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No One Anticipated the Breach of the Royalties

U.S. Interior Department knew about drilling loophole for years We’re beginning to detect a pattern among Bush administration responses to huge fusterclucks. It seems U.S. Interior Department officials who said they’d learned only last year that oil companies were avoiding billions of dollars in royalty payments have (surprise!) known about the problem for a while. […]

Rising tortilla prices in Mexico point to a usual suspect

For decades, the price of corn tortillas -- a staple for many families -- was subsidized by the Mexican government. The tortilla subsidy was eliminated in 1999, just as cheap, subsidized corn imported from the U.S. started to flood into Mexico, putting downward pressure on Mexican prices for the grain. Consumers continued to enjoy low prices for tortillas, but Mexican farmers struggled to compete.

That situation has changed dramatically over the last several months. According to an article by Marla Dickerson in the L.A. Times, prices for tortillas have risen by more than 60% in some parts of Mexico in recent weeks. Several factors appear to be responsible for the price rise -- including, allegedly, price gouging by the food giant GRUMA, which commands an estimated 70% share of the market for tortillas and cornmeal in Mexico. But rising demand for yellow corn from U.S. ethanol plants has also been blamed, even though a different (white) variety of corn is used for making tortillas. The following day, in another L.A. Times article, Dickerson reported that Mexican corn produces are rejoicing at the high prices they now receive for their product.

A special series on the biz angles

Reuters is pumping out stories from its "biofuels summit," looking into all the biz angles of the story from the U.S., Asia, and Europe. In a previous life, I woulda been editing this stuff ... and Tom Philpott reporting it. It's straight news, so I leave the sage commentary to you Gristies.

Biofuel processing? Part 2: methanol

As a method of processing biomass into liquid fuel, methanol tends to be less discussed than its more glamorous cousin ethanol. But it is much more efficient, and can accept just about any biological input besides.

Animals on diet and exercise regime

The number one new year's resolution for Americans is to lose weight, which is no surprise considering that 60 million of us are obese. But 16 days into this year, chances are many of us have already traded in our granola for Krispy Kremes or asked for our movie popcorn with extra butter.

Such is not the case at Sea World, where walruses, dogs, manatees, and pigs are counting calories and doing crunches. See for yourself.

Of course, the best weight-loss regimen would be living in the wild oceans. But that might be difficult for the dogs and the pigs.

Word

Let’s all gather round and give Jeff Goodell a rousing huzzah for using his megaphone to spread the righteous message that (say it with me!) coal is the enemy of the human race. Specifically, Goodell, writing in Rolling Stone, covers the electric-power industry’s mad rush to build as many coal plants as possible before emissions […]

California to reduce carbon from fuels, 2006 hottest year in Lower 48, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Flexing His OPECs Haul Out the Halter Tops Frosty the No Man Enemy at the Gates Dude, You’re Gettin’ a Conscience Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Even Stevens? Risky Business Flock of Siegel From Pad to Worse

If you know what we mean

There’s an interesting story in The Atlantic about Craig Venter, the guy who successfully sequenced the human genome (using private capital). Now he’s working on engineering microbes designed specifically to convert biomass directly into ethanol. He also has grander, longer-term plans to have them produce other kinds of fuels like natural gas from sewage sludge […]

Big biz gets in line

Eighteen major corporations, including power companies and companies that manufacture power-generation equipment, come together to call for a concerted global plan to fight climate change, built around the following nine principles: A switch-over to a low-emitting economy is a necessity A global solution is needed A common, global goal limiting climate changes is needed Greenhouse-gas […]

Listen and learn how the game is played

We’re constantly told that any slip of the tongue or exaggeration on climate science can destroy our credibility. If we ally ourselves with respected scientists like Kerry Emanuel and Tom Wigley who believe there is a strong connection between hurricanes and climate change, we open ourselves to charges of alarmism, hysteria, and demagoguery. In the […]