Electric transmission lines, eminent domain, and the consequences of vague and broadly worded laws - Part 4

The past three parts of this series discussed national interest electric transmission corridors, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) authority to issue federal construction permits over the objections of state and local regulators, and the use of easements, rights of way, and eminent domain by the utilities to get access to the land needed for [...]

Electric transmission lines, eminent domain, and the consequences of vague and broadly worded laws - Part 3

The last two parts of this series have discussed how and why the Department of Energy and the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) may declare a “geographic area” as a national interest electric transmission corridor and how that designation enables the FERC to overrule local regulators and issue construction permits under a very broad set [...]

Electric transmission lines, eminent domain, and the consequences of vague and broadly worded laws - Part 2

Yesterday I discussed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and how it permits the Department of Energy to declare large swaths of the country as national interest electric transmission corridors (NIETCs) with little or no justification. Today I’ll discuss how the process of granting transmission line construction permits works in the aforementioned NIETCs.

Electric transmission lines, eminent domain, and the consequences of vague and broadly worded laws - Part 1

In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (referred to as the EPAct from here on), the first attempt in recent history by the federal government to address the generation, transmission, refining, etc. of all types of energy on a national scale. At 551 pages, the EPAct is packed full of good [...]

I’m a carboholic, and so are you

What, precisely, is a carboholic? When I first read the title of today’s guest column in the Washington Post (“We’re Carboholics. Make Us Stop.), I initially thought I was about to read a column on the poor dietary habits of U.S. citizens. But no, the author was actually David Crane, the CEO [...]

Earth to Bush: “Goals aren’t enough and never will be” - An introduction to the tactics of smart energy policy

At the end of this week’s White House-sponsored Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change, President Bush said “We will set a long-term goal for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. By setting this goal, we acknowledge there is a problem. And by setting this goal, we commit ourselves to doing something about it.” [...]

NRG Energy files the first nuclear power building permit since 1978

Today, NRG Energy of Princeton, New Jersey, will file the first permit to build a new nuclear reactor in 29 years. Not only that, but the permit actually covers two new reactors located at the Bay City, Texas nuclear plant. And by filing first, NRG Energy gets to partake of the maximum benefits [...]

Bush’s first crime: a cold case warms up

Harkening back to Harken.
(First posted at Smirking Chimp on July 29.)

“In the corporate world, some things aren’t exactly black and white when it comes to accounting procedures.”
– George W. Bush
The reluctance of Congressional Democratic leaders to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bush may be frustrating. But there’s an upside. For anyone seeking to file charges [...]

Decarbonizing the Carbon Economy

Until the development of water and wind power, humanity burned carbon-based fuels like wood and coal to power our civilization. These very same fuels are now polluting the air and water with heavy metals, ozone pollution, and acid rain. In addition, carbon-based fuels are almost entirely responsible for the global heating that has [...]

The House energy bill - two steps forward, two steps backward

I’m trying to determine whether the state of the House energy bill means that Speaker Pelosi won some hard compromises, or whether she was handed her head, politically speaking. It may be some of both, although I’m presently leaning toward the latter.

Toyota’s new plug-in Prius

Hybrid vehicles are a big deal, reducing oil consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. But plug-in hybrids are even better, especially since electricity is cheaper and the CO2 is localized to a power plant where, theoretically, it could be captured and sequestered. Plug-in hybrid vehicles are like your standard hybrid, but you can [...]

A proposal for a progressive agenda

Over the course of the last several years, we have experienced the results of failed Republican policies. The subjugation of all other foreign policy objectives to national defense has created a situation where we are literally less safe for having our soldiers fighting abroad1. Lower taxes are bankrupting the government, leading to a [...]

Climate wedges - one way to cut carbon emission

Back in January, I wrote a peice on my personal blog The Daedalnexus titled A Sane(r) Energy Policy where I discussed the idea of “carbon wedges” that has been developed by the Carbon Mitigation Initiative of Princeton University. In a nutshell, each carbon “wedge” represents roughly 25 Gigatons (25,000,000,000 tons) of carbon that isn’t emitted [...]

Novak: ‘08 Democratic sweep of Presidency, Senate, House ‘probable’

Sometimes it’s hard to tell, when our old buddy Bob Novak scuttlebutts, whether he’s been interacting with actual people or talking to his fist like Señor Wences. And then, if there’s good reason to believe he’s not winging it on his own, you have to figure out if he’s sharing legitimate insider analyses or [...]

Are biofuels agriculture, or industry?

Biofuels, done properly, may help end the carbon-economy and free the United States from our dependence on foreign oil. But, as I’ve said several times here at S&R, the U.S. isn’t doing biofuels properly. And finally, someone asked a question I hadn’t even thought about - should biofuels and the crops they’re made fro be [...]