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Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline: The Facts Deserve Repeating by Robert Redford, Huffington Post | February 9, 2012
Joe Nocera's op-ed in the New York Times yesterday deserves a response and a reiteration of the facts surrounding the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. President Obama rejected the pipeline's permit last month when the GOP, in a political stunt, forced his hand to approve it without even the final route evident. Let's put the rhetoric aside, and simply focus on the facts. Nocera wants us to believe that approving this pipeline is a matter of national security. He also seems to think that we should all be kicking ourselves because the Canadians are flaunting a tar sands sale trip to China. Nocera might ask himself how likely this oil is really to go to China from Canada if Keystone XL is not built. He might ask why the oil companies are looking to bring tar sands almost 2000 miles south rather than just send it across British Columbia for export to Asia. read more »Big Oil’S Banner Year: Higher Prices, Record Profits, Less Oil by Daniel J. Weiss, Jackie Weidman, and Rebecca Leber , americanprogress.org | February 8, 2012
General economic theory holds that companies will produce more of a good if its price is higher, or if it receives subsidies. Funny that these rules didn’t seem to apply to Big Oil in 2011, when the highest oil price since 1864 and $2 billion in subsidies to the five largest oil companies — BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell — yielded lower oil production than in 2010. But these five oil companies combined made a record-high $137 billion in profits in 2011 — up 75 percent from 2010 — and have made more than $1 trillion in profits from 2001 through 2011.[1] This exceeds the previous record of $136 billion in profits in 2008. Let’s dig a little deeper into this mystery to see why these companies are making more money while Americans see less oil and pay more at the pump. read more »Obama's Support for Fracking 'A Painful Moment' for Communities by Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, alternet.org | February 8, 2012
Last week, President Obama called the United States "the Saudi Arabia of natural gas" in a speech about boosting domestic energy production. That concerns Wyoming farmer John Fenton, who already has more than two dozen gas wells on his property. The Environmental Protection Agency ruled in December that water contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming, was a result of natural gas extraction and the controversial technique known as fracking. read more »The Great Carbon Bubble by Bill McKibben, tomdispatch.com | February 7, 2012
Our GOP presidential candidates are working hard to make sure no one thinks they’d appease chemistry and physics. At the last Republican debate in Florida, Rick Santorum insisted that he should be the nominee because he’d caught on earlier than Newt or Mitt to the global warming “hoax.” Most of the media pays remarkably little attention to what’s happening. Coverage of global warming has dipped 40% over the last two years. And when they do break their silence, some of our elite organs are happy to indulge in outright denial. It’s no secret where this denialism comes from: the fossil fuel industry pays for it. The open question is why the industry persists in denial in the face of an endless body of fact showing climate change is the greatest danger we’ve ever faced. As it happens, the answer is more interesting than you might think. read more »The Truth About Newt’S Favorite Punching Bag by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, politics.salon.com | February 7, 2012
And now, a word about a good American being demonized, despite being long dead. Saul Alinsky is not around to defend himself, but that hasn’t kept Newt Gingrich from using his name to whip up the froth and frenzy of his followers, whose ignorance of the man is no deterrence to their eagerness, at Gingrich’s behest, to tar and feather him posthumously. It’s all quite clever and insidious, a classic lesson in how to slander someone who cannot answer from the grave. In the case of Saul Alinsky, most of the crowd knows nothing about the target except that they’re supposed to hate him. And why not? There’s the strange foreign name – obviously an alien. One of them. And a socialist at that. What’s a socialist? Don’t know — but Obama’s one, isn’t he? Barack Hussein Obama, Saul Alinsky – bingo! Two peas in a pod, and a sinister, subversive pod at that. But just who was Alinsky, really? read more »If You Want to Fight Cancer, Turn Those Pink Ribbons Green by Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez, commondreams.org | February 6, 2012
I'm glad to hear that the Komen Foundation has bowed to pressure and is restoring funding to Planned Parenthood. But in general, the idea of putting the energy and effort of well-meaning citizens behind "the search for a cure for cancer" just irritates me, because let's face it, we know what causes cancer, and therefore we can do better than cure it, we can prevent it! Maybe not 100%, but we can take it back to the modest rates that previous generations of human beings enjoyed. Cancer rates are skyrocketing now thanks to the environmental toxins that humans have introduced into our air, soil and water, and thus our agricultural crops, drinking water and the very air we breathe. If you really want to make a difference in the war against cancer, use the power of your wallet and your ballot to insist that the government step up and do its job in regulating the industrial agriculture sector. read more »Just How Big Are Subsidies To Fossil-Fuel Companies? Help Us Find Out. by Michael A. Livermore, grist.org | February 6, 2012
President Obama has made tax breaks for the oil industry an ongoing target. He recently reaffirmed his stance in his State of the Union address, saying that our nation has supported these companies for long enough. And as budget season begins next week, we’ll likely see the idea come up again in deliberations over where to cut. But exactly how much companies like Shell and ExxonMobil receive is something of a mystery. Tucked into tomes of tax code, subsidies for fossil-fuel industries are often obscured. The IRS does not make public the amounts that companies save, and estimates range widely. One analysis found that about $72 billion went to oil, gas, and coal producers from 2002 to 2008. But we really don’t have a clear or complete picture of the actual total; it could easily be much higher. read more »Top Five Reasons Why Attacks on Green Jobs Training Programs Don’t Hold Up by Jorge Madrid, thinkprogress.org | February 3, 2012
