Latest Articles

The ‘psychological effects’ of threatening war with Iran

Steve Clemons makes a point worth repeating — if you’re worried about "psychological effects" on oil speculators, perhaps a better strategy than hyping offshore drilling is dialing back the warmongering rhetoric toward Iran.

NYC officials fear natural-gas drilling would taint water supplies

New York City officials want to ban natural-gas drilling within a mile of six major upstate reservoirs for fear that the city’s drinking water could become contaminated. Extracting gas from the Marcellus Shale rock layer, as some state regulators and lawmakers are pushing to do, would require shooting millions of gallons of water and unidentified […]

Is drilling debate a repeat of the immigration debate?

Last week, Matt Yglesias finished his stint blogging for The Atlantic. Next week he starts blogging for the Center for American Progress. In between he’s taking a week off — the first time, according to Matt, that he’s gone more than 24 hours without blogging in over four years. We don’t want Matt’s head exploding […]

Efficienciezzz …

Bob Herbert’s column in the NYT yesterday makes two points: One, efficiency and conservation are the smartest strategies to combat our energy woes; two, it’s very difficult to talk about efficiency and conservation without being boring as paint.

Are Obama’s energy panders as bad as McCain’s?

I think Kevin Drum is being too hard on Obama here. Obama and the entire Democratic Party are getting killed on energy right now. The pressure to do something is extraordinary. Obama is looking for concessions that can take some of the heat off without giving away the game, and in terms of concessions, opening […]

Is tackling climate change contrary to human nature?

On DotEarth, Andy Revkin again wrestles with a dilemma he returns to frequently: how do we overcome human nature? He quotes the work of David Ropeik, who’s done considerable work on communicating risk, and who is not sanguine about our ability to communicate the risk of climate change. The problem, Revkin and Ropeik agree, is […]

Why the Bank itself bears its share of responsibility for the global food crisis

Last week, I posted about World Bank economist Don Mitchell’s controversial report on biofuel and food prices. According to Mitchell’s calculations, U.S. and E.U. support for biofuels accounts for 70 to 75 percent of the recent rise in global food-commodity prices — one that could force an additional 100 million people worldwide into poverty conditions, […]

Since offshore oil is de minimis, why shouldn’t Obama and the Dems make a deal? Part 1

Getting something for nothing is always a good idea. Kudos to Senator Obama and other progressives for understanding this. The key questions are:

1. How much of a "nothing" is ending the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling?
2. How much of a "something" can progressives get by way of a serious effort to end our oil addiction once and for all?

Right now, it seems like conservatives are willing to hold their breath until they turn blue in the face before they agree to move any legislation whatsoever if it does not include coast drilling. Politically, they seem to have a winning argument in part because the media simply isn't policing the debate, even when people like McCain just repeat the lies of the oil industry over and over again. And in national politics, the side who doesn't have to explain their position usually wins.

I do think that agreeing to some coastal drilling now is de minimis as for two reasons:

McCain tours nuke plant, renews call for nuclear power expansion in U.S.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain toured a nuclear plant in Michigan on Tuesday, using the opportunity to renew his call for the U.S. to build 45 new nuclear reactors by 2030. At the plant, McCain said that his love affair with nuclear power began when he encountered nuclear ships and submarines in the Navy. “I […]

What’s the deal with Republican attacks on the tire gauge?

I’ve had a few pundit types ask me what the deal is with the kerfuffle over the tire gauge. What’s the attack here on Obama? That pumping your tires is elitist? That it’s unbefitting a commander in chief to recommend auto maintenance? Apparently Republican attacks have become so baroque that they are now impossible for […]