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  • Sear in the Headlights

    Summer in Western U.S. is off to a hot, dry, fiery start In Western states, wildfires and heat waves are getting an early start this year — a pattern unsurprising […]

  • An Irritating Truth

    EIA predicts world will continue to guzzle energy According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, growing public consciousness of the impending worldwide energy crisis is going to … well, have […]

  • Interview with Jeff Goodell, author of Big Coal

    I'm not sure what I expected when I picked up Jeff Goodell's Big Coal, but I was pleasantly surprised. It is neither a number-and-graph-filled wonkfest nor a provincial, narrow examination of a particular set of companies. Instead, it's an engagingly written narrative that travels through every stage of coal -- from extraction through travel through burning -- and ends with a broad examination of the consequences for the climate. I really can't recommend it highly enough. It's a book even your grandma could enjoy. I hope to post some more on it soon.

    But for now: I'm meeting with Goodell on Wednesday for a nice long chat. What should I ask him?

  • And Things Were Going So Well …

    Struggling Iraqi refineries dump oil byproduct near Tigris River The government of Iraq has been disposing of millions of barrels of oil refinery byproduct by pumping it into mountain valleys […]

  • Guess It’s Not So Perma After All

    Melting Siberian permafrost could release billions of tons of CO2 As it melts, Siberian permafrost could release up to 500 billion tons of carbon dioxide from ancient plant roots and […]

  • Umbra on personal fans

    Dear Umbra, So the weather is turning hot again. I got my electric fans out of the closet. On the back of these, there are no indications of what amount […]

  • Ah, to live in Norway

    Billions with a B:

    OSLO - Norway is setting up a 20 billion Norwegian crowns ($3.24 billion) fund to promote renewable energy such as wind and hydropower while spurring energy savings, the government said on Monday.

    It said the cash would help Norway achieve a goal of raising available power by 30 terawatt hours (TWh) by 2016, compared with 2001, from renewable energy sources and by greater efficiency. Its previous goal was a saving of 12 TWh by 2010 versus 2001.

    Norway's total power output, mostly from hydropower, is about 120 TWh a year.

    "Bioenergy, windpower, hydropower, and energy efficiency will contribute to new possibilities, new jobs and new optimism over the whole country," Oil and Energy Minister Odd Roger Enoksen said in a statement.

    Sigh.

  • Let’s Feed Them Some Oil Execs

    Hungry polar bears eating each other We can’t think of anything funny to say about this: polar bears, deprived of their natural food by longer seasons without ice, may be […]

  • Will ADM surrender gracefully to cellulosic ethanol?

    Don't miss a great piece by Sasha Lilley about Archer Daniels Midland and ethanol: "The dirty truth about green fuel."

    The latter part covers the environmental sins of corn-based ethanol -- familiar to Gristmillians -- but the first part provides some crucial context. It's about ADM.

    Here's a taste:

  • CEI at it again

    Oh brother. CEI is at it again with a "special web-only bonus" titled Al Gore: An Inconvenient Story.

    Electric_Penguin over at Hugg.com sums it up nicely:

    CEI has created quite the moral dilemma for themselves. They are condemning Al Gore for generating dramatically more Carbon Dioxide emissions than an average person while traveling around the world giving speeches on global warming. You can't condemn Al Gore for traveling and contributing to Global Warming when you are denying Global Warming exists. Either "CO2 is life" or Global Warming exists and the balancing act between to little and too much begins.