As we've discussed previously, energy efficiency offers tremendous potential to slash energy waste, save consumers enormous amounts of money (Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute has estimated that by 2050, energy efficiency measures could save the U.S. economy upwards of half a trillion dollars) and cut pollution.  Despite all these advantages, energy efficiency's potential remains underutilized. Part of the reason for this is that, as Matthew Wald of the New York Times explained to us, it costs money - and time and effort - to save money via energy efficiency improvements.  Part of it may be a matter of better communication, as Jennifer Layke has suggested. And part of it is clearly a matter of enacting government policies that discourage waste and encourage energy efficiency.

This is outrageous, but sadly not surprising.

Here are a few key points by Tom Steyer made in this interview by the CBC:

You know how oil companies always like to reassure us that their operations are safe, only to experience a spill or other disaster that proves them wrong? Right, because it happens all the time. So why should we now believe TransCanada when it claims its proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline will be "constructed and operated to the highest industry standards," and that "[s]afety of the public and the environment is a top priority for TransCanada?" Of course, we shouldn't take their word for it, and articles like this one should make us even more leery.

Among the many problems associated with hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") for oil and gas - methane leakage, water contamination, etc. - there's another problem that's bordering on existential - running out of water completely.

As we noted the other day, “this is a good time to be in the business of selling electric vehicles.” Why?  Three main reasons: 1) more choice; 2) lower electric vehicle prices; and 3) higher gasoline prices. All of this has resulted in "sales of electric cars hav[ing] more than doubled in the U.S. during the first six months of 2013 compared to the same time period in 2012."  It's not just EVs, of course, but also hybrids, as the New York Times pointed out in an editorial yesterday:

In a new interview, BP CEO Robert Dudley says he is "perplexed" at the question "why do people hate oil companies?" According to Dudley: