Stripmining a part of Black History
“I am ready to act, if I can find brave men to help me.” —Carter Woodson Portrait of Carter Woodson. By Jeff Biggers ECOWATCH As schools, communities and politicians across the country celebrate Black History Month in February, they will be remiss if their lessons don’t include the coal fields of Fayette County, West Virginia. … Read more
Texas Wind and Solar More Competitive Than Natural Gas
An interesting fact seemed to go unnoticed in all the press around the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’s (ERCOT) Long Term System Assessment, a biennial report submitted to the Texas Legislature on “the need for increased transmission and generation capacity throughout the state of Texas.” ERCOT found that if you use updated wind and solar … Read more
Another Blow to the Fracking Industry—Chesapeake Energy’s Aubrey McClendon Makes Worst CEO of 2012 List
According to Yahoo! Finance‘s The Daily Ticker, Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon places second on the “Worst CEO’s of 2012″ list. Chesapeake Energy is the second largest natural gas producer in the U.S. with drilling rights to some 15 million acres. “Aubrey McClendon is a classic entrepreneur who breaks all the rules,” says Sydney Finkelstein, … Read more
Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Reach New Record
World Meteorological Organization [Editor’s note: Maybe it’s just coincidence that on the same day this report came out, the World Resources Institute released a report finding there are 1,199 new coal power plants in the works, totaling more than 1.4 million megawatts of capacity worldwide. That’s four times the capacity of all the coal-fired power plants in … Read more
What Obama’s Re-Election Means for Coal, Climate Change and America’s Energy Future
By Mary Anne Hitt President Obama’s victory yesterday was a victory for clean energy, one that gives us a fighting chance to slash coal pollution and turn the corner on climate change, in the wake of a devastating hurricane that brought global warming into sharp, painful focus for millions of Americans. As the Sierra Club’s … Read more
MTV Breaks Obama’s Climate Silence
EcoWatch By Stefanie Spear Finally the climate silence is broken and it took MTV to do it. In an interview with MTV’s Sway Williams, President Barack Obama breaks the climate silence in his answer to a question about climate change. Obama says he’s “surprised it [climate change] didn’t come up in the debates.” Williams asks in … Read more
Coal Exports Booming at U.S. Taxpayers’ Expense
ThinkProgress by Stephen Lacey Here’s an energy-related foreign policy issue that isn’t getting any campaign attention: Coal exports are booming, fueling a surge in global warming pollution—and American taxpayers are picking up a good portion of the tab. The latest figures from the Energy Information Administration shows just how strongly coal exports have risen. Boosted … Read more
Last Chance to Break the Climate Silence at Tonight’s Presidential Debate
Media Matters for America By Shauna Theel Will CBS’ Bob Schieffer ask the presidential candidates about climate change in the final debate tonight? If not—and assuming neither President Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney raise the issue independently—it will be the first time in more than a decade that every presidential debate ignored the changes we are forcing on our atmosphere. … Read more
Big Coal Wins Latest Battle to Blast Historic Blair Mountain
Is nothing sacred to coal companies in Appalachia? In a jaw-dropping display of contempt and disregard for the communities and landscapes where they mine coal, three coal companies back in 2009 challenged the listing of West Virginia’s Blair Mountain on the National Register of Historic Places. The companies, including mining behemoths Alpha Natural Resources and … Read more
Pacific Islands States call for urgent action on climate change at UN General Debate
At the 67th General Assembly on the opening day of the annual General Debate at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York City, two small Pacific Island states at ground zero for the potentially catastrophic effects of climate change and the need for mitigation efforts called on the UN to ensure rapid attainment of … Read more
