Check welcomes the appointment of Luis de Baca to head the State Department’s office charged with combating human trafficking.
Benjamin Cohen at The Word’s Fair rounds up recent writings from the various facets of the food movement.
Bill Brieger at Malaria Matters responds to the suggestion that programs targeting malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis overshadows efforts to treat childhood pneumonia — it turns out, there’s a strategy that addresses both malaria and pneumonia.