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IBD has a very important article on the fool Biden and how Governor Palin could not be more correct on US energy needs and reserves. This is the most significant security issue facing America and demonstrates why the left is so dangerous and anti-American. Leadership: As Palin jousts with Biden on energy independence, the government reports that we lead the world in energy reserves. From oil to gas to coal, we are sitting on prosperity. So why are we importing anything? One of the interesting sidelights of the NY-23 race was an exchange on energy independence between Vice President Joe...

Leadership: As Palin jousts with Biden on energy independence, the government reports that we lead the world in energy reserves. From oil to gas to coal, we are sitting on prosperity. So why are we importing anything? One of the interesting sidelights of the NY-23 race was an exchange on energy independence between Vice President Joe Biden and the former governor of energy-rich Alaska, Sarah Palin. Biden, who came in to campaign for Democrat Bill Owens, was reminded of the issue of energy. "The fact of the matter is that Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy was 'Drill, baby,...

<p>The most common deals under the government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program, aimed at putting more fuel-efficient cars on the road, replaced old Ford or Chevrolet pickups with new ones that got only marginally better gas mileage, according to an analysis of new federal data by The Associated Press.</p>

DETROIT (Reuters) - There's a simple way to get Americans to drive fuel-efficient cars, according to auto executives, but they are not going to like it -- sharply hike the gas tax. [snip] Gradually raising gas taxes to the point where fuel costs $4 to $5 at the pump will do more to stimulate demand in next-generation vehicles like General Motors Co's forthcoming Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid than any other policy initiatives...

We’ve been here before. The government mandates more fuel-efficient vehicles across the board, yet the American public continues to gravitate toward what’s big and powerful. Barring this era of greater responsibility and restraint, which might pass like a fleeting fancy with the recession, why not pick the bigger or more powerful car, we say? A lot of things are different this time around, though. Perhaps most remarkably, quite a few executives of automakers and major auto-supplier companies are voicing out in favor of higher fuel taxes—of more rigorous regulation of what types of vehicles can be built and sold—as a...

Yesterday we noted a blog entry from local geological consultant Art Berman, saying he resigned from his monthly column-writing duties for World Oil magazine after they spiked his November column. Berman says he was told to back off on his posts that cast doubt on claims about natural gas shale as the country's energy saviour, to take a one month hiatus on the topic. He did for the month of October but claims World Oil spiked the November column when he returned to it. John Royall, president and CEO of Gulf Publishing told me the column wasn't pulled due to...

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway upped its stake in Burlington Northern yesterday, paying about $26 billion for the rest of the big railway system. Is the purchase all about playing with trains? Not really. Buffett said it's a bet on the U.S. economic recovery, that moving goods around will surge when things pick-up again. It's also seen by some as a big bet on coal. B&N's system goes through Wyoming's Powder River Basin, which is the primary source for a lot of the low-sulfur coal many U.S. power plants rely on these days to keep down their emissions (including the W.A....

Scientists in Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described in science textbooks. Their study is scheduled for Nov./Dec. issue of ACS' Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly publication. Anurag Sharma and colleagues note that the traditional process involves biology: Prehistoric plants died and changed into oil and gas while sandwiched between layers of rock in the hot, high-pressure environment deep below Earth's surface. Some scientists, however, believe that oil and gas originated in other ways, including chemical reactions...

Members of the mainstream media — people who call themselves “journalists” — seem to have paid absolutely no attention to a Congressional Research Service report on energy released Oct. 27 — this, despite the fact that two energy-related measures (i.e., the Kerry-Boxer and Waxman-Markey) are at the center of heated debate now taking place on Capitol Hill.

....Chavez blames the water problems for El Niño but...it can not be blamed for what is happening. Problems with Venezuela’s water and electricity’s supplies are not new. When Chavez came to power, the Caldera Government was thinking of privatizing some of the regional electric power companies for the simple reason that the investments required with oil at around US$ 12 per barrel were beyond the capability of the country’s government.cChavez clearly disagreed with this even as he was not using the word socialism at the time. And he stopped the nationalizations, while simultaneously freezing rates for water and electric services....

The United States could be energy independent if it possessed the collective political will to make it happen. After all, the country has the largest energy reserves on earth, according to a recently-released Congressional Research Service report.

