Energy Policy // Current TV

British climate protesters recreate 1908 suffragette "rush" on Parliament

Six people were arrested after an attempt to recreate the suffragettes'... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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9 comments

John McCain: The Nuclear Option

Building 45 new nuclear plants in this country is insanity and will doom the waterways of this country and put our national security at risk. For a candidate who also talks about fighting the 'war on terror' as well, how could this thought even be entertained in the world we live in? Nuclear energy is not safe, it is not CO2 free, and I am truly getting tired of John McCain talking about what he really knows nothing about. He was on a nuclear submarine that didn't get blown up so that is how he assessed nuclear power is safe? Does he even understand the process of how the uranium is extracted and the toxic pollution it causes to our waterways and land? Does he understand how the toxic waste causes cancer? Does he understand the radioactivity of the waste? The immense amount of water nuclear uses? (Not good in a country now experiencing droughts, especially in the US Southwest) The cost in dollars and in potential lives?

My one message to him and yes, Obama as well who has now flip flopped to say he too engages nuclear is: STOP LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. The strides being made in solar, wind, and geothermal are here and now. We could take the money their congressional subsidies give out for their nuclear pipedreams and repower this country! I will make a pledge that should John McCain be corronated I will call the White House every day regarding this issue and 'clean coal.' And I will do the same if it is Obama.

It is unconscienable to me that they could ever want to foist this antiquated unsafe energy source on us just to appease backers and the lobbyists who get the subisidies from Washington Dc. The nuclear option must be out of the question. It is antiquated. It is unsafe. It is toxic. It wastes water. It is expensive. It puts our national security at risk, and will take too much time in light of the reports coming from peer reviewed scientists regarding the current state of our world. Why don't these candidates ever pick up a report instead of a poll to craft their policies? Building 45 new nuclear plants in this country is insanity and will doom the waterways... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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70 comments

Tell Obama and McCain we need clean energy not 'clean coal'

You can send a message direct to the campaigns by signing at this site. Tell both... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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17 comments

Obama faces coal conundrum

As an environmentalist this is the one reason why Obama (and McCain to clarify) will not get my vote, because neither of them have gained my trust on this. I was looking this time for someone who would truly lead on the environment to bring the country to a higher consciousness to see that solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels (not ethanol) were what this country must have now to lead us into the 21st Century not only to save our planet but ourselves. It is an understatement to say that I am disappointed that there is not one candidate who is on that higher level of consciousness about this important crisis.

There is no change and there will not be significant progress regarding the climate crisis and political will if Obama (and yes, others as well) still plays to the coal industry while touting an environmental plan. As the article states, there is no such thing as clean coal... and it isn't only about that. It is about the cancer, and the mercury, and the asthma, and the lung diseases, and the toxicity, and the pollution... and the mountaintop removal that is destroying the beauty of this country. Yet, we didn't hear any of them talking about this in any campaign speech or in any debate.

Nothing about the devastation done to Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and other states in blowing up the mountains that will continue to be blown up regardless of how the coal is burned. This is why I concentrate on Obama. I know McCain is not going to care... I was hoping Obama would, but have seen more and more that he does not and I will not give him a free ride on it. I expect better and I expect truth from those who claim to want 'change' because real change means telling the people the truth. Yet he continues to lie every single time he discusses clean coal technology when he doesn't tell people the truth about the availability or feasability of it.

Some say this isn't enough to change their vote... all well and good. It is for me, because the longer candidates think they can still get votes no matter how much they fail us they won't ever try to keep their promises and earn them. I have had enough of politicians who claim to want to do the right thing but then turn around and do exactly what everyone else does or as the money dictates. And pushing 'clean coal' out of political expedience at a time when our Earth's delicate climate balance is on the brink of tipping instead of taking a true and bold moral stand is not the right thing to do now. As an environmentalist this is the one reason why Obama (and McCain to clarify) will... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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34 comments

Highwood coal fired plant to be built on national landmark

The Highwood Generating Station is a 250 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant to be... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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6 comments

Dreaming of a climate bailout

Governments around the world continue to pump billions of dollars into financial markets, but there is still no telling whether the "injections of liquidity" will be enough to prevent "this sucker" -- to quote the President of the United States -- from going down.

Could 700 billion greenbacks be put to better use and kickstart a green revolution?

To many people one of the more fascinating aspects of the unfolding spectacle has been the bewildering amounts of money made available by governments to avert financial catastrophe. And no one knows yet whether it will all be worth it.

The same could be said of climate change. No one really knows how bad it will get, but as the Stern Report concluded in 2006 doing nothing about it now is going to massively increase the costs of mitigation further down the line.

