Texas energy companies stuck it to California a decade ago, and now they’re coming back again to try to derail California’s law on greenhouse gas emissions.

I have a hunch that someone is not happy about that prospect . . .

It’s Earth Day and in addition to all of the other lists advising you to turn off the lights, get green power, and pay attention to what you are buying (all of which are very important) there are five more concrete things you need to do today, that can have a huge impact on the health of the planet. Best of all, they will take you about 10 minutes.

Without rate regulation, without anti-trust enforcement, without a viable public option as escape hatch, without a credible theory of competition, and with virtually no constraints on the industry’s ability to control the Congress and the White House, there is no way consumers can win in the new health insurance markets. We can only wonder about how the next crisis will unfold.

By Zach Carter, Media Consortium blogger

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) unveiled his latest financial reform proposal on Monday, and the stakes for the new legislation couldn’t be higher. After consumer groups raised a major ruckus, Dodd has dropped one of his most egregious concessions to the bank lobby—cutting enforcement authority from the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). That’s good news: Without a major regulatory overhaul, the U.S. economy’s destructive boom and bust cycle will start all over again.

Following up on its activist behavior in going out of its way to hear and decide on the Citizens United case, our radically conservative Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday in the third of a series of cases involving the concept of “honest services” as it appears in fraud statutes.

We owe much blame for the current financial crisis on the culture of Enron and its impact on corporate America — most folks haven’t made the connection yet.