Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Energy and Climate Legislation in the Senate: Hope Moving Forward

The energy and climate baton has been held by the Senate since last June, after the House passed their bill (H.R. 2454). Over the past several months, this baton has been carried by three senators: Lieberman – an Independent from Connecticut Kerry – a Democrat from Massachusetts (also the home state of Representative Markey, a […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Texas Can Lead the World in Clean Energy and Policy – Come and Take It!

You’ve got to hand it to Rick Perry – this guy knows how to stay in the spotlight and keep his name in the papers. Gov. Perry has that unique ability to tap into the next big wave – that elusive undercurrent of public sentiment – that keeps him front and center in the public’s […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Capture That Carbon and Put It Back from Whence It Came!

Carbon capture and sequestration technology is absolutely necessary to stave off the worst effects of climate change because it’s the only way to use fossil fuels for power generation without emitting colossal quantities of carbon dioxide into the air.  Moreover, CCS technology is ready for large-scale demonstration today; implementing government incentives for CCS will help […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Thirsty Texas

Mark Twain allegedly once said, “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” While Mark Twain was a Missourian, his words also ring true for Texans. And boy, do we fight over water. Water makes frequent appearances in Texas Supreme Court trials about rights to pump groundwater and flooding due to construction and the […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Five More Reasons to Lay Off the Seafood

Last week, we covered the first five reasons to lay off the seafood: 1) Predator loss disrupts the food web, 2) current fishing practices reduce biodiversity, 3) industrial fishing is cruel, 4) seafood has a high carbon footprint and 5) seafood contains toxins. These reasons focused on the environmental impacts of conventional seafood harvests. This […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Trash or Treasure?

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or so the saying goes. Waste-to-Energy technology takes many people’s trash and makes it into usable energy, at the same time reducing landfill carbon footprints. As the United States pursues carbon legislation and alternative energy sources, what role will trash have? Waste-to-Energy is a technology that burns municipal […]

Categories
Energy & Environmental Policy

Obstacles to Amazonian Conservation in Ecuador

The most biologically diverse place on earth is a portion of the Amazon rainforest known as Yasuni. Environmentalists have targeted the region for an innovative and internationally recognized conservation project, and the populist President Rafael Correa seems to be on board. However, Correa has many obligations to social movements and businesse alike under Ecuador’s constitutional […]