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Congress goes on recess without passing energy legislation

Congress broke for August recess today without making any notable progress on energy issues — as expected. Despite multiple attempts in both the House and Senate to pass legislation that would curb oil-market speculation, release some oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and extend tax credits for renewable energy, members of Congress will go home […]

Conservatives will drill-and-burn this planet to the point of destruction

Great Paul Krugman column in The New York Times today. And another absurd Charles Krauthammer column in The Washington Post -- yes, I know, that's a dog bites man story.

They both teed off Nancy Pelosi's statement that one of the reasons she was blocking a vote on coastal drilling was, "I'm trying to save the planet; I'm trying to save the planet."

Krugman understood that, notwithstanding the fact that offshore drilling would never have a significant impact on oil prices, she was talking about global warming: "Beyond that, Ms. Pelosi's response shows that she understands the deeper issues behind the current energy debate."

As Krugman points out, that point is utterly lost on Senator McCain, who has now become "a standard drill-and-burn Republican." Krugman's worry:

From New Jersey, bad news for factory farms

Thomas Hobbes famously described life in a “state of nature” as “nasty, brutish, and short.” The U.S. meat industry appears to have taken Hobbes’ statement as a prescription for proper animal husbandry. Every year, millions of farm animals are slaughtered without ever knowing anything besides life in a grim, crowded cage. Many are subjected to […]

Create a video for our next president

If you had 60 seconds to talk to our next president and other political leaders about climate change, what would you say? Well, get your speech ready because the Climate Matters Video Contest is offering that opportunity to 10 lucky videographers. They’re accepting submissions on Vimeo until September 22, and the top ten most-viewed videos […]

Greyhound and other intercity buses gain popularity

High gas prices are helping Greyhound and other intercity buses shun their loser-cruiser reputation. Ridership on the U.S. intercity bus system fell by a third between 1960 and 1980, by half again by 2006 — but jumped 13 percent in the past two years. “People are starting to feel good about stepping aboard a bus,” […]

Marketplace commentary gives a misleading picture of government’s role in energy use

In a commentary on Thursday's Marketplace, the Cato Institute's Will Wilkinson critiqued T. Boone Pickens' new energy plan. In doing so, he painted a misleading picture of the government's role in our energy usage.

Pickens wants wind energy to replace natural gas in electricity generation, and use the freed-up natural gas to fuel vehicles so we can use less foreign oil. There are problems with this energy plan, but Wilkerson is most concerned that the government might be "picking a winner" if it helps Pickens realize his scheme. (Wilkerson doesn't specify exactly what Pickens wants the government to do, but Reuters reports that under the Pickens plan, the government would need to create power transmission corridors.)

Wilkerson doesn't seem to think the government should get involved; his criticism of the Pickens Plan is that it's "not about offering you, the consumer, a choice." This is where he overlooks one crucial factor in the energy puzzle. He says:

Campaign Money Watch looks at McCain’s donations from Big Oil

John McCain’s call for more offshore drilling has resulted in an influx of oil money to his campaign coffers, as we reported earlier this week. Yesterday, Campaign Money Watch put out a comprehensive report [PDF] on just how much much money Big Oil has been sending to the GOP candidate, and how it compares to […]

Gray skies loom over Beijing as Chinese officials announce emergency air-pollution measures

A haze descended on Beijing for four consecutive days earlier this week and made a fitting backdrop for state environmental regulators to announce emergency measures that they'll put in place if air pollution remains a problem. More power plants and manufacturing facilities could be shut down, and more cars pulled from the roads, according to a news release from the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

This second wave of shut-downs would affect small solvent factories that had previously been overlooked because of their relatively low pollutant emissions as compared to iron factories or coal plants. As The New York Times reports:

Five Gore steps to carbon-free electricity and electrified transportation

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to comment about Al Gore's next step on Earthbeat Radio, a syndicated, weekly, hour-long environmental program, and speaking with me was long-time anti-nuclear, environmental, and political activist Harvey Wasserman, author of "Solartopia! Our Green Powered Earth." The show is co-hosted by Daphne Wysham, global environmental activist from the Institute for Policy Studies. Our segment [mp3] is a little more than halfway through.

Our conversation got me to thinking about what a set of five "Gore" steps might look like. Gore has put forth the first and second steps, so now we can pitch in and propose a few more. Here are mine:

With research breakthrough, solar power could work when the sun don’t shine

Wind and solar energy face a distinct hurdle: sometimes the wind don’t blow and the sun don’t shine. But new research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests a breakthrough in the intermittency problem. In a study published Friday in Science, researchers demonstrate a photosynthesis-inspired process to use electricity from renewable sources to split regular […]