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Why Google could successfully lobby Nevada to allow self-driving cars
Google is quietly lobbying Nevada to pass a bill to allow its semi-secret self-driving cars on the road. The bill would include an exception to the state ban on texting while driving, which implies that Google's technology has advanced enough to allow users of its vehicles to take their eyes off the road for extended […]
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Let’s Face It: Some Members of Congress Like Oil Executives Better Than You
“We’re only talking about four billion dollars.” That’s how former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin defended the tax breaks going to the some of the world’s richest corporations: oil companies. It may “only” be four billion dollars to these entities; after all, they are reaping windfall profits from rising gas prices. The “big five” oil companies […]
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In Texas, Obama faces test on border-wall promise
President Obama speaks today about immigration in El Paso, Texas, along the U.S. border with Mexico. Although the subject is immigration, the backdrop will be purely environmental: the 640 mile long border wall with Mexico. The wall has done nothing to reduce illegal immigration, but it has had enormous negative effects on the extraordinary wildlife […]
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Renewable energy saving lives in Afghanistan
The Wall Street Journal today reports on efforts to make U.S. troops safer by reducing dependence on fossil fuel-powered generators and batteries: Batteries make up as much as 20% of the weight of the 100 pounds of gear a Marine infantryman typically carries. A Marine uses four times as much fuel as his counterpart did […]
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Will Chicago be the last city with a coal plant?
It has been a big month for clean energy in the Midwest. Yesterday, We Energies announced plans to repower its coal-burning power plant in downtown Milwaukee. Earlier this week Dominion announced plans to retire the State Line plant in Indiana just over the border from Chicago. Last week LG&E indicated it will replace the Cane […]
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What I want for Mother's Day
This Sunday, I will be celebrating my second Mother’s Day. My daughter Hazel (pictured at right testifying with me last year) was born last year a few days prior to Mother’s Day, and so I had the unforgettable experience of celebrating my first mother’s day with both of her grandmothers — we called it the […]
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Community uses ‘choice aggregation’ to fight its utility
Utilities need to cooperate with their communities.Photo: Powerhouse MuseumThis post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s New Rules Project. Taking over the local utility has traditionally been the only route for communities wishing to chart their own energy future. California, Ohio, and two other states have opened […]
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New York Times blows the Dust Bowl story
County Commissioner: “There’s no economic growth whatsoever. It’s going to have to be wind energy or we’ll die.” Actual NY Times caption: “A church made an apt request.” Media miscoverage of climate change comes in many forms. We still have false balance between climate science and denial, contrary to the myth of flawed analyses. And […]
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Breaking: The earth is breaking … but how about that Royal Wedding?
One commenter pointed out that the (HuffPost) icon I used for the post on Bin Laden was actually a good symbol for the “Breaking Earth.” Obviously, large parts of the Earth are breaking up at an unprecedented rate — with dire implications for humanity: JPL bombshell: Polar ice sheet mass loss is speeding up, on […]
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Tornadoes, extreme weather, and climate change
UPDATE: It is unfortunate that NYT blogger Andy Revkin has chosen to inappropriately shorten and then take out of context the nuanced statements of a number of actual scientific experts, like Trenberth (cited bel0w). Ironically, Revkin supports a too-little, too-late energy technology development strategy can’t possibly avert catastrophic global warming — nor can it generate […]
