Friday, April 11, 2014

EPA chief’s weekly flights home emit tons of CO2

Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy may be a global warming crusader, but her weekly flights home to Boston are causing her to emit tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

The EPA recently released a photo album titled “A Day In The Life of the EPA Administrator” that shows what McCarthy does on a typical day, including the fact that she flies home nearly every weekend to spend time with her family.

“Although she keeps a small apartment near EPA headquarters, almost every weekend McCarthy travels back to Boston, to her home and her husband,” according to the EPA.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Germany Amends Green-Energy Regime to Curb Rise in Prices

Analysts Say Reforms Fall Short

April 8, 2014 11:43 a.m. ET
 
BERLIN—The German government has amended renewable-energy laws meant to help make the country nuclear-free but that have sent power prices rocketing—squeezing consumers and the country's formidable export machine.

The cabinet approved amendments on Tuesday that it said would contain soaring electricity costs while seeking to protect German jobs in the industrial sector. The changes include less ambitious targets for wind power and a...

READ MORE:  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304819004579489434076477734?mg=reno64-wsj

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Second Climate Thoughts


The U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its latest mammoth report last week, and the effort marks an improvement over the IPCC's last such effort in 2007. That may not be saying much, but on climate change intellectual progress of any sort is worth commending.

The IPCC's "Fifth Assessment Report," or AR5, is generating the usual alarmist headlines: "Impacts on All Continents, Worse to Come" was typical. That's partly a function of what the IPCC frontloads into the 28-page "summary for policymakers," the only portion of the report that most politicians or journalists ever bother reading, and that is sexed up for mass media consumption.

So it's worth diving deeper into the report, where a much more cautious picture of the state of climate science comes into view. Gone are some of the false alarmist claims from the last report, such as the forecast that the Himalayan glaciers would vanish by 2035 or that hurricanes are becoming more intense. "Current data sets," the report admits, "indicate no significant observed trends in global tropical cyclone frequency over the past century." Recall the false claims of climate cause and storm effect last year after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Delaware Carbon Tax to Increase Electric Rates

  The first regional carbon auction using new rules confirmed electric rates will eventually increase by about $60 a year for an average residential customer as predicted by CRI. Electric cost could rise hundreds of thousands a year for large industrial customers compared to non-carbon tax states leading to even more job losses in Delaware. Speculators snapped up over half the available permits freezing out power plants that will have to pay even higher prices in a secondary trading market.

            Permits to release carbon dioxide (CO2) must be purchased in quarterly auctions by electric power plants.  Unhappy with the state tax revenue being generated, Delaware, along with eight other states, reduced the number of available permits by 45% hoping a shortage of permits would lead to higher prices. The March 5, 2014, auction saw prices more than double from where they were before the announcement of the change a year ago. All the available permits sold as opposed to 53% in earlier auctions resulting in revenue increasing 3.5 times to $4.5 million. The cost of the permits is passed on in electric bills.
 
            One of the rule changes added price caps to the auction that started at $4/ton in 2014 and increased to $10/ton by 2017. To keep prices going above the cap extra permits would be held in reserve to increase supply. The entire annual reserve was used up in the first auction as demand was three times higher than the number of permits available. Making matters worse, speculators purchased 55% of the available permits. These permits will be sold to power generators in a secondary market at even higher prices resulting in even higher electric rates as the cost is passed on. We expect speculators will add over 40% to the cost of the program. Prior to the rule change there were no speculators in the market.
 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

EPA's shredding system makes bad news about climate regulations disappear


Federal law mandates an independent scientific review of the possible effects -- both good and bad -- of proposed environmental regulations before decisionmakers act. The Environmental Protection Agency doesn't do that.

The scofflaw EPA routinely and systematically kills any hint of bad effects from its rulemaking that might appear in its scientific reviews.

That despicable tampering with the truth has duped the American public into believing that environmental regulations have only good effects and positive net costs and deliberately blinded us to the enormous evils we suffer because of EPA’s self-serving malice.

The EPA's outrageous meddling has come to light as it prepares the most expensive regulation in history, harsh new ozone rules, with the agency's own cost estimates at more than $90 billion per year.

READ MORE:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/epas-shredding-system-makes-bad-news-about-climate-regulations-disappear/article/2546272

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Kansas Senate gives approval to new bill ending renewable energy standards

A bill repealing renewable energy standards for utility companies won approval in the Kansas Senate on Tuesday.

House Bill 2014 would end the renewable portfolio standards that require Kansas utility companies to receive 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020.

The vote was 25-15. The bill now goes to the House.

Sen. Forrest Knox, R-Altoona, who carried the bill, contended that repeal was necessary because of the expiration of a federal tax credit for wind production. He said Kansans would be stuck making up for the loss of that tax break in their electric bills.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2014/03/25/3367792/kansas-senate-to-consider-bill.html#storylink=cpy


READ MORE:  http://www.kansas.com/2014/03/25/3367792/kansas-senate-to-consider-bill.html

Monday, March 31, 2014

EDITORIAL: When smoke gets in the EPA’s eyes

Another of life’s pleasures goes the way of the light bulb

 

Nothing chases the chill of a cold winter’s night like pulling a chair up close to a wood-burning stove. The Environmental Protection Agency, which lives in mortal dread that somewhere, someone is enjoying life, wants to eliminate wood-burning stoves. President Obama has agreed to impose a tax on coziness, with new regulations proposed by his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

These new rules would reduce the maximum airborne particulate emissions for new stoves by 80 percent to 4.5 grams per hour initially, and crank down the allowable level further to 1.3 grams after five years. Achieving these targets will add between $300 and $500 to the cost of a stove, prompting fears that working-class folk who typically burn wood to save money won’t be able to afford to do so. A period of public comment on the proposed standards ends May 5.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Germany Is Running Out of Energy Options

Germany, Europe’s largest energy consumer—and the world’s seventh-largest—seems to be running out of politically feasible sources of power.

 
At a summit last week, EU leaders pledged to reduce their reliance on Russia for energy supplies. This isn’t an immediate crisis: No matter how tense things get, Russia isn’t likely to eliminate 14 percent of its export earnings by cutting off Europe’s energy supply. If Moscow decides to punish Ukraine by withholding gas supplies or raising prices, there are now alternate supply routes for getting the gas to Western Europe. And thanks to a milder-than-normal winter, gas reserves are currently high.

But in the long term, countries like Germany would likely feel in a better position to deal with Russia if they weren’t dependent on it for one-third of their oil and natural gas. Unfortunately, none of the country’s other options looks that great either.

