Category: Energy

As Tim DeChristopher Is Sentenced to Prison for Making Bids on Oil and Natural Gas Lands, He Tells the Court, “This Is What Hope Looks Like”

“In these times of a morally bankrupt government that has sold out its principles, this is what patriotism looks like.”

Editor: On Tuesday, July 25th, Tim DeChristopher was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison and was handed a $10,000 fine for bidding on oil and gas drilling leases in an attempt to protect public lands. Here is our original article from January 2009 by Lane Tobias on DeChristopher’s “crime” of civil disobedience to thwart Big Oil of buying up the Utah wilderness. Here are his words in court.

by Cesar Diaz /California Federation of Labor / July 14, 2011

According to a recent report, Sempra Energy’s plan to offshore green energy production to Mexico would result in as many as 15,000 lost U.S. jobs and nearly $300 million in lost local, state and federal tax revenue. 90% of the direct job losses would occur in Imperial County, which had the highest unemployment rate in the nation as of April 2011 at 27.9%

UPDATE: Exxon Mobil came under fire on Wednesday from Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who said the oil giant had assured Montana that any spill on the Yellowstone River could be shut off in a few minutes. (Go here for more details.)

Federal documents show it took Exxon Mobil nearly twice as long as it publicly disclosed to fully seal a pipeline that spilled roughly 1,000 barrels of crude oil into the Yellowstone River.

By East County Magazine / June 23, 2011

An attorney representing local groups opposed to Sunrise Powerlink presented arguments in U.S. District Court yesterday in San Diego, seeking to halt construction of the line on lands in East County owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

by Lucas O’Connor

The San Onofre nuclear facility is squarely in Darrell Issa’s district. Presumably, this would be a top concern for Darrell Issa, especially since San Onofre recently experienced its fifth spill of toxic chemicals in just over two years. Notorious for its deficient safety culture, “San Onofre is the leader still in safety concerns reported to the NRC.” That ought to be a terrifying concern for anyone living near San Onofre,…

by nunya / politickybitch

Many years ago photovoltaic collectors as a source of electricity were notoriously inefficient at that time, but hot water systems were efficient, and that was my training. And that didn’t turn out so well. I knew the Sunrise Powerlink was not the pretty picture that SDG&E painted because of my very limited experience with photovolatics and my suspicion of SDG&E’s PR campaign.

by George J. Janczyn / Groksurf’s San Diego /June 14, 2011 [updated June 15]

As predicted here one year ago (“San Diego County Water Authority water pricing lawsuit could jeopardize funding for Carlsbad Desalination Plant“), the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) has moved to terminate an agreement that would have paid a subsidy of $250 per acre foot (potentially $14M annually) to Posiedon and the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) for water produced at the Carlsbad Desalination Plant.

BERLIN — Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany, announced plans Monday to abandon nuclear energy over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hopes the transformation to more solar, wind and hydroelectric power serves as a roadmap for other countries.

By Dave Maass / CityBeat / May 30, 2011

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station suffered yet another accident this weekend when a mechanical failure resulted in the release of 75 gallons of sulfuric acid, according to a spill report (pdf) filed with the U.S. National Response Center.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl—and now Fukushima.

This latest and hopefully last nuclear disaster ironically has struck the very land first devastated by two US atomic bombs.

Unlike those first two horrors, however, those of late in Japan were never supposed to happen.

The six nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, like all others around the planet, were deemed safe and robust.

By Helen Villines / San Diego Citizens for Nuclear Free Neighborhoods

“What if you had just 15 minutes to evacuate, looking around your apartment or house, trying to quickly decide what you will take, how overwhelmed would you be – knowing you couldn’t return for a thousand years,” Rocky Neptun asks the group.

by John Lawrence / Will Blog For Food / April 6, 2011

We have seen the flaws in the ointment with Japan’s nuclear catastrophe.

There are so many advantages to solar energy production, and only one disadvantage – the government won’t set up the right incentive structure.