oil
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McCain claims U.S. has ‘the world’s largest oil reserves’
John McCain did an interview via satellite yesterday with WSYX ABC News in Columbus, Ohio, in which he claimed that the United States has the world’s largest oil reserves. You can watch the video, or here’s a transcript of the relevant section: Reporter: Now, some say it would be health care, some say it’s the […]
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Oil is down $10 today because …
… oh hell, nobody really knows. Note the journalist’s favorite way of implying causation without actually claiming it: the $10 drop happened “amid” political fighting over the bailout. It also happened amid the baseball playoffs, and amid my attempts to keep the dandelions from recolonizing my newly planted front yard. I shall cease weeding, lest […]
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Did House Dems kill renewable tax credit extension?
Sure looks that way. I wasn’t entirely thrilled with everything in the Senate bill. But given how dreadful congressional Democrats and environmentalists are at messaging, it is surely the best anybody could hope for. The House Dems threw out elements of the tax package that were crucial to get the support of Senate Republicans and […]
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Gas shortages plague the Southeast
Gas lines snake through parking lots, independent gas retailers ration supplies, and fights break-out at gasoline-starved filling stations across the Southeast … Gas shortages throughout the Southeast continue after several oil refineries in the Gulf Coast region were knocked off line after the double whammy of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Though two refineries have plans […]
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McCain’s veep candidate lacks breadth and depth on energy issues
I have a new article in Salon on Sarah Palin, “The fungible candidate.” But it is really about the (lack of) judgment of John McCain. He famously said of his VP pick, “She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America.” As we’ll see Palin lacks both breadth and […]
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Republican oil guru says McCain doesn’t have a clue about drilling
If you follow peak oil — and if you don’t, you will be bitchslapped by reality — then you know of Matt Simmons. I was introduced to him several years ago by my former boss at the Energy Department. Back then, Simmons was merely one of the savviest financiers in the oil services business, who […]
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Ramblings on the financial crisis
Based on my own extensive analysis of the ongoing financial crisis, I’ve come to the following conclusions: Nobody clearly understands how we got in this situation. Nobody clearly understands what situation we are in. Nobody clearly understands what’s going to happen next. Despite all this, every single human being with access to a keyboard and […]
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Interior Department joins Big Oil and Big Fish
If you thought their parties were kinky, get this: those wacky kids over at the Department of the Interior have figured how to please their special friends in the oil business and boost the factory fish-farming industry in one swoop. Writing on Ethicurean, Elanor Starmer reports that the Interior department’s Minerals Management Services is pushing […]
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‘Environmental purists’ unhappy with House Dem energy bill
This is mostly water under the bridge now, but look, Dems got outmaneuvered this summer, as Republicans managed to successfully reframe the energy debate around drilling. They drummed up lots of public support and put Dems on the defensive. This is the fault not only of Dem lawmakers but also of everyone on the progressive […]