But the amounts being talked about and spent on climate initiatives by governments is dwarfed by the bailout package.

Take, for example, a statement issued by the World Bank at the end of September which revealed that 10 leading industrialized nations -- including the United States, Japan and the UK -- have pledged a total of $6.1 billion to help "Climate Investment Funds". That's around $675 million per nation.

This sense of skewed priorities was recently put into perspective by rock star Bono. Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, the U2 front man made a damning comparison. "It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G-8 can't find $25 billion dollars to save 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases," he said.

So what would happen if governments ignored the un-capitalist cries for mercy spilling out from Wall Street and put the money towards climate change instead? What would $700 billion buy?

Let us start at the margins of common sense. You could buy 100 billion energy saving light bulbs. At the other end of the scale, $700 billion would contribute a third of the cost towards a geo-engineering project which imagines deflecting the sun's rays away from earth. Astronomer Roger Angel believes that the bill for his idea of a vast array of space mirrors would be around $2 trillion.

A slightly more plausible idea might be to oversee a comprehensive insulation program for 700 million homes or perhaps fund domestic solar panels. A $10,000 photovoltaic solar array could be installed atop 70 million homes.

Much of the responsibility for our future energy needs rests on the fortunes of large-scale renewable solar and wind projects. Why not roll out a comprehensive program now? For example, the 40 megawatt Waldpolenz Solar Park in Bolanden, Germany is due to be switched on in 2009 at a cost of $180 million. The Wall Street bailout would pay for nearly 3,900 such solar farms.

more at the link
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What could 700 Billion dollars buy in the way of saving our climate? What would you spend it on to save this planet and our species? And why do people keep "electing" those whose priorities are obviously so totally misplaced?Governments around the world continue to pump billions of dollars into financial... more

JanforGore
added this
3 years ago
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16 comments

Judge orders more searches for Abramoff visits

A federal judge has rejected the Bush administration's attempt to shield records... more

thornyisu
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3 years ago
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0 comments

'Clean coal' policies absent, Government Accounting Office finds

Federal policy-makers have taken few of the steps necessary if greenhouse emissions from coal-fired power plants are to be captured and stored underground, according to a new government report.

Coal industry backers are banking that "carbon capture and storage" will allow the industry to survive efforts to control global climate change.

But the U.S. Government Accountability Project report, released this week, adds to growing concerns that the technology isn't ready now - and might not be for a long time.

GAO investigators cited underdeveloped and costly emissions-capture technology and legal uncertainties about the permitting and liability for carbon dioxide that would be stored underground. National studies, industry leaders and top scientists have all pointed to key problems with CCS becoming a reality, the GAO noted.

"Federal agencies have begun to address some CCS barriers but have yet to comprehensively address the full range of issues that would require resolution for commercial-scale CCS deployment," the GAO said in a 69-page study made public Tuesday.

GAO officials also concluded that widespread deployment of CCS is unlikely to happen unless Congress passes binding limits on carbon dioxide emissions.

"The absence of a national strategy to control CO2 emissions not only leaves the regulated community with little incentive to reduce their emissions, it also leaves regulators with little reason to devise the practical arrangements necessary to implement the reductions," the GAO report said.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about finding a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, while dealing with increasing worldwide demand for energy. Despite this concern, atmospheric concentrations carbon dioxide and emissions of the heat-trapping gas continue to increase.

Last week, international researchers reported that carbon dioxide emissions increased by 3 percent between 2006 and 2007. Greenhouse emissions have grown four times faster since 2000 than during the previous decade, according to a report from scientists with the Global Carbon Project.

Scientists believe that the greenhouse effect has already increased global temperatures by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since the start of the 20th century. Temperatures are expected to rise another 2 degrees, and perhaps as much as 11 degrees, over the next 100 years.

This warming will cause significant changes in sea level, ecosystems, and ice cover, among other impacts, the GAO noted in its new report.

more at the link
Federal policy-makers have taken few of the steps necessary if greenhouse emissions... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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10 comments

PV and thermal- a new approach to solar energy

One of the limitations of solar photovoltaic systems is that, at the current state of the technology, no more than a quarter of the energy from the sun is converted to electric current. Most of the rest of the energy is lost as waste heat.

But Vinod Khosla, the founder of Sun Microsystems and now a technology entrepreneur and alternative-energy venture capitalist, says he’s found a solution that doubles or even triples the energy yield — a gargantuan leap in a field where engineers exult over the most incremental gains.