Germany is one of the few countries in the world that seems to be sticking with its post-Fukushima pledge to wean itself off of nuclear energy. It plans to have all of its nine remaining nuclear plants offline by 2022.

READ MORE:  http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/03/24/no_nukes_no_russian_gas_no_fossils_no_solar_no_fracking_how_exactly_does.html

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Biofuels do more harm than good, UN warns

Growing crops to make “green” biofuel harms the environment and drives up food prices, admits the United Nations

 

The United Nations will officially warn that growing crops to make “green” biofuel harms the environment and drives up food prices, The Telegraph can disclose.
A leaked draft of a UN report condemns the widespread use of biofuels made from crops as a replacement for petrol and diesel. It says that biofuels, rather than combating the effects of global warming, could make them worse.
The draft report represents a dramatic about-turn for the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Its previous assessment on climate change, in 2007, was widely condemned by environmentalists for giving the green light to large-scale biofuel production. The latest report instead puts pressure on world leaders to scrap policies promoting the use of biofuel for transport.

READ MORE:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/10716756/Biofuels-do-more-harm-than-good-UN-warns.html

 

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

German city wants ‘green police’ to raid homes to enforce electric heater ban

Germany politicians are taking the notion of going green to a whole new level, calling for the creation of “green police” with the power to raid homes and businesses in order to enforce environmental regulations.

The German port city of Bremen is setting out a goal to cut carbon dioxide emissions 40 percent by 2020. To meet this goal, the city is toying with the idea of creating a green police force that would enter private homes and property to enforce a ban on electric heaters.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation For Liberty reports that, “[w]hat sounds like one of the usual injection of fuel into the green bonfire of bans in fact takes on a whole new quality. The proposed law by Environment Senator Joachim Lohse foresees a system of monitoring that allows for detection of violations and punishment.”

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Governments rip up renewable contracts

Companies ‘do not have a right [to expect the compensation] not to be changed’

Governments across Europe, regretting the over-generous deals doled out to the renewable energy sector, have begun reneging on them. To slow ruinous power bills hikes, governments are unilaterally rewriting contracts and clawing back unseemly profits.

In Italy, one of Europe’s largest economies and one that lavished billions in subsidies on the renewable sector, the government in 2013 applied its so-called “Robin Hood tax” to renewable energy producers. Under the new rule, renewable energy producers with more than €3 million in revenue and income greater than €300,000 must now pay a tax of 10.5%.

That follows a 2012 move to charge all solar producers a five cent tax per kilowatt hour on all self-consumed energy. The government also told solar producers that it would stop taking their power – and would offer no compensation – when their output overwhelms the system.

READ MORE:  http://opinion.financialpost.com/2014/03/18/governments-rip-up-renewable-contracts/

Monday, March 24, 2014

A Climate Analyst Clarifies the Science Behind California’s Water Woes

There’s no question that residents of California and much of the West face a collision between high water demands driven by growth and outdated policies and a limited and highly variable water supply.

But that reality hasn’t stopped heated arguments from springing up in recent days over the cause or causes of California’s continuing epic drought. Is one of the drivers the growing human influence on the climate? Or is this drought something we’ve seen before, the result of natural variability?

In the wake of an unusual public debate on this issue between President Obama’s science adviser, John Holdren, and Roger Pielke, Jr., a longtime analyst of climate-related disaster losses at the University of Colorado, I received a helpful note from Martin Hoerling, who studies climate extremes for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

READ MORE:   http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/a-climate-analyst-clarifies-the-science-behind-californias-extreme-drought/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=2

Friday, March 21, 2014

An Obama Advisor Is Attacking Me for Testifying That Climate Change Hasn't Increased Extreme WeatherLast Friday, the White House posted on its website a six-page criticism of me by the president’s science advisor, John Holdren, expanding on testimony he had given to Congress last week claiming that my views on climate change and extreme weather are outside of "mainstream scientific opinion.” Holdren was specifically responding to Senate testimony I gave last year where I argued that recent extreme weather events, including hurricanes, droughts, floods, and tornadoes, have not increased in recent decades due to human-caused climate change. In this debate the facts are on my side. The claims I made in my congressional testimony are no different from the ones made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("Long-term trends in economic disaster losses adjusted for wealth and population increases have not been attributed to climate change, but a role for climate change has not been excluded") and broadly supported in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Even Warren Buffett recently explained that more extreme events haven't affected his insurance investments, but that "I love apocalyptic predictions" because they increase insurance rates, earning him more money. When Holdren links specific weather events to human-caused climate change—such as the California drought or the cold winter—he is exaggerating the state of scientific understandings.

Last Friday, the White House posted on its website a six-page criticism of me by the president’s science advisor, John Holdren, expanding on testimony he had given to Congress last week claiming that my views on climate change and extreme weather are outside of "mainstream scientific opinion.” Holdren was specifically responding to Senate testimony I gave last year where I argued that recent extreme weather events, including hurricanes, droughts, floods, and tornadoes, have not increased in recent decades due to human-caused climate change.

In this debate the facts are on my side. The claims I made in my congressional testimony are no different from the ones made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("Long-term trends in economic disaster losses adjusted for wealth and population increases have not been attributed to climate change, but a role for climate change has not been excluded") and broadly supported in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Even Warren Buffett recently explained that more extreme events haven't affected his insurance investments, but that "I love apocalyptic predictions" because they increase insurance rates, earning him more money. When Holdren links specific weather events to human-caused climate change—such as the California drought or the cold winter—he is exaggerating the state of scientific understandings.

READ MORE:  http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116887/does-climate-change-cause-extreme-weather-i-said-no-and-was-attacked

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Europe needs an alternative to Russian natural gas

OVER THE past decade, Russian President Vladimir Putin has extorted fealty from his neighbors by using energy, particularly natural gas, as a political cudgel. In 2006 and 2009, Gazprom, the Russian state gas monopoly, suspended exports to Ukraine, demonstrating its willingness to withhold fuel from millions of customers to push them around. Now, in the tensest conflict yet between the two nations, Russia is threatening to boost the price Ukrainians pay for gas imports.

This behavior has boomeranged to some extent. Along with other developments in world energy markets, Russia’s subordination of economic considerations to political ones has given both Ukraine and the West incentive to diversify their supply sources, which has increased their leverage. That should help Ukraine and the European Union resist Russia’s aggression now and do more to free themselves from Gazprom’s grip in the future.

READ MORE: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/europe-needs-an-alternative-to-russian-natural-gas/2014/03/05/31f30ac2-a321-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Wave Energy Developer Pulls Plug On Oregon Project

Developers have scrapped their plans to build the nation’s first large-scale wave energy project off the Oregon Coast, saying the costs were too high to make it work.

