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Who Really Killed theElectric Car? Its Battery Pack – the One Featured on the Nissan LeafCosts $16,000 – With Very Little Hope of Price Coming Down.Wall Street Journal (10/19) reports, “The push to get electriccars on the road is backed by governments and auto makers around the world, butthey face a big hurdle: the stubbornly high cost of the giant battery packs,which can account for more than half the cost of an electric vehicle. Both theindustry and government are betting that a quick...

Must Read: U.S.-Based TidesFoundation, Funders of NRDC, Sierra, Et. Al, Sending Tens of Millions ofDollars Across the Border to Fight Development of Canadian Energy.Financial Post (10/14) reports, “Like most protests, theone against oil tankers has all the look and feel of a Canadian grassrootsmovement. The campaign against Alberta’s oil sands also seems to rise out ofthe people, but the interesting thing is that there are very few roots underthat grass. Money comes in from a small core of...

Must ReadOpEd: U.S. Drilling Technology Aided in Rescue of Chilean Miners; Still theWorld Standard. BillWhitefield writes (10/15) for the Houston Chronicle , “A troubling discoveryplaces humans in peril, and only a team of American drillers stand between lifeand certain death. Though eerily similar to the story line of 1998'stop-grossing film Armageddon, this fantastic tale is far from fiction for 33desperate miners who became trapped 2,000 feet underground in Copiapó, Chile,71 days ago. When...

With Offshore Moratorium Gone,But Not Really, IER’s Kish Coins New Term: Permitorium. Washington Examiner (10/14) editorializes, “ Sen. Mary Landrieu waseither being diplomatic or disingenuous when she used "good start" todescribe Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's lifting of the federal government'sdrilling moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico. More to the point was her insistencethat lifting the ban means nothing in the absence of "an action plan toget the entire industry in the Gulf of Mexico...

Let the “Permitorium”Commence: Statutory Ban on Responsible Development in the Gulf May Be Gone– But No One Actually Believes Anything’s Really Going to Change.Politico (10/12) reports, “The Obama administration Tuesday lifted itsban on deepwater oil and gas drilling a month ahead of schedule, but it isn’tenough to get its top budget nominee past Sen. Mary Landrieu, a LouisianaDemocrat who said the move doesn’t go far enough. Interior Secretary KenSalazar removed the moratorium imposed after...

I’m Feeling Lucky: GoogleAnnounces Plan to Drop $5 Billion on 350-Mile Stretch of Wind Mills Offshore --$14.2 Million for Every 5,280 Feet of Installed Equipment.NY Times (10/12) reports, “Google and a New York financial firm haveeach agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbonefor future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Seaboard that couldultimately transform the region’s electrical map. The 350-mile underwaterspine, which could remove some critical...

$170k Salary Isn’t Enoughfor Top Energy Advisor to Sen. Reid -- Dude Turns Tidy Profit Buying andSelling Wind, Solar Stocks – Right Before His Office Announces New TaxCredits for ‘Em.Wall Street Journal (10/11) reports, “Chris Miller nearlydoubled his $3,500 stock investment in a renewable-energy firm in 2008. It wasa perfectly legal bet, but he's no ordinary investor. Mr. Miller is the topenergy-policy adviser to Nevada Democrat and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,who helped pass...

Rememberthat “Independent” BP Report that Examined the Macondo Blowout? Turns Out,Report Underwent Extensive Legal Review, Editing by Company Lawyers.Wall Street Journal (10/8) reports, “—BP PLC's lawyershelped prepare its internal investigation into its Gulf of Mexico drillingdisaster, according to the report's lead author, raising questions about thestudy's impartiality. The report, led by Mark Bly, was presented by BP as animpartial investigation into what caused the April 20 explosion,...

ADN– “Bottom Line: Shell should get the chance to drill in the Beaufort Seain 2011.” Anchorage Daily News (10/6) Editorializes, “ShellAlaska is seeking permits from the Department of the Interior for exploratorydrilling at lease sites in the Beaufort Sea in the summer of 2011. In April,the Deepwater Horizon explosion, blowout and spill in the Gulf of Mexico shutdown drilling there and scrapped drilling off the East Coast. Arctic plans wereput on hold. Those plans are still on hold. Secretary...

WhyRewrite a Good Headline? “Interior Secretary Salazar Is Costing America Plenty”of Jobs. Thomas J. Pylewrites (10/4) for FoxNews.com , “After toeing the White House line beforethe BP Oil spill commission on the future of offshore energy exploration,Interior Secretary Ken Salazar continued his public relations tour last weekwith a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center. In the speech he outlined the Obamaadministration’s stance on energy policy, and specifically offshoreexploration. Secretary...