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Topic : coal We say we’re green, but…July 20th, 2009 By Barbara Kessler This was a week of news that really illustrated the push and pull between green ideals and the realities of life here on Planet X. The Obama Administration put logging jobs ahead of forest preservation with its decision to allow a road into an undisturbed forest in the Tongass National Forest outside of Ketchikan, Alaska. The forest, a watershed and recreation area, had been left alone under a Clinton-era rule that protects “roadless” forests. Related Topics: · Alaska, BarbaraKesslerBlog, battlefield, coal, easy being green, forests, Ketchikan, logging, mountaintop mining, Orange County, Rainforest Action Network, roadless forest, sustainable wood, Tongass National Forest, US Forestry Service, Virginia, Wal-Mart, watershed Earth: The Sequel; Emissions Inventory: The PrequelMarch 13th, 2009 By Barbara Kessler I always thought that Earth the Sequel could have been better named. It’s a catchy title, but it sounds like it could be a post-doomsday piece when, in fact, it is the opposite. The book by Miriam Horn and Fred Krupp canvasses the new landscape of green energy companies and entrepreneurs, showing us glimmers of a future economy freed of dirty fuels. This past week, Discovery Channel brought us the video version of Earth the Sequel, which followed the road map of the book, but seemed even more uplifting. Maybe the infectious optimism of the green pioneers interviewed was more palpable on video, or maybe I just needed a mood-booster amid dour times. It was heartening to hear the developers of wind, solar, solar-thermal and wave-energy projects talking earnestly and hopefully about the immediate future. (Though parts of the documentary were filmed before the economic meltdown last September.) Related Topics: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, clean energy, coal, Fossil Fuels, Green Energy, Nuclear, oil, Solar Power, solar thermal, wave power, Wind Power Nevada Energy and the coal hard truthFebruary 10th, 2009 By Barbara Kessler NV Energy has postponed plans to build a coal-fired power plant in eastern Nevada due to “increasing environmental and economic uncertainties surrounding its development,” the company announced. Instead, the company will focus on construction of a 250-mile transmission line to link northern and southern Nevada in hopes of transporting energy from “renewable and other energy production facilities,” NV said in a statement. And it will ask the state regulatory agency to approve accelerated construction of the line. Related Topics: · coal, Nevada, Nevada Energy, Nevada Public Utilities Commission, renewables Coalfield’s native writes of industry’s disregard for environmentJanuary 19th, 2009A son of Appalachia and its coalfields, Arnold “Bud” Fultz has not forgotten his hometown of Wallins Creek, Kentucky. After 25 years as an airline exec with now-defunct Pan American World Airways, he felt compelled to speak out about what the coal industry was doing to the part of the country he calls home. In his book Fixing the Ungodly Mess: A Pathway to Change (AuthorHouse, 2008), Fultz takes aim at mountaintop removal mining, a technique of withdrawing coal from the mountains by removing up to 1,000 feet of a mountain’s summit. “My heart never left the area and I still had relatives there.. In July 1999, I was watching Nightline. The camera was panning over my old town. It was a piece about a seventh grade class that was taking on the coal industry. “ Related Topics: · Arnold Fultz, coal, Fixing the Ungodly Mess, mountaintop removal Fuel: in the future and on filmNovember 13th, 2008By John DeFore
The latest edition of an annual report by the International Energy Agency was released this week, and while the news may not be unexpected, it’s unsettling nonetheless. Related Topics: · Alternative fuels, coal, Fields of Fuel, Fuel, International Energy Agency, Josh Tickell, Movies, oil Green agitators agitateNovember 11th, 2008 By Barbara Kessler Don’t know if it’s the financial crisis, the change of seasons or just the usual grumpiness over the incessant despoiling of the mothership, but the green agitators seem especially edgy lately. Reuters reported Monday that Greenpeace had blockaded palm oil ships leaving an Indonesian port bound for China and Europe. Their point: harvesting palm oil in that region is destroying rainforests and wildlife and contributing to greenhouse gases (remember those warm climate forests are especially valuable carbon sinks). The activists were reportedly bobbing in rubber boats out in front of the palm oil ships and one Greenpeacer was seen jumping aboard the anchor of a ship, where he or she presumably clung for dear life. Related Topics: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, coal, Greenpeace, Kimberly-Clark, palm oil, recycled tissues Green vs. greenOctober 23rd, 2008Disturbing reports haunt the news lately, suggesting that the faltering U.S. economy could stall environmental progress or even force a digression on climate change programs. Two U.S. wind energy companies and several corn ethanol projects have been delayed for lack of financing, The New York Times reported this week in “Alternative Energy Suddenly Faces Headwinds“. A similarly upbeat piece “Environment will wither whoever wins US election” from The Times in London, notes that “environmental groups are already bracing themselves for delays or disappointment on action to tackle global warming”. The article postulates that post-election political leaders will face opposition to environmental programs from job-starved states in the Rust Belt reliant on coal and other heavy industry. American’s immediate need for cold green cash, it warns, could trump green growth. Related Topics: · BarbaraKesslerBlog, clean energy, coal, environment, Green jobs, green movement Wind over coal in PennsylvaniaOctober 17th, 2008Future energy literally rose above fossil fuel-generated power at a site in Pennsylvania where officials celebrated the opening this week of the Casselman Wind Power Project near Garrett, Pa., southeast of Pittsburgh. Eight of the 23 turbines sit atop the site of a former coal mine. “Pennsylvania is rapidly becoming a leader among states that are developing renewable and alternative energy sources and implementing advanced energy efficiency and conservation technologies,” said Governor Edward G. Rendell at the opening ceremony. Rendell noted that the project will help create jobs, reduce dependence on foreign oil and improve the environment. Related Topics: · coal, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, Iberdrola Renewables, Pennsylvania, Wind Power The carbon competition: US and China both take blackAugust 8th, 2008 By Barbara Kessler Related Topics: · Carbon, China, CO2, coal, Gas, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, oil, U.S. Eco-Jobs on the Rise Around WorldJuly 23rd, 2008By Nima Kapadia 1 million work in biofuels Related Topics: · coal, jobs, Renewable Energy, Worldwatch Institute |
