Bishop Hill latches on to this post, which catches up with a two-month old wet kiss to China from James Hansen, all which leads a Bish commenter to sarcastically (and rightly) note: The way China has become the “˜love-bunny’ of the greens is indeed funny, its human rights records is still awful, its building coal…Continue Reading…
It’s on: …the giants of the world’s energy armies are preparing.
Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus of the Breakthrough Institute advance their argument for a “third pathway” in the energy/climate debate. The two dominant sides, they assert, have constructed increasingly baroque fantasies of the other. To partisan greens, skeptics are fossil fuel-funded and brainwashed planet killers too stingy to spend a postage stamp a day to…Continue Reading…
Utility executives that had favored the failed cap & trade bill in Congress are moving on, reports the WSJ: In a blueprint released last week, Exelon executives said their 13-state region could achieve reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions nearly equal to what federal legislation might have achieved in the next decade by pressing ahead with activities…Continue Reading…
James Fallows has a cover story on the inevitability of coal in The Atlantic magazine that is a must-read. The piece cogently lays out why coal is king and why it must be made to be clean. The story is already prompting knee-jerk annoyance in predictable places. More on that in a minute. Here’s the…Continue Reading…
There’s a new climate & energy policy debate brewing. It could get interesting fast, judging by the crossfire that flew on wed alone. Here’s the abridged version: First comes the release of a bipartisan “white paper” that argues for public investment in energy innovation as the best way to end reliance on fossil fuels. It…Continue Reading…
The New Security Beat continues to distinguish itself as a forum for razor sharp ideas and perspectives on the environment/security nexus. Last week, I meant to flag this perceptive analysis on the crosscurrents roiling Yemen, by Schuyler Null. (If you’ve been following the international news on Yemen and neighboring Somalia this past year, you’ll know…Continue Reading…
The tweety and bloggy opiners who care most about climate change and energy policy were mostly left cold by President Obama’s big speech last night. Here’s an arbitrary round-up that captures the varying reax: MoJo’s Kevin Drum panned it. The Atlantic’s Joshua Green said it was a “decent speech, but he [Obama] wimped out on…Continue Reading…
The NYT uses the Gulf oil disaster as a hook to examine the peak oil “collapsitarians.” Some of them are a bit overwrought, it seems, and want to do more than rub their worry beads. Fortunately, there’s a new cottage industry catering to their anxieties. The theme of the NYT story can be gleaned from…Continue Reading…
Yesterday, I took an expansive, meta perspective on who’s responsible for climate change and the U.S. addiction to fossil fuels. But make no mistake, the legacy of George W. Bush’s two terms, in all things related to domestic energy development, from deliberate lax oversight to eye-popping corruption, looms large today. Rebecca Lefton at The Center…Continue Reading…