Latest Articles
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Immelt goes green(ish)
Dave flagged GE's ecomagination initiative on Sunday, and here's the Dow Jones wire report on Immelt's speech:
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. needs to be more like Europe and develop a clear environmental policy on issues such as climate change and use of renewable energy, said General Electric Co. (GE) Chief Executive Jeff Immelt Monday.
This is, I think, one of the dynamic effects of the Kyoto protocol that got short shrift amid discussion of whether the U.S. should adopt limits on carbon emissions and whether Kyoto would actually make a difference. We're seeing companies pivot and demand climate change action sooner rather than later so that they can plan accordingly. It also helps that GE is in the wind energy business.He called Europe "the global regulatory superpower" when it comes to environmental policy, noting that Europe is using more wind power now because five years ago it set a clear goal to do just that.
Similar actions need to be taken in the U.S., said Immelt.
"Long-term certainty would help us all make smart decisions," he said, sitting next to executives from some of GE's customers, such as American Electric Power (AEP) and Cinergy Corp. (CIN). Immelt and the other executives spoke at a press conference on a new environmental initiative GE unveiled Monday.
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Charisma
Over on American Prospect, Chris Mooney reflects on the rediscovery of the ivory-billed woodpecker and the strange role of charisma in our efforts to recover endangered species.
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Huffington Post
I hope we can expect more than this in the way of environmental coverage over on Arianna's new playground.
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A new cartoon from the Meatrix folks.
From the folks that brought you the legendary Meatrix comes Store Wars, the story of Cuke Skywalker, Ham Solo, and ... oh, man, I feel dumb even writing this. It's funny, though. Go watch it.
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Michael Klare makes the case.
Michael T. Klare has another great piece up on Tom Dispatch, this one about the logic of global energy, which is pushing pretty inexorably toward conflict.
With prices rising all over the world and serious shortages in the offing, every major consuming nation is coming under increasing pressure to maximize its relative share of the available energy supply. Inevitably, these pressures will pit one state against another in the competitive pursuit of oil and natural gas.
Read the whole piece for the gory details....
Indeed, once a problem like energy security has been tagged as a matter of national security, it passes from the realm of economics and statecraft into that of military policy. Then, the generals and strategists get into the act and begin their ceaseless planning for endless "contingencies" and "emergencies." In such an environment, small incidents evolve into crises, and crises into wars. Expect a hot couple of decades ahead.
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Activists fight new round of proposed LNG terminals
While President Bush extols the virtues of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in speeches, energy companies have been at work, planning some 50 new LNG import terminals across North America, most slated for U.S. ports. Meanwhile, citizens and officials in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island, where new terminals are proposed, are fighting […]
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Wait — They Drilled for Gas With a Nuclear Bomb?!
Oil company hopes to drill near nuclear-blast cavity in Colorado Some 36 years ago, the Atomic Energy Commission and a Texas oil company put a nuclear bomb in an 8,000-foot shaft on Colorado’s energy-rich Western Slope and detonated it, hoping to reach a reserve of natural gas lying beneath the subterranean rock. They succeeded in […]
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Like Apples and Radioactive Oranges
Claims that nuclear energy can reduce oil use are largely hokum President Bush hearts nuclear — or in the argot of the day, nucular — claiming that a boost in nuclear energy could reduce oil imports and help America reach the Shangri-la of “energy independence.” But people who, um, know stuff about nuclear energy are […]
