Whale juicer

It is an unseasonably warm day, in a small town just south of Portland. A grove of beachfront orange trees planted in 2010 fill the air with their fragrant bouquet. But today a new scent is on the wind: blubber. The first whale juicing plant on the West Coast has opened, capable of producing up to 100 barrels of oil a day.

Environment – Feb 18

James Lovelock’s gloomy vision /
The UK Independent on climate change /
Interview: Sir David King, Britain’s top scientist and climate crusader /
Dispatches from a NATO gathering on Middle Eastern water woes /
California governor to push global warming fight /
Waterworld: how life on Earth will look 1,000 years from now /
Mountaintop-removal mining is scarring Appalachia and its low-income communities

Peak oil – Feb 17

Byron King: Letters to the editor, peak oil / Lester Brown on wind power and Chinese consumption growth / Farm economist: Bad news on energy costs / OPEC Output Down 120,000 bpd in January / The Long Plateau of Peak Oil / Our Mr Sun (1956)

Environment – Feb 17

Energy execs talk climate change policy /
Profile: NASA climatologist James E. Hansen /
Hotter issue in red states: global warming /
Increased CO2 may cause plant life to raise rivers /
Study on Arctic climate change produces startling findings /
Greenland glaciers disappearing more quickly: study /
Hockey fans face off against global warming

Politics & economics – Feb 17

Syria switches to euro amid confrontation with US /
IEA calls for more investment in renewable energy /
U.S. concludes ‘Cyber Storm’ mock attacks /
A way to cut fuel consumption that everyone likes, except the politicians /
Ford Europe exec: climate change requires radical change of mindset

Solutions & sustainability – Feb 17

Kicking Our Fossil Fuel Addiction: one man’s efforts to live sustainably / Kinsale Action Plan – sending up shoots around the world… / Peak Oil Denial Comes in Many Forms… / Rain gardens ‘cut city pollution’ / Standby electronic chargers gobble power – some in industry seek to delay reform / Japanese Putting All Their Energy Into Saving Fuel

Other energy – Feb 16

Edison, BP plan $1 billion California hydrogen power plant /
China’s fast breeders /
Journalists: How energy-positive is ethanol, really? /
Zubrin: An energy revolution (alcohol) /
Hybrid perks may become problems /
Senators oppose Bush cuts to coal R&D /
Viridian linkfest

The silencing of science

Unfortunately for the authors of “Potential Environmental Impact of a Hydrogen Economy on the Stratosphere,” their research, while bold and innovative, didn’t exactly mesh with the hype about hydrogen. [The resulting government action] left some scientists feeling that they’d better stay away from “political” subjects if they want government grants.

Plug pulled on renewable energy gurus

31 workers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory were dismissed seven days after President Bush read the words “addicted to oil” off the teleprompter and announced yet another “Advanced Energy Initiative.”

Politics & economics – Feb 15

The corporate plunder of Iraq /
G-8 ministers warn of wider risks from tight oil supply /
Ethanol’s a big scam, and Bush has fallen for it /
U.S. royalty plan to give windfall to oil companies /
UAE keen to buy more natural gas from Qatar /
Threat of scarcity draws oil companies to Cuba