John Rowe, the soon to be retired CEO of Exelon, the largest nuclear plant operator in the United States, said the following during a talk at the American Nuclear Society Utility Working Conference and Vendor Technology Expo in Hollywood, FL. The Colorado School of Mines estimates that the total potential of U.S. gas supply increased…
On August 13, 2011, I braved the 13.5 hour time difference between Adelaide, South Australia and Lynchburg, VA to record an interview with Ben Heard, the force behind Decarbonise SA and Dr. Barry Brook, the well respected climate scientist who blogs at Brave New Climate. Aside: I used the phrase “braved the time difference” because…
The Huffington Post recently posted an article on July 29, 2011 titled Big Oil Companies Post Huge Profits On High Gas Prices that has apparently tapped a deep well of anger and emotion – it has already received more than 3,400 comments. I can empathize with that anger; though I drive a small car that…
I learned something new and useful while watching Energy Now’s July 24, 2011 show titled The Promise and Problems of Shale Gas. If I want to attempt to get an honest answer from natural gas industry promoters about the potential hazards of extracting natural gas from unconventional formations like coal beds and shale, I cannot…
The European Energy Review (available with a free registration) has published a detailed article titled Gazprom: back in the game – and ready to take on Brussels that paints a picture of Gazprom’s continued pattern of aggressive market actions aimed at locking European customers into long term contracts at prices that must make many US…
It is difficult to do battle with imaginary boogeymen, especially when you are a rational-minded person steeped in reality. In the money-driven battle over our future energy supply choices, the people who fight nuclear energy have imagination on their side. They can, and often do, invent numerous scary tales about what might happen without the…
A ‘smoking gun’ article is one that reveals a direct connection between a fossil fuel or alternative energy system promoter and a strongly antinuclear attitude. One of my guiding theories about energy is that a great deal of the discussion about safety, cost, and waste disposal is really a cover for a normal business activity…
Matt Wald of the New York Times has finally figured out why there is such a strong push from well connected political types to close the Indian Point Nuclear Power Station. Unfortunately, he and his editor have chosen to put that answer at the very bottom of his recent article titled If Indian Point Closes,…
The Atlanta Progressive News published an article titled Georgia PSC Can’t Silence Nuclear Power Debate describing how dedicated antinuclear activists disrupted a recent meeting held by the Georgia Public Service Commission. The scheduled topic of the meeting was a discussion about risk sharing in the case of potential cost overruns for Vogtle units 3 &…
I have just spent a pleasant hour perusing a fascinating site called Decarbonise SA (where SA = South Australia). Ben Heard, an Australian who operates a consultancy named ThinkClimate Consulting is the force behind the site. He is a man on a mission – to move South Australia’s electric power system to zero carbon dioxide…
I am getting increasingly frustrated by the cowering and covering attitude of the people in leadership positions within what is sometimes called “the nuclear industry.” Please understand that I am NOT talking about covering up in the sense of hiding bad information, I am talking about the kind of covering done in a boxing ring…
CNBC’s Jim Cramer invited Aubrey McClendon, the CEO of Chesapeake Energy, onto his Mad Money show on June 28, 2011 to talk about the recent Ian Urbina articles (June 26, June 27, and June 28) in the New York Times. Cramer wanted to give McClendon a chance to tell the natural gas story from a…