I remember days and nights spent at a rewrite desk in Washington 25 years ago, taking in and editing nearly unbelievable information from reporters in Russia and Western Europe. Where was this place, Chernobyl? Was…
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Archive | Author: Judy Dugan
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As Japan Fears Catastrophe, U.S. Energy Chief Says ‘Don’t Worry’
The U.S. is fiddling on nuclear reactor safety while Japan burns. The worst threat in Japan now comes from spent nuclear fuel stored in poorly protected water pools–just like in the United States.
Refiners Licking Their Chops Over Japan
With perhaps ten thousand lives lost and a nuclear reactor emergency growing daily in Japan, one industry is poised to reap huge profits from tragedy. The stocks of oil refiners charged upward today on bets…
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Japan’s Nukes and Refineries: What’s Going Untold
Japan’s struggle to avoid full-on meltdown at nuclear reactors that lost cooling power after the quake. The shutdown of major Japanese oil refineries. Both raise questions that scream for answers about corporate and government behavior….
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Absolute Gasoline Price Record in 2011?
The federal agency that tracks energy prices is predicting record annual gasoline prices for 2011–$3.56 per gallon on average for the full year, higher than the economy-wrecking $3.35 per gallon average price of 2008. The…
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Five Actions to Cut Gasoline Prices
An uprising in Libya is not causing your wallet to bleed at the gas pump. The U.S. buys virtually no oil from Libya. Egypt and Tunisia, the other hotspots, don’t even produce oil. There’s still…
Fracking Congress Finally Wakes to Natgas Danger
Congress–or at least a few Democrats in Congress–are at last investigating the explosive and toxic dangers of deep drilling for natural gas–the newest, hottest fad in the oil and gas industry. From The Hill’s energy…
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Glenn Beck is Raising Your Gasoline Prices
Ok, it’s not all Glenn Beck’s Fault that you’re paying $3.40 or $3.70 or even $4.00 a gallon at the pump. But his fear-based take on democracy movements in the Middle East (oh, the caliphate!)…
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Mr. Koch, the Governor Is On the Line
A spoof phone call from “David Koch” to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker got lots of deserved press Wednesday, but an even bigger ruse was the real David Koch meeting with “staff” in John Boehner’s office
Chevron Ecuador Judgment: A Long Way From Paid
An Ecuadorean judge’s ruling Monday that Chevron owes $8.8 billion for oil-drilling damage and pollution in the Amazon is far less than asked. But it’s far more than Chevron intends to pay–which is zero, except…
1,500 People Against the Koch’s Dirty Money, Dirty Energy
(Rancho Mirage, CA)–A year ago, it’s unlikely that 15 people would have shown up for a rally against the Koch brothers, owners of the largest privately owned corporation in the U.S, even in the middle…
Pushing Back Against the Kochs
(Rancho Mirage, CA(–Here in sunny Rancho Mirage, it’s a typical progressive gathering–lots of energy, but the wifi in the conference room was kaput. Oh, well, we still heard a great panel to kick off the…
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Sunday Forecast: Disturbances for Koch Meeting
There’s still room for more at the “Uncloak the Kochs” rally Sunday in Rancho Mirage, near Palm Springs, CA. The occasion is a meeting, once intended to be secret, of climate deniers and political funders sponsored by energy mega-billionaires David and Charles Koch. The idea? Seek an antidote to Mad Billionaire’s Disease.