Clearing the Air

Clearing the Air

Here’s some good news: the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a new rule that would make coal-fired power plant operators clean up their act. It would block up to 123 billion pounds of carbon pollution annually from entering our skies by limiting...
Energy: Too Important to Leave to Corporations

Energy: Too Important to Leave to Corporations

Coal and oil, Nukes and gas; All make bucks For the upper class. In some nations, electricity is actually generated and distributed by the government itself. In some countries, oil and gas production benefits everyone, not just CEOs. In my own city, we have two small...
Dim Bulbs in Congress

Dim Bulbs in Congress

Our problem in Washington is this: we have too many 5-watt bulbs sitting in 100-watt sockets. Any doubt about this was erased in July when House tea partiers joined old-school right-wing ranters to pass a light bulb bill. This was the culmination of a loopy crusade by...
Power Plays

Power Plays

Flip on that switch, Who cares the source; We’ll get gouged For it, of course. Energy production is too vital to be left to private industry’s tender mercies. Therefore, sensible nations run that sector of the economy themselves. Unfortunately, there...
Money for Nothing

Money for Nothing

When Enron collapsed, electricity markets were prone to gaming and corruption. And, it turns out, they still are. Shrewd energy traders are still at it, discovering and exploiting flaws and loopholes, often at the general public’s expense. In deregulated...