GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:
- Our economy is working to bring us cheaper oil. It may seem logical that high oil prices would push a society towards new energy sources. But, high oil prices have caused a surge of investment in extraction technology making us able to drill for oil that was once unprofitable.
- Coal is our favored source of electricity and will continue to be in the next 40 years. This is just a harsh reality that we must work with.
- Natural Gas is painted as short term alternative to oil. National Geographic reports on the US Natural Gas industry.
- The New York Times presents an article on the increased safety of oil pipelines. With perpetual spills pipelines are not secure, but with further upgrades we could have a safe pipeline infrastructure by the time we no longer use oil as one of our main energy sources.
- A controversy over a wind project in the US illustrates how the “Green Economy” will not be a re-birth for business or politics. The same rules and power dynamics will control the economy, whether it is “dirty” or “green.”
- Solar Panels have been brought to the market that both produce electricity and heat. Innovations like this bring us closer to a sustainable economy.
- Grist provides 6 suggestions for addressing the “Renters Dilemma,” where neither the renter nor the landlord has a financial incentive to invest in home energy efficiency.
- Alexandra Cousteau provides a short article on lawns in the US. “Between 50-70% of residential water use goes to landscaping and lawns.”
- An Anti-hydrogen atom has been witnessed! Advances like this in Science make possible a sustainable future.
