Environment and Energy
How Regulation Can Be Good For Innovation
Steven Pearlstein has a good column in The Washington Post today about how smart government regulation can actually foster technological innovation. It's a useful counterpoint to conservative claims that a cap on carbon emissions will crush the economy and shunt us back to the Dark Ages: READ MORE >>
Nuclear Power Pros And Cons
Over at Slate, Nina Shen Rastogi has a nice primer on the pros and cons of nuclear energy. The pros are pretty obvious—nuclear is a low-carbon energy source that, unlike wind or solar, can run all the time without the need to worry about storage. But there are downsides, too. Like cost: READ MORE >>
BP Stops Leak, But The Gulf Crisis Isn't Over
This is welcome news if it holds up: "BP says oil has stopped leaking into the Gulf for the first time since April. BP has been slowly dialing down the flow as part of a test on a new cap. Engineers are now monitoring the pressure to see if the busted well holds." Here's hoping it does. READ MORE >>
Why Electric Cars Aren't Catching On--Yet
The Wall Street Journal has a great piece today on some of the obstacles preventing electric cars from catching on in the United States. Most of the looming uncertainties are things we've covered before, like that pesky chicken-or-egg problem of how to build a critical mass of charging stations to make electric cars viable for drivers. READ MORE >>
Eat A Kangaroo, Save The Planet
Here's one idea for reducing methane emissions down in Australia—get people to eat kangaroos instead of cows: READ MORE >>
Is The Drilling Moratorium A Bad Idea?
Was BP Uniquely Reckless?
Last month, Henry Waxman and Ed Markey summoned the chairmen of the world's five big oil companies to testify before Congress. The execs from Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and Chevron spent much of their time trying to distance themselves from BP. We wouldn't have poisoned the Gulf the way BP did, they insisted. Unfortunately for them, Waxman and Markey weren't buying it, and noted that all the other oil companies had the exact same error-filled spill-response plans that BP did. READ MORE >>
