Energy & Environment

I've been monitoring the cleanup efforts by oil giant British Petroleum (BP) and its inability to cap a gaping hole in the ocean's floor that's oozing thousands of barrels of black gold per day. I have to say I'm perplexed that a billion-dollar corporation that has specialized in underwater oil extraction since the process was created can't seem to solve this crisis. I'm no engineer, but these guys are. So what's the problem? In applying with the Department of Energy and EPA to open the mega-platform years ago, BP told regulators they weren't worried about potential environmental damage to the coastline's industries if a spill ever occurred because the rig sat nearly 45 miles offshore, presumably allowing BP plenty of time to eradicate any damage prior to landfall.

We're seeing a lot of Don Blankenship on TV. Again. He's the CEO of Massey Energy, owner of the mine where at least 25 died underground in a "horrific" explosion Monday, the worst U.S. coal disaster of its kind in a quarter-century.

Typically, Blankenship is not shying away from publicity. So now we see him deflect charges Massey's egregious record of safety violations at its Upper Big Branch mine might well have caused a buildup of dangerous methane gas that blew up.

On March 2, the Institute for Education invited Deputy Secretary of Energy Dan Poneman to speak at an IFE policy roundtable. Hosted by IFE Diplomatic Steward and Belgium Ambassador Jan Matthysen at his residence, Poneman represented an administration that is ambitious and hopeful, but also determined about nuclear-arms proliferation.

Next month, the White House will host a Nuclear Security Summit, which 40 heads of state plan to attend. Poneman gave us a glimpse into the pressing nuclear-security issues facing the U.S. and the world. 

Pseudo-climatologists are invading the global community, lavishly armed with epithets rooted in the fear and guilt that we are responsible for the inevitable apocalyptic dying of our majestic Earth. More frightening is that these so-called climatologists have infiltrated respectable organizations whose research is responsible for global climate policy.

At first blush, President Barack Obama's announcement earlier today to set aside $8 billion in loan guarantees to break ground on the nation's first nuclear power plant in more than 30 years was highly encouraging.

Do you recall a year ago when political climatologist emphatically stated there will never be a major snowstorm in Washington because of global warming?

This statement, along with now discredited U.N. climate reports, was the premise for the Democrats passing cap-and-trade legislation. This well-publicized legislation would impose an additional energy cost of a $1,000 to $3,000 per American family and would transfer much-needed manufacturing jobs and wealth to emerging countries that wouldn't sign on to this dubious climate theory of global warming.

Earlier this week I reported that a CIA counterterrorism expert informed me that “the agency” has verified the existence of several terrorist cells in the United States, but that local law enforcement agents are prohibited from doing anything about it until the cells “go hot,” or move into action.

Those who look for meaning in swirling things in the sky will find them, especially on Winter Solstice. But the older rabbis tell us to look beneath the surface to find essentials, and what happened beneath the surface at Copenhagen is worth reporting. It was a modest nightmare, like one of those unsettling dreams like you are walking on the edge of a cliff, or strolling in public to suddenly realize you are naked, or that you go to your office and someone has taken your chair away. That’s what happened to America in Copenhagen. The new world order came together and they forgot to set a chair for Obama.

Remember the late George Carlin's routine where the Hippie Dippy Weatherman reports that radar pinpoints a line of thundershowers? He goes on to say that radar also shows Russian missiles heading our way, "So don't sweat the thundershowers.”

This is similar. There are urgent predictions that unless there is meaningful healthcare reform, the nation will soon face a medical emergency. Read more...

In Copenhagen, Denmark, this week, America meets its equal and opposite counterforce. Nobel laureates, climatologists, world thespians, shamans, pop stars and Al Gore will all be pushed aside, many of them never to be heard from again. And the stage will be left to two people, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

This will not be about climate at all. It will be about who will rule, the U.S. or China. Read more...