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| Headline |
Author |
Published |
Section |
Stall's Well That Ends Well
Opponents Block Vote on Energy Bill in Senate |
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21 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Stall's Well That Ends Well Opponents Block Vote on Energy Bill in Senate A massive and highly controversial energy bill stalled out in the Senate this morning, when its supporters fell two short of the necessary 60 votes to end debate on the legislation. Those in favor of the bill, which has already been passed by the House, argue that it would increase and diversify energy sources and help some farmers by encouragi ... |
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| Topics: energy, food and agriculture, politics (all these topics) |
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Is That a Lawmaker in Your Pocket, or ... ?
A breakdown of the Senate vote to end debate on the energy bill |
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21 Nov 2003 |
Muckraker |
| A massive energy bill backed by the Bush administration stalled out in the Senate this morning, when its supporters failed to garner the necessary 60 votes to end debate on the legislation. Only 57 senators voted to halt debate; 40 voted to keep it going. Those in favor of the bill, which has already been passed by the House, say it would increase and diversify energy sources a ... |
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| Topics: biofuels, energy, Muckraker, politics, renewable energy, US House of Representatives (all these topics) |
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No Silva Lining
Once Seen as Ally, Brazilian President Draws Fire From Enviros |
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21 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| No Silva Lining Once Seen as Ally, Brazilian President Draws Fire From Enviros It's been a roller coaster year for environmentalists in Brazil. Last October, with the election to the presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula, for short), they were elated, because he was seen as one of their own. Now, though, enviros say they have been betrayed on virtually ev ... |
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| Topics: Brazil, dams, energy, GMOs, international government agencies, nuclear power, rainforests (all these topics) |
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Fishing for Answers
Bush Administration Admits Role in Klamath Fish Die-Off |
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19 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Fishing for Answers Bush Administration Admits Role in Klamath Fish Die-Off The Bush administration has finally admitted to its role in last year's die-off of more than 34,000 chinook and coho salmon in the Klamath River basin, which straddles the Oregon-California border: The massive fish kill was caused a ... |
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| Topics: California, dams, energy, fishing, food and agriculture, Oregon, politics, rivers and watersheds, US Fish and Wildlife Service, water conflicts (all these topics) |
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Kill Bill!
Final Version of Energy Bill Is Bad News for the Environment |
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18 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Kill Bill! Final Version of Energy Bill Is Bad News for the Environment After many weeks of pork-barrel politics conducted behind closed doors, Republican negotiators yesterday released a final version of the first big energy bill to emerge from Congress in more than a decade -- and it's a doozy. The package, which contains loads of subsidies for industry and loads of bad news for ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, Alaska, energy, Midwest, nuclear power, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Empty Suits
MTBE Producers Would Get Relief from Lawsuits Under Energy Bill |
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18 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Empty Suits MTBE Producers Would Get Relief from Lawsuits Under Energy Bill Of all the anti-environmental provisions in the energy bill, the one raising perhaps the most ire would limit the liability of companies that produce the fuel additive MTBE, which has been found to contaminate water supplies across the country. Not only would the measure shield the companies from future lawsuits related to water pollution ... |
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| Topics: energy, politics, toxics, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Hail Magnetron!
