Climate Climate & Energy
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Kansas conversations on utilities and efficiency
Check out this article from Energy Central. A workshop in Topeka, Kansas has been trying to figure out how to incentivize Kansas utilities to embrace conservation. The local regulated utility summarizes the problem: “We are totally committed to energy efficiency,” said Chris Giles of Kansas City Power and Light, “as long as we can have […]
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Right for 27 years: 1981 Hansen study finds warming trend that could raise sea levels
“After all, just 20 years ago scientists were worried about the new Ice Age.” This myth is so potent for deniers from Michael Crichton to George Will to Senator James Inhofe that even word guru and strategist Frank “death tax” Luntz made it a recommended line of attack in his super-slimy 2002 memo to conservatives […]
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High oil prices in future could spur plastic mining from dump sites
Sustained high oil prices on into the future could prompt entrepreneurs and scavengers to seek oil and oil derivatives from plastic items long ago thrown away in landfills, according to waste experts. “By 2020 we might have 9 billion people on the planet … and we could be in a really resource-hungry world with the […]
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Major hurricane tracks to New Orleans on eve of Republican Convention?
That subhead is lifted from Drudge. Needless to say, he left out ” … and on the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, where both Bush and McCain were AWOL” (see TP’s “As Katrina hit, McCain celebrated 69th birthday with Bush“). Track the storm with the National Hurricane Center here. Best hurricane blog here. Readers of […]
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Energy efficiency alone is not sufficient
China’s power plant emissions have surpassed the U.S. for the first time and are slated to double in the next decade, despite efficiency improvements. Without major technological innovation it will be impossible to decrease the absolute quantities of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is why government involvement is so important; we need massive R&D and […]
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Grist talks to Google.org climate and energy head Dan Reicher about geothermal
At a reception sponsored by the “Clean Tech for Obama” group yesterday, we had a chance to talk to Dan Reicher, director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for Google.org, who filled us in on the company’s big investment in geothermal energy, and other renewable initiatives they have underway.
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Consumers express renewed interest in natural-gas vehicles
High oil prices, increased domestic natural-gas production, and a well-publicized push from a former oil man have all boosted interest in natural-gas vehicles in the United States lately. This spring, the natural-gas equivalent of a gallon of gasoline was selling for about $1.50 less than gasoline on average nationwide. And in some places like Utah, […]
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Ending fossil-fuel subsidies would help climate and economy, U.N. says
Ending fossil-fuel subsidies around the world could slash greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 6 percent and help the economy at the same time, according to a new United Nations report [PDF]. Globally, governments spend some $300 billion on fuel subsidies that encourage consumption, delay transition to cleaner energy sources, and mainly benefit the already-rich even […]
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Media focuses on high costs of clean energy, but gives nuclear a free pass
When the media talks about clean energy, it usually deals with the cost issue with a rational, balanced analysis. Something along the lines of, say, “It’s so expensive!“ Yet somehow, in Keith Johnson’s Environmental Capital blog post today slamming greens for not supporting nukes, the cost issue is little more than an afterthought. The nuclear […]
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NSIDC: Arctic shortcuts open up; decline pace steady
Fresh from its Olympic-record in denier debunking, the National Snow and Ice Data Center has released a new update: Sea ice extent is declining at a fairly brisk and steady pace. Surface melt has mostly ended, but the decline will continue for two to three more weeks because of melt from the bottom and sides […]
