Category Archives: Energy

Accountability

4/19/2012 – 2:19 pm

What is a reasonable cost for a conference for 300 civil servants from across the western US?  Airfare, food, lodging, conference facilities, speakers, prep, etc., etc.  From the news stories, it’s clear that $823,000 is way too much.  Next year’s conference, I’m just guessing, will be substantially less extravagant, so let’s say $300,000.  That means [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Economy, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Zero to Seven Billion

10/27/2011 – 4:11 pm

When I heard the seven billionth person is due to be born Monday, I thought I must have made a mistake a few years back.  “Didn’t I just write a commentary on the six billionth person?  Was my math wrong?”
My math was not wrong.  I wrote that commentary the first week of October 1999.  What [...]

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What the Left Hand is Doing

9/29/2011 – 2:55 pm

Cognitive dissonance is name given to the discomfort caused by trying to simultaneously hold two conflicting ideas.  Policy dissonance might be the name applied when two conflicting ideas are the basis for government action.
An example: Texas is still in the worst single-year drought in its history and the hottest summer in Texas history just ended [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Electoral Politics, Global Warming | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Race to the Bottom: Homestretch

9/1/2011 – 1:25 pm

In this space the first week of January 2004, I predicted it would be the year that would determine whether or not American democracy would survive.  In the last month of that same year, I was forced to conclude, with sorrow, that American democracy is doomed.  Although I’ve been allowed brief moments of hope since [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Economy, Global Warming, Nuclear Energy, Oceans, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Faster Than Ever

3/31/2011 – 4:19 pm

It’s supposed to snow tonight. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, tomorrow night and into the middle of Saturday morning. Except during the warmer, mid-day hours tomorrow, when it’s supposed to turn to rain and then back into snow.
Spring snow is not unusual around here, but tonight’s will probably carry radiation. It’s been [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Nuclear Energy, Oil | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Some More Than Others

3/24/2011 – 12:34 pm

We’re all Japanese now. Some of us more than others.
I’m in the latter group. In Vermont, we’ve been trying for years – and we’re close to success – to shut the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor in Vernon, in the southeast corner of the state, where Vermont joins New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
It’s a General [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Nuclear Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Gumbo? Again?

2/24/2011 – 12:23 pm

WINTER PARK, FL – Last week’s helping of gumbo was favorably received and since I’m supposed to be on vacation this week and because there’s still dozens of issues popping up – more gumbo.
The venom I received from the bees last week was not, in the longer view, as effective as I’d hoped it would [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Civil Liberty, Commentary, Economy, Nuclear Energy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)