On microwaves |
Umbra Fisk |
17 Nov 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, We recently bought a new (to us) house and acquired a microwave oven. Having gotten this far in life without one, we figured we wouldn't use it all that much. Ha. We use it all the time. It's just so much faster than heating things on the stove. I do wonder, though, which is more energy-efficient. Is it more eco-friendly to heat milk for a minute in the microwave, or five minutes on the gas stove? And is there anything to the pe ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, energy, energy at home, energy efficiency, food, food and agriculture, green living (all these topics) |
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The Freon Market
On supermarket coolers |
Umbra Fisk |
17 Nov 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, Every time I go to the grocery store and see meats, dairy products, and other products displayed in open-air refrigerators, I get a little miffed and wonder if this isn't a huge waste of energy and a tremendous cost to the supermarket as well. Do supermarkets make more money having their products in open-air rather than closed-door displays? Delos Chapel Hill, N.C. Dearest Delos, If you've ever made an impulse purchas ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, business, energy, energy efficiency, food and agriculture (all these topics) |
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Drop and Give Me 50
States Fight Back Against EPA Decision to Drop Power Plant Cases |
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07 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Drop and Give Me 50 States Fight Back Against EPA Decision to Drop Power Plant Cases It didn't take long for the backlash to set in against the U.S. EPA's decision, announced Wednesday, to abandon its investigations into 50 polluting power plants in the face of the Bush administration's rollback of the Clean Air Act's New Source Review rules. One day later, Democratic senators and attorneys general from Northeaster ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, energy, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Promises, Promises, You Knew You'd Never Keep
Breaking Promise, EPA Will Drop Cases Against Polluting Power Plants |
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06 Nov 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Promises, Promises, You Knew You'd Never Keep Breaking Promise, EPA Will Drop Cases Against Polluting Power Plants The U.S. EPA announced yesterday that it will drop investigations into 50 power plants accused of violating the federal Clean Air Act. Enviros and agency watchdogs warned about the possibility of such a shift when the Bush administration rolled back the act's New Source Review rules -- but agency offic ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, energy, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Liquid Assets
Should enviros embrace liquefied natural gas? |
Amanda Griscom |
06 Nov 2003 |
Powers That Be |
| It's clear from the name alone that liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an oxymoronic commodity -- but its chemical state is just one of the many paradoxes of this increasingly popular energy source. On the one hand, natural gas is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel and among the most viable near-term alternatives to coal, which currently accounts for more than 50 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Many envir ... |
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| Topics: energy, green living, United States (all these topics) |
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Is That a Lawmaker in Your Pocket, or ... ?
A breakdown of the Senate vote on the Climate Stewardship Act |
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05 Nov 2003 |
Muckraker |
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| Topics: climate, energy, legislation, Muckraker, politics (all these topics) |
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The Thrill of Defeat
The climate bill lost out, but the environment may yet prove the winner |
Amanda Griscom |
05 Nov 2003 |
Muckraker |
| "We were nervous as hell," said Kevin Curtis, vice president of National Environmental Trust, describing the sentiment leading up to last Thursday's Senate vote that defeated the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, 43 to 55. "But it's a great start. This may seem to be a defeat now, but in the end, it's a victory." Lieberman stumps for his bill. Pho ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, legislation, Muckraker, outdoor recreation, politics, wilderness (all these topics) |
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Is the Sea Half-empty or Half-full?
Kazakh Dam Could Save Northern Aral Sea, But Kill Southern Portion |
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29 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Is the Sea Half-empty or Half-full? Kazakh Dam Could Save Northern Aral Sea, But Kill Southern Portion A seven-mile dam now under construction could mean total devastation for a large southern section of the already beleaguered Aral Sea, which straddles the border between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Central Asia. Once the world's fourth largest inland sea, the Aral has lost half its depth and 90 percent of its volume o ... |
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| Topics: Aral Sea, dams, energy, Kazakhstan (all these topics) |
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Gear Factor
On driving in neutral |
Umbra Fisk |
28 Oct 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, I have a question about getting the most miles per gallon. If you put your car into neutral at stops or going downhill, do you save any gas? My car is an automatic. Jeff Verona, N.J. Dearest Jeff, Another great question we have all pondered. Louisa and her fellow mechanics thought you might save a little gas. Let me be more specific: a very, very small amount of gas. Droplets. In the final cost-benefit analysis, those dropl ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, energy, oil, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Defrost Cost
On car heaters |
Umbra Fisk |
28 Oct 2003 |
Ask Umbra |
| Dear Umbra, My friend and I have a bet going that I hope you can settle. She thinks that running the heat in a car in the winter is "free" -- that is, it doesn't use additional gas. As a conservationist, this pleases her greatly. However, I think that turning on the heat does use additional gas if you are using the defroster. Can you settle this for us? Thanks! Sama Denver, Colo. Dearest Sama, You win. But I fear this is a wager wi ... |
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| Topics: advice, Ask Umbra, cars, energy, energy efficiency, green living, placemaking (all these topics) |
