Latest Articles

Media drops the ball on drilling

The Center for Economic and Policy Research has a new analysis out looking at the way the media is presenting the drilling issue. Suffice to say, educating its audience about the facts has taken a back seat: This paper examines television news coverage of proposed drilling for oil in environmentally sensitive zones in the United […]

Nature magazine gives short-shrift to baseload solar

Nature recently ran an article ($ub. req’d) on “Energy alternatives: Electricity without carbon.” Like most discussions written by people who don’t follow clean energy closely, the article lumped baseload solar (also known as concentrated solar thermal power) in with solar PV and generally treated it as an afterthought. Here is everything that they wrote about […]

Half of GM’s manufacturing plants to go “landfill-free” by 2010

Automaker GM is planning to make half of its 181 manufacturing plants worldwide “landfill-free” by 2011 through initiatives to reuse or recycle some 90 percent of its waste, according to USA Today. The not-reused, not-recycled portion of the waste would potentially be incinerated to produce energy. GM has yet to formally announce the program, but […]

BLM finalizes plan for leasing oil shale in U.S. West

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has finalized plans to open some 1.9 million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to oil-shale development, a necessary step on the road to tapping the vast reserves. The technology for turning oil shale into usable crude oil is energy-intensive and heavily polluting, but the Bush […]

McCain talks energy in his big acceptance speech, but eschews talk of environmental concern

John McCain. Photo: johnmccain.com Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s acceptance speech in St. Paul this evening had plenty of references to the nation’s energy concerns, calling for drilling here and now, as well as nuclear, “clean coal,” and renewables. There was not, however, a single mention of climate change, an issue he has in the […]

Energy and moose are hot topics on the last night of the RNC

OK, Joe Lieberman is still the only person to mention either “global warming” or “climate change” in an official speech. But the energy issue is hot tonight, as is bashing Barack Obama and other Democrats for opposing expanded domestic drilling. The key excerpts: Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.): “The choice in this election is clear … […]

Police and protesters clash outside as bored crowd hears about Palin’s love of mooseburgers

I’m inside the Xcel Center for tonight’s official proceedings, the final of the Republican National Convention. Outside, anti-war protesters are attempting to march on the convention. On my way in, the police had surrounded them on a bridge near the capitol building, and apparently they’ve arrested at least dozen of them. The police are in […]

House GOP leaders call for their energy bill, or no energy bill at all

House Democrats are planning to co-opt the idea of an “all of the above” energy policy that the Republican congressional leadership has been pushing, offering them a bill that includes an expansion of offshore drilling, coupled with a renewable electricity mandate, energy-efficiency standards for buildings, and provisions to raise taxes on the oil industry. This […]

Most revealing Palin energy whopper: Iran could cut off a fifth of the world’s energy supplies

Palin’s full speech contained yet another energy lie, one that is very revealing: To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the world’s energy supplies … Not even close. Yes, if you live in a world where the only energy source is oil, then the Persian Gulf countries […]

Snippets from the news

• BLM releases plan for opening public land to oil-shale development. • What are the effects of public participation on environmental policymaking? • Media ignores Energy Dept. data when reporting on drilling. • Chile reforms salmon farms. • U.S. now world leader in wind electricity generation. • California prepares for water crisis.