Energy

(By Juan Cole) Some 300,000 West Virginians are at risk from their tap water after a company making MCHM spilled it into the river, turning it a little purple and making it smell like liquorice. MCHM can be fatal if imbibed, and otherwise it can make you vomit your guts out. It is used to […]

Climate Change

Peak or no Peak, Oil is Unsafe at any Price

contributors

(By Michael Klare) Among the big energy stories of 2013, “peak oil” — the once-popular notion that worldwide oil production would soon reach a maximum level and begin an irreversible decline — was thoroughly discredited. The explosive development of shale oil and other unconventional fuels in the United States helped put it in its grave. […]

Climate Change

60 Minutes goes Benghazi on Cleantech & Gets that Wrong Too

contributors

(By Joe Romm) 60 Minutes Ignores The Facts In Clean Energy Segment (via Clean Technica) Originally published on ClimateProgressby Joe Romm Clean technology is booming by every key indicator — but you would never know that from Sunday’s absurd 60 Minutes piece touting an imaginary “Cleantech Crash.” As documented in the recent Department… —— […]

Climate Change

Spain, Portugal show that 50%, even 70% Power from Renewables is Possible Right now

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The miserable record of the United States in tackling its deadly carbon dioxide emissions (5 billion metric tons a year) sometimes obscures how very possible it is for industrial economies to go green. Spain, a country of 47 million, was nearly at 50% renewables for electricity generation in 2013. That 50% from […]

Climate Change

Kerry may Nix Keystone XL for Global Climate Agreement

contributors

(By Tina Casey) John Kerry Throws More Cold Water On Keystone XL Pipeline (via Clean Technica) The tubes have been buzzing over a new New York Times report on Secretary of State John Kerry’s aggressive pursuit of a new global climate agreement, which has some clear implications for approval of the controversial Keystone XL tar […]

Energy

Europe Abandoning Hydrocarbons: Closing 30% of Gas, Coal Plants in Favor of Green Energy

contributors

(By Zachary Shahan) Europe’s Fossil Fuel Exit — 30% Of Fossil Fuel Power Capacity To Close By 2017, UBS Analysts Project (via Clean Technica) Following up on a Credit Suisse report stating that ~85% of US energy demand growth would come from renewables by 2025, we thought it would be good to take a look […]

Climate Change

Australia burns, swelters in Hottest Year on Record (Climate Instability Story of the Day)

contributors

(By AFP) Australia endures hottest year on record (via AFP) Australia experienced its hottest year on record in 2013, the Bureau of Meteorology said Friday, enduring the longest heatwave ever recorded Down Under as well as destructive bushfires. “2013 was Australia’s warmest year since records began in 1910,”… ITN reports

Dissent

Egyptian Military Junta Jumps the Shark, Interrogates Islamist Muppet

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) When the venerable al-Ahram newspaper, then under the control of the government of Hosni Mubarak, published the allegation during the 2011 revolution that the crowds were just coming down to Tahrir Square for KFC chicken, it was the beginning of the end of the Mubarak establishment. It might have survived being repressive, […]

Climate Change

Solar Ascendancy: Minnesota Court Ruling for Solar over Gas a Harbinger of Things to Come

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Minnesota Judge Eric Lipman found that solar is a better deal than natural gas for Xcel Energy, permitting Geronimo Energy to construct 20 huge solar facilities worth $250 million in Xcel’s service area in that state. The amount of solar power in the state would increase by a factor of 7. The […]