Energy
We Have Met the Unknown Unknowns and They are Us
There are uncertainties about climate science such as tipping points and feedback effects. But these pale in comparison to the biggest source of uncertainties: people. Here are some of the major things we don’t know and really can’t know about future society: Will economic growth continue, and if so, how quickly and how uniformly? Richer …
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CONTINUE READINGCoal Power and Climate Denial
What causes certain political figures either to deny the potential for climate change, or deny that human activity is a major cause? That question came to mind while reviewing a new report issued by Ceres entitled Benchmarking Air Emissions for the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the United States. The report does an impressive …
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CONTINUE READINGAlberta, Open Sewers and the Keystone Pipeline
Al Gore raised the hackles of the Canadian government this week when he criticized the country’s large scale extraction of oil from the Alberta tar sands. The tar sand oil reserves are among the world’s largest but are particularly energy intensive to extract. That means that extracting oil that will then be burned will emit significantly …
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CONTINUE READINGThe problem of stale NEPA reviews
There’s been a mini-boom in uranium mining in the United States, in part because of increased interest in nuclear power as a partial response to climate change. Using nuclear power to reduce greenhouse gases has been quite controversial because of the obvious risks that nuclear power poses (exemplified by the Fukushima disaster in Japan). But …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Consequences of Carbon Cap & Trade
Behind a firewall, the WSJ has a tough editorial mocking Europe’s carbon trading. While I often agree with this page’s overall philosophy, this is a case where I sharply disagree with the unsigned authors. As everyone knows, a key part of life is making investment choices while facing uncertainty. Consider a European …
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CONTINUE READINGIndustry Coalition Petitions for Supreme Court Review of D.C. Circuit Decision on Greenhouse Gas Rules
Yesterday, American Chemistry Council and a coalition of other industry groups filed a petition for U.S. Supreme Court review of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ June, 26 2012 decision upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas rules. As Dan previously discussed here, the D.C. Circuit denied rehearing of its decision in December. The American …
CONTINUE READINGAn Energy No-Brainer
There are a lot of things to disagree about in terms of energy policy. One thing that ought to be common ground, as discussed in a Washington Post column, is increased research in energy R&D. As this chart shows, federal support for energy R&D is smaller than it was under Ronald Reagan: The economic argument …
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CONTINUE READINGHydraulic Fracking in California: New Report Addresses Wastewater and Potential Water Impacts
Today, Berkeley Law released a new report on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in California, focusing on wastewater and potential water quality impacts. The report, Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective, is an independent analysis produced by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) through its new initiative, the Wheeler …
CONTINUE READINGExxon Cares!
At this point, we don’t know much about Exxon’s oil spill near Mayflower, Arkansas — especially because Exxon doesn’t seem to want to let many people look at what’s going on. Twitter to the rescue! There’s an account called “Exxon Cares”, telling you all that you need to know, and…what’s that you say? That’s not …
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CONTINUE READINGKing Coal’s Fading Grip
According to a new study from Duke, coal may be on the way out. as “[l]ow natural gas prices and stricter, federal emission regulations are promoting a shift away from coal power plants and toward natural gas plants as the lowest-cost means of generating electricity in the United States.” The authors estimate that “the economic …
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