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It’s official: Massey’s negligence killed 29 miners
A year after the deadly blast at the Massey-owned Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, it's official: The disaster was Massey's fault. I'm not sure what the team of independent investigators thought they were going to find — vengeful sprites? A cursed sarcophagus? Workers deliberately blowing themselves up for funsies? — but they found […]
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Me, talking politics and oil subsidies [VIDEO]
Yesterday, I was on The Alyona Show, a sharp public affairs talk show run, oddly enough, by Russia Today. The topic was the politics around oil subsidies. Here’s the clip: I don’t have a ton to add, but here’s one point I was pondering on the bus this morning. You often hear people (like me!) […]
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Will gas prices turn America into Europe?
If you thought driving sporty little fuel-efficient vehicles and living a reasonable distance from work was strictly an affectation of Continentals who kiss their ladies down there, we've got news for you: Turns out these behaviors can be induced in any population, whatever the likelihood that its colors will run, simply by increasing the cost […]
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Learn about oil prices through the magic of rap
Kids these days, with their "emo" and their "MySpace" and their "sexting"! How do you "get down" verbally to show you're "hep"? How about a rap music song! Actually, while the apparent vogue of rap-based explainers is a little weird, we can't complain too much about this one, since it brought us the line "oil's […]
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Senate refuses to sign ‘We Heart Offshore Drilling’ petition
Well, here's one piece of good news coming out of D.C.: The Senate — including five Republicans — voted to reject a bill that would have expanded offshore drilling. Of course, that might be because there are already plenty of new drilling permits being issued (53 shallow-water permits under the new post-Gulf spill regulations), so […]
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A look inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
This video shows the status of restoration work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, two months after the plant's safety systems first failed (and a week after the TEPCO power company officially confirmed that the plant was in meltdown). Offices are still littered with debris from the earthquake damage, and workers wear gas masks and […]
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West Virginia’s new coal-to-gasoline plant will produce dirtiest fuel known to humanity
Well hello there, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin! The last time we checked in with you, you were literally putting a bullet into climate change legislation. And today you're celebrating the opening of a new plant that will turn coal into gasoline, which is pretty much the single worst possible technology we could pursue if […]
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No nukes, no problem? Germany’s race for a renewable future
Germany plans to phase out all of its entire nuclear power within 11 years.Photo: Andy RudorferCross-posted from RenewableEnergyWorld.com. This post was coauthored by Wilson Rickerson, CEO of Meister Consultants Group, who leads the company’s international energy and climate work. During the last several years, there has been talk of a global “renaissance of nuclear energy.” […]
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Six irrational ideas about oil and gas prices debunked
Let’s give these cuckoo ideas a reality check.Photo: Jeremy BrooksCross-posted from New Deal 2.0. It’s not pretty when several irrational ideas collide. On May 12, the Senate conducted a hearing to discuss the removal of a $2 billion per year tax break for the top five oil companies. The New York Times called the testimony […]
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Ending Big Oil’s tax holiday
Will Congress finally end government handouts for Big Oil?Cross-posted from the Center for American Progress. The Senate plans to vote tonight on the Close Big Oil Tax Loopholes Act — legislation that would eliminate $21 billion of tax loopholes over the next decade for the five largest oil companies. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Bob […]
