The economic arguments against subsidies include the one that government should not pick “losers” over “winners.” Fair argument. But the reality of Republican Whip Eric Cantor’s “You Cut” scheme: just about all the suggested programs are those that (surprise!) would be in the tea party’s crosshairs. What about Republican-supported programs?
The President punted tonight. He could have given a clarion call to push for a clean energy policy that would have been painful, but necessary. He could have given a “teachable moment” about the costs involved with our addiction to oil. But instead he gave us platitudes, boasted about his energy secretary’s Nobel Prize (why do we keep hearing that?), asked that we pray, and made no attempt to push Congress to pass any energy-related legislation.
An underground oil rig explodes, creating a huge ecological catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil company executives drove themselves insane trying to figure out what to do. Industries such as hotels suffer a huge hit.
To those Americans who dismiss Europe as a backward, leftist, and socialist land, I say, back off—the business leaders I met and to whom I listened at the GRI Conference would run circles around my business school professors and most managers across the pond! To those Europeans who slam America as a consumer-frenzied, overindulged society, I say, not so fast: based on the crowds I saw in the shopping areas and the lines I saw in the stores, I think both sides of the Atlantic know how to spend a buck (or Euro).
The Obama Administration told us that these oil leases were approved for drilling because they were far from the coast, were “safe,” and in the spirit of compromise, offshore drilling advocates were thrown a bone in order to get some kind of climate change legislation crammed through Congress.
Search the Internet and troll through Twitter, and you’ll find all sorts of compelling, even, cool stories about algae and how this may be our ticket away from dependency on fossil fuels. By any measure, there are about 200 to 250 start-ups in this fledgling industry.
Last week the World Bank voted to loan Eskom, a South African energy producer, US$3.75 billion to build a new coal power plant. Politicians in the UK and my beloved USA went ballistic. They howled that it was a tragedy for the World Bank to sabotage the work that has been done at ameliorating climate change.
Yesterday I went to one of the best one day symposia I have attended, a gathering focused on India and Climate Change. I am glad I attended because it gave me insight as to what role India can and should have in the global debate over environmental policy. Too often, global political leaders and environmentalists lump together China and India when they discuss what these nations should do in combating climate change
I think I remember learning about tidal energy in grade school–we have been talking about it that long (whoa, aging myself here!) Here’s the 15 second description: Tidal energy is created by the motion of the water that shifts thanks to gravitational forces, or in sum, the sun and moon. Because the Earth’s tides are [...]
“It’s about seeing the world as what it can be and not what it is.” – K.R. Sridhar, founder and CEO of Bloom Energy.
I come back from Brazil, functioning on two nights of little sleep, but I cannot restrain myself from gushing and hoping that the much hyped “Bloom Box,” which launched today, will revamp our [...]
I am about to return from Brazil. It’s been a trip long in the making, and I am glad I had this opportunity to visit this country once again.
And as this journey ends, another one begins.
My interest in sustainability dates back far into my childhood, and I have been deeply vested in such issues since the [...]
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