Monthly Archives: February 2013

Texas drought interactive website | NPR StateImpact

  By Cyrus | February 26, 2013 - 9:54 am | Climate & Environment
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NPR has put together an incredible website full of information and interactive tools on the Texas drought: Texas drought maps and photos | NPR StateImpact. I have a friend who worked in the Texas Legislature for several years. He and his Rep tried hard to introduce a bill into committee (I believe it was the 2011 session) that simply required Texas state agencies to plan for the contingency of drought. They couldn’t even get the bill a hearing in the committee because in the eyes of the right-wing ideologues that control this (and many other) state government, it was one … Continue reading this post →

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Leaking nuclear sludge could threaten Columbia River

  By Cyrus | February 20, 2013 - 12:50 pm | Climate & Environment, Energy Policy & Economics
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Editor’s Note: Yet another example of the huge externalities we pay for supposedly cheap nuclear power. Just the cost of building the facility to clean up this nuclear waste is $13 Billion!  For one site.  Nevermind the cost of building that facility in the first place!  $13 Billion would pay for the wind energy Production Tax Credit for 10 years!  The energy debate in this country is so freaking stupid!   Fuel Fix » Leaking nuclear sludge could threaten Columbia River. News that a storage tank at a shuttered federal nuclear facility in Washington state is leaking radioactive sludge has … Continue reading this post →

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Big Coals Big Problems (Rolling Stone Magazine)

  By Cyrus | February 11, 2013 - 11:15 am | Climate & Environment, Energy Policy & Economics
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Editor’s Note: While cheap natural gas prices and more stringent regulation of coal emissions has made new coal plants virtually impossible to pencil in the US, existing coal plants are still the main point-source of CO2 pollution domestically.  Further, we are now exporting more coal than ever before to Europe where power prices are much higher than in the US.  We’re not going to see real reductions in global CO2 until we not just stop growing the coal industry, but actually dramatically shrink it. Big Coal’s Big Problems (Rolling Stone Magazine) You wouldn’t have guessed it from all the theatrics of … Continue reading this post →

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The Gun Debate: Lawmakers eye troubled background check system | Fox News

  By Cyrus | February 1, 2013 - 3:17 pm | Gun Reform
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The Gun Debate: Lawmakers eye troubled background check system | Fox News. Good article that discusses the fact that the background check system is plagued by gross under-reporting of records of criminals and the mentally ill by a number of states.  At the center of the issue is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System or NICS.  As the article explained, even though Congress has passed legislation empowering the Department of Justice to address undereporting by states by using both intensives and penalties, DOJ has so far only used the carrots and not the sticks.  According to the Government Accountability Office:  44 states had … Continue reading this post →

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