Paul Krugman points us to this Bloomberg article that makes the case against the Bush administrations ethanol mandate fairly well. Some highlights: About 33 percent of U.S. corn will be used for fuel during the next decade, up from 11 percent in 2002 Farmers will have to increase planting of corn for ethanol by 43…
Category: Energy
The Myth of Biofuels
Two new studies clearly identify the major problem with biofuels, which is that they do more harm than good. Elizabeth Rosenthal wrote the following in an interesting – and long-overdue – article for the NY Times: Almost all biofuels used today cause more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels if the full emissions costs of…
Antarctic Glacier Melt
From the Washington Post: Climatic changes appear to be destabilizing vast ice sheets of western Antarctica that had previously seemed relatively protected from global warming, researchers reported yesterday, raising the prospect of faster sea-level rise than current estimates. … "Without doubt, Antarctica as a whole is now losing ice yearly, and each year it’s losing…
Texans Against Nukes
The Houston Chronicle says: Texas anti-nuclear activists are rallying their forces to challenge the so-called nuclear renaissance that could see the state become home to the country’s first new nuclear power plant project in nearly 30 years. … Austin-based officials with the Sierra Club, Public Citizen and the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development Coalition said…
Saudi, Forgotten Terrorism Sponsor
Printed in in big, bold letters, the Times Online’s headline reads: “Saudi Arabia is hub of world terror“. Perhaps that’s why King Abdullah recently received a less-than-warm greeting in when he arrived in Britain for a state visit, the first such in two decades. Evidently not all the English were happy to see him: Beyond…
The Ethanol Problem
David Broussard recently penned a piece describing the problem with the push to use ethanol as a “renewable energy source”, one that is supposed to ease our dependence on foreign – read “Islamic” – oil. As David says, the dream of replacing gasoline with corn alcohol simply is not going to happen: The US uses about 130…
Democrats Energy Boondoggle Done
Democrats have been rebuffed in their attempt to force V.P. Dick Cheny to reveal the details of meetings held with energy officials by a federal district court. Read the CNN.com story. In and of itself, this ruling is proper. National security is hardly at stake in the matter and Congress has no business meddling in…