OSLO (AFP) – Norwegian energy group Statoil said Wednesday it was selling some of its US offshore oil assets to China's state-owned CNOOC, marking the first step by a Chinese energy major into the US market. The sale, announced along with Statoil's quarterly results, involves a limited stake for the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in four exploitation licences for deepwater blocks bought in 2007 and 2008. "On 29 October Statoil signed a farm down agreement with the Chinese company CNOOC involving a number of Statoil's leases in the Gulf of Mexico," Statoil said in its third-quarter earnings statement....

DETROIT -- Chrysler Group will launch Fiat-designed diesel engines and dual-clutch transmissions in its North American products, Chrysler said today. The company also will launch its new Pentastar V-6 engine on the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the second quarter of 2010, said Paolo Ferrero, Chrysler powertrain chief. The Pentastar will replace all Chrysler’s V-6 engines, from 2.7-liter to 4.0-liter displacement. The first dual-clutch transmission will appear on a D-segment vehicle at the end of 2010. Also about that time, Chrysler will launch stop-start technology on the Jeep Wrangler. Chrysler did not immediately specify when it would introduce Fiat-derived diesel...

Steadily rising oil prices will combine with lower costs to put some of the more than $100 billion in cancelled oilsands projects back on the front burner, according to a new study. “I think we’re going to see over the next six to eight months more projects coming on,” said research director David McColl of the Canadian Energy Research Institute. CERI’s oilsands supply cost and development projects update report released Tuesday estimates under its “realistic” scenario that $309 billion will be spent over the next 35 years to increase output from 1.4 million barrels of synthetic crude and bitumen per...

China interested in Russian hydrocarbons; Russia aims to reduce its dependence on European energy markets. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing earlier this month yielded commercial deals worth $3.5 billion and a sweeping framework for bilateral energy cooperation. China's interest in Russian hydrocarbons is motivated by a desire to meet growing demand and diversify import sources. Russia stands to gain from reducing its dependence on European energy markets and using exports to China to develop Russia's Far East. Oil integration. Earlier this year, the China Development Bank (CDB) provided Russian energy companies Rosneft and Transneft with a $25...

Representatives from the electrical industry sharply criticized on Tuesday a proposal in the House to extend federal regulation to include local power plants in major cities to protect them and the national power grid from cyberattacks. Under the 1935 Federal Power Act, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforces security standards for most of the nation's power plants, including facilities and control networks -- known as bulk power systems -- that connect power systems. But the commission does not have regulatory jurisdiction over electrical systems outside the continental United States and to local distribution facilities, which include some in large cities...

Despite the fact that Navajo Nation president Joe Shirley Jr. won an international award for environmentalism, he's a thorn in the side for environmentalists. Why? Because, according to them, the power plant that provides energy and jobs to his people in Arizona is an environmental hazard, one that creates an unsightly haze over the Grand Canyon. The Environmental Protection Agency wants the Navajo Generating Station, which is supplied with coal from mines on Black Mesa, to install air-scrubbing equipment. A Sierra Club spokesman described the plants as "low-hanging fruit." And the journalist reporting the story cites Shirley as the only...

Al Gore decided to celebrate halloween a couple days later then everyone else. Instead of a haunted house he went on Morning Joe and started telling us the world is about to end. The sky is falling. The earth has a fever. And we are all going to drown from rising sea levels. Here's the link for the video. Transcript below. "Al Gore: Well, the book is titled “Our Choice” because it focuses on the key factor. If we choose to switch to renewable energy. Sustainable agriculture and forestry. Make our economy more efficient. Then we don’t have to depended...

Belief in manmade climate change has dropped off in recent years and support for cap and trade measures also is losing steam. This latter trend is picking up speed as it becomes more obvious that climate scientists are sharply divided on whether humans play any role in global warming/global cooling/climate change. However, the U.S. Congress races blindly on with plans to enact sweeping, intrusive legislation, undaunted by either the lack of convincing evidence that human activity affects the environment, or the public’s increasing disaffection with this legislation. ... Each house of Congress has its own version of this legislative misadventure,...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. climate legislation would hike gasoline prices about 13 cents a gallon as oil companies push the price of carbon permits on to consumers, according to report by Point Carbon, an independent consulting company that tracks global carbon and energy markets. Point Carbon analyst Emilie Mazzacurati said oil companies would face substantial carbon permit costs under the legislation because they would get few of the permits the government would distribute to companies during the first years of a cap-and-trade program. But that should not hurt integrated oil companies very much, she said, because they could largely...

