William S. Becker

On May 11, a group of children will face off against the Obama administration and the National Association of Manufacturers for the latest round of a David vs. Goliath battle in federal court.

The kids filed a lawsuit last year against the administration, arguing that common law requires governments to...

While the nation's attention has been focused on ending one war (Afghanistan) and avoiding another (Iran), a different idea about national defense has been circulating lately among some of America's thought leaders.

The idea is this: National defense isn't only about containing foreign threats; it's also about strengthening the fabric...

Here are some questions for the Occupiers, the Tea Party demonstrators, the people engaged in the Arab Spring and those around the world who are too hungry, too tired, too discouraged or too occupied with basic survival to protest.

These are questions, too, for the young people who will...

When House Speakers John Boehner said last week that his relationship with President Obama is like a conversation between "people from two different planets", he identified a disconnect that extends well beyond the House and the White House.

We are two Americas headed for collision....

The people trying to wake us up to the realities of global warming have taken to calling themselves "climate hawks." In the field of Republican presidential candidates, we are seeing a new breed emerge: climate chickens.

Once upon a time, America elected heroes to be President of the United States,...

This is the last in a series of posts on extreme weather events in the United States. Part 1 described the reactions of key political leaders. Part 2 detailed the "perfect storm" of increasing weather extremes combined with decreasing government ability to respond. This post discusses...

This is the second in a three-part post. Part 1 describes how some key political leaders are reacting to today's extreme weather events. Part 2 lays out some of the factors that are producing a perfect storm of vulnerability.

Whether or not we are ready to...

The term "perfect storm" is overused now, but it is the perfect metaphor for the violent relationship between people and the environment today. We are experiencing a convergence of factors that are putting us at great risk. For example:

o Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and severe.

The recent squall over SpongeBob SquarePants and his book about global climate change appears to have died down now. That's a pity. Sometimes, it's in the public interest to turn a squall into a hurricane.

Here's the backstory, in case you missed it. Last month, the U.S. Department of Education...

We in the United States are very familiar with energy wars. Our long-time national energy strategy, as former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart points out, is to send our children off to kill and be killed in foreign lands to protect our access to oil.

We may be witnessing the beginning...

During one of his high-intensity speeches earlier this month, Van Jones showed he was back in fighting form.

He told his audience at Netroots Nation that figuratively speaking, a fight is brewing in America. He predicted the pushback will come from kids facing a future of climate...

Here is a trick question: Now that the 2012 election campaign has begun, should you vote Republican or Democrat?

The correct answer: Neither of the above. In this...

Whatever else we might say about Big Oil in the United States, we have to give the industry credit for one thing: it has mastered the art of scamming us with a perfectly straight face.

The scam has been underway for decades. This year's example is the debate about repealing...

Last February, three Republican leaders in Congress filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that when it comes to global climate change, judges and Justices should mind their own business.

The courts are about to get a different message. Starting on May 4, young people in the United...

Whom should we blame for high gasoline prices? The president? Oil companies? Price gougers? Protestors in the Arab Spring? People who drive Hummers?

The answer to that question is one of the first serious issues of the 2011 presidential campaign. (Sorry, Trump. Sorry, Birthers.) It's an issue that could --...

Even renewable energy hawks -- most of us anyway -- will concede that the United States cannot go cold turkey from oil tomorrow, or shut down all coal-fired power plants this week, or flip the off-switch tonight on nuclear power.

What we should not concede, however, is the need for...

Several times recently, we've heard this argument: When it comes to securing America's energy future, we need "all of the above" -- coal, oil, gas, nuclear, solar, wind, and so on.

That is a not an energy policy; it's a cop-out. It's how elected officials dodge hard choices about our...

Watching the debate over climate science in Congress these days is like watching butchers, bakers and candlestick makers debate brain surgery. At the moment, no other conversation in American politics is so filled with willful misconceptions or is so large a waste of time.

During a hearing this week...

As the House debated the federal budget this week, Democrats (176 of them, to be precise) tried to save billions of dollars by taking taxpayer subsidies away from the five biggest oil companies. The motion failed, but they shouldn't give up.

If we are looking for ways to chip away...

There will come a time when nature metes out such sustained and brutal punishment that even the most cynical deniers will have to acknowledge climate disruption is upon us. There's no question that time will arrive. The only question is when.

I've written this before. I'm writing it again because...