Recent Posts
Recent Comments
Linkstream
- Canadian Oil Sands Flyover
An aerial/telephoto exploration of the Canadian Oil Sands operations. Two trillion barrels of oil in the ground. Pyramids of sulfur and coke. Lakes of oil stretching to the horizon. At $200k/yr, it's easy to understand how one might get roped in, gold rush style. - Clean energy will unfortunately be political
Conservative thinktanks step up attacks against Obama's clean energy strategy, as revealed by ALEC bills and other PR documents. This morning at the World Renewable Energy Forum, in response to a (long winded) question about how we might re-frame the energy discussion in light of the unfortunate hay which was made from Solyndra's failure, US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu re-iterated that clean energy should not be a political issue -- that it's just common sense. That may be true, but it doesn't mean it will remain apolitical. As Pericles once said... "Just because you do not take an interest in - The Dangerous World of Underground Chemistry
A look at the increasingly outsourced world of underground pharma. Domestic black-market chemists handle R&D and distribution, and the actual manufacturing is done in China. Seems that way with everything. - Google Street View for building energy efficiency
Essess is doing drive-by thermal imaging in high density urban areas across the US, hoping to target possible building energy efficiency opportunities. Another company is using urban satellite imagery to choose the best rooftops for solar energy siting. Big Brother may be watching you... but at least occasionally he's got the right idea. - The Neapolitan Mob’s Most Dangerous Family
A character sketch of Paolo di Lauro, one of the Neapolitan Camorra's former leaders. Southern Italy it seems, like some parts of Mexico, operates with more than one quasi-state organization governing in parallel. A tacit negotiation between the official and unofficial systems, which sometimes erupts into violence -- ironically, at those times when the so-called "criminal" organizations have become weak.
- Canadian Oil Sands Flyover
Twitterfeed
- Incredible photo essay on the Athabasca Tar Sands operations: businessinsider.com/canadian-oil-s… 4 days ago
- At a great talk about individual cities as the right scale for renewable energy systems innovation at #wref2012 1 week ago
- Heard rural Wyoming folk talking local Chinese coal/gas investments, hacking of their SCADA water system. I live in a @GreatDismal future. 1 week ago
- The tar sands have to stay in the ground. Stop the pipeline… again. And again. And again, if necessary. act.350.org/sign/kxl/ 3 months ago
- Roughly 2/3 of all the humans who have ever reached the age of 65 are alive today. 4 months ago
Incoming Memes
Tag Archives: climate
A Power Company President Ties His Future to Green Energy
Yale Environment 360 has an interview with the CEO of NRG Energy, a fossil fuel based, nationwide independent power producer (IPP) that sells their 22GW of generation into the wholesale market. He’s bullish on solar PV, much less so on … Continue reading
Posted in linkstream
Tagged climate, coal, energy, nrg, power, renewable, solar, utility
Leave a comment
Obama Delays Keystone XL Pipeline
The Obama Administration has delayed its decision on the Keystone XL Pipeline. I think this is a qualified victory for climate activists, and I think it’s incredible. A few months ago we hosted a cross-country caravan of Tar Sands Action … Continue reading
Posted in linkstream
Tagged canada, climate, keystone xl, kxl, obama, oil, pipeline, tarsands
1 Comment
Is Keystone XL Really Game over? | RealClimate
RealClimate looks at Hansen and McKibben’s statements that the Keystone XL is essentially “game over” for the climate. All that really matters in the big picture is the absolute amount of carbon we release. How fast or slow we do … Continue reading
Posted in linkstream
Tagged bill mckibben, canada, climate, coal, gas, james hansen, kxl, oil, pipeline, tar sands
Leave a comment
Former Xcel CEO Dick Kelly would be fine with no more coal
Former Xcel CEO Dick Kelly would be fine with no more coal. Unfortunately, the regulatory environment that his former employer works within in Colorado, and the company’s need to protect a couple of billion dollars worth of undepreciated coal assets … Continue reading
Debating Boulder’s Power at the BGBG
Last Thursday (Sept. 8th) the Boulder Green Building Guild (BGBG) and Boulder Tomorrow hosted a debate of the 2B/2C ballot measures. The event was completely booked in advance through the BGBG’s website and the REI community room was packed and … Continue reading
Lowercase theories, uppercase Theories, and the myth of global cooling
Lowercase theories, uppercase Theories, and the myth of global cooling, a good look at how the processes of science get misconstrued to the public at large, and why it’s not really a good idea for science journalism to focus on … Continue reading
Boulder’s Energy Future Is Bright
Last night I went to a presentation by the Renewables Yes technical and financial modeling team. They’ve put up a bunch of information about their modeling efforts on the web site. I’ve organized nine short videos of a previous iteration … Continue reading
Posted in journal
Tagged boulder, climate, coal, colorado, electricity, energy, muni, natural gas, renewable, solar, utility, wind, xcel
20 Comments
Dust Bowl Scale Drought Unrelated to Climate Change?
A couple of weeks ago Bill McKibben wrote a sarcastic op-ed encouraging people to ignore any possible connection between climate change and the unusually intense tornado season, as well as other extreme weather events. I thought it was a little … Continue reading
Tar Sands Coming to America
The first US tar sands mine is set to open in northeastern Utah as soon as January 2013, with plans to expand aggressively thereafter. The leasing area straddles the Green River, between US-40 and US-50. Maps available here. It’s not … Continue reading
Canada’s Tar Sands And Brazil’s Rainforest
An interesting moral/ethical comparison of Brazil and Canada’s environmental records. If we see fit to hold Brazil accountable for the state of the Amazon rainforest, then shouldn’t we also demand Canada leave the tar sands in the ground?
Posted in linkstream
Tagged amazon, brazil, canada, climate, oil, politics, rainforest
Leave a comment