After years in the making, the Obama Administration released the final version of America’s Clean Power Plan. It’s a pretty significant achievement, the first serious effort to control carbon emissions in the US. We discuss the context in which the plan was created, and review some top-level aspects of the plan itself.

The Obama Administration’s decision to allow oil exploration in the Chukchi Sea shows passivity where leadership is required. Climate hawks, like the “Kayaktivists” in Seattle, will just have to stop Shell by themselves. The framing of the TPP on the news is inaccurate. Instead of endless discussion of winners and losers, we should ask “Why can’t an environmental group have the same access to the negotiations as Exxon? Why isn’t Bill McKibben at the table?”   Finally, consider if the current global refugee crisis is a harbinger of the future in a warming world.