Energy
Political Fallout from Japan Hits Germany
According to HuffPo, BERLIN — German chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have suffered a historic defeat in a state ballot after almost six decades in power there, partial results showed Sunday, in an election that amounted to a referendum on the party’s stance on nuclear power. The opposition anti-nuclear Greens doubled their voter share in Baden-Wuerttemberg …
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CONTINUE READINGJapan Nuclear Update
The NY Times has a very good page showing the current status of each of the six reactors. All of them remain problems in one way or another, either because of the reactors themselves or the spent fuel. The Post also has an interactive, featuring an animated presentation. No one seems to expect a full …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Dump Trucks v. CARB
The California Dump Truck Owners Association (“CDTOA”) filed suit in February 2011 against the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”). The suit alleges that CARB’s Truck and Bus Regulation, which is part of the suite of regulations under AB 32 to address greenhouse gas emissions, is unconstitutional. CARB’s Truck and Bus Regulation sets stricter emissions standards for …
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CONTINUE READINGRemembering Warren Christopher
News of the recent death of Warren Christopher prompted memories of a meeting I attended in 1987 — several years before Christopher was appointed Secretary of State by Bill Clinton. A major California utility had hired Christopher’s Los Angeles law firm to take its side in a regulatory proceeding with several billion dollars at risk. …
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CONTINUE READINGThat’s “Chief Justice Bitch”
The ongoing Wisconsin saga of public sector union rights has, predictably, involved the state’s Supreme Court. But in a much more personal way than one would think at first: The April 5th state Supreme Court election in Wisconsin, where incumbent Justice David Prosser is seeking re-election, is now being shaken up by news about the …
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CONTINUE READINGJapan Nuclear Situation Now May Be “Stable,” Not “Critical.”
There is now some reason to think that the situation in Japan has stabilized. According to Bloomberg, Japan’s efforts to cool reactors at the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant had some success, with reports two of the six reactors are under control and a second electric cable has been connected to the station. Tokyo Electric Power …
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CONTINUE READINGMultiple Failures Exposed Diablo Canyon to Higher Risk
It is a coincidence that the Union of Concerned Scientists has released a new report on nuclear power plant safety while the Japanese nuclear crisis continues to unfold. Yet, the heightened awareness that many people now have of the importance of nuclear plant cooling systems may put us in a better position to understand the …
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CONTINUE READINGJapan Update
Not good, on a number of fronts: The official death count is now past 7000, as reported by CNN. Another ten thousand are still missing. The NY Times reports that the Japanese government has finally raised the level of the event to 5, the same level as Three Mile Island. Here’s a really scary statement …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Do People Care So Much About Nuclear Accidents?
Well, for obvious reasons. But Ann, citing Will Saletan, raises a good question: why are people so much more concerned about nuclear accidents than, say oil spills or other environmental disasters? If we accept Saletan’s figures of “direct fatalities” being 18 times more dangerous for oil production per energy unit (and there are reasons not …
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CONTINUE READINGJapan: Growing Nuclear Problems
More trouble, according to the Washington Post: All but about 50 workers were evacuated from the plant, where at least three reactor cores are believed to be imperiled, and Prime Minister Naoto Kan hailed those who remained, saying they “are putting themselves in a very dangerous situation.” Explosions destroyed the tops of two buildings housing …
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