Energy
Oil Shale, Greenhouse Gas, and Federal Lands
Back in 2005, a Rand report assessed the merits of pursuing oil shale (a rock formation particularly prevalent in the U.S.) as an option for extracting liquid transportation fuel. The authors said: “Heating oil shale for retorting, whether above ground or in situ, requires significant energy inputs. Over at least the next few decades, this …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Issue of Ecology Law Quarterly is Available On-Line
Creating Flexibility in Interstate Compacts Emily Jeffers Read Article (PDF) Environmental Conservation Organization v. City of Dallas Creates Unnecessary Burdens for Citizen Suits under the Clean Water Act Catherine Mongeon Read Article (PDF) Making Snow in the Desert: Defining a Substantial Burden under RFRA Jonathan Knapp Read Article (PDF) Taking a Hard Look at Agency …
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CONTINUE READINGCows and Climate – Putting All of That Waste To Work
In many situations, public policies supporting greenhouse gas reduction also support other environmental goals. But sometimes, different environmental policies bump up against each other. It is left for enlightened public officials to sort it all out. Here is a link to comments recently filed with the California Energy Commission by the Center for Law, Energy, …
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CONTINUE READINGManaging Technology and Dangerous Climate Change
The risk of catastrophic climate change puts uncertainties associated with innovative energy and carbon sequestration technology in a new light, and the short time for effective greenhouse gas emission reduction challenges public decision-making processes. Interest in this topic has been spurred by the drive to bring new energy and green house gas emission reduction technologies …
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CONTINUE READING2 Funny!
This is from Grist’s mock facebook page for Steve Chu: Steven took the quiz “Do you know more about energy than Sarah Palin?” and the result is “OMG I HOPE SO, MR. ENERGY SECRETARY“. You’re the flipping Secretary of Energy. Your vocabulary has moved beyond Sarah’s staples of “Drill, Baby, Drill” and “Nu-cu-lar.” You understand …
CONTINUE READINGIs EVERYTHING Related to Climate Change?
I don’t want to seem obsessed with a single issue, so I keep trying to come up with topics that have absolutely no relationship with climate change. But I can’t seem to find any. The fact is that energy is such an integral part of our economy that almost all activities connect one way or …
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CONTINUE READINGTar Sands, Obama, California, and the Economy in Calgary
Spending just a few days in Calgary, Alberta, one thing becomes perfectly clear: oil is Calgary, and Calgary is all about oil. And increasingly, the story of oil all across Alberta has become the story of tar sands. Many around the world have viewed with horror, or at least dismay, Canada’s increased reliance on producing …
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CONTINUE READINGWaxman-Markey Bill’s Tentative Compromise on Renewable Energy Offers a Weak Standard
When Representatives Waxman and Markey introduced their energy bill concept, they included a requirement that utilities deliver 25% renewable-derived power by 2025. According to the New York Times, a tentative agreement with Democrats unenthusiastic with the orginial proposal would reduce the target to 15% by 2020. And the 15% gets watered down even further. States …
CONTINUE READINGThey’rrreee Off and Running!!!
Today, U.S. House of Representatives Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman released a discussion draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (ACES). See http://energycommerce.house.gov/. This is a major development, for several reasons. First, ACES represents the 111th Congress’ first foray into the details of proposed climate change legislation–though the newly-released …
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CONTINUE READINGExxon Valdez: 20 Years Later – Lessons Learned
Today commemorates a sad and calamitous event in American environmental history: the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. The key facts of that ecological disaster, recounted in yesterday’s New York Times, are by now well-known: the spill of 11 million gallons of crude oil into near-shore ocean waters, …
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