Energy

The Nuclear Option

According to an NYT report, President Obama has offered loan guarantees for two new reactors. If the project goes forward, it would be the first nuclear reactor built in the United States since the 1970s. In a speech in Lanham, Md., Mr. Obama announced government approval of an $8.3 billion loan guarantee to help the …

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A Website Named DSIRE

Those who are interested in Clean Tech, particularly from the investment point of view, will want to take a look at the DSIRE site.  Sorry, it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the Tennessee Williams play, I jsut couldn’t resist the play on words. DSIRE stands for Database of State Incentives for Renewables and …

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Our Carbon-Based Trade Deficit

A lot of people are worried about the trade deficit.  As it turns out, more than half of the deficit is due to petroleum imports, as Matthew Yglesias points out.  This graph tells the story:

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New environmental dating site matches fossil fuel industry lobbyists, elected officials

I’ve never been involved in either of two trends that have exploded in recent years: internet dating, and lobbying of federal officials by fossil fuel-based energy-producing companies.  But I just learned about a new website that links the two.  The site, Polluter Harmony, says it “is the #1 matchmaking site for polluters, industry lobbyists, & politicians.” Although …

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The Best Defense….

Ann cautions about downplaying the findings that the IPCC report erred in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers by 2035, and in the resistance of researchers to respond to FOIA requests from a climate skeptic site. She’s right.  We shouldn’t downplay the reports: instead, we should ridicule them.  So the glaciers won’t actually melt by …

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EPA’s New Biofuels Standards

While I was traveling last week, EPA issue new standards for biofuels.  This rule makes changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard program as required by a 2007 statute. The statute sets new specific annual volume standards for cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel that must be used in transportation fuel. The …

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Giving Nuclear Power a Blue Ribbon

In his State of the Union address last week, President Obama did not equivocate on the topic of nuclear power.  He talked about the importance of green jobs, and then added,  “But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation …

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Who’ll Stop the Rain?

Maybe the City of Los Angeles.  I complained a couple of weeks ago that during the (rare) times when the Southland gets a downpour, all the water get sent out to sea ASAP, even though cistern technology exists that could conserve water, reduce pollution, and reduce the costs of purchasing it from elsewhere. Well, as …

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China, Energy and the Economy

The New York Times reported — with seeming alarm — this weekend that China is now leading the world in the manufacture of wind turbines and solar panels.  Yet shouldn’t we view this news as good for efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?  Action by the U.S. to reduce emissions, while absolutely necessary for geopolitical …

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Riding the Energy Efficiency Wave

At the “Beyond Copenhagen Conference” at Berkeley yesterday, one of the clear messages was that energy efficiency is one of the most feasible routes forward on climate change.  Energy efficiency has great interest not only to U.S. consumers, but also to countries like China that are concerned about energy security.  The energy security issue is …

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