In the Pipeline

You know it's bad when... Columbia Journalism Review  (4/12/13) reports: “Journalists and the GOP called for more transparency at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week, as Gina McCarthy, the Obama administration's pick to succeed Lisa Jackson as head of the agency, entered congressional confirmation hearings… The day before McCarthy, who now heads the EPA's air pollution division, faced off with the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works, a group of Republicans...
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Thank goodness we have the money to spend on this sort of thing. I mean, it doesn’t seem ridiculous or pointless at all. The Hill (4/11/13) reports: “President Obama’s fiscal 2014 budget calls for using a satellite designed to track climate change that was originally pushed by former Vice President Gore… Obama proposed Wednesday spending nearly $35 million in his 2014 budget to refurbish a satellite, nicknamed GoreSat by critics, that’s been sitting in storage after it was shelved...
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Now that would be a mandate we could all get behind. Denver Post (4/8/13) reports: “The officials from rural cooperatives and rural counties called the bill ‘a war on rural Colorado.’…’I own a bar. I'd like you to pass a law that everyone has to drink 25 percent more. Everyone is feathering their own nest,’ Moffat County Commissioner Tom Mathers said.”      Well gosh, we didn’t realize anyone was willing to have a reasonable debate about Keystone. Bloomberg  (4/9/13)...
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It must be stressful for President Obama to empathize with such a backwards way of thinking. WSJ  (4/5/13) reports: “At the home of hedge-fund billionaire Thomas Steyer, Mr. Obama was at pains to explain how the proletariat think. "You may be concerned about the temperature of the planet, but it's probably not rising to your number one concern," Mr. Obama said. "And if people think, well, that's shortsighted, that's what happens when you're struggling to get by." In other words, it's...
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I don’t always go to protests, but when I do, I make sure to bring my harmonica. Denver Post (4/1/13) reports: “Longmont and Fort Collins have banned the practice. Hickenlooper said Monday that past court rulings suggest cities can't do that because mineral rights owners have to have reasonable access to recover the minerals for which they own the rights… Three hecklers were ejected from the debate. One left playing a harmonica.”   Times have changed. It's not like the Old Days,...
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When you're not gambling with your own money, Vegas must be tons of fun. Grist  (3/28/13) reports: “We find that 90% of hours are covered most cost-effectively by a system that generates from renewables 180% the electrical energy needed by load, and 99.9% of hours are covered by generating almost 290% of need. Only [9 to 72 hours] of storage were required to cover 99.9% of hours of load over four years. So much excess generation of renewables is a new idea, but it is not problematic or...
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Freedom of expression is now freedom of coercion. Sierra Club (3/31/13) reports: “As the effects of climate change cause hardship for families across America, we need better coverage if we want people to connect the dots and demand real action to curb global warming pollution… That's why we're launching a petition to the executive producers of ABC, CBS, and NBC's evening news programs, demanding more -- and better -- news coverage on climate change this year. Will you add your name to...
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