Joseph J. Romm's Blog, page 1213

Palin claims that Netherlands and Norway can't get their calls returned on the oil spill

To respond to President Obama's first Oval Office address, Fox News last night turned to former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, whom Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) once said "knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America."  As TP reports, when asked about how to stop the leaking oil well, Palin said that the United States needs to accept more assistance from foreign governments:

O'REILLY: Do you know how to stop it?

PALIN: Well, then what the federal government...

BP Chairman: "We care about the small people." - GOP Study Chairman: We don't care about anybody but Big Oil

Who is more out of touch?  Is it the Republican Study Committee, whose Chair says that the $20 billion escrow fund that Obama got BP to establish is nothing more than a "Chicago-Style Political Shakedown"?

Or is it BP Chair Carl-Henric Svanberg, who uttered these unforgettable words on tape after the White House meeting today:

"We care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies or greedy companies that don't care, but that is not the case at BP. We care about...

Disputing the 'consensus' on global warming - Science is in many ways the opposite of decision by consensus.

I have never liked the use of the word "consensus" as it is typically applied in the climate arena.  Scientists don't really have a 'consensus' so much as they have an 'understanding' of climate science.

I wrote an article on this subject in 2008, "The cold truth about climate change:  [Disinformers:] continue to insist there's no consensus on global warming. Well, there's not. There's well-tested science and real-world observations [that are much more worrisome:]."

When James Hansen read the f...

Glee's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with oil disaster images - Now can someone do a mashup of Ke$ha's "Blah, Blah, Blah" with BP's Tony Hayward?

Here's the backstory on the video:

Somewhere Over the Gulf Coast: A "Glee" and BP Oil Disaster Mashup

by David Yarnold, executive director of Environmental Defense Fund

From a comfortable distance the BP oil disaster is depressing and horrific. But up close, it's worse.

Two days in the Gulf of Mexico left me enraged – and deeply resolved. Both the widespread damage and the inadequacy of the response effort exceeded my worst fears. I'd spent a full day on the Gulf and we ended up soaked in...

A new clean energy deployment administration

We need CEDA to help channel private capital flows toward deployment of clean energy in this country. CAP's Jake Caldwell and Richard W. Caperton, explain why.

The U.S. Senate is finally preparing to take action on clean energy and climate legislation. And whatever form the final legislation takes, it must provide tools to drive renewable energy growth—this year and over the coming decades.

A price on carbon is a central element of Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman's (I-CT)

Where Obama's climate leadership is really lacking

If you ever want to know what the inside-the-beltway conventional wisdom is, look for the Politico's screaming headline.  "Deadly silence on carbon caps," is today's tea-leaf reading article, which asserts that Obama "may have put the dagger into his long-sought plans for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions by opening the door for alternatives."

Speeches, while important, aren't daggers — and, in any case, conventional wisdom in the Politico and elsewhere around DC has been that a GHG cap has ...

Energy and Global Warming News for June 16: Europe's wind power is booming; A place where peak power may disappear

Europe's wind power is booming

The European Union will continue its 2009 record-breaking pace this year for adding wind power, reports the European Wind Energy Association.

The industry group expects EU countries will install 10 gigawatts of new wind power capacity, the same as 2009's record, bringing the total to 85 GW by year's end.

"What is encouraging is that, unlike in 2009, the 2010 results consist of orders placed after the start of the financial crisis," Christian Kjaer, the...

BP hires Goldman Sachs as an adviser, either to avoid a takeover or because they are clueless.

I asked back on May 2, "Is BP the Goldman Sachs of Big Oil?"  Since then, the petro-giant has done everything possible to show it is has the recklessness, Arrogance, and Hubris — and tone-deafness of the financial giant.

BP even hired former Bush-Cheney and Goldman-Sachs officials to 'defend its interests' and restore its reputation.

Now they have hired the much-vilified Wall Street firm itself, as TP reports:

As BP continues to come under fire for its incompetence in cleaning up its own...

Opening the information gusher on the gulf oil tragedy

Americans need the Obama administration to establish a simple, clear, one-stop shop for information on all the related health, environmental, energy, and economic issues stemming from the BP oil disaster.  CAP's Bracken Hendricks and Tina Ramos explain why.

We reached another grim milestone last weekend in the BP oil disaster when BP quietly and intentionally released the 1 millionth gallon of toxic dispersant into the gulf to try and mop up their oily mess. And by Friday, ...

Leading on public health

The federal government must have full responsibility, leadership, and oversight in monitoring and managing the public health consequences of the BP oil disaster.  Lesley Russell and Ellen-Marie Whelan of CAP's Health Policy team explain why.

We must have a coordinated response to the known and potential health problems resulting from this spill for the sake of the health of the clean-up workers and volunteers, the people living in affected communities, and Americans who, even though...