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Category Archives: Energy

2022’s US climate disasters, from storms and floods to heat waves and droughts

Ars Technica: “The year 2022 will be remembered across the US for its devastating flooding and storms—and also for its extreme heat waves and droughts. By October, the US had already seen 15 disasters causing more than $1 billion in damage each, well above the average. The year started and ended with widespread severe winter… Continue Reading

How much money will you get with the Inflation Reduction Act?

This savings calculator from Rewiring of America [in English and Spanish] allows homeowners to calculate how the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) will permit them to save thousands of dollars on the upfront costs of electric machines (how we power our cars, heat our air and water, cook our food, dry our clothes and get our… Continue Reading

Subpoenaed Fossil Fuel Documents Reveal an Industry Stuck in the Past

The Intercept: “…As part of its investigation into climate disinformation, the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed documents in November 2021 from four of the world’s largest oil companies; their U.S. trade association, the American Petroleum Institute; and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The chamber did not comply with the subpoena, but the rest submitted a variety… Continue Reading

World Weather Attribution

“Since 2015 the World Weather Attribution (WWA) initiative has been conducting real-time attribution analysis of extreme weather events as they happen around the world. This provides the public, scientists and decision-makers with the means to make clear connections between greenhouse gas emissions and impactful extreme weather events, such as storms, floods, heatwaves and droughts. We… Continue Reading

Big oil is behind conspiracy to deceive public, first climate racketeering lawsuit says

The Guardian – Lawyer in a civil lawsuit launched by towns in hurricane-hit Puerto Rico describes why it is using laws used to target mob bosses – “The same racketeering legislation used to bring down mob bosses, motorcycle gangs, football executives and international fraudsters is to be tested against oil and coal companies who are… Continue Reading

Cars New Total Cost of Ownership Tool for Electric Cars

Clean Technica: “We’ve written about the total cost of ownership of automobiles for a decade, comparing the total cost of ownership of electric cars to the total cost of ownership of fossil-powered cars. The short and sweet of it is that due to lower operational and maintenance costs, as well as higher value retention, electric… Continue Reading

You’re Being Lied to About Electric Cars

MotorTrend, Jonny Lieberman – Science has repeatedly shown EVs are better for humans, despite the meme you just retweeted. “I’ve heard all the supposed arguments. It seems every time anything even tangentially related to electric cars is published, certain people feel compelled to share their own research. You’ve probably heard it all, too: A Prius… Continue Reading

CRS Video Seminars on Disruptive Technologies

CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies: Videos – Updated December 8, 2022: CRS Seminars on Disruptive Technologies: Videos – “New technologies, and those that represent an evolutionary improvement of an existing tool or process, that exhibit the potential to have large-scale effects on social and economic activity are often referred to as “disruptive” technologies. They can… Continue Reading

UK Chief Medical Officer’s annual report 2022: air pollution

Chief Medical Officer’s Annual Report 2022 Air pollution: “Air pollution affects us all. It is associated with impacts on lung development in children, heart disease, stroke, cancer, exacerbation of asthma and increased mortality, among other health effects. Except for air quality in our own homes, we have little control as individuals over the level of… Continue Reading

UN – Reverse nature’s decline or there is no future

“In order to realise a “world living in harmony with nature” by 2050, UN experts today called on States to ensure that the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is centred on human rights. “Healthy biodiversity and ecosystems are the foundation of life and fundamental to the enjoyment of human rights, including the rights to life, health,… Continue Reading

How an Early Oil Industry Study Became Key in Climate Lawsuits

Yale Environment 360: “For decades, 1960s research for the American Petroleum Institute warning of the risks of burning fossil fuels had been forgotten. But two papers discovered in libraries are now playing a key role in lawsuits aimed at holding oil companies accountable for climate change. Carroll Muffett began wondering in 2008 when the world’s… Continue Reading

Billionaires Provided 15 Percent of Funding for the Midterm

“In the 2022 midterms, the 100 largest donors collectively spent 60 percent more than every small donor in the United States combined, according to a Brennan Center analysis of publicly available data. (Small donors are those who give $200 or less.) The wealthy have always wielded disproportionate power over American government. In 1895, GOP strategist… Continue Reading