Senators David Vitter and James Inhofe requested this report from the GAO to find out how much money the EPA spends defending itself against lawsuits. The purpose, I’m sure, was to reinforce the rhetoric that “Big Green” wastes taxpayers money. Here’s the rub: The report shows that 30% of lawsuits came from environmental groups while [...]

It’s come to the attention of this reporter that the Rapture is, in fact, going to occur. Documents leaked earlier today describe how a bi-partisan team of Senators, dubbed the Gang of 14, working closely with President Obama have developed and set into motion a plan to save Humankind – FROM GOD! It seems a [...]

It seems to be a question that’s popping up a lot lately, and the simple answer is: they don’t know how to stop it. Of course they have the authority. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 gives Obama all the authority he needs to take over the spill if need be. But the government just [...]

Previous worst case scenarios estimated the spill to be pumping 2M gallons of oil a day into the gulf, but new numbers paint a much darker picture. Here’s how the two leaks shake out… Leak A: 70,000 barrels a day + Leak B: 25,000 barrels a day = 95,000 barrels a day One barrel of [...]

Ironically, the star of Waterworld (which I like…by the way) might be just the guy to help save the water in the Gulf of Mexico. Check out the nifty gadget he and his brother has been funding the development of (to the tune of $15M) for the past 15 years. Apparently, it can remove between [...]

A leaked document tells a sobering tale of 10x the amount we thought was escaping the ocean floor before… “The following is not public,” reads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Emergency Response document dated April 28. “Two additional release points were found today in the tangled riser. If the riser pipe deteriorates further, the [...]

Hey, if he’s right, shame on them. Well, more than shame on them. They should spend their lives in prison for all of the destruction they’ve caused. But for some reason…I don’t think folks who have spent their lives defending the environment would deliberately cause one of the worst environmental disasters in our lifetime just [...]

The equivalent of 5,000 barrels of oil are being dumped into the gulf…every…single…day. Folks, we’re looking at a disaster bigger than Exxon Valdez. It’s that serious. And that could have devastating effects on our economy. From Fox News: The shrimp season begins in early May, as the shrimp move from estuaries out to sea, Long [...]

Everyone has one. The one piece of technology that makes it official for you that you’re living in the future. Whether it’s a Roomba vacuum, Skype, the iPhone or something else – there’s something floating around in your mind that, when you see it in real life, you’ll know you’ve reached the future. For me [...]

TIMES crunches the numbers and comes up with some encouraging data… The initial data released by Department of Transportation, however, shows that so far cash for clunkers has been a green success. The clunkers averaged 15.8 m.p.g., compared with 25.4 m.p.g. for the new vehicles purchased, for an average fuel-economy increase of 61%. On the [...]

A new website for the controversial, popular program is up and it includes some things you need to know if you’d like to take advantage. Your vehicle must be less than 25 years old on the trade-in date Only purchase or lease of new vehicles qualify Generally, trade-in vehicles must get 18 or less MPG [...]

Thanks to Justin and company for welcoming me on here as a regular contributor. I will be posting on a number of issues, but one area you can expect that I will regularly be tracking is technology related developments and how they interact with the political world and policy. I also live less than ten [...]

Congressional Republicans have been telling voters that the cap and trade energy policy that’s set for a vote on Friday will cost each household about $3,100. CBO puts the lie to those numbers and shows that they’re nearly 20 times the actual costs…in 2020. From Reuters: WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Climate change legislation pending in Congress [...]

This is an extreme example, but I can’t help but think car companies can easily hit the 35 MPG mileage standards Obama is about to lay out if the following is possible for a street ready car. From Green Car: Volkswagen’s CEO, Martin Winterkorn recently confirmed the company is working on a car that will [...]

On my final day at the Offshore Technology Conference, I attended a panel on climate change. Now, you might expect an oil and gas industry convention would prefer not to discuss the effects of CO2 emissions. But the panel included three scientists who all gave mini-lectures intended to convince the audience that global warming is [...]

Today at the Offshore Technology Conference (which I am at on sponsorship by the American Petroleum Institute), I attended a panel discussion titled: The Case for Access to Oil and Gas Resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. As the title and graphic to my post probably reveal, the panel was less reasonable than the [...]

From today through mid-week, I’m in Houston attending the Offshore Technology Conference. I’m here on the sponsorship of the American Petroleum Institute which has brought in a cadre of bloggers, presumably to help generate coverage and discussion of petroleum issues. Since I believe energy and climate change policy will be some of the most important [...]

Take a look at the following at see how many of these you agree with. From ABC: Support for gay marriage, legalizing illegal immigrants and decriminalizing marijuana all are at new highs. Three-quarters of Americans favor federal regulation of greenhouse gases. Two-thirds support establishing relations with Cuba. But hold tight. If some views that may [...]