Latest Articles
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The high price of electricity deregulation
In David Cay Johnston's NYT article "A New Push to Regulate Power Costs," he writes about the fact that many states are rolling back their deregulatory initiatives. The main reason, he says, is price.
Ahh, price. That magic number at the nexus of supply and demand. The problem with price in electricity markets is that it is not determined by supply and demand, as in a free, deregulated market -- even in those states where there was, supposedly, deregulation.
In fact, we've long argued that deregulatory initiatives, as they were designed and implemented, had nothing to do with what most people understand as "deregulation" at all. Johnston points out that retail price controls, artificially induced competition on the wholesale side, and same old-same same-old metering does not a free market make. As Peter Van Doren of the Cato Institute says, "Just calling something a market does not make it a market."
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A setback for Yucca Mountain nuke dump as judge denies water to project
A federal judge poured cold water on the U.S. government’s plans to build a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada this week — or, more accurately, he left the feds high and dry. The Department of Energy has been seeking 8 million gallons of state-controlled water to drill test holes at Yucca Mountain; […]
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EPA sued over ship emissions, smacked over 9/11 cleanup
The Environmental “Protection” Agency faced two major slams yesterday, from east and west. In Washington, D.C., the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office issued a report scolding EPA for its post-9/11 cleanup efforts, saying the agency’s approach to toxic indoor contamination in buildings near the site is misdirected and ignores New Yorkers’ health concerns. The report “confirms […]
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Penguin populations in trouble, climate cited as one cause
Photo: iStockphoto First, the good news: there’s an International Penguin Conference! Who knew? Now, the bad news: at said conference, taking place this week in Tasmania, a team of researchers has reported that the world’s penguins are in trouble. The 17 species “face serious population decreases throughout their range,” the team wrote, adding that officials, […]
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ConAgra: No more toxic fake butter
Clearly not responding to my post from yesterday — but rather to steady pressure from the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy and other groups — ConAgra announced it would stop using diacetyl in its Orville Redenbacher and Act II microwave popcorn brands. Diacetyl, a fake butter flavoring, has been known for years to […]
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Japan offers Micky D’s as reward for climate change promises
Today, in Japan: A Japanese government website crashed Wednesday as people raced to take up an offer of a half-price McDonald’s hamburger in exchange for pledging to fight global warming. … People were asked to check up to 39 boxes on a form they could download from the environment ministry’s website, each listing a way […]
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A guest essay from Jan Lundberg
This is a guest essay from Jan Lundberg, who is, at press time, on the Climate Emergency Fast promoted by Mike Tidwell’s organization. It is a response to Tidwell’s recent piece in Grist, "Consider Using the N-Word Less." Jan publishes Culturechange.org and participates in campaigns to have cities ban plastic bags and water bottles. His […]
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Rate of global warming predicted 35 years ago in Nature
Nature just published this remarkable letter by Neville Nicholls of Australia's Monash University:
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How the congressional energy bills stack up
We've got three big hurdles before we see a new Energy Bill enacted: substantive, procedural, and presidential.
First, the substantive hurdle: the House and Senate bills differ on key points, such as fuel economy standards, a national renewable electricity standard, and energy taxes (I have reprinted a side-by-side comparison below). Merging the bills won't be easy.
Second, the procedural hurdle: both chambers must "formally be considering the same legislation," as E&E Daily ($ub. req'd) explains:
The Senate in June passed its amendment to H.R. 6, which is the energy bill the House passed during the new Democratic majority's opening 100 hour legislative blitz in January. Then the House last month passed a much more sweeping bill than its January effort and a companion $15 billion energy tax package.
"Right now we are in this interesting situation where we have two bills out there," said David Marks, a spokesman for Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). "There is this procedural hurdle to get over first."Third, the presidential hurdle: Bush must sign whatever passes before it becomes law. And that is not a sure thing.
Side-by-Side Comparison
This chart from E&E Daily compares the House-passed energy bill, H.R. 3221 (on the left), with the Senate-passed energy bill, H.R. 6 (on the right):
