Climate Climate & Energy
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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 […]
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A new Olympic record for retraction of a mistaken analysis of NSIDC data
The gold medal goes to Steven Goddard of The Register. On Friday, Aug. 15, he published a scathing article, “Arctic ice refuses to melt as ordered: There’s something rotten north of Denmark” attacking the National Snow and Ice Data Center plot of Arctic Sea Ice Extent (below) that I and pretty much everyone else on […]
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States sue EPA over greenhouse-gas emissions from refineries
Twelve states, the city of New York, and the District of Columbia are suing the U.S. EPA for not regulating greenhouse-gas emissions from oil refineries. The suit accuses the agency of violating the Clean Air Act by refusing to issue standards for controlling carbon dioxide emissions from new or updated refinery equipment. In essence, the […]
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A choice of primary energies: renewable electrons win the gold
As you might expect from an analyst who has written a series about the (renewable) electron economy, I believe that the mainstay of our future energy system will be electric generators powered by renewable energy. However, I hope to show here that this choice has a basis largely in economic, scientific, and technological reality rather […]
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Gates and Buffet to invest in tar sands and spawn more two-headed fish?
Two heads are apparently not better than one — certainly not for fish and apparently not for the super-rich either. If you thought that the two richest Americans got that way by being green — or had suddenly become green because they are now giving their money to charitable causes — you were mistaken. The […]
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California Energy Commission considers PG&E proposal to require energy-efficient televisions
The following post is by Earl Killian, guest blogger at Climate Progress. —– The California Energy Commission is considering a proposal by PG&E to require televisions sold in the state to meet a minimum efficiency standard. Why is a utility proposing its customers by more efficient appliances? Because California allows utilities to earn a return […]
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Polar bears in open water prompt more worries about climate change
Ten polar bears were recently spotted swimming in open water off of the northwest coast of Alaska, federal officials confirmed on Friday. Polar bears were not often spotted in open water until about 2004, said Susanne Miller, who heads up the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s polar bear project. She and other biologists worry that […]
