I’ve usually admired David Brooks, New York Times columnist, and Mark Shields, campaign strategist and analyst, for their smart political opinions on public television. So it was sad recently to see their heads stuck in Alberta’s tar sands over the highly controversial Keystone XL pipeline, which will surely be reintroduced in Congress next year. Pipeline […]
Russ Doty
Posted inWotr
Tips for a bright – and efficient – Christmas
Last year, I loaded up the Christmas stockings of relatives and friends with 60-watt Philips LEDs — light-emitting diode — light bulbs, and this holiday I’ll do it again. Why give a present few people even know they want? Because LEDs are the gift that keeps on giving, saving money every month on electric bills. […]
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LEDs ought to be leading the way
How many cities does it take for Western utilities to change a light bulb? Federal Department of Energy research shows that light-emitting diode streetlights — called LEDs by just about everybody — can reduce energy use by 12 percent when used in place of conventional high-pressure sodium lighting above high-speed roads. LEDs also can save […]
Posted inWotr
Think again before going nuclear
Both major candidates for president are effusive in their praise of alternative ways of producing energy, and their lists of how to go green usually include nuclear power. John McCain’s energy plan calls for 45 new nuclear power plants. Barack Obama is less enthused; he says he’d go forward only if the problems of nuclear […]
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You, too, can overcome cynicism at Christmas
Trolling the Web recently, I found Rick Banyan’s site for “kinder, gentler” cynics. I hoped he’d help me get through this season of jingles and fears that we’re not buying enough stuff to make Christmas profitable for retailers. Banyan says sarcastically that we “emerge from the holidays 10 pounds heavier and several hundred dollars lighter.” […]
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When it comes to subsidies, coal wins
My local Montana newspaper ran a letter not long ago complaining about the cost of wind power. The only thing that lets wind power compete with good old coal-fired electricity, the writer said, was the 1.9 cent per kilowatt-hour subsidy that a wind producer gets for the first 10 years of production. If only it […]