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As Naima noted in last Friday's roundup, the percentage of Americans who believe climate change is real has dropped to the lowest point since 1998, from roughly two-thirds in 2008 to just 51% in 2010.This is no coincidence: From the so-called "Climategate" incident to the circus of last week's Upton-Inhofe Dirty Air Act hearings, big polluters and th

The World Watches Japan

Following the 9.0 earthquake and resultant tsunami, supplies have been running low in Japan. Food and gasoline shortages have left grocery store aisles bare and homes without heat. The death toll is sobering, with nearly 7,000 confirmed dead andmore than 10,000 people still missing.

This week's energy conversations have been dominated by the nuclear disaster in Japan. At one particular plant, three reactors are in danger of melting down if not properly cooled by the emergency efforts. Most U.S. politicians are sticking to their former stances on nuclear power, including President Obama, who remains supportive of building new nuclear facilities in the U.S. Anti-Clean Air Act bills in the House and Senate continue to inch forward, with a House vote possible in the coming weeks.

Just over a week ago, climate activists across 17 states campaigned with rallies, meetings, calls, and letters to demand that their elected officials protect the Clean Air Act. The message was clear: represent your constituents, not your corporate donors.

In states such as Colorado, the message was a 'thank you' to climate champions. In Michigan, however, hundreds of people loudly voiced their disappointment with Representative Fred Upton’s recent Dirty Air Act and choice to side with corporate polluters instead of his constituents.

Wisconsin

In a surprise conference committee meeting late Wednesday night, Wisconsin state senators passed a bill (18-1) drastically cutting the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

We have to address corporate money in politics if we want to win on climate change policies. It might sound off focus, but the fact of the matter is that corporate money in Congress, through donations to campaigns, lobbying, attack ads, etc, is drowning out reasonable arguments for addressing climate change. We have to address the influence of dirty energy industry money in the political process in the United States if we want to see real action on climate change.

Politicians continue to attack the Clean Air Act on a daily basis as budget fights, science hearings, and consideration of anti-climate bills persist on Capitol Hill. The government is currently only funded for two more weeks, forcing a major budget compromise by March 18th. House GOP leadership is signaling that they are willing to back down on their most egregious anti-climate riders, but Clean Air Act-blocking legislation continues to be considered in the House and Senate with the introduction of the Upton-Inhofe bill.

Glenn Beck's Red Scare

This past Saturday's Rally to Save the American Dream was a resounding success. People all over the nation flooded statehouses to support our public workers and stand up against tax breaks for corporations and the very rich. Along with other proud sponsors of the event (350, AFL-CIO, SEIU, MoveOn and more), we garnered the attention of none other than Glenn Beck -- making it all the way to his infamous chalkboard.

We are in the middle of a battle for power. On one side, we have the money of corporate polluters, and their front groups like the US Chamber of Commerce, and on the other side we have the people power of everyday Americans who want their elected leaders to represent their constituents instead of their donors. In 2010, those big polluters launched one heck of a battle cry with $500 million in lobbying and attack ads flooding our political process.