The much-anticipated project would have placed a flotilla of 100 energy-producing buoys, each the size of a school bus, in the waves off the coast of Reedsport, Ore.

The project’s developer, Ocean Power Technologies, surrendered its preliminary permit with the federal government, Oregon regulators disclosed Monday.


The project generated national headlines in the run-up to its planned launch in October, 2012. But after it delayed the deployment of its first buoy, the project seemed to be stuck on hold.

READ MORE:  http://earthfix.opb.org/energy/article/wave-energy-developer-pulls-plug-on-oregon-project/

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Top 5 failed ‘snow free’ and ‘ice free’ predictions

With the U.S. East Coast blanketed in snow once again, it’s hard to imagine that climate scientists and environmentalists predicted years ago that the “end of snow” was nigh and that the Arctic would soon be “ice-free.”

The U.S. East Coast got pounded by yet another winter storm on Monday that brought to temperatures to a 141-year record low in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. metro area. The rash of cold weather and snowstorms have put environmentalists and climate scientists on the defensive, as they explain that one exceptionally cold and snowy winter does not disprove global warming.

New York Times writer Peter Fox took to the editorial pages to pen an op-ed called the “End of Snow” which argued that global warming meant that there could be no more snowy areas to hold future Winter Olympic games.

Friday, March 14, 2014

This Is The Gas Pipeline Map That Shows Why The Crisis In Ukraine Affects All Of Europe

If you question the strategic location of Ukraine, check out this map that Agence France-Presse made last in December — two months before protesters in Kiev forced President Viktor Yanukovych out of office.

Russia has now invaded the strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, and markets are spooked at the possibility that Russian troops that are being built up on the border could enter eastern Ukraine.

As the international tug-of-war for Ukraine continues, the tension involving economic relations in the region — especially regarding gas flow from Russia to both Ukraine and Europe — will increase.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Electric customers feel winter's costly impact

A few years back, Kerri Heaney thought she would save money by dropping Delmarva Power and signing a one-year contract with Liberty Power Holdings for her electricity supply.

The contract expired, but she thought nothing of it until last month, when she received a $950 supply charge on her power bill for her Prices Corner-area farmhouse. It was nearly three times what she had paid the month before, despite the fact her family had used less electricity.

"Just looking at it, seeing it on paper, it was like, holy smokes, that's a huge jump," Heaney said.

People who buy their electricity from Delmarva Power, or those who have an active contract with a competitive supplier, are merely using more electricity during an especially cold winter. But customers like Heaney, whose supplier contract has lapsed, generally are experiencing price shock this winter, confirmed David Bonar, state public advocate.

Those customers have seen their per-kilowatt-hour rate mirror spot electricity market rates, which have increased more than 400 percent in the past two months, according to information released by PJM Interconnection, the regional grid manager.

Public Service Commission spokesman Matt Hartigan reported there have been 53 complaints about high bills from alternative electricity suppliers so far this year, across four different suppliers. By contrast, there have been no complaints about Delmarva's electricity charges, he said.

READ MORE:  http://www.delawareonline.com/story/money/2014/03/02/electric-customers-feel-winters-costly-impact/5955275/

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

How Coal Can Alleviate Pain at the Plug

Adjusted for inflation, American median household incomes have eroded six percent since 2007, and for some low- and middle-income families, energy cost are rising faster than incomes. More than just the pain at the pump most Americans experience with gas prices, high energy costs create a regressive tax for families trying to keep their lights on and their houses warm. A record one in three Americans qualify for energy assistance.

In the last decade, the cost of energy as a percentage of after income has risen by two-thirds for middle-income households. Today, the average middle- to lower-income family spends 20 percent or more of their take-home pay on energy expenses. The lower the income, the more disproportionate the energy strain becomes. Households earning less than $30,000 in 2011 – nearly one-third of all households in the United States – faced energy costs that consumed, on average, 27 percent of their family budgets.

Historically, energy has been far less burdensome on the family pocketbook, but today it competes with other fundamental necessities such as food, housing and health care. While federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) has helped alleviate some of these hardships, funding for LIHEAP was cut from $5.1 billion to $4.7 billion in 2011, and slashed again to $3.5 billion in 2012. The result has been a weaker safety net for lower income families that were already struggling to make ends meet.

READ MORE:   https://www.advancedenergyforlife.com/article/how-coal-can-alleviate-pain-at-the-plughttps://www.advancedenergyforlife.com/article/how-coal-can-alleviate-pain-at-the-plug

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Greenpeace co-founder says ‘no scientific proof’ humans cause climate change

A co-founder of Greenpeace told a Senate panel on Tuesday that there is no scientific evidence to back claims that humans are the “dominant cause” of climate change.

Patrick Moore, a Canadian ecologist who was a member of Greenpeace from 1971-86, told members of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee environmental groups like Greenpeace use faulty computer models and scare tactics in further promoting a political agenda, Fox News reported.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Warren Buffett: Supposed Increase in Extreme Weather 'Hasn't Been True So Far'

Any climate alarmist will tell you that climate change is increasing extreme weather events, but liberal billionaire Warren Buffett easily destroyed that argument.

Buffett told CNBC March 3, that extreme weather events haven't increased due to climate change, saying that weather events are consistent with how they were 30-50 years ago. Buffett, who is heavily invested in various insurance markets, said that climate change alarmism has simply made hurricane insurance more profitable, driving up premiums without increasing risk.

READ MORE: http://cnsnews.com/mrctv-blog/sean-long/warren-buffett-supposed-increase-extreme-weather-hasnt-been-true-so-far#sthash.WGaR67s2.dpuf

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Customers tell horror stories of solar company that gets $422M in tax dollars

We all get them — telemarketing callers pushing home solar-energy systems that will save us from rising electric bills.

Most of us generally hang up. But in 2012, Jeff Leeds, who lives in the Northern California town of Half Moon Bay, listened. His 3,100-square-foot home features 91 incandescent bucket lights, a 180-gallon fish tank, three large refrigerator-freezers and a huge entertainment system. His electric bill was averaging $350 per month.

The sales pitch Leeds was hearing on the phone sounded ideal: Lease a system from SolarCity, the nation’s second-largest solar electrical contractor, for a low monthly fee and reap the rewards of cheap electricity.
“For a $600 fee up front, I would pay $182 a month for the next 20 years,” Leeds said. “They have a performance guarantee. If I don’t make enough electricity, they said, ‘No problem, don’t worry, we will write you a check.’ I thought, ‘I’m covered.’”