Innovation: A New Rooftop Wind TurbineThe WindTronics turbine can generate energy at low speeds. By Nicole Marie Richardson Oct 1, 2009 The answer is blowing in the (very gentle) wind Generally, rooftop turbines can't produce electricity unless the wind is blowing six or eight miles per hour. This turbine is different. Developed by WindTronics, based in Muskegon, Michigan, it's only 6 feet in diameter and can generate energy at wind speeds of just two miles per hour. WindTronics moved the power-generating parts to the outside of the wheel, where the blades turn faster. Reducing the bulk in the center also...

The United States has largest energy reserves on Earth, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service. As shown in the charts below, the U.S. has 1,321 billion barrels of oil (or barrels of oil equivalent for other sources of energy) when combining its recoverable natural gas, oil and coal reserves. While Russia is a close second with 1,248 billion barrels, other energy producing nations are far behind. No. 3 is Saudi Arabia (543 billion barrels), followed by China (494 billion barrels), Iran (426 billion barrels) and Canada (221 billion barrels.) "Our overwhelming coal, natural gas, and oil resources...

As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence. Among other things, my alternative energy goal for Alaska sits at 50 percent because Alaska reached more than 20 percent during my term in office. The Obama-Biden administration, on the other hand, recently announced a renewable goal of only 25 percent. However, domestic drilling should remain a top priority in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs. The vice president’s extreme opposition to domestic energy development goes all the way back to 1973 when he opposed the Alaska pipeline bill. As Ann Coulter...

Minnesota Power is seeking an almost 20 percent increase in rates for its residential customers to cover investments made in cleaner, greener energy. For the average residential customer, that amounts to $13 per month. “We know this is unwelcome news at an unwelcome time,” said Pat Mullen, the company’s vice president of marketing and public affairs. “These are improvements that need to be made. It is creating an environment that we all value.”

A report by two environmental groups and financed by Toronto-Dominion Bank finds that Canada can meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets only by limiting economic growth in the oil-rich provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The report, from the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation, broadly concludes that Canada can lower greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent compared with 1990 levels by 2020 while maintaining a “strong, growing economy, a quality of life higher than Canadians enjoy today, and continued steady job creation across the country.” But the study, which relies on an economic model from M.K. Jaccard and Associates,...

Rethinking relativity: Is time out of joint? EVER since Arthur Eddington travelled to the island of Príncipe off Africa to measure starlight bending around the sun during a 1919 eclipse, evidence for Einstein’s theory of general relativity has only become stronger. Could it now be that starlight from distant galaxies is illuminating cracks in the theory’s foundation? .... Yet it is still not clear how well general relativity holds up over cosmic scales, at distances much larger than the span of single galaxies. Now the first, tentative hint of a deviation from general relativity has been found. While the evidence...

The United States has largest energy reserves on Earth, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service. As shown in the charts below, the U.S. has 1,321 billion barrels of oil (or barrels of oil equivalent for other sources of energy) when combining its recoverable natural gas, oil and coal reserves. While Russia is a close second with 1,248 billion barrels, other energy producing nations are far behind. No. 3 is Saudi Arabia (543 billion barrels), followed by China (494 billion barrels), Iran (426 billion barrels) and Canada (221 billion barrels.)

Combating global warming with a "green superhighway" of high-voltage power lines — that large groups of consumers then have to pay for — could be bad news for New Jersey, say state leaders, environmental activists and utility companies. Governor Corzine joined governors from nine other Atlantic coast states in opposing the idea. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., voted against a major energy bill because of it. And the heads of the state's Sierra Club chapter and its biggest electric company, who are fighting in court over other power plant issues, are united against it. They all say the plan, intended to...

If, like me, you happen to live anywhere in the northeastern portion of the United States, you may well remember what you were doing on the afternoon of August 14, 2003. It was one of those particularly hot, sticky days when it seemed far easier to focus on indoor activities and leave the air conditioning running. Then, around four in the afternoon, the air conditioner stopped. This was accompanied by the lights going off, the stereo falling silent, and the overhead fan slowing winding to a halt. Initially we assumed that a fuse had blown, given that the house we...

Vice President Joe Biden and the woman who ran against him last year did some long-distance sparing today. Biden, at a rally for New York congressional Democratic contender Bill Owens, took a verbal shot at former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, who's a supporter of Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman in Tuesday's crazy special election for New York's 23rd district (where Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava has dropped out and endorsed the Democrat). Using energy as an issue with which to score some rhetorical points, Biden said that "the fact of the matter is, Sarah Palin thinks the answer to energy is...

