Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1149

George Shultz challenges CA to lead on clean energy, defeat Proposition 23: Losing "would be a catastrophe." - Former Secretary of State and Treasury: "There's a climate problem connected with the burning of fossil fuels.... The basic facts are pretty cl

Former U.S. secretary of State George P. Shultz believes it's crucial to fight global warming to protect national security.

Global warming is created by burning fossil fuel, he says, and payments for foreign oil sometimes wind up financing terrorism.

And Shultz, who's also a former Treasury secretary, thinks the nation suffers an "economic vulnerability" because of its oil addiction….

The L.A. Times article notes that "the man who set up the Environmental Protection Agency four decades...

George Shultz challenges CA to lead on clean energy, defeat Proposition 23: Losing "would be a catastrophe." - Former Secretary of State and Treasury: "There's a climate problem connected with the burning of fossil fuels.... The basic facts are pretty cl

Former U.S. secretary of State George P. Shultz believes it's crucial to fight global warming to protect national security.

Global warming is created by burning fossil fuel, he says, and payments for foreign oil sometimes wind up financing terrorism.

And Shultz, who's also a former Treasury secretary, thinks the nation suffers an "economic vulnerability" because of its oil addiction….

The L.A. Times article notes that "the man who set up the Environmental Protection Agency four decades...

Energy and Global Warming News for August 5th: Mojave CSP project clears critical hurdle; Researchers claim new solar energy conversion process; N.Y. Senate approves fracking moratorium; Cars warm climate more than planes — study

Major Mojave project clears critical hurdle

One of California's biggest proposed solar energy projects won preliminary approval today from state regulators. BrightSource Energy Inc.'s Ivanpah power plant development in the Mojave Desert gained tentative approval from the California Energy Commission, triggering a 30-day comment period that will likely end in final permits for the Oakland-based company.

The 392-megawatt solar thermal power plant is also subject to an environmental review by the ...

WashPost: Institute for Energy Research's dealings with BP "seemed an awful lot like a shakedown."

Until now, the Institute for Energy Research has best been known as an anti-science polluter front-group trying to kill the clean energy bill.

But in a devastating front-page story yesterday, "BP's fight against energy nonprofit highlights murky world of advocacy-for-hire," the Washington Post reveals that the IER won't support just any polluter:

Days after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig sank in the Gulf of Mexico, a conservative nonprofit group called the Institute for Energy Research asked...

A climate 'Plan B' for team Obama

Guest blogger Bill Becker is executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project. He discusses a new PCAP report that details several ways  President Obama can cut emissions using powers past Congress's have already delegated to the Executive Branch.

Congress's failure to act on global climate change was one of the reasons the diplomatic atmosphere was so chilly last year in Copenhagen.

Congress has chilled the atmosphere again, four months before the international community meets...

Energy Department launches Blog: "The Reality of Solar Panels at 50% Cost"

The Department of Energy has launched a blog of its own.  Secretary of Energy Chu explains it is "to show you who we are, what we do, and why it matters to you, while allowing you to connect with us in new and creative ways."

From time to time, I will highlight their best posts.  Here is one from Arun Majumdar, Director for the Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy, "The Reality of Solar Panels at 50% Cost":

Last week, residents in the Baltimore-Washington area experienced their 42nd day...

Second lowest July Arctic sea ice extent. Thickest ice begins melt out, so we may see record low volume

Will we see Arctic sea ice records broken this September for both volume and extent?

The National Snow and Ice Data Center just issued their full July report, which suggests that, because of "cool, stormy weather" last month, "It would take a very unusual set of conditions in August to create a new record low."

The Study of Environmental Change's September Sea Ice Outlook: July Report, which surveys forecasters, says "The spread of Outlook contributions suggests about a 29% chance of reaching a...

Atlantic shocker: Senior editor Clive Crook fabricates another quote to smear Michael Mann

The Atlantic's Clive Crook has written the most embarrassing and libelous piece published by the media, "More on Climategate."

The fact that the Atlantic continues to allow him to make up stuff and print it (without fact-checking) for the sole purpose of smearing Michael Mann — after the editors were informed of the libelous errors in the first piece — calls into question the editorial judgment of the entire magazine.

Both of Crook's pieces should be taken down from the web, and he should...

BP the latest culprit in "America's Dumping Ground" - Meet a community that gets oil spilled in their front AND backyard – and find out how we can stop the damage.

Guest bloggers Van Jones and Jorge Madrid reveal some dirty secrets BP doesn't want us to know about where the oil goes once it is "cleaned up." Jones is a senior fellow and former adviser to President Obama on Green Jobs, and Madrid is a research assistant at the Center for American Progress.

While the oil-spewing hole in the middle of the gulf has yet to be fully 'plugged,' it appears that a spill of a different kind is underway.

The worst environmental disaster in U.S. history has already g...

Standing in the way of justice for the BP calamity - GOP puts political points above all else

Republicans are opposing bills that would hold BP and other oil companies accountable for disasters, and help 9/11 first responders, writes Daniel J. Weiss in this CAPAf cross-post.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced yesterday that he would scuttle plans to attempt to debate the Clean Energy Jobs and Oil Spill Accountability Act, S. 3663, which would remove the ridiculously low liability cap of $75 million for damages from the BP oil disaster and other offshore oil...