Courtesy of DeSmogBlog, which “partnered with Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Mark Fiore to produce this spoof video in the vein of Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now.’” Spot-on satire, nice job!
P.S. We actually love the smell of clean energy in the morning. To us, that smells like victory – for America, for the environment, and for people everywhere – if not for the “frackers.”
Here are five recommended reads for today (5/21/13).
NBC reports, ‘Fracking boom triggers water battle in North Dakota.”
ClimateProgress lists “7 Very Wrong Things About Climate Science And Energy In House Science Chair Lamar Smith’s WashPost Op-Ed.”
According to DeSmogBlog, “New Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) replies have exposed more misdeeds by Professor Edward Wegman and Yasmin Said at George Mason University (GMU), closely involved with the Kochs, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and many others known for attacks on climate science.”
Greentech Media reports, “Energy efficiency proponents rejoiced last month when Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Rob Portman (R-OH) reintroduced a sweeping bill that would provide incentives, technical assistance and new standards for energy efficiency in the private and public sectors…However, a proposed amendment is dampening enthusiasm for the bill over at the U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC), the organization responsible for the popular LEED rating system for green buildings.”
An opinion piece in the Arizona Capital Times argues: “When studies show that for every $1 spent, clean energy creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels, what’s wrong with looking into alternative investments? Clean energy can increase the number of available jobs and address environmental and health issues people are concerned about. We know that coal fuel and compliance costs are going to continue to increase as time goes on, so why invest in technologies that only increase the cost of electricity? Why restrict the Navajo economy when diversifying the energy mix at NGS by adding wind, solar PV or solar CSP could create 3,000 new jobs?”
A recent New York Times article graphically demonstrates how absurd it is to claim that tar sands (not “oil sands,” as this article calls it) can be mined and transported “responsible” – certainly not with this sort of waste pile!
Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom.
And no one knows quite what to do about it, except Koch Carbon, which owns it.
The company is controlled by Charles and David Koch, wealthy industrialists who back a number of conservative and libertarian causes including activist groups that challenge the science behind climate change. The company sells the high-sulfur, high-carbon waste, usually overseas, where it is burned as fuel.
The coke comes from a refinery alongside the river owned by Marathon Petroleum, which has been there since 1930. But it began refining exports from the Canadian oil sands — and producing the waste that is sold to Koch — only in November.
Need any more evidence of how dirty this stuff is? How about this article, which reports that “in the aftermath of ExxonMobil’s Pegasus tar sands pipeline spill of over 500,000 gallons of diluted bitumen (dilbit) into Mayflower, AR, air quality in the area surrounding the spill has been affected by high levels of cancer-causing chemicals.” Or this article, which explains that “tar sands production is one of the world’s most environmentally damaging activities,” “wreck[ing] vast areas of boreal forest through surface mining and subsurface production,” also “suck[ing] up huge quantities of water from local rivers, turn[ing] it into toxic waste and dump[ing] the contaminated water into tailing ponds that now cover nearly 70 square miles.” As Lorne Stockman of Oil Change International puts it: “It’s really the dirtiest residue from the dirtiest oil on earth.”
Here are five recommended reads for today (5/20/13).
The Christian Science Monitor reports: “Demand for fresh water could exceed supply by an estimated 40 percent by 2030, pushing up prices for the water-intensive energy industry. Soaring water prices would help wind, solar, and natural gas, but hurt coal and nuclear plants.”
Elizabeth Kolbert writes in the New Yorker: ”In rejecting Keystone, President Obama would not solve the underlying problem, which, as pipeline proponents correctly point out, is consumption. Nor would he halt exploitation of the tar sands. But he would put a brake on the process”
The Guardian reports, “Prof James Hansen rebukes oil firms and Canadian government over stance on exploiting fossil fuel, which he says would make climate problem unsolvable”
At Greentech Media, former Navy officer and Afghanistan veteran argues,”We Owe Our Veterans a Renewable Energy Way of Life: There is nothing like a natural resource war to give you religion about renewable energy.”
The San Francisco Chronicle reports, “Bucking his party on climate change, [former Secretary of State George] Shultz said all forms of energy should compete “on a level playing field” by incorporating the cost of their carbon pollution.”
Here are five recommended reads for today (5/17/13).
Greentech Media reports, “Ernest Moniz, a former MIT physicist, is the new secretary of energy. The Senate voted to confirm Moniz this afternoon by a vote of 97 to 0.”
According to CleanTechnica: “Commercial production of solar windows, using the patented SolarWindow spray-on solar power coating system, may be just around the corner. A recent announcement from US building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) developer New Energy Technologies Ltd. (which we’ve been following for years) has us feeling that the time may soon come.”
Bloomberg reports, “SunPower Corp. (SPWR), the second-largest U.S. solar manufacturer, expects photovoltaic panels to become a standard feature in new home construction in the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Tom Werner said.”
According to Solar Power World, “SolarCity has formed an agreement with Goldman Sachs to fund more than $500 million in solar power projects; an estimated 110-MW in generation capacity for homeowners and businesses.”
Yahoo News reports, “The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a new proposal for its first major regulation of hydraulic fracturing on public lands, attempting to address at least a portion of the controversial drilling practice that’s unlocked vast new supplies of U.S. oil and gas but has also raised fears about its environmental impact, particularly on local water supplies.”