Response to Vice President Biden's Comments Today About My Position On Energy Independence Today at 10:12am As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence. Among other things, my alternative energy goal for Alaska sits at 50 percent because Alaska reached more than 20 percent during my term in office. The Obama-Biden administration, on the other hand, recently announced a renewable goal of only 25 percent. However, domestic drilling should remain a top priority in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs. The vice president’s extreme opposition to domestic energy development goes...

As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence. Among other things, my alternative energy goal for Alaska sits at 50 percent because Alaska reached more than 20 percent during my term in office. The Obama-Biden administration, on the other hand, recently announced a renewable goal of only 25 percent. However, domestic drilling should remain a top priority in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs. etc...

As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence. Among other things, my alternative energy goal for Alaska sits at 50 percent because Alaska reached more than 20 percent during my term in office. The Obama-Biden administration, on the other hand, recently announced a renewable goal of only 25 percent. However, domestic drilling should remain a top priority in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs. The vice president’s extreme opposition to domestic energy development goes all the way back to 1973 when he opposed the Alaska pipeline bill. As Ann Coulter...

For many years, Americans indulged the global-warming fantasies of Al Gore and the loopy left because it didn't cost them anything (at least directly), it didn't materially affect their lifestyles, and it made some of them feel all warm, fuzzy and green. Now warmists are in power in Washington and pushing cap-and-trade legislation that will raise energy costs for the average household, conservatively, by a few thousand dollars a year while increasing America's dependence on intermittent and unreliable energy sources but without meaningfully changing earth's climate. Not surprisingly, Americans no longer are all that hot for global warming. Actual data...

WALSENBURG, Colo. – Bernice and Jerry Angely like to show visitors the singed T-shirt a friend was wearing when their water well exploded and shot flames 30 feet high. The friend wasn't hurt. But that and an explosion at another home weeks earlier forced Colorado to suspend natural gas drilling around this southern plains town until someone could find out why dangerous levels of methane were getting into the groundwater.

BP Restarts Texas City Refinery Reformer -Filing Sun Nov 1, 2009 5:20pm EST HOUSTON, Nov 1 (Reuters) - BP Plc (BP.L) (BP.N) began restarting Ultraformer No. 4 at its 475,000 barrel per day (bpd) Texas City, Texas, refinery on Sunday, according to a notice filed on Saturday with state pollution regulators.[snip]

THE Federal Government told scientists monitoring the huge oil leak off Australia's northern coast to focus on the Indonesian side of the leaking well. The instruction meant waters closer to the Australian coast, which contain more biodiversity and include important whale habitats, were not assessed for oil contamination in a report that the federal Environment Department released on Friday. To complicate matters, fire broke out yesterday on the oil rig, which has been leaking oil into the Timor Sea for 10 weeks. Oil field operator PTTEP Australasia said the West Atlas rig and Montara well-head platform were on fire. No...

Cap and Trade will be a disaster for what is left of manufacturing in this country. Right now, the Rust Belt is just rusty. With Cap and Trade, the rust will inevitably turn into dust. And, for what? Because some politically-driven environmentalists have trumped up a phony belief that mankind is completely killing the planet?

Can we reliably, efficiently, and economically store energy to make solar and wind power viable options to replace fossil-fuel or nuclear plants?Few things get our attention more quickly than a loss of electric power. Many of our activities cease the instant energy from a generator many miles away stops supplying the electricity to light our homes or businesses, run our computers, lift our elevators, operate the industrial machinery on which our food supply depends, and countless other labor-saving tasks. While just a slap in the face at first, after a few hours, as food begins to spoil, sewage begins to...

The state Public Service Commission offered heartening news to cash-strapped consumers on Friday. Based on data submitted by the state's natural gas companies, the average resident can expect to pay nearly 40 percent less on their bills this winter compared to last. Behind the decrease is a sharp drop in the wholesale price of natural gas that PSC Chairman David Armstrong said was "artificially high" last year due to what many consider to have been speculative investing in the commodity. The PSC noted wholesale prices, which make up the largest portion of natural gas bills, are now at their lowest...

