NUMBY Californians

Here’s another reason why carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is not really such a good idea. The basic idea is that we will just capture all the CO2 produced by coal-fired power plants, pump it under high pressure across the country and shove it thousands of feet underground where it will stay for infinity and [...]

Coal ash conundrum

Last week, the Bugle published an article concerning a recent National Research Council study on the hidden health and environmental consequences of power production in the U.S. The study found that we pay, as a nation, about $120 billion per year, mostly in increased health problems and early deaths for our reliance on fossil fuels.
Along [...]

There ain’t no free lunch

It is imperative for the health of the planet that we move away from extractive, carbon-based energy and toward more environmentally friendly alternatives. However, an article in the New York Times this morning reminds us that there are always going to be consequences to the planet no matter how we get our electrical power. Two [...]

People are stupid

That may be a bit harsh. Maybe a better word would be “uninformed“. As we come down to the line on passing some kind of clean energy legislation through the Congress, it has come to my attention that most people don’t have a clue what the hell we are talking about, but are never the [...]

The real cost of coal

As Congress moves haltingly forward with health care and energy reforms, the National Research Council has released a very interesting peer-reviewed report on the Hidden Health and Environmental Costs of Energy Production and Consumption.
The report, done for the Department of Energy, examines the “hidden costs” of energy, such as the damage done to human health [...]

Where’s mine?

I guess the goal is to reduce U.S. carbon emissions and it looks like we are preparing to do that by buying off every stakeholder with something they want. In June, the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill narrowly passed out of the House of Representatives 219-212. There were many things that I didn’t like about [...]

Redegredation

You see, back in 2006 Montana had this good idea that you shouldn’t be allowed to screw up the water that flowed to your neighbor before he got his chance to use it. So, they wrote a simple rule; “For all state waters, existing and anticipated uses and the water quality necessary to protect those [...]

Clean Coal – Dirty Water

Tired of breathing all those toxic chemicals belching out of coal-fired power plants? Big Coal has an answer. Nearly 50 percent of the coal-fired power plants in the country have installed scrubbers to remove toxic chemicals from their emissions. Sound good? Well, maybe not. Emission scrubbers work by spraying water and chemicals into the plant’s [...]

River in doubt

Just in case you needed more reasons to believe that methane drilling in the headwaters of the Flathead River is not necessarily a good thing, the Bugle has collected a few recent articles on the horrors of CBM production.
If you live downstream on the Flathead, in Montana, you could wind up like Ned Prather of [...]

Cap and Less Crap

The mammoth cap and trade, Waxman-Markey (ACES) bill has stalled for now in the Senate due to attention being paid to passing a health care bill and due to all the complexity and uncertaintity built into the bill in the House. Earlier this month, a vote on the bill was delayed for up to a [...]