Category Archives: Environment

A Tale of Two Pipelines

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Steve Maley

One of the reasons we’re supposed to be wary of the Keystone XL Pipeline is its alleged threat to the Ogallala Aquifer, the water source for much of the Great Plains. From Wikipedia: The depth of the water below the … Continue reading →

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Karma’s a Botch

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Steve Maley

Last week, we heard about the Fisker Karma, the new electric vehicle being built in Finland using a $529 million loan from U.S. taxpayers. Beneficiaries of this deal include one Albert Gore, partner in the “green” venture capital firm Kleiner … Continue reading →

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Windmills are not healthy for bats, eagles and other flying things.

Posted on October 18, 2011 by Steve Maley

The giant Bird Cuisinarts are at it again. Only this time they’re killing bats. Well, a bat, but an endangered bat. Windmills stopped at night after bat death Thirty-five windmills at a western Pennsylvania wind farm have been silenced at … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Environment | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Good News: Oil Drilling Off Florida Begins Nov. 1. Bad News: It’s in Cuba.

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Steve Maley

While it’s been the subject of rumor, gossip and misinformation for the last several years, this time it’s real: drilling off the north shore of Cuba is scheduled to begin November 1. Six wells are planned to be drilled with … Continue reading →

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If Global Warming Doesn’t Kill Us, ET Will

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Steve Maley

Jon Huntsman tweeted yesterday: To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy. Um. These scientists you trust, some of them at least, are accused of data manipulation and standing the peer-review process … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Easy Going Green, Part IV

Posted on August 7, 2011 by Steve Maley

Remember jatropha? In 2007, Goldman Sachs called it one of the best candidates for future biofuels. Time Magazine touted its promise in an article from January, 2009: Renewable energy, it turns out, does grow on trees. The fruit pods plucked … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Easy Going Green, Part III

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Steve Maley

Tiny start up Green Vehicles of Salinas, CA has gone belly-up. The city of Salinas had infused $540,000 since 2009, but it was not enough. The company had a hard time finding outside investors, and when an expected $2.7 million … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Easy Going Green, Part II

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Steve Maley

This week, American Electric Power scuppered plans for a $668 million carbon sequestration project at the utility’s Mountaineer Power Plant in West Virgina. The Mountaineer project had been heralded as the flagship of “clean coal” technology: the process involves using … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Environment | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Germany’s Plan to Nix Nukes: Macht Nichts!

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Steve Maley

Well, that didn’t take long. In late May, and in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Germany announced that it would phase out nuclear power generation by 2022. Nine active nuclear sites currently supply 22% of German electricity. Another … Continue reading →

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It’s Not Easy Going Green

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Steve Maley

It sounded like such a good idea. Back in 2009, NRG Energy Inc. hatched a plan to “go green” using switchgrass and sorghum as boiler fuel supplement. It was hoped that it might replace up to 10% of the coal … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Environment | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments