It's About Time Congress Takes on BP
A year after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, killing eleven and dumping oil into the Gulf of Mexico, one legislator is fighting to hold BP accountable. One year ago, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing eleven workers and injuring sixteen more. The …Confessions of a Climate Change Convert
I used to join the right in dismissing concerns about climate change. But then I was defeated by the facts. I was defeated by facts. It wasn’t all that long ago when I joined others on the right in dismissing concerns about climate change. It was my firm belief that the science was unsettled, …Inhofe's Wild Flying
Ever wonder why Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) is so intractable in his insistence that global warming is a hoax? Ever wonder why Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) is so intractable in his insistence that global warming is a hoax? Thanks to a revealing incident that took place in Texas last fall and …Rand's Rant Against Green Bulbs
At a Senate hearing this week, Rand Paul channeled Ayn Rand to launch an attack on energy efficiency standards. Are green light bulbs really such a threat? The Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee got a dose of libertarian wackiness at a recent mark-up hearing that was strikingly …Natural Gas: Not as Green as We Thought?
A new study suggests gas is worse for the climate than coal. It's a challenge for the industry and a chance to get ahead of the curve on environmental issues. A forthcoming paper from Cornell University researchers suggests that gas is more of a bad actor in climate change than coal. The gas …Don't Bank Our Future on Oil We May Not Have
Advocates of more drilling often cite figures on America's unproven reserves to push their arguments. But relying on those figures could leave the U.S. in a bigger energy jam. Over the weekend, I noticed that an op-ed in Investor’s Business Daily took me to task for citing “proven” oil …How America Lost the Green Tech Race
The good news from a new clean energy investment report is that the sector shook off the recession blues in 2010. The bad news is that the U.S. is trailing the rest of the world. The good news from the latest Pew Charitable Trusts and Bloomberg New Energy Finance clean energy investment report is …Pawlenty's Cap and Trade About-Face
By going on the record and apologizing for once backing cap-and-trade, has Pawlenty hamstrung his ability to respond to future environmental challenges? Here is what I don't understand about Tim Pawlenty's reversal - not only on cap-and-trade - but also on any concern for climate change …The Dems' Climate Change Dodge
Instead of fighting a bill which would prohibit EPA from regulating greenhouse emissions, Senate Dems are proposing to further limiting the agency's authority. Leave it to the Democrats to come up with weasly alternatives to Senator James Inhofe’s bill that would prohibit the Environmental …Nuke Energy: The Next Casualty of Japan
The aftershocks from the Japan quake are being felt around the world: Nuclear energy projects are being suspended with knee-jerk swiftness and little thought. It's like watching a Japanese Monster B-Movie: Battered by two epically-scaled natural disasters and now a human-made emergency in the form …Nuke Critic: U.S. Has 23 Fukushima-Type Reactors
Could a Japanese style nuclear disaster happen in the United States? Could a Japanese style nuclear disaster happen here? There are currently 23 GE nuclear plants currently operating in the United States with a design that is identical to the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi installation which has …The Right Way to Defend Nuke Power
The accident in Japan shouldn't make us abandon nuclear energy. The nuke industry though is doing a poor job convincing the public. The tragedy in Japan has led to much criticism of nuclear energy (mostly by the left), attempts to defend it (mostly by the right), and a lot of confused and …The GOP's Oil Drilling Pipe Dream
The unrest in the Middle East is leading to an uptick in gas prices. But the GOP’s solution, more domestic drilling, won’t bring voters relief at the pump. Here we go again. Every time gasoline prices spike, no matter the reason, Republican leaders and talk radio’s libertarian elite reach for …
A Conservative Case for Farmers’ Markets
So much of what we celebrate today as the “farm-to-table” movement is really just a modern re-imagining, or re-invention, of a less industrialized time. Every Thursday evening, around 7 p.m., I begin checking outside my side door to see if the elves have made their delivery yet. It’s quite …