While much of the muttering at COP 27 in Egypt has been about how to meet the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees C over pre-industrial levels, some leading climate scientists are already claiming the death of that goal. Writing in the opinion section of The Guardian, Bill McGuire of the University College… More Archive, Nov. 14: 1.5C: A Degree of Failure?
Geothermal electric generation, long an underperformer in global energy, could get a boost from new deep drilling technology, according to an article this week (Nov. 13) in the Wall Street Journal. Energy analysts have been talking about the promise of tapping the hot depths of the planet to make power. The key to maximizing hot… More Archive, Nov. 15: Hot Rocks
Are the civilian nuclear industries in the U.S. and Europe subsidizing Russia’s nuclear weapons program? In an opinion piece in The Hill this week (Nov. 13), a Washington nuclear nonproliferation expert argues that case. Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, writes, “As Washington and the commentariat wring their hands about Russian… More Archive: Nov. 16: Do U.S., EU Subsidize Russian Nuclear Weapons?
The latest dispute over leasing federal lands in Kansas, New Mexico, and Kansas for energy production is bubbling up, over plans by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to open two sales covering 209 parcels of federal land totaling 251,086 acres for the second quarter of 2023 for oil and gas exploration… More Archive, Nov. 19: Interior, Greens in Western Oil & Gas Leasing Dispute
The latest dispute over leasing federal lands in Kansas, New Mexico, and Kansas for energy production is bubbling up, over plans by the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to open two sales covering 209 parcels of federal land totaling 251,086 acres for the second quarter of 2023 for oil and gas exploration… More Archive, Nov. 18: Interior, Greens in Western Oil & Gas Leasing Dispute
The German government has lodged a complaint with the authoritarian government of Egypt over harassment of German activities at the COP 27 climate meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. Deutsche Welle (DW), the state-owned broadcaster, reported, “The German embassy in Cairo accused Egyptian security officials of monitoring and filming events at… More Archive, Nov. 18: Egypt Harassing German COP 27 Delegation?
The US Commerce Department last Friday (Dec. 2), in a preliminary decision, found that Chinese manufacturers are avoiding US tariffs on solar photovoltaic panels by shipping them through other Asian countries. The agency found that China was disguising the origin of the panels by marketing them as coming from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The… More Commerce: China Skirting US Tariffs on Solar Panels
This post originally appeared in November on Substack and is reprinted for archival purposes After more than a decade of regulatory huffing and puffing, the federal government has ordered a large coal-fired power plant to dispose of its coal ash in a lined pit or shut down. Last Friday (Nov. 18), the U.S. Environmental… More EPA Revives Coal Ash Disposal Regulation
Tough What’s tough? Life What’s Life? A magazine How much does it cost? It costs twenty cents I only have a nickel Tough… That once familiar little bit of comic doggerel, referring… More Carbon: How Much Does It Cost?
In a canyon, in a cavern, Prospecting for a find, A rock hunter, a real punter, Lithium is on his mind. Lithium (chemical symbol LI): Third element on the Periodic Table of the Elements, after Hydrogen (1) and Helium (2), and the first solid element, as well as the first of the alkali family of… More The Great Lithium Rush of 2023