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Is pro-nuke enthusiasm in the U.S. waning?
This is the fourth and final post in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, two, and three. Fukushima gave many Americans a sense of déjà vu: In 1979, a threatened explosion at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania caused by venting an explosive gas mixture was just […]
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States fight back against nuclear power, even as the feds remain in its thrall
This is part three in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, two, and four. Although Democrats and Republicans in Congress feed at the nuclear industry’s trough in equal measure, Republicans in particular have been trying hard for years to bring about a renaissance of nuclear power in the United States. […]
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Oops: Germany’s nuclear shutdown will cause 100s of million of tons of CO2 emissions
Riding a wave of anti-nuclear sentiment in the wake of Japan's Fukushima disaster, the German government has decided to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2022. That’ll certainly prevent nuclear meltdowns. On the flip side, though, analyses by experts suggest that eliminating those plants will lead to a short-term increase in coal burning, resulting […]
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Bachelorette contestant, Charlie Sheen add wattage to NYC solar campaign
The Bachelorette‘s Ryan Park. Photo: Karina Marchese of REC Solar What do GE, Charlie Sheen, and the most promising bachelor on The Bachelorette have in common? They all are playing a role in bringing solar to New York. The New York Solar Jobs Act is an effort to bring 5 gigawatts of solar to the […]
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Japanese workers wear Hawaiian shirts to save energy
To prevent rolling blackouts as a result of the failure of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, the Japanese government is mandating that all offices set their thermostats at 82 degrees F this summer. Combined with the usual salaryman armor — a dark business suit — that sounds a little like the eighth circle of hell (the […]
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The nuclear industry has powerful backers and weak opponents in D.C.
This is part two in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts one, three, and four. The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) is the lobby association for the entire process chain of the nuclear industry in the U.S., from uranium mining to the manufacture of the reactors and the supply of nuclear […]
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The wind money windfall in Sherman County, Oregon
Residents of Oregon's Sherman County used to hate on the strong winds endemic to the area. But now they pull in $590 per year, per household, just for tolerating the wind and the many wind turbines marring their viewshed. It’s like the oil payout for living in Alaska, only it’s not blood money from cannibalizing […]
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Canada omitted 20 percent increase in oil-sands emissions from U.N. report
Canada reported to the United Nations that the country's greenhouse-gas emissions were dropping, down 6 percent in the last year. But the government left out one teensy little detail in its report. The emissions from the oil-sands industry, which extracts hard-to-reach oil from tar sands, increased by 20 percent in 2009. Pollution from the oil […]
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Why is the United States so obsessed with nuclear power?
Why aren’t Americans more freaked out about the possibility of a nuclear accident? Photo: MikeThis is part one in a series on the United States and nuclear power. Read parts two, three, and four. After the nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima, as a German living in the U.S., I often get asked these days: What’s going […]
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Obama administration overseeing explosion in renewables on public land
The Bush administration issued more than 40,000 permits for oil and gas drilling on public lands, but approved zero solar projects (even though they received 300 applications). In contrast, in 2010 alone the Bureau of Land Management approved 9 solar projects representing 3,682 megawatts of electric power, reports Climate Central. Why the difference? According to […]
