The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is one of the most respected news sources in the world. Its status as a media tax supported organization that does not completely depend on advertising dollars has allowed it to maintain investigative journalism departments, to continue to cover the world and to produce high quality dramatic shows that do…
This morning I posted a blog talking about how a second round of new nuclear power plants analogous to the one that the US undertook during the period from 1970-1990 might lead to a lengthy period where natural gas supplies will be greater than natural gas demand. I described how such a situation can lead…
Just yesterday, I wrote a lengthy piece talking about how natural gas suppliers are working hard to market their product to both gas customers and to politicians who are making large impact energy policy decisions. One of the marketing bullets being used is that natural gas is newly abundant and can thus be considered a…
My years as an operating engineer has turned me into a contrarian and a pessimist who is constantly looking for signs of trouble, especially as others get excited and focused on temporary good news. My years as a critical consumer of commercially sponsored media has also made wary of sales pitches disguised as news stories….
Back on September 25, 2009, I wrote about a three part National Public Radio special about the U. S. domestic natural gas that portrayed the industry as a “mom and pop” enterprise made up of thousands of small companies with little political clout in Washington, DC. I expressed my skepticism about that portrayal at the…
Senator Mark Udall (D-CO) has signed on as a co-sponsor for a proposed bill that would, among other things, enable the Department of Energy to increase the amount of research and support that it provides to small and medium sized nuclear power plant development. The reaction in the Colorado press and in the blogosphere to…
During his appearance on Friday, October 30, 2009, John Rowe told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee believes that there is no market need to push the development of new nuclear power plants. He also stated that his staff has computed that power from new nuclear power plants can only be competitive in the…