News from July 2008

5 states threaten to sue EPA to get carbon curbs

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Five states led by California on Thursday gave notice of their intent to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if it does not act soon to reduce carbon emissions from ships, aircraft and off-road vehicles. In a letter prepared by California Attorney General Jerry Brown, the five states and New York City [...]

Community colleges tap into wind energy boom

Turbine technicians groomed, industry often grabs them before graduation BISMARCK, N.D. – With wind turbine towers popping up on the U.S. landscape at a rate of almost 10 per day, the need for people to maintain and repair them is reaching the critical point. Community colleges in North Dakota and other states are jumping at [...]

MIT develops way to bank solar energy at home

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (Reuters) – A U.S. scientist has developed a new way of powering fuel cells that could make it practical for home owners to store solar energy and produce electricity to run lights and appliances at night. A new catalyst produces the oxygen and hydrogen that fuel cells use to generate electricity, while using [...]

Green revolution emerges in smokestack China

LONDON (Reuters) – China, pilloried as the world’s biggest polluter, has quietly taken a lead in moving to a low carbon economy, an independent climate advisory group said on Friday. Although it is building one coal-fired power station a week and its carbon dioxide emissions have surged since 2002, from seven percent of the global [...]

The Peak Oil Crisis: Smart Meters

It’s going to be an electric world. For those of you who have been following the peak oil story, it is becoming increasingly clear that liquid fuels for the average person’s transportation has a very short half-life. It won’t be long before we figure out that natural gas is too valuable for making stuff to [...]

Australia: Tipping into recession

CONSUMER spending and bank lending have slumped to recession levels, putting pressure on the Reserve Bank to start cutting interest rates before it has inflation under control. Retailers suffered their worst month in seven years in June as the money through the till dropped by 1 per cent under the weight of rising mortgage costs [...]

Peak Oil Theory: Has Peak Oil Peaked?

Whether the excitement over peak oil has peaked, with Matthew Simmons, Simmons & Co. International; David Kirsch, PFC Energy; Paul Kedrosky, Ten Asset management and NBC’s Janet Shamlian. Simmons argues that the Saudi production numbers cannot be trusted. CNBC (video)

Spain to cut speed limit in bid to reduce oil imports

Spain has launched an ambitious plan to reduce energy consumption and save millions of euros on oil imports by cutting the speed limit to 50mph and handing out millions of low-energy use light bulbs. With the introduction of a broad swathe of measures between now and 2014, Spain’s socialist government hopes to reduce Spain’s oil [...]

Travelers get angry over cost of fueling up

Recent ● A Bay Area woman set fires in restrooms of two different gas stations (and a Starbucks). When arrested she told police that she

US Interior Secretary: New Oil Lease Plan May Include Closed Areas

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior Wednesday ordered the agency to start preparing a new five-year oil and natural gas lease sale program that will include areas currently under a congressional moratorium. The announcement will likely ratchet up the pressure on Democrats in Congress who have been under an concerted attack by Republicans to lift [...]