Latest Articles
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The New York Times blows the solar PV story
It would seem like an easy story for the paper of discord record: In recent months, chains including Wal-Mart Stores, Kohl’s, Safeway and Whole Foods Market have installed solar panels on roofs of their stores to generate electricity on a large scale … In the coming months, 85 Kohl’s stores will get solar panels; 43 […]
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Umbra on eco-conversions
Dear Umbra, In all sorts of corporate environmental reports, you see claims that compare apples to oranges — “By reducing our emissions by X pounds this year, we’ve saved the equivalent of 17 gazillion trees.” Or “If every person in the U.S. bought our eco-friendly product, we could save all the baby harp seals.” OK, […]
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Exxon John
The Democratic National Committee is being mean to John McCain again:
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What it means to put 4.1 billion bushels of corn into our gas tanks
The USDA just raised its projection for how much corn it expects the ethanol industry to burn through this year by 150 million bushels. It now expects a total of 4.1 billion bushels of corn to be turned into liquid fuel. That’s about double the amount of corn that went to ethanol in 2006 (2.1 […]
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Roadless rule shot down, again
The Clinton-era “roadless rule” has been declared invalid by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer. The rule, which prohibits development on 58.5 million acres of national forest, has had a long and rocky past. Brimmer first put the kibosh on it in 2003, and while an appeal was pending, the Bush administration switched it out for […]
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USDA says crops have shaken off flood damage
In early June, heavy storms and floods pounded the Midwest, threatening the 2008 corn and soy harvests. With heavy U.S. and European biofuel mandates in place, any major shortfall in these key crops would cause food prices to spike. Anticipating a poor harvest, investors bid corn and soy prices to all-time highs. Certain food-politics writers […]
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Media finally tells public about the real roadblock to good energy policy
Holy hot dog hosannas, I don’t believe it! Finally someone in the mainstream media has seen fit to share with the public one of the basic facts necessary to understand the energy politics of the last two years: Senator McCain did not show up for the crucial vote [to extend the renewable tax credits] on […]
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New data point shows that OPEC’s production hit highest level ever last month
I’ve written about energy issues a few times and been wrong as often as I’ve been right. One of the reasons predictions about energy prove so difficult is that data on oil production are so poor. But we do have a new data point out today that shows that OPEC’s production hit its highest level […]
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Drilling for Jesus
“[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she’s just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet — we didn’t need Nancy Pelosi to do that.” — Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.)
