Michael Giberson The Houston Chronicle reports the growing interest in Texas in still-expensive solar power: Surely some wiseacre is on record observing that there are two things Texas has plenty of: hot air and hot sun. But Texas may eventually have the last laugh. The state, which already leads the nation in turning wind into …
Michael Giberson Al Roth quotes from an article in the Atlantic discussing the powerful incentives to publish badly done, probably false medical research dressed up as success. In a sense the problem is the same as with other academic “publish or perish” reward systems except the incentives in medical research can be much, much higher. …
Incentives and Fake Success in Medical Research and Public Policy Read More »
Michael Giberson From news reports: The federal loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects should either be fixed or scrapped, senior White House advisors wrote in a memo to President Barack Obama last week. Obama’s top environmental advisor Carol Browner, top economic advisor Lawrence Summers and Vice President Joe Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain …
Michael Giberson After months of paying a ‘smart meter’ surcharge on his power bill, Houston Chronicle energy reporter Tom Fowler finally had a smart meter installed by CenterPoint Energy several weeks back and more recently an in-home energy monitor. He’s blogging the revolution: Never mind tomorrow, what can a smart meter do today? My smart meter …
A Reporter with an In-home Energy Monitor and a Blog Read More »
Michael Giberson Some news reports are suggesting the U.S. is now less likely to pass climate change legislation, but prospects for policies boosting renewable power may have improved slightly. Ever more timely, then, is this 2008 analysis of proposed national renewable portfolio standards by Jay Apt, Lester Lave, and Sompop Pattanariyankool: “A national renewable portfolio …
National Renewable Power Standards? Still Not Practical Read More »
Michael Giberson The Environmental Defense Fund’s Scott Anderson and Southwestern Energy EVP Mark Boling have been working together on proposed environmental rules to govern the use of hydraulic fracturing, a key technique in the development of shale gas resources. The Houston Chronicle reports: Energy companies and environmental groups have more often been adversaries than allies …
Industry, Environmental Group Working on Shale Gas Drilling Rules Read More »
Michael Giberson National Geographic takes an in-depth look at changes being brought to Pennsylvania courtesy of the development of the Marcellus shale for natural gas. They give us many different viewpoints through which to see the changes – landowners for and against, job-seekers, small business owner, environmentalist – all in all excellent work. About the …
Shale Gas in Pennsylvania, Illustrated & Explained Read More »
Michael Giberson For a while now Exxon-Mobil Corporation has been seeking clarification from the State of Florida, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) on just how the state’s price gouging law is applied. (Some background in this post from a year ago.) The company wants to know what it needs to do to comply …
How to Avoid Violating Florida’s Price Gouging Law Read More »
Michael Giberson I guess this “Solar Bill of Rights” has been around for a while, but was recently mentioned in Photovoltaics World so I took a look. While the U.S. Bill of Rights is all about declaring what the government can’t do, the solar power industries “bill of rights” is mostly a call for the …
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