The once dominant U.S. coal industry appears to be in the end-of-life stage. But digging up the dusky diamonds* is still significant in the U.S. Coal’s problem is a vanishing electric generation market. According to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration, “The amount of coal received by power plants in the United States has … More An Unpleasant Coal Retirement

The much-hyped impending resurrection of nuclear power, driven by concerns about a warming climate, often seems to be repeating the past, but with a refrain of “smaller is better.” The latest downsized reprise from the early nuclear repertoire is floating nukes. In the U.S. in the 1970s, New Jersey utility Public Service Electric and Gas, … More Floating Nuclear: Blips, Not Blasts, From the Past

By Henry Sokolski Senate Intelligence Committee chairman Mark Warner recently described how over-classification of national security-related information is a key and neglected factor behind the latest, disturbing intelligence leak. “We need frankly a system that limits classification to really important documents and then have a process to declassify when appropriate.” His argument: fewer secrets shared with fewer … More Guest Commentary: Protect Secrets? Have Fewer