Here is some energy news making the rounds today. First up, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is getting a little ridiculous on its crusade against clean energy and climate legislation. They're now asking the Environmental Protection Agency to hold a large public trial about the science of global warming. From the LA Times article:
Chamber officials say it would be "the Scopes monkey trial of the 21st century" -- complete with witnesses, cross-examinations and a judge who would rule, essentially, on whether humans are warming the planet to dangerous effect.
"It would be evolution versus creationism," said William Kovacs, the chamber's senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs. "It would be the science of climate change on trial."
Wow.
After picking my jaw up off the floor, I then found the New York Times OpEd by energy "consultant" Michael Lynch entitled "'Peak Oil' is a Waste of Energy." Lynch takes the two-page OpEd to discuss what he sees as errors in the arguments of those who think our days of using oil are rapidly approaching their end due to peak oil. The folks in the comments section of the piece do an excellent job of debunking his debunking attempt, so be sure to check that out as well.
So while we fight for action against a U.S. Chamber of Commerce that still wants to debate global warming science and an energy "consultant" who thinks we're just fine using as much oil as we can possibly get our hands on - we then have articles like this one from USA Today: "Report: Future U.S. Heat Waves Will Be Worse." That report comes on the heels of last week's from the National Climactic Data Center, which stated that the world's ocean temperatures are the warmest ever recorded.
Look, folks, global warming is happening, and its effects are only going to get worse if we sit around twiddling our thumbs and trying to defend our current energy-guzzling and over-consumption lifestyles. Changes need to be made at all levels.
In other interesting news notes, be sure to read this NY Times article on China becoming a leader in solar panel production, and this Economist article on just how much carbon all our computing emits.
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