Category Archives: GOVERNMENT

government, politicians, military, political issues, U.S. congressional record and so on

Can the lights be kept on with distributed generation? 2015 U.S. House hearing on a reliable electric system

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

[ Corporate speakers testify – could they have any self-interest, hope for government grants?  Since Congress often asks the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to write unbiased papers on topics,  why didn’t NAS and National Laboratory scientists speak? Corporations are … Continue reading →

Posted in Congressional Record U.S., Distributed Generation, Grid instability | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

U.S. House 2013 “Exports and the Changing global energy landscape”

Posted on March 17, 2018 by

[ My excerpts from the house hearing below is another “let’s export Natural Gas to our allies now that we’re energy independent”.  The driving force is not making even better friends with Europe and keeping bully Russia away (though that’s … Continue reading →

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Not only are telecom companies screwing us on net neutrality, they refuse to get rid of robocalls

Posted on December 15, 2017 by

Preface. It’s four years after the 2013 Senate hearing below and the telecomm industry has still refused and congress and/or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have not demanded robocalls be blocked despite over 10 years of complaints.  In fact, unwanted … Continue reading →

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U.S. Senate 2014 Freight rail service: improving the performance of America’s rail system

Posted on December 14, 2017 by

Preface. This Senate hearing is mainly full of oil and grain industry leaders bashing the rail industry and asking Senators to do something about it. But the railroad industry is four times more energy efficient than trucks, and not guilty … Continue reading →

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China is securing energy resources. A potential threat to Europe and U.S. interests.

Posted on December 11, 2017 by

Preface. China is vastly expanding its fleet of natural gas heavy-duty trucks to 700,000 in 2018 and similar or more amounts after that.  They are building pipelines to Russia and other Central Asian countries to keep the gas coming.  I … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Dependence, Energy Policy, Natural Gas | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Overview of the renewable fuel standard, U.S. House hearing 2013

Posted on November 18, 2017 by

House 113-61. June 26, 2013. Overview of the renewable fuel standard: Government perspectives. House of Representatives. [Excerpts from the 104 page transcript follow] Key points: The implicit premise that cellulosic and other advanced biofuels would be available in significant quantities … Continue reading →

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Why is nearly all solar power built where subsidies are the highest?

Posted on October 8, 2017 by

If solar net energy return is as high as some solar advocates claim, why does solar need any subsidies? And not just U.S. subsidies, it’s subsidies on top of subsidies when you add in that we’re buying Chinese government subsidized … Continue reading →

Posted in Concentrated Solar Power, Energy Policy, Photovoltaic Solar, Solar EROI | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

House hearing on Venezuela’s collapse March 2017

Posted on October 2, 2017 by

“The economy of Venezuela is largely based on the petroleum sector and manufacturing. Revenue from petroleum exports accounts for more than 50% of the country’s GDP and roughly 95% of total exports” (wiki). [ This is a summary of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Central & South America, Energy Dependence, Mass migrations | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

House hearing: no solutions for North Korea in sight

Posted on September 17, 2017 by

[ This is a summary of the March 2017 house hearing titled “Pressuring North Korea–evaluating options”. First are some of the reasons why nothing is going to change –in my own wording–followed by congressional testimony.  Then Chairman Yoho gives a … Continue reading →

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Pentagon video warns of unavoidable dystopian future for world’s biggest cities

Posted on September 14, 2017 by

[ I’ve found the military to be among the most climate-change peak-oil aware of any government institution (see my posts in experts/government/military here). Will be interesting to see how they use that awareness as decline unfolds (i.e. get the lion’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Collapsing, Military | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments