It’s difficult to see how anyone can consider issues surrounding potentially fatal poisons as irrelevant to human health. The European Union and World Health Organization have already established safe limits for dioxins in food. They are weaker than those proposed by the EPA, but in the case of dioxins, any limitations are better than none — which is what we might end up with if the food companies succeed in silencing the EPA scientists.
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The EPA’s Weak Stance on Nasty, Immune System-Wrecking Dioxins – Barry Estabrook – Health – The Atlantic
11 JanOur looming energy wars – Energy – Salon.com
10 JanThe Strait of Hormuz is, however, only one of several hot spots where energy, politics and geography are likely to mix in dangerous ways in 2012 and beyond. Keep your eye as well on the East and South China Seas, the Caspian Sea basin and an energy-rich Arctic that is losing its sea ice. In all of these places, countries are disputing control over the production and transportation of energy, and arguing about national boundaries and/or rights of passage.
A College Campus Offers a Glimpse of a Geothermal Future – Technology – The Atlantic Cities
9 JanOfficials from schools and towns all over the country have been traveling to Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., to look at, well, nothing. The school is halfway through the construction of the largest geothermal district heating and cooling system in the country. By the time it’s done, the system will heat and cool the entire campus, completely replacing the university’s ancient coal-fired boilers, and it will serve as one of the best testaments yet to the promise that larger communities – even whole towns and one day cities – could go geothermal in the future as well.
via A College Campus Offers a Glimpse of a Geothermal Future – Technology – The Atlantic Cities.
Over Half of Germany’s Renewable Energy Owned By Citizens & Farmers, Not Utility Companies : TreeHugger
8 JanGermany now produces slightly over 20% of all its electricity from renewable sources.
The thing that got me though, other than the huge lead in solar PV installations Germany has over the US … is what slightly over half of renewable energy being owned not by corporations but by actual biological people means—obviously a democratic shift in control of resources and a break from the way electricity and energy has been produced over the past century.
A good thing: Decentralized power generation, more relocalization and reregionalization of economic activity, the world getting smaller while more connected and therefore in a way bigger at the same time… taking a step backwards, and perhaps sideways, while moving forwards.
On Shale Gas, Warming and Whiplash – NYTimes.com
7 JanSetting aside the fights between environmentalists and industry, the picture emerging in the science is of an initial assertion in an area with inadequate data (largely because of the industry’s proprietary bent) that is — unsurprisingly — being challenged. I encourage you to look back at Gavin Schmidt’s “Fracking Methane” post from last year at Realclimate, which I feel nailed the nuances. I hope he will take a look at the new work, too.
Unfortunately, when research on tough questions sits under the microscope because of its relevancy to policy fights, the impact on the public can be a severe case of whiplash. Journalists and campaigners succumbing to “single-study syndrome” in search of a hot front-page headline or debating point threaten to alienate readers seeking some sense of reality.
One Bad Energy Subsidy Expires – NYTimes.com
7 JanThe corn ethanol subsidy is gone. Now cut the oil subsidies and put money into renewables:
Congress should now focus on the oil industry, which has long enjoyed a web of arcane and unnecessary tax breaks — deductions for well depletion and intangible drilling costs. They are unique to the industry and, when combined with other subsidies, cost roughly $4 billion a year.
President Obama has tried twice to kill these subsidies, without success. We hope he tries again in his coming Budget Message. The Congressional Research Service says that ending the subsidies would have no effect on gas prices for consumers and only a trivial effect on industry profits, which have been at record highs.
Solar PV: no longer “the energy of the future and always will be” — Crooked Timber
5 JanEconomist John Quiggin writew:
I have piece in the National Interest about developments in non-carbon based energy. It ran under the headline “The end of the nuclear renaissance”, but that’s only half the story and probably the less interesting half. The real news of 2011 was the continued massive drop in the price of solar PV, which renders obsolete any analysis based on data before about 2010. In particular, anyone who thinks nuclear is the most promising candidate to replace fossil fuels really needs to recalibrate their views. There’s a case to be made for nuclear as a backstop option, but it’s not nearly as strong as it was even two years ago.
via Solar PV: no longer “the energy of the future and always will be” — Crooked Timber.
Where the Real Jobs Are – NYTimes.com
2 JanThe Republicans believe they have President Obama in a box: either he approves a controversial Canadian oil pipeline or they accuse him of depriving the nation of jobs. Mr. Obama can and should push back hard.
This is precisely the moment for him to argue the case for alternative fuel sources and clean energy jobs — and to lambaste the Republicans for doubling down on conventional fuels while ceding a $5 trillion global clean technology market (and the jobs that go with it) to more aggressive competitors like China and Germany.
Biologists: Lone Gray Wolf Crosses Into California – From the Wires – Salon.com
30 DecSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A lone gray wolf has wandered across the Oregon border into California in what wildlife officials hailed Thursday as the historic return of a species not seen in the state in more than 80 years. …
The last confirmed wild gray wolf in California was killed in 1924 by a trapper protecting livestock. Conflict between wolves and ranchers across the West remains a key point of tension as reintroduction efforts in recent decades have led to the species’ spread.
via Biologists: Lone Gray Wolf Crosses Into California – From the Wires – Salon.com.
Report Condemns Japan’s Response to Nuclear Accident – NYTimes.com
26 DecFrom inspectors who abandoned the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as it succumbed to disaster to a delay in disclosing radiation leaks, Japan’s response to the nuclear accident caused by the March tsunami fell tragically short, a government-appointed investigative panel said on Monday….
The panel attacked the use of the term “soteigai,” which translates to “unforeseen,” by plant and government officials to describe the unprecedented scale of the disaster and to explain why they were unable to stop it. Running a nuclear power plant required officials to foresee the unforeseen, said the panel’s chairman, Yotaro Hatamura, a professor emeritus in engineering at the University of Tokyo.
“There was a lot of talk of soteigai, but that only bred perceptions among the public that officials were shirking their responsibilities,” Mr. Hatamura said.
via Report Condemns Japan’s Response to Nuclear Accident – NYTimes.com.
Truth and Traditions 