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department of interior

What scientific information or data does the Department of Interior intend to rely upon in fracking policy actions?

December 8, 2010 by Michael Giberson
with 496 views
0

U.S. House Republicans sent a short note over to the U.S. Department of the Interior, inquiring as to Interior’s plans for regulatory or policy changes with respect to hydraulic fracturing on public lands.  My favorites from among the questions asked: What scientific information or data does DOI intend to rely upon to form the... [read more]

Why We Deserve to Lose (The Race for a New Green Economy)

October 28, 2010 by Scott Edward Anderson
with 751 views
1

No offenths, as the 4-year-old son of a friend used to say before offering a critical observation, but we suck.And we deserve to lose the race for a new green economy to China. Why?  Because we have systematically destroyed our opportunity to lead through bad decisions and illusion, sold ourselves to China, and blanketed ourselves... [read more]

Solar Energy Plants Planned for California--Does It Make Sense?

October 7, 2010 by Nathan Temple
with 2,592 views
5

Two large solar plants were approved Tuesday for construction on federal lands.  Department of Interior (DOI) post.  See analysis of the proposed plants below the position statements.Position Statements:1. Solar thermal is more cost effective than PV solar.2. Construction per kW is extremely high while operating expenses are... [read more]

We need an independent commission to investigate the BP disaster

May 4, 2010 by Joseph Romm
with 162 views
0

Presidents Carter and Reagan—after the Three Mile Island near-nuclear meltdown and the Challenger Space Shuttle explosion, respectively—appointed independent commissions of high-profile public officials and experts to thoroughly investigate the causes of these events and make recommendations to prevent future tragedies.... [read more]

Shaving away at our fossil foolish addictions … some thoughts

May 3, 2010 by A Siegel
with 181 views
4

With the quite stark contrast between the Department of Interior’s go-ahead to offshore wind turbines (Cape Wind) and the worsening disaster of ever more oil coming over the Horizon from the Deepwater (e.g, Deepwater Horizon’s explosion and resulting dumping of untold amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico), people are turning to the... [read more]

Drilling and Climate Change

April 15, 2010 by Geoffrey Styles
with 178 views
7

For the last week or so I've been scratching my head over news that the Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the Department of Interior, had delayed an oil & gas lease sale in Montana and the Dakotas by at least five months, while it studies how oil field activities contribute to climate change. BLM's press release on the subject... [read more]

Ken Salazar, the “New Sheriff” at Interior: Oil and gas interests “Do not own the nation’s public lands”

February 7, 2010 by Joseph Romm
with 125 views
0

This Wonk Room repost is by guest blogger is Tom Kenworthy, a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress. When president-elect Barack Obama nominated Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar to head the Department of Interior at the end of 2008, some voices in the conservation community wondered whether the moderate Democrat with ties to... [read more]

Drill Elsewhere

January 7, 2010 by Matt Dernoga
with 115 views
0

After the Bush Administration had a “drill everywhere” policy, the Obama Administration and its Dept. of the Interior are setting stricter rules and greater public influence on how oil and gas leases are rewarded.  This is a good step, considering that Salazar has in my opinion been disappointing over his lack of leadership on... [read more]

Secretary Salazar: “Time has come for a clean energy future”

November 4, 2009 by Osha Davidson
with 272 views
0

With all eco-eyes focused on the action (or, more properly, inaction) on a climate bill, other critical components of a clean energy economy can be overlooked. That was the case on Monday as the dominant news story concerned speculation about whether Republican members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Public Works would show up... [read more]

Interior Dept. Launches Sweeping Climate Change Strategy

September 14, 2009 by Tim Hurst
with 133 views
0

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched the first-ever department-wide strategy to address the current and future impacts of climate change on America’s land, water, ocean, fish, wildlife, and cultural resources. The secretarial order (pdf) establishes a framework through which all of the Interior bureaus will coordinate... [read more]

Interior Secretary Salazar, Senator Reid announce ‘Fast-Track’ initiatives for up to 100,000 MW of solar energy development on Western lands

July 6, 2009 by Joseph Romm
with 129 views
0

The Bureau of Land Management has nearly 160 active solar project applications, “with a projected capacity to generate 97,000 megawatts of electricity” — equal to nearly 30% of the nation’s household electrical consumption.  Last week, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced a... [read more]