 READ MORE:  http://watchdog.org/130098/solarcity-horror-stories/

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

US, UK scientists: Cutting all CO2 emissions would not stop global warming

Calls from environmentalists and lawmakers to cut carbon dioxide emissions to fight global warming would do nothing to stop global temperatures from rising, according to American and British climate scientists.
In fact, completely stopping all man-made carbon emissions would do nothing to stop the Earth from warming.

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the UK’s Royal Society have jointly put out a publication to lay out the knowns and unknowns of global warming science. The publication says that global temperatures are rising due to man-made greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The myth of ‘settled science’

I repeat: I’m not a global warming believer. I’m not a global warming denier. I’ve long believed that it cannot be good for humanity to be spewing tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. I also believe that those scientists who pretend to know exactly what this will cause in 20, 30 or 50 years are white-coated propagandists.

“The debate is settled,” asserted propagandist in chief Barack Obama in his latest State of the Union address. “Climate change is a fact.” Really? There is nothing more anti-scientific than the very idea that science is settled, static, impervious to challenge. Take a non-climate example. It was long assumed that mammograms help reduce breast cancer deaths. This fact was so settled that Obamacare requires every insurance plan to offer mammograms (for free, no less) or be subject to termination.

READ MORE:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-the-myth-of-settled-science/2014/02/20/c1f8d994-9a75-11e3-b931-0204122c514b_story.html

Friday, February 28, 2014

Health links hyped to drive fear of fracking despite studies that fail to back up claims

DENVER — Environmentalists are still waiting for proof that hydraulic fracturing makes people sick, but that’s not stopping them from whipping up anxiety over public health.

Two high-profile research papers seeking connections between hydraulic fracturing and health issues in Garfield County, Colo., are being trumpeted as evidence that fracking is harmful, even though the studies don’t show that.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Supreme Court to look at EPA's carbon rules

WASHINGTON Industry groups and Republican-led states are heading an attack at the Supreme Court against the Obama administration's sole means of trying to limit power-plant and factory emissions of gases blamed for global warming.

As President Barack Obama pledges to act on environmental and other matters when Congress doesn't, or won't, opponents of regulating carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases cast the rule as a power grab of historic proportions.

The court is hearing arguments Monday about a small but important piece of the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to cut the emissions - a requirement that companies expanding industrial facilities or building new ones that would increase overall pollution must also evaluate ways to reduce the carbon they release.
Environmental groups and even some of their opponents say that whatever the court decides, EPA still will be able to move forward with broader plans to set emission standards for greenhouse gases for new and existing power plants.

 READ MORE:  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-to-look-at-epas-carbon-rules/

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Fisker claims total nearly $1 billion

There have been $985.4 million in claims made against Fisker Automotive, according to a filing with the bankruptcy court on Friday.

The list, filed by the claims agent appointed by the court to the case, lists 618 claims by parties who say the plug-in hybrid manufacturer owes them money, Fisker declared bankruptcy in November.

The company had purchased the former General Motors plant near Newport, and had been planning to manufacture cars there. Wanxiang America, Inc. was approved by the court on Tuesday to purchase Fisker's assets, including the factory, for $149.2 million.

READ MORE:  http://www.delawareonline.com/story/delawareinc/2014/02/21/fisker-claims/5708451/

Monday, February 24, 2014

Fasten Seat Belts: Climate Change Could Mean More Turbulence

Sudden turbulence injured crew and passengers on two flights an ocean apart this week, and the back-to-back bumpy rides are more than a coincidence — winter weather and changing climate patterns may have played a role. Technology to precisely anticipate the "clear air turbulence" likely to blame for both flights just doesn't exist, experts say.

The first incident occurred on Monday, when United Airlines flight about to land at Billings, Montana, was rattled by sudden turbulence, which left two passengers and three flight attendants injured. The jolt also tossed a baby from its mother’s arms and into a nearby seat, where it landed unharmed. The second occurred aboard a Cathay Pacific flight out of San Francisco hit a patch of rough air above Japan, and a high-altitude “roller-coaster” ride left eight crew and passengers in hospital.

Friday, February 21, 2014

E. Donald Elliott: Obama's Shale Gas Trojan Horse

An offer to help local governments develop the booming energy source may cost the industry plenty

 

President Obama has floated a curious but potentially far-reaching proposal that has not attracted the attention it deserves.

On Jan. 28, the White House website posted a fact sheet accompanying the State of the Union address, "Opportunity for All: Key Executive Actions the President Will Take in 2014." Mr. Obama called for Congress to join with him and with state and local governments to create "Sustainable Shale Gas Growth Zones." The goal is to "make sure shale gas is developed in a safe,...

READ MORE:  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303650204579375430883375684?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303650204579375430883375684.html

Thursday, February 20, 2014

How 185 Million Barrels of Oil Can Simply Vanish

Source: L.C. Nøttaasen on Flickr.

Pioneer Natural Resources  looks to be sitting on an unbelievable amount of oil and gas. The company now controls about 845 million barrels of oil equivalent, or BOE, proved reserves and thinks that number is only the beginning. However, on paper, its reserves are actually slowly shrinking.

Recently, the company reported its latest reserve numbers, which showed a curious negative revision to its proved reserves. The company actually axed nearly 185 million barrels of oil from its books along with another 115 billion BOE of natural gas and natural gas liquids. With oil currently selling for about $100 per barrel, that's a lot of potential future revenue that just got wiped out. It also makes one wonder how over a hundred million barrels of oil can simply vanish?

READ MORE:  http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/02/17/how-185-million-barrels-of-oil-can-simply-vanish/

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

An Unintended Effect of Energy-Efficient Buildings: Toxic Mold

Energy-efficient buildings can be wonderful at keeping out drafts and keeping down heating bills. But the same air-tightness, unfortunately, is also perfect for trapping humid air where toxic mold can go to party. 
 
The Alberta Court of Appeal in Canada has been a mold-filled ghost building since 2001, after renovations to the handsome, 87-year-old sandstone building went awry. When the renovated and newly energy-efficient building reopened, according to ClimateWire, judges and attorneys complained of fatigue, irritated lungs, and watery eyes.

Air quality samples pointed the finger at mold growing inside the walls. The cracks and leaks of the pre-renovation building had been a crude form of air-quality control—albeit not very energy efficient. The new airtight building, however, trapped moisture to breed toxic mold. 

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

The petrostate of America

RISE early, work hard, strike oil.” The late oil baron J. Paul Getty’s formula for success is working rather well for America, which may already have surpassed Russia as the world’s largest producer of oil and gas (see article). By 2020 it should have overtaken Saudi Arabia as the largest pumper of oil, the more valuable fuel. By then the “fracking” revolution—a clever way of extracting oil and gas from shale deposits—should have added 2-4% to American GDP and created twice as many jobs than carmaking provides today.

