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Sticky or Non-Stick?
By: Thomas Tanton
6.14.2008
The California state Senate has passed a bill to ban the use of food packaging containing perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and sent it to the Assembly. Senate Bill 1313, authored by Sn. Ellen Corbett, would require that starting January 1st 2010 no person or company shall manufacture, sell or distribute any food contact substance that contains PFOS, PFOA, higher homologues, or precursors to these chemicals, in any concentration exceeding 10 parts per billion. Sounds like great legislation with the interest of consumers in mind.
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Pain at the Pump?
By: Thomas Tanton
5.24.2008
According to a recent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) report, vast untapped oil and natural gas resources exist on public lands in the U.S. These public lands are estimated to contain 31 billion barrels of oil and 231 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, but are are presently closed to energy production.
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Giving credit where due
By: Thomas Tanton
4.15.2008
The LA Times reports on a recent lawsuit concerning the state mandated blending of ethanol into gasoline. It seems boat owners with fiberglass fuel tanks were not warned by the gas companies about the dangers of ethanol in such tanks. Starting in 2004, all gasoline sold in California is required to carry 5.7% ethanol as a replacement for the now banned fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, previously required for air quality reasons. Some boaters were unaware of the ramifications of the switch. Lawrence Turner, stuck with more than $35,000 in ethanol-related damage to his boat, decided to fight back. Last week, the Studio City resident sued Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and eight other gasoline producers and distributors in U.S. District Court, arguing that the companies sold gasoline at marinas without warning boaters of ethanol's harmful consequences. Ethanol-blended fuel destroyed the boat's fiberglass fuel tank, and mechanics had to cut through the hull and remove the ruined tank piece by piece. A new, aluminum tank was being installed last week. Engine repairs are still to come. "As I reflected on the situation, I thought about the fact that there were never any warnings from the fuel companies that the product they were selling could damage the tank that it was going into," said Turner. "What if people pulled up to their local gas station [in their cars] and all of the sudden their gas tank started dissolving?"
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First the Economy, then the Environment
By: Thomas Tanton
3.11.2008
I wrote a little while back about the spurious claims of job creation coming from renewable energy mandates and subsidies (see Economic Outlook Still Bad from Green Energy.) Now it seems there are additional bad news regarding the environmental impacts. In other words--the renewable mandates and subsidies are all bucks and no bang.
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Economic Outlook Still Bad from Green Energy
By: Thomas Tanton
2.19.2008
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill last week to yet again extend a number of clean-energy tax breaks. The “Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008” is modeled on the credit extensions originally in last year’s omnibus energy bill. The new bill, HR 5351, includes a three-year extension of the production tax credit for wind and other renewable energy sources brought on-line through the end of 2011. The measures would cost $7.19 billion over the next 10 years, according to a bill summary published by the House Ways and Means Committee.
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Whose Economy?
By: Thomas Tanton
2.4.2008
The Senate Finance Committee has put forth changes to the economic stimulus package developed by the House and President Bush. One of those changes is to extend for another year (through 2009) the Production Tax Credit (PTC) for certain renewable energy technologies. The primary beneficiary of the PTC is wind. Does continuation of the PTC help stimluate the economy of the U.S.?
wind, economic stimulus
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Climate Change Captives?
By: Amy Kaleita, Ph.D
2.1.2008
The AP reports that, "Global warming issues took over lecture halls in colleges across the country Thursday, with more than 1,500 universities participating in what was billed as the nation's largest-ever "teach-in."
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Different Shades of Green
By: Thomas Tanton
1.21.2008
The environmental community is exhibiting concerns about the pitfalls of biofuels, that I and PRI have been pointing out for several years. This past weekend, both the venerable New York Times and Sacramento Bee had feature articles on the environmental and human downsides to the expanded demand for biofuels. The fuel's expansion comes with devastating environmental damages, especially the destruction of rain forest and important animal habitat. And the cause? Heavy, and increasingly obese, mandates and subsidies foisted on energy markets by well-intentioned but myopic government agencies. Those mandates require certain percentages of biofuels, and the subsidies use taxpayer funds to cover over half the cost of production.
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More on Thermostats
By: Thomas Tanton
1.15.2008
The North County Times, in northern San Diego, reports that the CEC has backed off a proposal written about here last week. In an about-face, the California Energy Commission plans to give customers final control over the energy saving thermostats that are to be required in new homes, Claudia Chandler, the commission's assistant executive director, said Friday.
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Let's Move Inside
By: Thomas Tanton
1.8.2008
Perhaps recognizing that political efforts to control the climate is a futile endeavor, regulators seem bent on controlling comfort anyway. California utilities would dictate the temperature of new homes and commercial buildings with a radio-controlled thermostat, under a proposed state update to building energy efficiency standards.
energy consumption, demand response, central planning,
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Total Records: 28
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Environment
