oil
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Clean energy policies create more jobs than Keystone
Obama is poised to reject Keystone XL this afternoon, so brace for a lot of Republican bellyaching about how he obviously doesn’t care about jobs. There is a problem with this line of argument, and it’s that it is nonsense. Don’t believe us? Check out this graph, from ThinkProgress, which shows how Obama administration policies […]
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Fuel duel: Top three energy conflict hot spots
We're entering a new era in which disputes over vital resources dominate world affairs. These three energy hot spots could spur global conflict.
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Cooking grease is now so valuable that people are stealing it
Who says that clean energy policies don't create jobs? The boom in biodiesel has created not only a new commodities market in cooking grease, but a new business opportunities for security professionals -- not to mention providing work for thieves and black-market fences, which is a kind of job? That’s because fryer oil is now such a valuable resource that people are straight-up stealing it.
In recent years, a couple of state governments have realized that cooking grease has a use as a biofuel source and have regulated grease collection. At the same time, though, some less-than-savory characters have realized the grease’s value as well and are boosting it, costing some small rendering businesses losses on the order of $750,000 per year. And so the world comes to this impasse, as described by The New York Times:
The grease is often stored in black Dumpsters that reek of death, in back alleys, which is why pickups usually take place in the middle of the night.
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Fossil fuels receive 250 different kinds of subsidies
Even though renewables get federal subsidies for research and development, they’re still at a disadvantage when competing with fossil fuels, because fossil fuels receive even more subsidies. We basically all knew that already, but few of us realized it was quite this bad. Turns out fossil fuels get 250 different kinds of subsidies, and they’re getting more all the time.
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Huge strides in fuel efficiency innovation canceled out by bigger cars
If, and this is true, automakers have made huge strides in fuel efficiency over the past 30 years, why aren't we all driving the 100 MPG ubercars we were promised at Epcot Center when we were but wee lads and lasses?
The answer is that our cars, like our homes and just about everything else we consume, have been supersized, says MIT economist Christopher Knittel.
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Critical List: Ghost octopi in the Antarctic; without ethanol subsidies, gas prices rise
The creatures discovered living in thermal vents near Antarctica -- ghost octopi, limpets, yeti crabs -- are le awesome.
Two major solar industry groups are merging in order to focus on state-level policies.
With ethanol subsidies gone, gas will cost more. -
Critical List: Fracking ‘almost certainly’ caused earthquakes; wolves save trees
The disposal of fracking wastewater "almost certainly" was the cause of all those earthquakes near Youngstown, Ohio.
Oil is washing up on the shores of Nigeria; Shell denies it's from the massive oil spill that occurred last month.
BP wants Halliburton to cover the $20 billion it paid to clean up and otherwise deal with the Deepwater Horizon spill.
Wolves save trees. (Related: Deer are sort of like giant squirrels.) -
Critical List: Iran could block oil shipping; presidential candidates can criticize ethanol in Iowa
If America and its allies put sanctions on Iran, the Iranian navy could block the Strait of Hormuz, an important channel for international oil shipments. Have Republicans ensured the death of Keystone XL by pushing Obama to decide one way or another about the pipeline? The EPA is scaling back requirements for cellulosic ethanol in […]
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2012 will probably best record-setting 2011 for gas prices
This year broke all previous records for amount spent by the average American household on gasoline — us car-having suckers spent $4,155! As Jonathan Fahey pointed out in the Associated Press, in an unusually informative and clear-eyed look at the pedestrian impact of the planet's slow-motion oil crunch: "That is 8.4 percent of what the […]