All this is a credit to American ingenuity. Commodities have been a mixed blessing for other countries (see our leader on Argentina). But this oil boom is earned: it owes less to geological luck than enterprise, ready finance and dazzling technology. America’s energy firms have invested in new ways of pumping out hydrocarbons that everyone knew were there but could not extract economically. The new oilfields in Texas and North Dakota resemble high-tech factories. “Directional” drills guided by satellite technology bore miles down, turn, bore miles to the side and hit a target no bigger than a truck wheel. Thousands of gallons of water are then injected to open hairline cracks in the rock, and the oil and gas are sucked out.

READ MORE:  http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21596521-energy-boom-good-america-and-world-it-would-be-nice-if-barack-obama-helped

Friday, February 14, 2014

Report: 95 percent of global warming models are wrong

Environmentalists and Democrats often cite a “97 percent” consensus among climate scientists about global warming. But they never cite estimates that 95 percent of climate models predicting global temperature rises have been wrong.

Former NASA scientist Dr. Roy Spencer says that climate models used by government agencies to create policies “have failed miserably.” Spencer analyzed 90 climate models against surface temperature and satellite temperature data, and found that more than 95 percent of the models “have over-forecast the warming trend since 1979, whether we use their own surface temperature dataset (HadCRUT4), or our satellite dataset of lower tropospheric temperatures (UAH).”

“I am growing weary of the variety of emotional, misleading, and policy-useless statements like ‘most warming since the 1950s is human caused’ or ‘97% of climate scientists agree humans are contributing to warming’, neither of which leads to the conclusion we need to substantially increase energy prices and freeze and starve more poor people to death for the greater good. Yet, that is the direction we are heading,”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/02/11/report-95-percent-of-global-warming-models-are-wrong/#ixzz2tJ1nP0Hw

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Snow, ice leaves 400,000 still without power. Can the grid handle winter?

Hundreds of thousands remained in the dark Thursday after a winter storm brought a mix of snow, ice, and freezing rain to the Northeast United States. The recent spate of cold weather and winter storms has weighed heavily on the nation's energy infrastructure.


Officials were working to restore power to more than 400,000 customers in southeastern Pennsylvania early Thursday after one of the region's most damaging winter storms. A mix of snow, ice, and freezing rain downed power lines and could continue to interrupt service into the weekend.

It has been a rough winter for the nation's power infrastructure. Unrelenting cold and a swath of winter storms have taken their toll on wind turbines, propane tanks, natural gas pipelines, electricity transmission lines and just about everything else up and down the power supply chain.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Australia’s carbon tax costs $7 billion, only yields 0.3 percent CO2 reduction

U.S. policymakers often tout a carbon tax, but a quick look at the land down under shows that it can be burdensome and do little to fight global warming.

Australia’s carbon tax cost $7 billion (in Aussie dollars) over 15 months, but only reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 0.3 percent. The cost of the country’s carbon tax comes out to about $300 per person.

The Australian newspaper obtained government figures that show the carbon tax has done little to fight global warming, while burdening the Aussie economy. The country’s conservative government derided the figures.

Monday, February 10, 2014

EPA's Wood-Burning Stove Ban Has Chilling Consequences For Many Rural People

It seems that even wood isn’t green or renewable enough anymore.  The EPA has recently banned the production and sale of 80 percent of America’s current wood-burning stoves, the oldest heating method known to mankind and mainstay of rural homes and many of our nation’s poorest residents. The agency’s stringent one-size-fits-all rules apply equally to heavily air-polluted cities and far cleaner plus typically colder off-grid wilderness areas such as large regions of Alaska and the American West.

While EPA’s most recent regulations aren’t altogether new, their impacts will nonetheless be severe.  Whereas restrictions had previously banned wood-burning stoves that didn’t limit fine airborne particulate emissions to 15 micrograms per cubic meter of air, the change will impose a maximum 12 microgram limit. To put this amount in context, EPA estimates that secondhand tobacco smoke in a closed car can expose a person to 3,000-4,000 micrograms of particulates per cubic meter.

Most wood stoves that warm cabin and home residents from coast-to-coast can’t meet that standard. Older stoves that don’t cannot be traded in for updated types, but instead must be rendered inoperable, destroyed, or recycled as scrap metal.

READ MORE:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2014/01/29/epas-wood-burning-stove-ban-has-chilling-consequences-for-many-rural-people/

Friday, February 7, 2014

Cold boosts AEP’s use of coal units set to retire

Washington, 27 January (Argus) — American Electric Power (AEP) during the recent cold weather was running about 89pc of the coal generation it has scheduled to retire in 2015, leading the company today to question the reliability impacts of federal environmental rules.

Across its system, Columbus, Ohio-based AEP has 5,573MW of coal generation due for retirement in 2015 because of the Environmental Protection Agency's mercury and air toxics standard. About 71pc of the company's total generating capacity of 37,600MW is coal-fired or about 26,700MW. Three years ago coal formed 82pc of its generation mix.

“What it should make everyone think about is, what are we going to when that generation is not available?” AEP told Argus today. “We need to be thinking about reliability and resilience in extreme times, not just the status quo.”

During the cold weather, disruptions in natural gas supplies led to a sharp ramp-up of coal generation in the PJM Interconnection's 13-state mid-Atlantic and northeastern territory. PJM confirmed that all of its coal capacity was called upon during the cold weather, which is expected to continue.

READ MORE:  http://www.argusmedia.com/News/Article?id=886197

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Energy is the Key to Solving Income Inequality

When exploring solutions to income inequality policy makers pay close attention to the costs. The cost of healthcare. The cost of food. The cost of child care. The cost of housing.

What about the cost of energy?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2012 the average U.S. family spent over $4,600 or about 9 percent of their budget to heat and power their homes and fuel their vehicles. Families in the bottom fifth of income earners spent nearly 33 percent more of their budget on energy costs than average $2,500 a year or 12% of their annual budget.

READ MORE:  http://fuelfix.com/blog/2014/01/29/energy-is-the-key-to-solving-income-inequality/

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Solar Provides 0.2% of Electric Supply--Up From 0.02% Before Obama

(CNSNews.com) - Solar power, which President Barack Obama promoted in his State of the Union Address, accounted for 0.2 percent of the U.S. electricity supply in the first nine months of 2013, according to data published by the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration.

That is up from the 0.02 percent of the total electricity supply that solar power sources provided in 2008, the last calendar year before Obama took office.

