Environment

President Obama for the first time addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Tuesday evening, on the Gulf of Mexico oil volcano. The address came as scientists revised upward their estimate of how much petroleum is daily gushing into the Gulf, deciding it is between 35,000 and 60,000. Only 18,000 barrels a day is […]

Energy

Big Oil’s Predations are not Your Fault

Juan Cole

No, the BP oil volcano in the Gulf of Mexico is not your fault, despite what many pundits will tell you. Back in the 1960s when the environmental movement got going, major US corporations responsible for much of the nation’s pollution decided to fight it by paying for television advertising that urged individuals not to […]

Environment

BP Spills Coffee

Juan Cole

UCB Comedy: BP Spills Coffee:

Environment

Catty BP Strategies in Gulf

Juan Cole

Catty BP Strategies in Gulf

Environment

“This Scares Everybody” says BP:
Top Kill Fails, Imperils Gulf;
“There are no Solar Spills”

Juan Cole

British Petroleum’s attempt to plug the petroleum gusher a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico through a “top kill,” pumping mud into the oil pipeline in hopes of plugging it up, has failed, according to Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles. The LAT quotes him as saying, chillingly, at a news conference Saturday in Robert, LA, […]

Energy

BP Trashes Apollo Astronauts, Parrots Sarah Palin; Oil Godzilla heads for Coast

Juan Cole

In a BBC interview British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward said Friday that the massive petroleum gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, the greatest oil-based environmental catastrophe in recorded history with the exception of global warming itself, should not forestall further deep-water drilling. I’m not sure whether Hayward was channeling Sarah Palin, that font of good […]

Energy

I want My Country back from Big Oil

Juan Cole

I want my country back. I want back the country of Teddy Roosevelt, who cared about our natural environment. I want back the country of Harry Truman, who wasn’t afraid to give em hell. I don’t want an administration that authorizes offshore drilling to make political deals with the most despicable forces in American society. […]

Energy

Massive Offshore Windfarms to Power Green Germany

Juan Cole

Note to environmentalists: German utility corporations are building gigantic wind farms offshore that are expected to provide a quarter of Germany’s energy in coming decades. One plant, on an island, came online this week. “Wind and solar energy, biomass and water power today cover more than 16 percent of German electricity requirements.” Germany has 21,000 […]

Energy

The Horrible Gulf Oil Spill Reality versus the Energy Tomorrow Pantsuit

Juan Cole

Let us contrast reality to the fantasy that Big Oil projects for us on our television screens. I have long despised the character of the lady in pantsuits, played by Brooke Alexander, who assures us, in the Energy Tomorrow ads, that we really, really need Big Oil’s products. Yeah, like we need a hole in […]