cooler heads blog feed

AGW's Next Target:

Paul Chesser — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:16:38 -0700

The topic of rising food (and feed for livestock) prices, partly as a result of ethanol subsidies (an incentive to burn our food), has been discussed much in this space. Well, now the effect has trickled down to our beloved pets.

Bearing Down on Energy Policy

wyeatman — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:39:19 -0700

“Between environmentalists and state planners and controllers, plus animosity toward the energy industry, keeping a lid on supply is the name of the game in energy these days. Pathetically, the Bush administration's polar bear release hailed the government's wind and solar energy strategy as the alternative.”

The Needs at Hand

wyeatman — Thu, 15 May 2008 07:34:00 -0700

Much of our dilapidated electricity infrastructure—power plants, transmission towers, transformers, utility poles, etc.—was built generations ago. Thanks to the stifling hand of government regulation, investment has lagged, and today the system is buckling under ever greater demand for juice. Capacity margins (the difference between how much electricity a utility can produce and how much it uses) historically has hovered around 20%, but now are as low as 3% in many parts of the country. According to a report by Nathanial Gronewold in yesterday’s Climate Wire, industry experts predict demand-driven blackouts as soon as this summer!

AP Endorses McCain’s Global Warming Speech

wyeatman — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:17:37 -0700

As today’s coverage of McCain’s cap-and-trade speech makes clear, one cannot underestimate the power of the press in sustaining the global-warming movement. The Republican candidate’s Oregon speech outlines the usual GW drivel, demanding, reports the Associated Press, that “the country return to 2005 emission levels by 2012; 1990 levels by 2020; and to a level 60 percent below that by 2050.”

Montana Lawmakers Don't Like Climate Commission's Ideas

Paul Chesser — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:24:59 -0700

Lawmakers in Montana have been reviewing the recommendations that came out of the state's Climate Change Advisory Committee -- nudged along by the Center for Climate Strategies -- and for the most part are taking a pass.

Constitution? Never Heard of It

wyeatman — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:07:36 -0700

It’s a good thing that, out of a sense of caution and zealous protection of the Constitution and Congress's prerogatives, there are all of those strict constructionists up on Capitol Hill introducing legislation setting forth the “wherefore” of the constitutional requirement and calling for a vote, to give the courts some guidance in the event one or more of these states’ citizens objects. Apparently holding up agreements with Indian tribes is one thing, but we're talking about the "imminent Danger" of a climate crisis here.

Iowa: It Means Only One Thing

Paul Chesser — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:58:26 -0700

Nice to see Ryan Radia's piece in the Des Moines Register today after yesterday's abominable piece reporting on what global climate change "means to Iowa."

America's Carbon Floor

wyeatman — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:23:39 -0700

With those numbers in mind, consider the study released this week by a team of MIT researchers that quantifies a “floor” below which the individual carbon footprint of a person in the U.S. will not drop, regardless of income. The "floor" below which nobody in the U.S. can reach, no matter a person's energy choices, turned out to be 8.5 tons. That was the emissions calculated for a homeless person who ate in soup kitchens and slept in homeless shelters.

The Not-So-Simple Path to Concentrated Solar Power

wyeatman — Fri, 09 May 2008 12:19:34 -0700

If this level of government support were given to horse-drawn carriages and wagons, the era of the automobile would soon be a brief interlude in the age of the horse.

Thieves Fall Out

wyeatman — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:25:27 -0700

That mean George Bush and those nasty filibustering Republicans are blocking a climate bailout. Or, maybe not so much. As my CEI colleague Myron Ebell characterizes this: thieves fall out when it comes time to split up the loot.