“Now, one of the biggest factors in bringing more jobs back is our commitment to American energy,” Obama said in the State of the Union. “The all-of-the-above energy strategy I announced a few years ago is working, and today, America is closer to energy independence than we've been in decades.”

READ MORE:   http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/solar-provides-02-electric-supply-002-obama#sthash.AbwcS2Sl.dpuf

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Forget global warming, worry about the MAGNETOSPHERE: Earth's magnetic field is collapsing and it could affect the climate and wipe out power grids

  • Earth's magnetic field has weakened by 15 per cent over the last 200 years
  • Could be a sign that the planet's north and south poles are about to flip
  • If this happens, solar winds could punch holes into the Earth's ozone layer
  • This could damage power grids, affect weather and increase cancer rates
  • Evidence of flip happening in the past has been uncovered in pottery
  • As the magnetic shield weakens, the spectacle of an aurora would be visible every night all over the Earth

Deep within the Earth, a fierce molten core is generating a magnetic field capable of defending our planet against devastating solar winds. 

The protective field extends thousands of miles into space and its magnetism affects everything from global communication to animal migration and weather patterns. 

But this magnetic field, so important to life on Earth, has weakened by 15 per cent over the last 200 years. And this, scientists claim, could be a sign that the Earth’s poles are about to flip.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2545465/Forget-global-warming-worry-MAGNETOSPHERE-Earths-magnetic-field-collapsing-affect-climate-wipe-power-grids.html#ixzz2sMkpwUle
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
 
 

Monday, February 3, 2014

'Big chill' expected to stay until 2040

Major cooling cycle would match 'ice age'


As the largest snowfall of the winter hits the eastern U.S., politicians and interest groups will claim the latest weather is proof of their position in the climate debate, but a prominent climatologist says this is nothing more than the latest development in a cooling cycle that started over a decade ago and could continue into 2040.

Climate-change activists regularly assert that volatile weather events are on the rise due to human activity that impacts our climate, while skeptics point to the snow and cold snaps as further proof the earth is not running a fever.

Dr. Tim Ball taught climatology for many years at the University of Winnipeg and is the author of the newly released book, “The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science.” He told WND it’s foolhardy to draw conclusions on overall climate trends based on one weather system or even one winter, but he believes the harsher winter is part of a cooling cycle.

READ MORE:  http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/big-chill-expected-to-stay-until-2040/

Friday, January 31, 2014

Sun falling asleep, ice age dream to come true


A new ice age could be on its way to Europe and some other parts of the Earth following an alarming fall occurred in the performance power of the Sun, scientists have warned.

While the number of gas explosions on the Sun's surface should be at the peak of its 11-year cycle of activity, but the recent research has indicated an unexpected drop off, researchers say.

The occurred phenomenon has not been observed during recent 30 years and there are fears the temperatures could drop so low leading to a mini ice age.

READ MORE:  http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/01/20/346654/new-mini-ice-age-may-hit-earth/

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Fracking Protesters Arrested for Gluing Themselves to the Wrong Petrol Pumps

On Monday, four members of an anti-fracking group wound up in jail for using bicycle locks and glue to fasten themselves to gas pumps at a petrol station in Great Lever, England. The group sacrificed themselves in order to protest the hydraulic fracking activities of Total, a French petroleum company.

But, to their embarrassment, the group sacrificed themselves to the wrong petrol station, which was no longer owned by Total. The petrol station was owned by Certas Energy, who neglected to take down the signs after buying the station.
The petrol station’s manager, Reezwan Patel commented that some protesters were peaceful, but that those who  shackled themselves to the pumps “were stupid and have cost us a lot of money.” He added that, “We had to close for six hours, so with the loss of customers and the damage to the pumps, it could be a couple of thousand pounds we have lost.”

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Beale Reveals EPA’s Plan to ‘Modify the DNA of the Capitalist System’

In a deposition released by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, John Beale, a former top official at the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Air and Radiation, exposed the agency’s intent to “modify the DNA of the capitalist system” through various regulatory actions affecting America’s primary source of electricity generation.

Project: Fundamentally Transform Economic Liberty—i.e. Capitalism?

It is important to note that Beale testified under oath on December 19, 2013, after pleading guilty to stealing government property and posing fraudulently as a CIA agent for more than a decade. His testimony, therefore, could have no bearing on the disposition of his sentencing; he was free to tell the truth.

According to the deposition, Beale was assigned to lead a three-phase project that he and (then Assistant Administrator) Gina McCarthy devised over a private lunch on or around April 29, 2010. Beale explained the three phases of the EPA’s strategy in his sworn deposition:

READ MORE:  http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2014/01/23/beale-reveals-epas-plan-to-modify-the-dna-of-the-capitalist-system/

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

The Terrifying Video That Will Convince You Not to Buy a Small Car


Small vehicles have a lot of advantages over heavier cars and trucks: they’re often cheaper and guzzle less fuel. But in terms of safety, prospective buyers may want to think twice.


Many of the smallest cars sold in the U.S. performed poorly in crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). IIHS, an independent non-profit that tests new vehicles, wrecked 11 subcompact and mini-cars as part of the group’s small overlap crash test. Only one, General Motors’ Chevrolet Spark, came out reasonably OK. 

Six of the cars earned IIHS’ lowest rating, “Poor.” Those vehicles included Chrysler’s Fiat 500, the Honda Fit, the Hyundai Accent, the Mitsubishi Mirage, the Nissan Versa, and Toyota’s Prius c. The Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, Mazda2, and Toyota Yaris  scored the second-worst of four possible ratings, “Marginal.” Chevy’s Spark earned a rating of “Acceptable.” Not one got the top rating of “Good.”






http://business.time.com/2014/01/22/the-terrifying-video-that-will-convince-you-not-to-buy-a-small-car/#ixzz2rDyHvTr9

Monday, January 27, 2014

Hacks Lack Facts in Frack Attacks

Analysis: Environmentalists struggle with accuracy in anti-fracking Politico column


A pair of prominent environmentalists penned a column Tuesday for Politico Magazine attacking hydraulic fracturing littered with dishonest and incorrect claims.

The central political question of the debate over fracking, as the innovative oil and gas extraction technique is commonly known, has to do with the degree to which it impacts greenhouse gas emissions, and hence affects a changing global climate.

Representatives from 18 environmental activist groups recently wrote a letter to President Barack Obama bemoaning his commitment to an “all of the above” approach to energy, which they said will irreparably harm the earth’s climate.

READ MORE:   http://freebeacon.com/hacks-lack-facts-in-frack-attacks/

Friday, January 24, 2014

Fuel-Efficiency Rules Are Already Raising Costs in Detroit

Electric cars are a sideshow. The real story is Ford's big bet on aluminum and other expensive design changes.

