Category Archives: Energy

When the People Lead…

2/25/2010 – 1:46 pm

Vermont’s a small state with a so-called “citizen legislature.” Our legislators don’t have staffs and offices, they have desks in the House or Senate chamber. The committee rooms are small, sometimes people testifying have to wait in the hall until it’s their turn to speak; there’s just not enough room inside.
Our legislators all [...]

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

Quid Pro Coal

2/11/2010 – 10:28 am

You’re hearing more and more voices on the left (including this one), saying Barack Obama can’t get behind initiatives and really make things happen. Health care reform and banking regulations are two frequently cited examples.
It’s not universally true. There are times when this administration moves with surprising speed and efficiency. Just last [...]

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

Homer Simpson Wasn’t Available

2/5/2010 – 2:54 pm

In the deep winter of New England, the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is leaking radioactive tritium into the groundwater.
This is bad timing for Yankee’s owner, Entergy of Louisiana, because the Vermont legislature is currently considering Entergy’s request to extend the 38-year-old plant’s license to operate for another 20 years. (Vermont is the only state [...]

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

The Wrong Direction

12/3/2009 – 10:26 am

I’m back in Washington, DC this week; Tuesday evening I flipped on the radio to listen to President Obama’s speech on Afghanistan. Clearly, there are no good options available, but the choice Mr. Obama’s made seems worse than it needs to be.
The Afghan war is an oil war. The connection is not as [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Economy, Global Warming | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

The Value of an Anniversary

3/19/2009 – 8:06 pm

Thirty years ago today was a Monday. After track practice, Dan O’ Hara and I went to Al Oliver’s house to help kill what was left of a keg of Molson’s Golden Ale from Al’s St. Patrick’s Day party the previous Saturday. It was warm, flat and skunky, but we pushed through, as [...]

By floegel | Also posted in Commentary, Economy, Iraq Invasion, Oil | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

The Watershed

9/18/2008 – 11:28 am

Come gather ‘round people wherever you roam
As we prepare to bury the life we have known
And accept that from now there’ll be no going home
Your money’s no longer worth saving
The meat is all gone, we’re left nothing but bones
For the times, they are a changin’
Apologies to Bob Dylan, but my mind has been rewriting the [...]

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

In the Good (?) New Summertime

7/10/2008 – 9:29 am

It’s hot in Vermont. It’s been in the 90s and humid for weeks. This is great for cherries and plums, grapes and apples. My neighbor’s been making cherry jam for days (add a hot stove to the equation) and she’s had to prop up the boughs of her plum tree, so heavy [...]

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