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  • Oil, jobs, and the environment — a New Deal solution to the spill?

    Cross-posted from New Deal 2.0. Franklin D. RooseveltPhoto: uncgspecial via FlickrIn the wake of recent revelations that far more oil is spilling out into the Gulf than was originally estimated, and as it now appears more and more likely that BP will not be able to completely shut off the flow of oil until perhaps […]

  • Energy politics in the Senate: why Merkley’s oil plan matters

    This morning Sen. Jeff Merkley will introduce “America Over a Barrel: Solving Our Oil Vulnerability” (PDF) [UPDATE: video below], a policy plan devoted to reducing oil use, at an event at the Center for American Progress. I think it could make a big difference in the debate. To understand why, let’s back up and have […]

  • Rumor watch: Obama has a ‘secret’ plan to redirect the Mississippi River

    Photo credit: the White House/Peter Souza Annie Lowery of the Washington Independent picked up this exchange between Anderson Cooper and historian Doug Brinkley: [W]hen President Obama comes to Florida and Alabama and Mississippi … that is holding BP responsible for the Natural Resource Damage Act, for the Oil Spill Response Act. And, by that, I […]

  • Can we just drive less after the Gulf spill? If only it were so easy …

    Photo: Stephan Geyer via FlickrNPR reporter Brian Mann went talking to gas-station customers in upstate New York to find out what they’re thinking about the Gulf of Mexico oil leak and their own responsibility as gas-buyers. He gets some interesting responses, but I’d like to engage in some bloggerly quibbling with his conclusion. Mann finds […]

  • BP gears up to win over Washington and the rest of us

    A BP trash bag — not quite big enough to contain its mess.Photo: abrahamhyat via FlickrA little less than a month ago, back before he was madly tripping over his tongue, BP CEO Tony Hayward was sounding almost inspirational as he channeled Winston Churchill: “We are determined to fight this spill on all fronts, in […]

  • IEA stunner: global subsidies to dirty energy top $550 billion a year

    File this one under “news that ought to be the top headline across the world but will likely be ignored.” An early draft of a comprehensive new study from the International Energy Agency reveals that total global subsidies to dirty fossil-fuel energy amount to $550 billion a year — about 75 percent more than previously […]

  • Good neighborhoods have lots of intersections

    It’s a little counterintuitive, but it turns out that having lots of intersections is really important for neighborhood walkability and transit use. A new study on Travel and the Built Environment by planning scholars Reid Ewing and Robert Cervero finds that “intersection density” is the single most important measurement for understanding what keeps folks out […]

  • 48% of Americans Think BP Knowingly Violated Oil Drilling Regulations

    The new Economist/YouGov poll is out (previous polls here), and it includes several questions on the disaster in the Gulf and offshore drilling. Of particular interest, 48% of those who are familiar with the spill think BP knowingly violated oil drilling regulations in advance of the disaster. Just 20% disagreed and 32% were not sure. […]

  • BP oil heading toward Atlantic? Looks that way

    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo: This nightmarish model comes from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, which predicts that BP oil “might soon extend along thousands of miles of the Atlantic coast and open ocean as early as this summer.” “I’ve had a lot of people ask me, ‘Will the oil reach Florida?'” NCAR scientist Synte Peacock said in […]