 

Jan. 22, 2014 7:19 p.m. ET
 
Detroit

At the dawn of 2014 the federal government has exited General Motors and Chrysler. Both companies have repaid their auto-bailout loans and Fiat is purchasing Chrysler outright. But federal carbon limits imposed on the auto industry in the depths of the Great Recession—when it was powerless to resist—will haunt manufacturers for years to come. The re-election of Barack Obama has cemented EPA fuel-efficiency regulations...

READ MORE:  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303465004579326332103414374?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEFTTopOpinion

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Temperatures In Alaska Are Warmer Than The Lower 48WASHINGTON — The weather seems more than a bit upside down. The average temperature for the Lower 48 states midmorning Wednesday was a chilly 22 degrees. The average temperature for the entire state of Alaska at the same time was 24 degrees, according to calculations by Weather Bell Analytics meteorologist Ryan Maue. Parts of Alaska were 30 degrees warmer than normal, southeastern Alaska hit 57 earlier in the week and the forecast for the rest of week was more unseasonable warmth, said National Weather Service climate science manager Rick Thoman in Fairbanks. He said it’s possible that the state record January high of 62 could be broken later this week. D.C. Deep Freeze: Day 3 – Cold Breaks Train Track Atlanta dropped to 16, Washington, D.C., to 9 and Central Park in New York fell to 7 on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The weather seems more than a bit upside down.

The average temperature for the Lower 48 states midmorning Wednesday was a chilly 22 degrees. The average temperature for the entire state of Alaska at the same time was 24 degrees, according to calculations by Weather Bell Analytics meteorologist Ryan Maue.

Parts of Alaska were 30 degrees warmer than normal, southeastern Alaska hit 57 earlier in the week and the forecast for the rest of week was more unseasonable warmth, said National Weather Service climate science manager Rick Thoman in Fairbanks. He said it’s possible that the state record January high of 62 could be broken later this week.

D.C. Deep Freeze: Day 3 – Cold Breaks Train Track

Atlanta dropped to 16, Washington, D.C., to 9 and Central Park in New York fell to 7 on Wednesday.

READ MORE:  http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/01/23/temperatures-in-alaska-are-warmer-than-the-lower-48/

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Green Fade-Out: Europe to Ditch Climate Protection Goals

The EU's reputation as a model of environmental responsibility may soon be history. The European Commission wants to forgo ambitious climate protection goals and pave the way for fracking -- jeopardizing Germany's touted energy revolution in the process. 

The climate between Brussels and Berlin is polluted, something European Commission officials attribute, among other things, to the "reckless" way German Chancellor Angela Merkel blocked stricter exhaust emissions during her re-election campaign to placate domestic automotive manufacturers like Daimler and BMW. This kind of blatant self-interest, officials complained at the time, is poisoning the climate.
But now it seems that the climate is no longer of much importance to the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, either. Commission sources have long been hinting that the body intends to move away from ambitious climate protection goals. On Tuesday, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported as much. At the request of Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU member states are no longer to receive specific guidelines for the development ofrenewable energy. The stated aim of increasing the share of green energy across the EU to up to 27 percent will hold. But how seriously countries tackle this project will no longer be regulated within the plan. As of 2020 at the latest -- when the current commitment to further increase the share of green energy expires -- climate protection in the EU will apparently be pursued on a voluntary basis.

READ MORE:  http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/european-commission-move-away-from-climate-protection-goals-a-943664.html

Friday, January 17, 2014

Max Luke and Jenna Mukuno: Boldly Going Where No Greens Have Gone Before

Why do Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard Branson lecture us about carbon consumption while plotting trips to space?

 

If all goes according to plan, Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio will blast into space aboard the maiden voyage of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spaceship sometime this year, opening up a new era of civilian space travel. This development might only be remarkable as the fulfillment of a dream long predicted by futurists and technophiles, were it not for the fact that Messrs. Branson and DiCaprio are prominent environmentalist celebrities who have warned of a coming ecological catastrophe if we fail to address our carbon problem.

Mr. Branson's commitment to fighting climate change is praiseworthy: Over the years, he has consistently advocated for a broad mix of clean energy sources, including nuclear. He is founder and chief benefactor of the Carbon War Room, an outfit that has long advocated for carbon pricing and energy efficiency measures to help alleviate global warming. Mr. DiCaprio is on the board of trustees of the Natural Resources Defense Council and has decried overconsumption. "We are the number one leading consumers, the biggest producers of waste around the world," the actor said in 2008.


Thursday, January 16, 2014

What Catastrophe?

MIT’s Richard Lindzen, the unalarmed climate scientist 

 

When you first meet Richard Lindzen, the Alfred P. Sloan professor of meteorology at MIT, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, leading climate “skeptic,” and all-around scourge of James Hansen, Bill McKibben, Al Gore, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and sundry other climate “alarmists,” as Lindzen calls them, you may find yourself a bit surprised. If you know Lindzen only from the way his opponents characterize him—variously, a liar, a lunatic, a charlatan, a denier, a shyster, a crazy person, corrupt—you might expect a spittle-flecked, wild-eyed loon. But in person, Lindzen cuts a rather different figure. With his gray beard, thick glasses, gentle laugh, and disarmingly soft voice, he comes across as nothing short of grandfatherly. 

Granted, Lindzen is no shrinking violet. A pioneering climate scientist with decades at Harvard and MIT, Lindzen sees his discipline as being deeply compromised by political pressure, data fudging, out-and-out guesswork, and wholly unwarranted alarmism. In a shot across the bow of what many insist is indisputable scientific truth, Lindzen characterizes global warming as “small and .  .  . nothing to be alarmed about.” In the climate debate—on which hinge far-reaching questions of public policy—them’s fightin’ words.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Environmentalists target Radio Disney in anti-drilling campaign

Environmentalists have begun a war on Mickey Mouse. The liberal group CREDO started an online petition to tell Radio Disney to stop its “Rocking in Ohio” roadshow because of its positive message on oil and gas drilling.

The CREDO Mobilize petition orders Radio Disney to halt its pro-drilling roadshow, done in partnership with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association as part of the group’s education outreach effort.

“Immediately halt your road show promoting oil and gas extraction and pipelines to kids, and sever your partnership with the Ohio Oil and Gas Association,” reads the petition. “Radio Disney should not — under the guise of teaching kids ‘science’ — promote dirty energy that that gives kids asthma, pollutes our air and water, and fuels climate change.”

