Climate Energy
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Fossil fuels receive 250 different kinds of subsidies
Even though renewables get federal subsidies for research and development, they’re still at a disadvantage when competing with fossil fuels, because fossil fuels receive even more subsidies. We basically all knew that already, but few of us realized it was quite this bad. Turns out fossil fuels get 250 different kinds of subsidies, and they’re getting more all the time.
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Former pipeline inspector calls Keystone XL a potential ‘disaster’
A whistleblower claims that TransCanada has a track record of undercutting quality at the expense of the environment.
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Yeah, looks like fracking caused Ohio quakes
The Youngstown, Ohio area has had 11 minor earthquakes since last March, and according to seismologist John Armbruster of Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, you can blame those rumbles on fracking. A fracking wastewater disposal well has been identified as the source of the quakes -- extraction companies inject the briny wastewater into the well, and the pressure from that injection ripples outwards, Armbruster says. The injection well that caused the Youngstown quakes has been shut down, but the area can still look forward to another year of uncharacteristic seismic activity.
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Don’t count on that shale gas revolution
Over at some raggedy-rag called Slate, energy futurist Chris Nelder takes a deep dive into the available data on how much natural gas we can get out of the rocks beneath the U.S. via fracking. His conclusion is that we could run out of natural gas in a decade, especially if we make a mass […]
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Critical List: Iran could block oil shipping; presidential candidates can criticize ethanol in Iowa
If America and its allies put sanctions on Iran, the Iranian navy could block the Strait of Hormuz, an important channel for international oil shipments. Have Republicans ensured the death of Keystone XL by pushing Obama to decide one way or another about the pipeline? The EPA is scaling back requirements for cellulosic ethanol in […]
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Top 10 clean energy stories of 2011
Cross-posted from Climate Progress. What an odd year. While businesses around the world were making record-level investments in renewables and efficiency, a growing number of conservative politicians and members of the American media punditry — lead by the outrageously ignorant “reporting” by Fox News — have been foolishly projecting (even cheering on) the demise of the […]
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Photos don’t lie: See the dramatic expansion of Canadian tar sands
Cross-posted from Climate Progress. Extraction of Alberta’s energy-intensive tar sands has expanded steadily in recent years, with about 232 square miles now exposed by mining operations. Tar-sands production is expected to double over the next decade, which could mean the destruction of 740,000 acres of boreal forest and a 30-percent increase in carbon emissions from […]
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As Keystone XL victory looms, a ‘top enviro’ games out how to lose
Some guys just don’t know how to win gracefully.Over at Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell has a piece gaming out scenarios for the Keystone XL pipeline. It’s worth a read. Just to briefly recap: There was a cut in payroll taxes. It was set to expire at the end of the year, thus raising taxes on […]
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2012 will probably best record-setting 2011 for gas prices
This year broke all previous records for amount spent by the average American household on gasoline — us car-having suckers spent $4,155! As Jonathan Fahey pointed out in the Associated Press, in an unusually informative and clear-eyed look at the pedestrian impact of the planet's slow-motion oil crunch: "That is 8.4 percent of what the […]
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White planes are more fuel-efficient than flashy planes
The vast majority of people flying home this week in a post-holiday haze will ride in a white plane. After a long history of dolling planes up to stand out, airline executives are opting for white designs, both because it's cheaper and because it's more fuel-efficient (read: cheaper). White paint wears more slowly, so fewer […]