Last year, Roger Jette turned down an eye-popping offer to relocate his Bay Shore factory to the state of Georgia. They would have given him land, architects to design his building, tax breaks, and $5,000 for every Georgian he hired. Instead, he found a way to stay here and still trim expenses, by tapping into a little-used but plentiful Long Island resource: wind. With the exception of the occasional tower on the East End, wind turbines are a rare sight on Long Island. But prompted by a Long Island Power Authority rebate and federal tax credits and deductions, they're sprouting...

The oil and gas services industry of Western Canada hit bottom in the second quarter and is now making its slow way back, the chairman and CEO of transport and oilfield services company Mullen Group declared Thursday. But the rehiring of 1,100 Mullen employees and contractors--some 20 per cent of its staff--whose jobs disappeared in the past 12 months will not occur until "ridiculously stupid" pricing by competitors is halted, said Murray Mullen. "We have, in my opinion, seen the bottom. It is tough, at times it's ugly. It's particularly difficult on our people. But we are survivors of what...

Rights to build wind farms off the coast of Britain up to 50 times the size of the biggest present plants are expected to be handed to consortiums of major utilities, with the prize Norfolk field likely to go to Scottish Power and Vattenfall. The 5,000 megawatt the biggest in Europe when the first of its 341 turbines start working in 2012. Another utility consortium called Forewind, including RWEnpower Renewables, Scottish & Southern Energy, Statkraft and StatoilHydro, is believed to be the frontrunner for the even bigger 10,000 megawatt Dogger Bank plot in the North Sea. The awards are due...

Clean tech has seen a boost as the U.S. pours government funding into renewable energy, and China looks set to reap much of the benefits. Latest example: a Chinese wind-turbine company has just become the exclusive supplier for one of the largest wind-farm developments in the U.S. The Shenyang Power Group has signed on to supply 240 of its massive 2.5-megawatt wind turbines to a 36,000-acre development in West Texas. The Wall Street Journal reports that the wind farm is also slated to receive $1.5 billion in financing from the Export-Import Bank of China.

North Dakota sits on one of the largest pools of oil in North America. The Bakken Shale Formation is estimated to hold nearly four billion barrels of oil that can be extracted. And now, a new batch of oil just under the Bakken is adding even more interest to oil exploration in the state. The Bakken Shale Formation has created excitement in western North Dakota - the kind of excitement that leads to things like bumper stickers. But even as oil companies scramble to tap into the Bakken, there's a new oil play brewing - it's called the Three Forks-Sanish...

Poll: Offshore drilling Should Florida allow drilling for oil within five miles of its Gulf Coast beaches? Yes No

A Chinese company has succeeded in the biggest-yet takeover bid of an Australian firm in a move seen as an exploit amid bitter investment relations. The Australian authorities on Friday approved the 3.5-billion-dollar bid by China's Yanzhou Coal for mining giant Felix, AFP reported. Felix produces about 4.8 million metric tons of coal a year. The Chinese enterprise would be running its Australia-based mines through an Australian company. "The Australian Securities Exchange listing of all of Yanzhou's Australian assets ... is a significant development," Australia's Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry said in a statement. "It represents the first time a Chinese...

Austin-based Cielo Wind Power said Thursday that it will partner with Chinese and American companies to build one of the biggest wind farms in the United States. The project will cost $1.5 billion, cover 36,000 acres in West Texas and generate 600 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 180,000 homes. The agreement signals one of the largest undertakings of its kind, proponents said.

The Swiss company ReVolt, from Staefa, plans to release the new batteries next year, initially as small batteries for use in hearing aids, and later for cell phones. Eventually much larger batteries are planned for electric vehicles. The new battery was developed in Trondheim in Norway by the SINTEF Group, the largest independent research institution in Scandinavia, and ReVolt was formed to market the device. Zinc-air batteries need oxygen from the air to generate the current. They are safer than lithium-ion batteries because they do not contain volatile materials, and therefore do not catch fire. Non-rechargeable zinc-air batteries have been...

Dye-sensitized cells get a double boost from nanowires and optical fiber. Dye-sensitized solar cells are flexible and cheap to make, but they tend to be inefficient at converting light into electricity. One way to boost the performance of any solar cell is to increase the surface area available to incoming light. So a group of researchers at Georgia Tech has made dye-sensitized solar cells with a much higher effective surface area by wrapping the cells around optical fibers. These fiber solar cells are six times more efficient than a zinc oxide solar cell with the same surface area, and if...