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A Turkey of a Project
Big Pipeline Project Threatens Environment in Azerbaijan, Turkey |
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28 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| A Turkey of a Project Big Pipeline Project Threatens Environment in Azerbaijan, Turkey BP and 10 other companies are plotting to build a 1,000-mile pipeline to carry oil from Baku, Azerbaijan, to Ceyhan, Turkey, at a cost of up to $4 billion. The project is enthusiastically backed by the U.S. government, which is on the lookout for new sources of crude outside the Middle East. E ... |
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| Topics: Azerbaijan, business, commercial and industry organizations, energy, Turkey (all these topics) |
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Airing Out the Dirty Laundry
EPA Official Knew Rule Change Could Hurt Enforcement, GAO Says |
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27 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Airing Out the Dirty Laundry EPA Official Knew Rule Change Could Hurt Enforcement, GAO Says The top air-quality official at the U.S. EPA was warned repeatedly by agency staffers that changes to the New Source Review rules of the Clean Air Act could undermine enforcement actions against polluting industrial plants, a General Accounting Office report found last week. But still the official, Assistant EPA Administrato ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, energy, politics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Poor Judgment
Company Warns Poor and Minorities They Will Suffer if N-Plant Is Closed |
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24 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Poor Judgment Company Warns Poor and Minorities They Will Suffer if N-Plant Is Closed The power company Entergy Nuclear Northeast is warning low-income and minority citizens in New York that more power plants will be built in their neighborhoods if the state's highly controversial Indian Point nuclear power plant is closed. Critics say the move is an inap ... |
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| Topics: business, commercial and industry organizations, energy, environmental justice, New York, politics (all these topics) |
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Coal-hearted
New Stats On Energy Use in China Alarm Environmentalists |
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22 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Coal-hearted New Stats On Energy Use in China Alarm Environmentalists The most populous country on the planet may also pose the biggest threat to the global climate, according to recently released statistics about coal production and consumption in China. Until a few months ago, many energy experts hoped that the nation would have a relatively limited impact on climate change, because its state-owned companies were tho ... |
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| Topics: China, climate, energy, placemaking (all these topics) |
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Rumble in the Jungle
ChevronTexaco Faces Oil Pollution Trial in Ecuador |
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20 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Rumble in the Jungle ChevronTexaco Faces Oil Pollution Trial in Ecuador One of the biggest oil pollution trials in history will get underway tomorrow in Ecuador, pitting oil giant ChevronTexaco against 30,000 residents of the Amazon rainforest who charge that a Texaco subsidiary dumped huge amounts of oily waste in their homeland from 1971 to 1992. The Ecuadorians say th ... |
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| Topics: commercial and industry organizations, Ecuador, energy, health, pollution and waste (all these topics) |
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Do Good
Tell Your Senators to Nix the Anti-Enviro Energy Bill |
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14 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Do Good Tell Your Senators to Nix the Anti-Enviro Energy Bill Here are three good reasons environmentalists should be worried about the energy bill currently in joint conference committee at the U.S. House and Senate. First, it includes virtually no conservation measures -- nothing to improve the fuel efficiency of cars and trucks, nothing to wean the country off of its unhealthy and unsafe dependence on fossil fuels. Secon ... |
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| Topics: energy, politics, United States (all these topics) |
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No More Sulfuring in Silence
China Bans Coal Plants in Big Cities |
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09 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| No More Sulfuring in Silence China Bans Coal Plants in Big Cities In a much-needed and long-awaited gambit to improve air quality and reduce acid rain, China has banned coal-fired power plants in major cities across the nation. The ban applies to Beijing, Shanghai, and 21 provincial capitals, which together produce approximately 60 percent of China's sulfur dioxide emissions. Sulfur dioxide is the leading cause of acid rain, which pl ... |
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| Topics: China, energy, toxics (all these topics) |
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Smelter Skelter
Enviros Protest Massive Dam in Iceland |
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09 Oct 2003 |
Daily Grist |
| Smelter Skelter Enviros Protest Massive Dam in Iceland Extreme weather and remote locations can't stop the forward march of, uh, progress, as Iceland's Karahnjukar dam shows. The dam, which will be Europe's highest, is being built in a huge wilderness area, much to the dismay of environmentalists. They fear it will drown highland vegetation, change the groundwater balance, and create so much mud that in the dry season the dust blowin ... |
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| Topics: dams, energy, Iceland (all these topics) |
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Soft Boiled
Will a softer McCain-Lieberman bill prove to be harder-hitting? |
Amanda Griscom |
08 Oct 2003 |
Muckraker |
| Even though Sens. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) decided to soften the terms of their climate bill last week, the document may go down in history as one of the hardest-hitting gambits in the U.S. fight against global warming. In fact, easing the demands of the bill -- which proposes a mandatory cap on greenhouse-gas emissions from the energy, industrial, commercial, and ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, legislation, Muckraker, politics (all these topics) |
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