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Report highlights vital fact on energy: Efficiency gets cheaper the more you spend on it

A while back I did a roundup of reports. I left one out because I wanted to highlight it in its own post: Synapse Energy Economics Inc.: Costs and Benefits of Electric Utility Energy Efficiency in Massachusetts [PDF] Massachusetts recently passed the Green Communities Act, which significantly ramps up the state’s utility efficiency programs, mandating […]

Institutions, motivations, and assumptions in economic analysis

A belated Merry Christmas, everyone! Yes, it’s possible that most of Grist’s readers are not Christian (I’m not, for one). But December 25 is the day celebrated as Christmas by much of the world; it’s a declared holiday in many countries and cultures, whether or not we buy into its religious significance. It is, therefore, […]

Will carbon cap-and-trade be the next Ponzi scheme?

Even as the tsunami of Bernard Madoff’s busted Ponzi scheme was submerging hapless rentiers around the world, another esoteric financial enterprise quietly took a step forward this week. At a couple of hundred million bucks, this new venture is just spare change alongside Bernie’s 50 billion. But in time it could grow to rival Madoff’s […]

Sleep tight everyone!

What a comforting thought: The safety of Russia’s nuclear industry is being undermined by the country’s economic crisis and the situation is expected to to worsen in 2009, according to a newly released annual report by the Russian nuclear regulatory body. Ongoing job cuts at nuclear facilities include the personnel directly responsible for safety control, […]

Thinking big on climate offers better ratio of risk to reward than timidity

The cost of keeping climate-chaos temperature rise under two degrees centigrade may be only 2 percent of world GDP, according to a new study by leading international scientists released in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences into preprint on Dec. 22, 2008. But they say that spending much less than this will be […]

Biochar: magic bullet?

“If biochar could be massively applied around the globe, we could end the emissions problem in one to two years.” — soil scientist and Cornell professor Johannes Lehmann

Old Man Winter declares war on renewable energy

Guess what. The sun doesn’t shine as much in winter, so your home solar system won’t generate much power in the cold months. Oh, and it might SNOW on your solar panels, so you’re gonna have to get out there and sweep them off. But relax solar fans. You’ve got it better than those wind […]

N.Y. Times is ready for regime change at the EPA

The Gray Lady’s editorial board offered up a big lump of coal to President Bush’s EPA chief in a Christmas Day editorial. The NYT notes that even former GOP-appointed EPA leaders are frustrated with Stephen Johnson’s tenure at the nation’s top environmental enforcer. Money quote: “It was Mr. Johnson who refused to grant California a […]

Vote for the worst piece of writing on climate change

Every year the Poor Man Institute gives out awards for a range of wanktastic behavior from the lunatic right. Highlights include the Chickenhawk of the Year award (for rhetorical courage), the Fluffy award (for egregious ass-kissing), and the Purple Teardrop With Clutched Pearl Cluster award (for melodramatic offense-taking). Of particular interest to Gristians, however, is […]

Tennessee ash spill more than three times larger than originally thought

NYT: “Coal Ash Spill Is Much Larger Than Initially Estimated“ Initially authorities said there were 2.6 million cubic yards of ash in the pond, and 1.7 million spilled. Now they’re saying 5.4 million cubic yards have spilled — more than double the original estimate of the total in the pond. Fills you with trust in […]