Mr. Khosla is funding a company called PVT Solar, of Berkeley, Calif., where engineers two years ago began trying to harness that wasted heat. In a sense, it was already being collected, either in the solar modules themselves, or underneath. (Solar arrays are often installed at an angle, to face the sun, thus creating a wedge-shaped space below for heat to collect.)

PVT’s founders decided the heat could be harnessed and pumped into the home for climate control, water heating and other uses. It is a sort of combined cycle for solar — a marriage of solar photovoltaic technology and solar thermal systems, which gather the sun’s energy in the form of heat.

Vinod Khosla, the former tech mogul and now energy venture capitalist, sees potential in PVT Solar. (Photo: Bloomberg)The company is currently testing electronic controllers that play traffic cop for the collected heat, pumping it automatically, using a small fan, to the basement hot-water heater, for example, or to individual rooms, or even to the swimming pool, as needs arise. If the heat is not needed in the building, the fan vents it to the outside.

Because solar panels perform better at cooler temperatures, removing heat from around the panels also has the effect of increasing their production on hot days — adding to the overall efficiency gains for the system.

And given that the system requires little or no additional infrastructure, it can be deployed with only a small amount of added cost.
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If taxpayers are to look now to support anything, shouldn't it be renewable energy that will pay them back in years to come with a sustainable planet for their children and granchildren with cheaper energy prices, more and better jobs, and cleaner safer choices? Joining phototvoltaics to thermal solar is a great way to do just that. So while we are getting all wrapped up in the 'financial crisis,' realize the other crisis this planet now faces that is even more urgent that is related to our economy and the ways in which we can make positive changes.

The solution comes up every morning.One of the limitations of solar photovoltaic systems is that, at the current state of... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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10 comments

Green Air » Blog Archive » Senate Prepares to Vote on Wind Energy Tax Credit Extention

They giveth and they taketh away. Tax credits for renewable energy given to... more

mgreener
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3 years ago
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3 comments

Obama Vs. McCain: Is Clean Coal or Offshore Drilling Worse for the Environment?

Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain have been duking it out over energy... more

love_is_my_religion
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3 years ago
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5 comments

New rays of hope for solar power's future

From five miles away, the Nevada Solar One power plant seems a mirage, a silver lake amid waves of 110 degree F. desert heat. Driving nearer, the rippling image morphs into a sea of mirrors angled to the sun.

As the first commercial “concentrating solar power” or CSP plant built in 17 years, Nevada Solar One marks the reemergence and updating of a decades-old technology that could play a large new role in US power production, many observers say.

“Concentrating solar is pretty hot right now,” says Mark Mehos, program manager for CSP at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Co. “Costs look pretty good compared to natural gas [power]. Public policy, climate concern, and new technology are driving it, too.”

Spread in military rows across 300 acres of sun-baked earth, Nevada Solar One’s trough-shaped parabolic mirrors are the core of this CSP plant – also called a “solar thermal” plant. The mirrors focus sunlight onto receiver tubes, heating a fluid that, at 735 degrees F., flows through a heat exchanger to a steam generator that supplies 64 megawatts of electricity to 14,000 Las Vegas homes.

Today the United States has 420 megawatts of solar-thermal capacity across three installations – including Nevada Solar One. That’s just a tiny fraction (less than 1 percent) of US grid capacity. But Nevada Solar One could signal the start of a CSP building boom.

Efforts to generate another 4,500 megawatts of solar thermal power are now in development across California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico – all of which have the flat, near-cloudless skies most desirable for solar thermal, the Solar Electric Industries Association reports.

Photovoltaic panels that produce electricity directly from the sun’s rays work well on rooftops, but are still too costly for utility-scale power generation. Solar thermal, however, is nearing the cost of a natural gas-fired turbine power plant – making it a winner with several power companies that have signed long-term contracts to purchase solar-thermal power.
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We all need to demand this now, and we need to tell Congress, especially Senate Republicans who vote down tax incentives for renewable energy that they can no longer get away with continuing to put us at risk for their own profit. Republicans in this country, do you not see what those who claim to support you are doing to the future of your children? This should not be a Democratic or Republican issue, this is a human issue and right now we need new, clean, efficient, safer sources of energy not only to wean us off ALL oil, but to provide a better planet for our children, create jobs, and bring peace. Solar power is our future, and it is wonderful to see these strides taking place now.

The solution comes up every morning.From five miles away, the Nevada Solar One power plant seems a mirage, a silver lake... more

JanforGore
added this
3 years ago
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26 comments

Gore's Plan Gets Another Push During Olympics

Al Gore came to Washington in July to issue a challenge to the country: create a new energy economy that will generate 100 percent of America's electricity from clean sources within 10 years. Now the former vice president’s advocacy group, the Alliance for Climate Protection, has launched a new TV ad to spread the message to Olympics viewers.

