GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up and comments on the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:
- Paul Ryan Mitt Romney’s recently announced running mate, has a poor environmental record. Not Surprisingly, Ryan has received a lot of money from the anti-Environment Koch Brothers.
- Chevron has a large, century-old oil refinery in Richmond, CA just north of Berkeley and across the bay from of San Francisco. The plant had a series of explosions last Monday that sent a cloud of toxins into surrounding neighborhoods. The plant has been fighting opposition from community members who for years have wanted the plant to upgrade its old pipes. Instead, Chevron wanted to upgrade so they can refine tar sands from Alberta, Canada.
- South Sudan is dependent on oil money but they are unable to transport oil through Sudan to bring it to market.
- Oil prices are on an upward trend and are on track to be unmanageable. The more renewable energy we install the better, it’s the only prescription for our addiction to dirty energy.
- The US Government has refurbished their oil pipeline regulations. If the free market was a perfect system then we would not need regulations that tell companies that they can not spill their oil and spoil the public commons without severe consequence.
- The US Military is pro-renewable energy and is showing it by opening millions of acres to development of renewable energy projects. Also, president Obama has put several large renewable energy projects on administrative fast-track, and gave $7 billion to the Army corps of Engineers for renewable energy projects.
- The US is loaning $2 billion to South Africa for renewable energy projects, that’s way cool.
