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Wall Street Journal
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Aug 21, 08 3:22 PM CDT
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Stocks saw mixed results today as the Dow and S&P 500 managed to claw back from early losses due to surging oil and a weak dollar, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dow closed up 12.78 at 11,430.21; the Nasdaq fell 8.70 to 2,380.38, while the S&P 500 gained 3.18 to finish at 1,277.72.
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New York Times
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Aug 21, 08 1:18 PM CDT
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Energy security has become a matter of major public hand-wringing, but everyone ought to calm down, write Eugene Gholz and Daryl G. Press in the New York Times . Our oil supplies are perfectly safe—the US, its businesses, and its allies have more than enough oil to weather any short-term disruption in supplies. No matter the trouble in Iran, Venezuela or Nigeria, America will be fine.
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Washington Post
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Aug 21, 08 10:48 AM CDT
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A surprisingly small group of investors and oil traders control the vast majority of the world’s oil contracts, and they are exerting tremendous influence over the market, reports the Washington Post. Regulators have found that a few financial firms speculating for themselves or their clients hold 81% of the oil contracts on NYMEX—a far bigger share than had been previously reported. A single Swiss firm was found to hold as much as 11% of the contracts in July.
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New York Times
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Aug 20, 08 2:32 AM CDT
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Mayor Mike Bloomberg has unveiled a bold plan to harness alternative energy to power New York City, the New York Times reports. The mayor is calling for windmills to be built on the city's bridges and skyscrapers, and for offshore wind farms to be created that could supply 10% of the city's electricity in 10 years. Bloomberg has asked companies for proposals for renewable energy projects.
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Associated Press
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Aug 19, 08 10:25 AM CDT
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Wholesale prices jumped 1.2% in July—more than twice the rate economists expected and the fastest pace in 27 years, according to government data released today, the AP reports. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, rose 0.7%, the biggest since November 2006; new home construction in July fell to the lowest pace in more than 17 years.
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New York Times
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Aug 19, 08 2:55 AM CDT
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A rapidly changing world order has left the giant oil companies all monied up with nowhere to drill, the New York Times reports. The Western oil giants' share of production has plummeted from over half in the 1970s to just 13% today. Production is falling as oil supplies remain in the hands of foreign state-owned firms which lack expertise.
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Wall Street Journal
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Aug 18, 08 11:36 AM CDT
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Frank Sanns has an unusual hobby: He’s trying to prove nuclear fusion is a viable energy source. At the center of his search is a working, homemade nuclear reactor. “I’m a dreamer,” the Pittsburgh native tells the Wall Street Journal . Sanns is part of an exclusive cadre called the “Neutron Club”—in which all 42 members have built homemade reactors.
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Associated Press
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Aug 17, 08 6:20 PM CDT
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Wind turbines are cropping up in rural New York state and threatening to pull communities apart, the AP reports. The state's largest wind energy project is worth $400 million and powers 100,000 homes; farmers get paid up to $6,600 per turbine per year to offset the sight and sound of massive spinning blades. But some families and neighbors are at odds over whether the money is worth it.
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New Republic
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Aug 13, 08 9:05 PM CDT
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The end of cheap oil means it’s “springtime for gloomy futurists,” Bradford Plumer writes in the New Republic , but we’re not headed for a Mad Max scenario just yet—unless you like cheap seats on airplanes. Jet fuel is approaching twice the price of a year ago, and clamored-for carbon pricing could quintuple fares. And airplanes can’t run on solar or fuel cells presently, so look for a radical restructuring in commercial aviation.
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Wall Street Journal
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Aug 13, 08 9:35 AM CDT
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Northeasterners expecting the price of heating oil to hit $4.35 a gallon are creating an avalanche of new business for heating and cooling contractors as they increasingly look to convert from oil heat to natural gas, reports the Wall Street Journal . A conversion to natural gas heat can cost up to $8,000, but can pay for itself in 4 to 6 years—and contractors are reporting months-long backlogs.
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New York Times
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Aug 13, 08 3:25 AM CDT
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John McCain's tough talk on energy has been undercut by his failure to vote on a vital renewable energy bill, Thomas L. Friedman writes in the New York Times . The bill, which has failed yet again to pass, would have extended tax credits for wind and solar projects, but McCain's absence—for the eighth time—is helping to stall those projects, and holding up thousands of jobs.
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New York Times
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Aug 11, 08 10:19 AM CDT
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Some of the largest US retail chains have begun to embrace solar power as a way to reduce energy costs and to wrangle some cred among green-conscious shoppers, reports the New York Times . Kohl’s, Macy’s, Safeway, and Whole Foods are among chains rushing to install test panels on their vast roofs before a federal tax credit expires at the end of the year.
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New York Times
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Aug 10, 08 9:17 AM CDT
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Hey, America, looking for a way to solve the energy crisis? Try following Denmark's lead, writes Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times . The country has a few simple fixes that go a long way: Friedman observes half the rush-hour traffic is bicycles; wind provides 20% of the country's power; and tax incentives help reduce the addiction to oil.
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Wall Street Journal
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Aug 8, 08 1:01 PM CDT
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Soaring grain and energy costs are driving food prices skyward, and big producers are moving to pass price hikes down the food chain to consumers on everything from cereal to meat, the Wall Street Journal reports. And costs won’t likely decrease, with biofuel demand eating up more corn than ever and livestock herds being thinned in response to the higher price of grain.
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Wired
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Aug 8, 08 4:43 AM CDT
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Mitsubishi is sending some of its new i MiEV electric cars for testing in California, Wired reports. The Japanese company has signed deals with two Golden State power companies to add a few of the nimble jellybean-shaped vehicles to their fleets for a three-year demonstration.
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Renewable Energy World
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Aug 7, 08 8:14 PM CDT
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A small group of Mexican scientists is working to create a massive agave-to-ethanol project that one says could supply the entire US need of 36 billion gallons by 2022, Renewable Energy World reports. The agave, used to make tequila and mescal, is high in sugar, resilient, and needs little cultivation, making it a prime candidate for ethanol production.
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New York Times
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Aug 7, 08 2:50 PM CDT
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The EPA refused to cut a minimum ethanol quota today, despite critics’ charges that the biofuel mandate is driving high food prices, the New York Times reports. The agency approved Congress’ quota that requires the US use 9 billion gallons of ethanol in gasoline blends this year, denying Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s request to shrink it.
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Palm Beach Post
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Aug 6, 08 4:34 PM CDT
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Barack Obama's campaign will run an energy-themed ad on TVs on Florida gas pumps starting today, the Palm Beach Post reports. The commercial highlights alternative-energy research and tax cuts as parts of Obama's plan to "break the grip of foreign oil," while presenting John McCain as more of the status quo.
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