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environment

  • Fried Birds: Green Energy Involves Tradeoffs Too0

    • February 17, 2014

    The Ivanpah solar plant went online last week, but the cost to wildlife–particularly birds–won’t be known for at least two more years. Reports that the giant solar thermal array featuring more than 300,000 reflective panels and steam-driven turbine towers have been “killing and singeing” birds by heating the air to around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit near

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  • Frack Attack: Cracking the Case Against Hydraulic Fracturing0

    • July 26, 2012

    A ban on fracking would not satisfy those who present general arguments against any kind of development. Acceptance of these arguments would require an outright ban on all oil and gas activities, new wind farm construction, electric transmission construction, residential housing developments, road construction, and the like. Before accepting any argument against fracking as sufficient grounds to restrict or ban its use, one should take that argument to its logical conclusion and consider the full set of repercussions. For if such arguments are granted valid status, they will be used again and again by whichever parties can benefit from shutting down any particular form of development.

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  • EPA report is blessing in disguise for fracking advocates0

    • December 19, 2011

    by Donovan Schafer In a recent report, the EPA linked groundwater contamination in Pavillion, Wyoming, to the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) used to extract oil and gas. You can almost hear the collective “Hooray!” from anti-fracking advocates. But the actual data in the EPA report make it clear that fracking is safe. The

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  • Xcel getting fat off Colorado ratepayers0

    • December 31, 2010

    The cost of the New Energy Economy is just being felt by Colorado ratepayers and enjoyed by Minnesota-based Xcel Energy as proved by the chart below, which is based on the energy company’s third quarter earnings report. But first a few facts about the economics of utility companies: Investor-owned utilities such as Xcel Energy operate

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  • Resolving the Conflict Between Man and the Environment: A Model in the Philippines0

    • June 22, 1994

    The Philippine eagle population has declined from an estimated total of 500 in 1981 to just 63 today. The eagles’ natural habitat has been depleted by the economic needs of the millions of Filipinos who sell forest products or farm using slash and burn techniques.

    A private group, The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEFI), has developed a program which has improved the economic life of the local residents while preserving the habitat of the eagles. Their efforts illuminate the importance of maintaining biodiversity if natural ecosystems are to flourish.

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