Another week, another misguided attack on green jobs. This week, Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is going after the Department of Labor’s green jobs training program. The program, which was signed into law by fellow Republican George W. Bush, was funded for the first time under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Issa says the program has produced “abysmal results” and failed to meet its goal of placing 52,762 American workers into green jobs. As of June 2011, the program had placed 8,035 workers into jobs, about 10 percent of the final goal. While this placement ratio is indeed disappointing, it reflects deeper issues within the larger economy, and is also based on some premature and misleading analysis. His attacks have been nicely debunked by both the Center for American Progress and Green for All, but it is worth revisiting the top reasons why Issa’s attacks miss both the point, and the facts, about green jobs. read more »Obama Won't Touch Climate With a 10-Foot Pole by Kate Sheppard, Mother Jones | February 2, 2012
In his State of the Union address on January 24, President Obama largely avoided the topic of climate change. He talked about it once, in passing, as a topic on which "the differences in this chamber may be too deep" to enact new legislation. Its less-controversial cousin, "energy," on the other hand, got a whopping 23 mentions as an area where Republicans and Democrats should be able to find agreement. It became clear well before that address that the president and his administration don't think that climate change is an issue that will carry them to a second term. In his public events following the speech, he's also focused on clean energy while avoiding the other "c" word. read more »Keystone XL opponents need a jobs program by Brendan Smith and Jeremy Brecher, grist.org | February 2, 2012
Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline are taking a well-deserved victory lap. The Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada’s pipeline proposal — at least for now — represents an historic win for the environmental movement, and reveals the potency of the emerging alignment between the environmental, anti-corporate, Occupy, and other movements. Real strides were also made to bridge the divide between environmental groups and unions. While Republicans relentlessly attacked environmentalists as “job killers,” groups like 350.org, Sierra Club, and NRDC reached out to unions early and often, and as a result, six labor unions came out in opposition to the pipeline permit. Not since the “Battle in Seattle” have we seen such diverse and robust coalitions. But the Keystone campaign also exposed the perennial Achilles’ heel of those who are fighting against climate change: We are often painted by our opponents and perceived by the public as caring more about the environment than about jobs. read more »
The Latest
Mitsubishi Unveils Solar-Powered Vehicle Charging Station, cleantechnica.com | July 26, 2011
Summary:The reality of a standalone fueling station along the highway, not dependent on an energy supply chain reaching over the world into the bowels of a Saudi oilfield is profound. The possibility of making oil redundant as a fuel in the US must be analysed and thought through carefully.
Be careful what you wish for - but it is great to see.
The reality of a standalone fueling station along the highway, not dependent on an energy supply chain reaching over the world into the bowels of a Saudi oilfield is almost here. more »Safe nuclear does exist, and China is leading the way with thorium, telegraph.co.uk | June 22, 2011
Summary:US technological lead abandoned by the US in the sixties because it didn't produce enough plutonium for nuclear bombs.
A few weeks before the tsunami struck Fukushima’s uranium reactors and shattered public faith in nuclear power, China revealed that it was launching a rival technology to build a safer, cleaner, and ultimately cheaper network of
Source URL:US technological lead abandoned in the sixties because it didn't produce enough plutonium for nuclear bombs.
A few weeks before the tsunami struck Fukushima’s uranium reactors and shattered public faith in nuclear power, China revealed that it was launching a rival technology to build a safer, cleaner, and ultimately cheaper network of reactors based on thorium. more »
Solar Powered Wheelchair Sets World Records, alternative-energy-news.info | January 26, 2011
Summary:
Haidar Taleb, a 47 year old man from UAE In a sometimes cynical world there is something just so inspiring about the journey Haidar Taleb, a 47 year old man from UAE, m more »Huge Solar-Plant Project Approved, The Wall Street Journal | October 26, 2010
Article Publication Date:10/26/2010A proposal to build the world's biggest solar-thermal power plant in the Southern California desert got the go-ahead Monday from the Obama administration, which used the announcement to bolster its message that renewable energy creates jobs. more »
Climate Regulations Coming for Trucks, Buses, Politico | October 22, 2010
Article Publication Date:10/10/2010The Obama administration will propose the first-ever greenhouse gas emission limits for heavy trucks and buses next week.
The proposal will call for a 20 percent reduction in heat-trapping emissions from trucks’ tailpipes, according to Dan Becker, director of the Safe Climate Campaign.
China Plans to Reduce Its Exports of Minerals , The New York Times | October 19, 2010
Time Right to Resume Deepwater Drilling, CNN | October 19, 2010
Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar lifted the moratorium on deepwater drilling almost two months before it was set to expire. It was the right decision at the right time, because developments over the last three months, including new rules and regulations, will make deepwater drilling far safer than it was before.
Governors Races: Losing The Western Climate Initiative, wonkroom.thinkprogress.org | October 19, 2010
The Western Climate Initiative — a regional cap-and-trade compact between California, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Montana and four Canadian provinces — was established in 2007 and scheduled to go into effect in 2012. There are governors’ races in all the states except Montana and Washington. more »
In Kansas, Climate Skeptics Embrace Cleaner Energy, The New York Times | October 19, 2010
Residents of this deeply conservative city do not put much stock in scientific predictions of climate change. “Don’t mention global warming,” warned Nancy Jackson, chairwoman of the Climate and Energy Project, a small nonprofit group that aims to get people to rein in the fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change. “And don’t mention Al Gore. more »
Heads in the Sand...., Washington Monthly | October 19, 2010
Article Publication Date:10/18/2010A decade ago, George W. Bush told voters he'd support a cap on carbon dioxide. Two years ago, the GOP's McCain/Palin presidential ticket supported a cap-and-trade policy.
The Republican hostility towards science and evidence isn't new, but its wholesale, party-wide rejection of all climate data is new.
