Warren Buffett

Critical List: The gas boom scam; Bieber’s electric car

In Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell looks at “the scam behind the gas boom.” What really makes money for a natural gas company? “Buying and flipping the land that contains the gas,” Goodell reports. A team of scientists has discovered how to use wastewater’s bacteria to create electricity. For his 18th birthday Justin Bieber received (among […]

Critical List: Same old U.S. and China at COP talks; Warren Buffett’s solar farm

At the COP talks, the United States is driving all the other countries crazy. The U.S. response: "What, us?" China's conditions for a climate deal include the demand that it and other growing economies would have to meet different standards than rich countries. So, essentially, nothing has changed. Warren Buffett's buying Topaz Solar Farm, a […]

U.S. coal goes to China

OnEarth takes a close look at why exactly Warren Buffett has been sniffing around Wyoming coal mines lately. Short answer: China wants coal. As George Black explains:

Although worldwide energy-related CO2 emissions rose more last year than at any time since 1969, and the use of coal grew faster than that of any other fossil fuel, U.S. demand has actually flatlined. In 2000 coal accounted for just over half of our electricity supply. By 2010 it was down to 45 percent. … 

Asia is a different matter. …

Warren Buffett's utility, MidAmerican, wants to keep polluting

Today, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works convenes a hearing to discuss the EPA's proposal to reduce mercury, lead, and other toxic air pollution from power plants. One of the witnesses will be Cathy S. Woollums, senior vice president of MidAmerican Energy. She will threaten rate hikes and job losses if the proposed safeguards become final. MidAmerican is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Warren Buffett doesn’t believe CO2 is a real risk for Berkshire Hathaway

The wise man responsible for all those Geico ads may not be so wise when it comes to climate issues.Photo: JavierBillionaire investor Warren Buffett appears seriously confused about the risks posed by greenhouse gases. Two years ago, the sage of Omaha wrote, “Doubling the carbon dioxide we belch into the atmosphere may far more than […]