I share many of Green Party Presidential Nominee Jill Stein's values. On climate and energy, I absolutely agree that our world is in crisis and that we need some form of a "Green New Deal," though whether that would be her plan, or some other approach, is, for me, still a point of debate. On her view that an energy transition would have multiple cost-saving and health … [Read more...]
I’m better off, but…
The US presidential election has taken a predictable turn with the rhetoric du jour that asks, “Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The implication being that, in the Great Recession, you can’t possibly be better off than you were in the good ol' days of Dubya Bush & Company. With that inevitable conclusion the suggestion is that what’s needed is regime … [Read more...]
Fukushima spews, Los Alamos burns, Vermont rages and we’ve almost lost Nebraska
Humankind is now threatened by the simultaneous implosion, explosion, incineration, courtroom contempt and drowning of its most lethal industry. The nuclear one. We know only two things for certain: worse nuclear disasters are yet to come, and those in charge are lying about it---at least to the extent of sharing what they actually know, which is nowhere near enough. … [Read more...]
Transition Voice to become industry mouthpiece
In a move that stunned media and energy industry observers, Transtion Voice, the upstart Web rag that emerged last year to cover peak oil, climate change and the Transition movement, announced today that it would shift its focus to cheerleading for Big Oil, Big Coal, and Big Nuclear instead. "There's not a lot of money to be made in telling the story of energy decline, … [Read more...]
What next for nuclear power?
‘Too cheap to meter," they said it would be, back when nuclear energy was young. Half a century later that promise looks as viable as holidays on the moon. Yet nuclear power has been re-positioning itself lately. Okay, it turns out it’s never going to be free – but it is far less carbon-intensive than fossil fuels. But not entirely. Even though the nuclear industry … [Read more...]