News from February 2009

Robert Bryce: ‘Galactically Stupid’ and Other Random (Tardy) Notes from CERAWeek

…Perhaps the most compelling lecture was delivered on February 11, by Juan Enriquez, an authority on genetic engineering. The founder of Synthetic Genomics and the author of As The Future Catches You, Enriquez gave his view on what he sees as the looming revolution in synthetic life forms that will have a big impact on [...]

Oilman touts alternative energy

Wind farms, natural gas part of Pickens Plan to make US energy self-sufficient Billionaire Oklahoma businessman T. Boone Pickens wants the United States to wean itself from foreign oil. The 80-year-old was in Helena Friday touting his Pickens Plan

Adapting to water woes

The southwestern United States is moving headlong toward an environmental catastrophe of apocalyptic proportions. The already drought-prone region is almost entirely dependent on a shrinking snowpack and sparse rain in the Colorado River Basin. As the planet

High Speed, High Cost, High Income Rail

…Long ago, I was a rare critic of DC’s Metro subway plans, not because I was against mass transit, but because it was a highly inefficient way of spending mass transit funds compared to light rail or exclusive bus lanes. At the time we could have had ten times as many miles of light rail [...]

Ethanol fuels said to violate Islamic law

A prominent Saudi scholar warned youths studying abroad of using ethanol or other fuel that contains alcohol in their cars since they could be committing a sin, local press reported Thursday. Sheikh Mohamed Al-Najimi, member of the Saudi Islamic Jurisprudence Academy, based his statement on a saying by the prophet that prohibited all kinds of [...]

Massive Climate Change Action in DC Scores Early Victory

In addressing our nation this week, President Barack Obama called on us to “confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more. This unprecedented act by our Congressional leadership marks a symbolic step toward a new era of clean energy. We still have a long way to go, of course. [...]

Mexico’s Oil Challenge Rises with New Output Drop

Doubts are growing that Mexico can halt a four-year decline in crude oil production after its January oil output slumped to a more than 13-year low, due to bureaucratic delays and technical challenges. Crude output in Mexico, a top U.S. supplier, dropped 9.2 percent year-on-year in January to 2.685 million barrels per day, its lowest [...]

BP

(Bloomberg) — BP Plc The country

Humans facing population cull if temps rise 4C in next 100 years

ONLY “10 per cent” of the human race will be left if global temperatures rise by a predicted 4 per cent in the next 100 years. ALLIGATORS basking off the English coast, the Sahara desert stretches into Europe and 10 per cent of humans are left. Science fiction? No, this is the doomsday prediction if [...]

Risks of Global Warming Rising: Is It Too Late to Reverse Course?

The negative impacts of climate change are beginning to appear–and we may soon cross a threshold of significant damage The risk of catastrophic climate change is getting worse, according to a new study from scientists involved with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Threats “Most people thought that the risks were going [...]