fossil fuel

ExxonMobil CEO: World Needs Our Oil, 'Like It or Not'

Cutting oil production 'not acceptable to humanity': Rex Tillerson

(Newser) - Keep the oil taps flowing for the good of the people, the CEO and chair of ExxonMobil appealed to shareholders at what the Guardian says was a "long and fractious" annual meeting in Dallas on Wednesday. Rex Tillerson told attendees the oil giant had already pumped $7 billion into... More »

Pope on Emissions: 'Catastrophic' If Special Interests Butt In

Francis spoke at African UN headquarters in Nairobi on fossil fuels

(Newser) - Pope Francis warned Thursday it would be "catastrophic" if special interests get in the way of a global agreement to curb the fossil fuel emissions blamed for global warming at a climate change meeting next week in Paris. In a speech at African UN headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Francis... More »

All Antarctic Ice Would Melt If We Burned All Fossil Fuels

Seas could rise 160 feet: study

(Newser) - If we were to burn all of the planet's fossil fuel reserves, we would be saying goodbye to the entire Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets. That's the takeaway from an international study announced today, Reuters reports. "To be blunt: If we burn it all, we melt it... More »

How Your Coffee Grounds Can Help Save the World

Heating used grounds with potassium hydroxide enables methane storage

(Newser) - As if coffee isn't amazing enough already. A team of researchers—who, yes, got the idea over a cup of coffee—are reporting in the journal Nanotechnology that soaking spent coffee grounds in potassium hydroxide and then heating the grounds in a furnace creates a material that can store... More »

Young People Sue US Over Climate Change

They say fossil fuels are putting future at risk

(Newser) - A group of 8- to 19-year-olds says climate change will doom the future unless changes are made now—and they're trying to force the government to do just that. Nearly a dozen young people filed a federal lawsuit in Oregon yesterday, arguing that the current consumption of fossil fuels... More »

Pope Francis' Encyclical Leak: an Inside Job?

Reporter's press credentials suspended; some suspect Vatican conservatives

(Newser) - The "heinous act" of leaking the draft of Pope Francis' long-awaited environment encyclical may have been designed to steal some thunder from Thursday's official launch, Vatican observers say—and some think it may have been masterminded by Vatican insiders, the AP reports. What the news agency is calling... More »

Oil-Rich Rockefellers Are Dumping Fossil-Fuel Stocks

Philanthropic fund makes announcement ahead of climate conference

(Newser) - The Rockefellers' riches may have been fueled by oil, but they say it's time for a new source of energy. Ahead of this week's UN climate change summit , the family's philanthropic Rockefeller Brothers Fund will announce today that it's divesting from fossil fuels, the New York ... More »

What to Watch for in Today's Climate Speech

Obama to set out landmark regulations, but rocky road ahead

(Newser) - Today, President Obama will unveil his plans to fight climate change—"the global threat of our time," he said last week—in a speech at Georgetown University. He's taking on the threat without help from Congress , though lawmakers could potentially seize on a law that lets them... More »

20 Most Toxic States

Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida at the top

(Newser) - Ohio accounts for more air pollution than any other state, according to a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council spotted by LiveScience . The state's power plants pumped out 44.5 million pounds of chemicals in 2009, or 12% of all US industrial air pollution. Overall, US power... More »

US Military Ditching Fuel for Solar Energy

First portable solar panels arrive in Afghanistan

(Newser) - The US military may be an unlikely poster child for green energy, but with its fuel supply convoys increasingly under attack in Afghanistan, it's working hard to ditch its dependence on fossil fuels—and source its energy from the sun. Last week saw the arrival of portable solar panels and... More »

As Long as We Use Oil, We'll Spill Oil

(Newser) - The Exxon Valdez oil spill is still wreaking havoc on Prince William Sound 20 years later, and an increased push for drilling in Alaska has conservationists and fisherman girding for a repeat, Yale Environment 360 reports. The decimation of the sound’s herring population has affected everything from seabirds to... More »

Ammonia + Corn = Energy Independence

(Newser) - Feeding cows parts of corn plants that farmers currently discard could eventually lead to American energy independence, Wired reports. An ammonia treatment applied to corn “stover” could make it palatable to cattle, freeing up more land for the production of ethanol, a Michigan State researcher says. That could, in... More »

Geothermal Energy Hopes Are Booming

Subterranean rocks could supply 10% of power by 2050

(Newser) - Hot rocks beneath the Earth's surface hold much promise for the nation's energy needs, but it's going to take big money to make the science work, the Christian Science Monitor reports. With $1 billion investment over the next 15 years, experts say geothermal power could provide 10% of the nation's... More »

NASA Launching First Satellite to Map CO2

(Newser) - NASA will soon launch a satellite that can measure carbon dioxide concentrations near the surface of the Earth, giving scientists an accurate picture of where the gas is produced and absorbed, the BBC reports. "This is NASA's first spacecraft specifically dedicated to mapping carbon dioxide," said a project... More »

Slump May Doom Clean Energy Initiatives

Some nations could fall back on fossil fuel

(Newser) - Just as global warming initiatives were gaining serious momentum around the world, the financial crisis looks like it's undermining both the political will and the math that support them, the New York Times reports. With gas prices plummeting, US automakers may be scaling back investment in new technology. In Europe,... More »

India's Effort to Boost Biofuel Encounters Growing Pains

Country aims to feed boom with hardier crops, though it's a tough sell

(Newser) - Just months after India’s finance minister called converting food crops to biofuels “a crime against humanity,” the government has launched a program that aims to get 20% of India’s diesel from plants by 2017, relying heavily on hardy plants that won’t keep rob needed land.... More »

Drilling Boom Sends Natural Gas Supplies Soaring

Boom raises hope for cheaper prices as reserves expand

(Newser) - The US is ramping up natural gas production in a manner not seen since the post-World War II boom—scoring a nearly 9% increase through the first five months of 2008, reports the New York Times. The drilling boom comes as new technology is able to release gas long believed... More »

Energy Crisis Requires a Global Agency

UN atomic watchdog argues for managed transition from oil

(Newser) - A global agency is needed to deal with the developing energy crisis, Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, writes in the Financial Times. Demand for energy is rising fast and alternatives to fossil fuels remain largely hypothetical, and though there are international organizations to deal with everything... More »

Gore Pounds Pols on Energy Plan

Sees role as facilitator; says 'baby steps no longer responsible'

(Newser) - Al Gore made his first appearance on Meet the Press since he sought the presidency 8 years ago, Politico reports, this time pushing his agenda as the nation's self-appointed energy czar. "My own best role is to try to bring about a sea change in public opinion" on environmental... More »

Google's Juicy Addiction: Cheap Electric

Not-so-green tech giants show insatiable appetite for power

(Newser) - No industrial smokestacks rise from that cute Google logo, but each click of the search button takes an environmental toll, Harper's reports. Google and its competitors are guzzling electricity to power ever-larger server complexes, and a renewable-energy initiative is more about making amends than benevolence. A new taxpayer-subsidized Google center... More »