The group debuted "Switch" (subscription) on NBC during Monday's coverage of the Games; the spot will continue to air on NBC and USA Network through next week.

As in the group's first TV ad, actor William H. Macy narrates and soothing music creates an upbeat tone to promote the group's message: "Together we can solve the climate crisis." Americans from different walks of life are shown coming together to help each other turn on giant light switches -- one in the desert, one in a field, one at a factory and one in the middle of a city.

Macy lays out some of the vast challenges facing the country: "a weaker economy, soaring gas prices, growing dependence on foreign oil and a worsening climate crisis." But, he says, "there’s a bold new solution for all of these challenges." He presents Gore's plan to create clean electricity as a way to combat both economic and national security threats. "All we need is your help," he says, encouraging viewers to "join the more than one million people who are already demanding we switch on a brighter future."

“The Olympics are a time for all Americans to reflect on our nation’s achievements and what we as a people can do together," Alliance for Climate Protection CEO Cathy Zoi said in a press release announcing the ad. "Choosing the right path and re-powering our nation is something we can do, and something that will benefit us all.”

For all the money the group is pouring into its public outreach effort, however, recent polling data suggests that Americans' attention is not squarely focused on climate change issues. With the election and economic problems occupying the media spotlight, the number of Americans who say they consider global warming an important issue to them personally has fallen 5 percentage points since 2007 to 47 percent.
Al Gore came to Washington in July to issue a challenge to the country: create a new... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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1 comment

Two new nuclear accidents in France in the same week.

Areva-owned nuclear facilities in France leaking. Check out "This Week's... more

futuregen
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3 years ago
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0 comments

Al Gore's Ten Year Energy Challenge

A momentous challenge calling upon us to have the same spirit that birthed this nation and make no mistake about it, this is just as much an issue of Democracy as it is an economic, environmental, or national security issue. However, as usual, all we see on blogs and in the media by the usuals is bickering about whether climate change is "natural" or not when we already know that most of the effects on our planet we are seeing are a result of human behavior.That has been debated ad nauseum, and is why this country will wind up at the back of the pack when other countries pass us up regarding coming into the 21st Century. We are stuck in first gear still while the rest of the world is in drive.

We have been getting our oil from the Middle East and now will we get our solar panels from there too because we in this country are so myopic and politically polarized to the point that we cannot even concede one damn point? The alternate energy market is just waiting for a boom in this country. Employment in this country would soar and with investment, we would get the economic shot in the arm we need to avoid economic collapse while saving ourselves. Many say (even people in his own party) that Mr. Gore made this proposal at the wrong time with gas prices being so high... to that I say, WHAT?

This was the absolute right time to come out and tell people the truth that they are being lied to and duped by big oil and coal. This was exactly the right time to come out and tell people that they have a CHOICE and that they have the power in this next decade to put those choices into motion. That they have other options for energy that can be cheaper than what they are using now. Of course the oil and coal companies and special interests and their minions are not too happy about that, but I say, screw them. They have done more harm to this planet and economy with their pollution and wars than any alternate energy being instituted could do. It is time for them to see that their way is not the best way for the continued sustainability of this planet and work to make amends for what they have done.

The Earth as it stands now is going through changes in climate that are too exacerbated to just be natural and the cost of ignoring it far exceeds the cost of implementing changes to avoid it. What price do you put on a human life? That has been confirmed by the IPCC, NASA, the National Academy of Sciences, The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, and thousands of other studies and scientists' reports from around the globe. It is a known fact also that for YEARS scientists in possession of these facts have been gagged by our government to keep quiet about it, because the very thing Mr. Gore stated must be done is something they don't want to do because they believe it will ground their gravy train.

More at the link.A momentous challenge calling upon us to have the same spirit that birthed this nation... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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38 comments

Gore calls for carbon-free electric power

Former Vice President Al Gore said on Thursday that Americans must abandon electricity... more

Vierotchka
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3 years ago
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6 comments

Al Gore to Lay Out Unprecedented Challenge on Energy and Climate

Former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore will outline his bold... more

JanforGore
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3 years ago
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41 comments

In Memory Of George Carlin

7 Things you can't say in '08 (from the Nader Team).

futuregen
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3 years ago
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0 comments

Oil companies not drilling on leased fields

While the debate about whether ending the federal ban on offshore oil drilling rages... more

mdelmuro
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3 years ago
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2 comments

Energy Policy: It's the Trust Stupid

People used to wonder where the tipping point was for gasoline. Four bucks is the... more

omnipotentpoobah
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3 years ago
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2 comments

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