As our nation prepares to vote in the 2014 midterm elections, it’s important we identify which issues are most important to us and whether our candidate(s) of choice represent us well. Is energy policy an issue that resonates with you? Do you know where your candidates stand as you cast your ballot on November 4?… Keep reading →
As the dust settles from the weeklong for the Chinese New Year, complete with fireworks, here are some of the top environmental issues to watch in the Year of the Horse. Provincial leadership Local governments combating rising rates of pollution and a dissatisfied populace are not waiting for Beijing to take action. Provinces are limiting… Keep reading →
Wednesday, 21 leading scientists, engineers and technical experts submitted a letter* to Governor Jerry Brown endorsing the benefits of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in California. The AP reported: The letter…comes after California adopted regulations requiring oil companies to test groundwater and disclose chemicals used in fracking. The group said the strict new rules, which become permanent in… Keep reading →
We are at a transformational moment in energy history. Just a few years ago, all energy projections forecast increased imports, increased scarcity, and increased natural gas prices. Today, we’ve shifted from scarcity to abundance. U.S. oil production has increased by 2.5 million barrels per day (B/D) since 2010. This year, the United States overtook Saudi… Keep reading →
The New York Times came under fire from many directions for scaling back its environmental coverage earlier this year. The bastion of journalistic integrity did away with its Green Blog – which apparently paid approximately $40,000 annually in freelance expenses – and broke up its environmental reporting team. Climate change coverage in particular has suffered,… Keep reading →
The debate about using ethanol and advanced biofuels to further US environmental goals recently reached a crescendo when the AP released a deeply-researched investigative report into the biofuel industry’s green credentials. The report came out right before the EPA announced its proposed 2014 biofuel blending requirements, a highly controversial issue unto itself. The degree to… Keep reading →
The race is on across the U.S. as states compete to lead in the green energy industry. Solar panels, wind turbines and geothermal energy facilities have popped up all over the nation. But not every state has been successful. Maine, for example, appears to be moving in the wrong direction. As of late, the state… Keep reading →
TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline could provide Canada with an outlet for Alberta’s oil sands that sidesteps political opposition obstructing competing projects heading south and west. But with the shift in oil demand growth from the Atlantic Basin to the Pacific, moving oil east may be a second-best solution. TransCanada’s Keystone XL and Enbridge’s Northern… Keep reading →
Natural gas’s environmental impact can be viewed in a positive light as a lower-emitting power generation source than coal or petroleum derivatives, or in a negative light as a source of methane emissions and driver of drilling activity. The University of Texas at Austin, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund and nine natural gas… Keep reading →
Today, the future of America’s energy policy seems to have been put on the back burner. Yet energy issues are directly tied to the economic future and security of the U.S., and it is important that the American people fully understand the impacts and costs associated with implementing sound energy policy. Among the challenges in… Keep reading →