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Cleantech Crash

Despite billions invested by the U.S. government in so-called “Cleantech” energy, Washington and Silicon Valley have little to show for it

 

The following is a script from "The Cleantech Crash" which aired on Jan. 5, 2014. Lesley Stahl is the correspondent. Shachar Bar-On, producer.

About a decade ago, the smart people who funded the Internet turned their attention to the energy sector, rallying tech engineers to invent ways to get us off fossil fuels, devise powerful solar panels, clean cars, and futuristic batteries. The idea got a catchy name: “Cleantech.” 

Silicon Valley got Washington excited about it. President Bush was an early supporter, but the federal purse strings truly loosened under President Obama.  Hoping to create innovation and jobs, he committed north of a $100 billion in loans, grants and tax breaks to Cleantech.  But instead of breakthroughs, the sector suffered a string of expensive tax-funded flops. Suddenly Cleantech was a dirty word.

Investor Vinod Khosla, known as the father of the Cleantech revolution, has poured over a billion dollars of his own money into some 50 energy startups. He took us to one in Columbus, Miss. KiOR is a biofuel company that’s replacing oil drilling with oil making.

READ MORE:  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleantech-crash-60-minutes/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cleantech-crash-60-minutes/

Monday, January 13, 2014

Industry, not environmentalists, killed traditional bulbs

Say goodbye to the regular light bulb this New Year.

For more than a century, the traditional incandescent bulb was the symbol of American innovation. Starting Jan. 1, the famous bulb is illegal to manufacture in the U.S., and it has become a fitting symbol for the collusion of big business and big government.

The 2007 Energy Bill, a stew of regulations and subsidies, set mandatory efficiency standards for most light bulbs. Any bulbs that couldn't produce a given brightness at the specified energy input would be illegal. That meant the 25-cent bulbs most Americans used in nearly every socket of their home would be outlawed.

READ MORE:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/industry-not-environmentalists-killed-traditional-bulbs/article/2541430#

Friday, January 10, 2014

Akademik Shokalskiy: Antarctica Ship Rescue Was For ‘Global Warming Alarmists’?

The Akademik Shokalskiy rescue has been a success, and the crew of the Antarctica ship was airlifted out by helicopter.

 As previously reported by The Inquisitr, attempts at the Antarctica ship rescue kept being thwarted by the increasingly cold weather, and the thick ice even managed to stop icebreaker ships.

What makes the Akademik Shokalskiy rescue so ironic is that the scientists were apparently planning on studying the effects of climate change and “environmental changes” taking place in Antarctica. Chris Turney, a professor of “climate change” at the University of New South Wales in Australia, apparently believes man-made carbon dioxide output must forcibly be curbed by governments around the globe:

READ MORE:  http://www.inquisitr.com/1080848/akademik-shokalskiy-antarctica-ship-rescue-was-for-global-warming-alarmists/#BFsUqFVYz3gGEMVR.99

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Millions of trees chopped down to make way for Scottish wind farms

Forestry Commission figures show more than five million trees have been felled thanks to wind farm developments since 2007, with fewer than 1.6 million planted to replace them. 

 

 

Millions of trees have been chopped down to clear the way for wind farms in Scotland’s countryside since Alex Salmond came to power, according to official figures published today.


The Forestry Commission has disclosed that more than 6,200 acres (2,510 hectares) of trees north of the Border have been felled to allow the construction of wind farms since 2007.

With the commission estimating that on average 810 trees are planted per acre, this is the equivalent of more than five million being chopped down.

Over the same period, fewer than 2,000 acres of trees have been replanted within wind farm sites. This means there has been net loss of around 3.4 million trees to make way for turbines.

READ MORE:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10546071/Millions-of-trees-chopped-down-to-make-way-for-Scottish-wind-farms.html

 

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Wind's tax credit winds down, but debate at full force

Subsidies for wind energy end at midnight Dec. 31, but Democrats are pushing for renewal of wind's production tax credit for 2014. Opponents say the subsidies are costly and inefficient. 

The controversial production tax credit given to wind-energy developers expires Tuesday at midnight. But the controversy won’t disappear with the new year, spawning instead new discussions about potential compromises over who gets what in the federal subsidy pie.

The relative stop-and-go nature of the terrestrial winds typifies the political treatment the industry has received, with the tax credit often traded as a bargaining chip within bigger energy legislation. The traditional argument against the subsidy is that it is costly to the US Treasury and that it creates economic inefficiencies, forcing capital into assets that are less productive and which may not be able to otherwise stand on their own.
But proponents of the federal assistance say that it is doing its job and that it has led to the development of 60,000 megawatts of wind generation. That growth, in turn, has caused production costs to fall by 80 percent over the last 20 years. Altogether, the industry supports 85,000 jobs, says the American Wind Energy Association.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/1230/Wind-s-tax-credit-winds-down-but-debate-at-full-force

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Top 5 Ways Energy Production Benefited Consumers in 2013

Its been a busy year for U.S. energy production with consumer prices on the decline due to increasing domestic supplies of natural gas and oil. Here are the Top 5 energy related news stories that benefit consumers in 2013.

1) U.S. Overtakes Russia as the World’s Largest Oil and Gas Producer

Experts estimated that the United States overtook Russia as the world’s largest oil and gas producer in November of this year. The change creates a net positive for consumers as the country produces an ever increasing amount of oil and gas from domestic sources. This reduces our dependence on foreign sources of oil and natural gas, and lowers transportation costs, translating to lower prices for end users. It also provides new economic growth as jobs are created, incomes rise, and tax bases expand due to the expanding energy industry. Which leads to our next story…

2) Oil and Gas Boom Contributes $1200 to Household Income

READ MORE:  http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/12/30/top-5-ways-energy-production-benefited-consumers-in-2013/

Monday, January 6, 2014

'Fracking' the Monterey Shale -- boon or boondoggle?

Extracting oil and gas from the California formation could bring the state economic prosperity — or it could be an environmental disaster.

 

"Eureka!" reads the California motto, originated in the 19th century Gold Rush. Now some believe the state is on the cusp of a 21st century bonanza, only this time it will be oil that fuels a Golden State boom.

Modern prospectors are eyeing the Monterey Shale formation, a 1,750-square-mile resource-rich swath of land in the San Joaquin Valley. Lying deep beneath the valley's surface is a trove of shale oil — some 15.42 billion barrels' worth, according to an estimate by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

If that proves true, the Monterey formation holds the equivalent of 64% of America's total shale oil reserves. A recent study by USC predicts that a Monterey Shale boom could add $4.5 billion in tax revenue to state coffers and 2.8 million California jobs by 2020, and would turn the state into the nation's leading oil producer.