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Military thinkers: for a bright American future, look to sustainability and liberalism
A while back, somebody, I can’t remember who, sent me a paper by two military officials, Capt. Wayne Porter (Navy) and Col. Mark Mykleby (Marines), called “A National Strategic Narrative” (PDF). It’s not an official military document, just these guys’ thoughts, but they are high-placed advisors to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint […]
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Richard Burr introduces bill to abolish the EPA
It’s just a harmless cost-cutting measure!Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. Senate Republicans have introduced legislation to abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, established 40 years ago by President Richard Nixon to give Americans clean air and water. The bill, introduced by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), would merge the EPA, which enforces environmental laws, with the Department […]
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Republican debate: Present Pawlenty vs. Past Pawlenty on cap-and-trade
Tim Pawlenty may have once promoted cap-and-trade as a response to climate change, but now he considers that choice a "battle scar.” Because nothing’s more traumatic than caving to peer pressure. "We all [have ‘clunkers’ on our records], and that's one of mine," he said last night at the first debate in the Republican primary. […]
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Utilities and regulators design energy rates, regardless of the power source
We often talk about electric rates as if the only thing that goes into determining them is the power source. In some sense, this is right: If a utility’s power costs go up, and nothing else changes, the price they charge consumers will likely eventually go up. But, this understanding doesn’t fully appreciate the role […]
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House Dems to corner Republicans into admitting they love Big Oil
House Republicans are planning on voting this afternoon to rev up offshore oil drilling again, and Democrats are taking the opportunity to prove that Republican's hatred of national deficits cannot outweigh their love for oil companies. Right now, oil companies get billions of dollars in tax breaks under a domestic manufacturing provision in the tax […]
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Republican energy coalition has the most ironic name ever
House Republicans are forming a coalition to talk about energy priorities. They're calling it the Guild to Load Our Business Associates with Lucre While Also Realizing Many International Net Gains, or GLOBALWARMING. Ha ha, just kidding! They're calling it the House Energy Action Team, or HEAT. WHAT? THAT IS NOT EVEN BETTER. Given that the […]
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GOP rep couldn’t have voted for oil subsidies, because they don’t exist, la la la
Bush killed Osama, the president was born in Kenya, and there's no such thing as oil subsidies. Not buying it? You just need practice. If you can believe six impossible things before breakfast every day, before you know it you'll be as adept as Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, who last week told a constituent that […]
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Canada elects first Green Party MP; everything else sucks
Well, yesterday's elections ended with Stephen "Kyoto is a socialist plot" Harper and his Conservative cronies controlling a majority government, with Jack "Trustache" Layton and the New Democratic Party nipping at their heels. Canadian Twitter this morning sounds like U.S. Twitter would have sounded in 2004 if we'd had Twitter then. Oh, Canada, we're sorry […]
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Tim Pawlenty doesn’t understand how gas prices work
Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty doesn't like high gas prices. Unfortunately, he apparently has no idea where they come from. Well, Tim, when a congressional GOP loves an oil industry very much … Pawlenty complained that Obama is "proposing is a tax increase on energy at a time when the gas is $4 a gallon," adding that […]
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Why EIA funding cuts may disrupt energy efficiency investments
This post was written by R. Neal Elliott, associate director for research at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and a contributing author at the ACEEE blog. Last Thursday, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced cuts in Energy Data and Analysis Programs resulting from the fiscal year 2011 budget deal. While the 14 percent […]
