Latest Articles
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Key senator signals piecemeal approach to climate legislation
David posted on Barbara Boxer’s big global warming announcement yesterday, in which the California senator promised to introduce two climate bills in January. The first would authorize a $15 billion clean-energy grant program, and the second would the EPA to develop a carbon cap-and-trade system by amending the Clean Air Act. The announcement is significant […]
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Europe, pioneering ways to fubar a carbon trading system
For the first years of the European Union’s cap-and-trade program (the EU ETS, for acronym lovers), permits were given away to polluters for free. Not only were they given away, but they were wildly overallocated based on inflated baseline numbers, meaning that the early years of the program produced far less in the way of […]
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Big drop in U.S. electricity consumption confounds utilities
Big drops in electricity consumption across a range of U.S. markets have utilities sweating, scratching their heads, and rethinking their business plans. U.S. electricity consumption, especially household consumption, has typically grown by some 1 to 2 percent a year, but in markets from Colorado to Minnesota, household energy use has dropped anywhere from 3 to […]
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Wal-Mart to purchase a lotta wind power in Texas
Retail behemoth Wal-Mart announced Thursday it will soon purchase up to 226 million kilowatt-hours of wind power each year from a nearly completed wind farm in Notrees, Texas, that will provide about 15 percent of the energy needed to power 360 of its stores and distribution centers in the state.
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The dirt on biodynamic and ‘authentic’ wines
In Checkout Line, Lou Bendrick cooks up answers to reader questions about how to green their food choices and other diet-related quandaries. Lettuce know what food worries keep you up at night. Dear Checkout Line, What the hell is biodynamic wine and does it taste any better than regular wine? JeffColorado Dear Colorado Jeff, […]
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Electric-car infrastructure coming to California’s Bay Area
California’s Bay Area will enjoy an electric-car infrastructure by 2012, startup Better Place announced Thursday. The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose signed on for the plan, which will cover the region with charging and battery-exchange stations at an estimated cost of $1 billion.
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Waxman’s win signals shift in Congress on climate and energy policy
Henry Waxman. House Democrats unceremoniously dethroned John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, installing Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in his stead — a move that will have resounding implications for climate and energy policy going forward and demonstrates growing strength among the party’s more liberal wing, especially when it comes to […]
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NOAA: Second warmest October on record
NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center reports: Based on preliminary data, the globally averaged combined land and sea surface temperature was the second warmest on record for October and ninth warmest on record for the January-October year-to-date period. Given that this report is just out, I’m assuming they have sorted out the data entry issues that […]
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Shell Oil can’t drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea, says appeals court
Shell Oil’s plans to drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea have been shot down by a federal appeals court. The Minerals Management Service failed to take a “hard look” at the impact of drilling on whales and subsistence hunters, the court ruled, and there remain “substantial questions as to whether [the plan] may cause significant harm […]
