A friend of mine recently wrote a letter to Catholic Online in response to an opinion piece masquerading as an article. The piece was titled Canadian Catholic News: Nuclear energy called ‘a deeply spiritual issue’. The piece was an extensive rehashing of disinformation that has been spread for many years by Helen Caldicott, a professional…
Claude Mandil, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, has warned gas exporting countries that forming an OPEC like cartel would harm their business. I think that his logic is interesting: Mandil said that gas, unlike oil, competes with other energy sources such as coal, nuclear and renewables in power generation and heating, giving consumers alternatives. “If…
An Atomic Show listener pointed me to an interesting article published in the Guardian in September 2006 titled Royal Society tells Exxon: stop funding climate change denial. It is articles like this one that makes me put up my defenses against a headlong rush to a dogmatic belief that human activity that produces CO2 is…
On March 21, 2007, Spiegel Online published an article by Roland Nelles titled Germany Plans Boom in Coal-Fired Power Plants — Despite High Emissions. The article reports that there are 26 new coal fired power stations planned for construction in the next few years in Germany. The coal will be imported from Poland or South…
I was recently introduced to a very new blog titled Left Atomics. Here is how the author described his “voice” in a recent comment on Atomic Insights: Our job at leftatomics is not to become “industry advocates’ but to stymie opposition to needed construction (and R & D) of base load nuclear projects. We do…
Shane and I discuss our understanding of human activity’s effects on global climate. As two geeks not trained in climate science, but comfortable with complex systems, our approach is unique. Unless you live under a rock, you have an opinion about whether or not man’s activity is causing a coming global catastrophe. Two recent films…
This post originated in the middle of a great discussion on the Oil Drum. On March 1, 2007, that blog published a story titled Is Nuclear Power a Viable Option for Our Energy Needs? The story generated a lot of interest with more than 300 comments and about 678 “Diggs”. Comments are now closed on…
Matthew Simmons is an investment banker who has long been associated with the idea that the era of cheap oil is coming to an end. His analysis is based on the work of M. Hubbert King and other oil exploration experts who have recognized the idea that the world has a finite quantity of oil…
The Department of Energy has been holding a series of public meetings to share information and gather reactions to proposals to build and operate one or more of three types of facilities related to the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership program. The program leaders currently envision that there will be three new facilities built – a…
We’re back after a couple of weeks off. The atomic geeks chat about uranium, which has an interesting history in politics, discovery and economics. Uranium is as common as tin and can be found in measurable quantities almost anywhere in the world. Its price often varies by several hundred percent over short periods of time,…
Though The Atomic Show does not play music – yet – I am a big fan of independence and the idea that artists do not benefit much from big music labels. One way to show the power of independent music artists is a promotion called Bum Rush The Charts. The idea is that podcast listeners…
I found this speech in a book titled “The West Virginia Mine Wars.” As far as I know, it is the earliest use of the term “clean coal”, but I am willing to be educated. I am publishing this as a way of getting people to think a bit about the difference between real descriptions…
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