The term “artificial scarcity” generally refers to a tactic where the supply of something is restricted so that prices go up (or remain high). Examples of this are diamonds (which are relatively plentiful and can be manufactured artificially at low cost), and health care (in the US the AMA keeps the number of doctors low […]
© Joel Pett Saying that the Solyndra scandal proves that green energy is a failure is the height of hypocrisy. How many wars have we fought, trillions of dollars have we wasted, and pristine environments have we destroyed just to keep getting our oil fix? We are like alcoholics who say “I tried drinking water, […]
© Ruben Bolling Conservatives somehow think that loan guarantees for green energy is a bad idea, while directly subsidizing oil companies makes good sense.
Yesterday, I posted a video from the Daily Show talking about the Solyndra “scandal”, but it is not at all clear that it is really a scandal at all as most of the scandalous aspects of the situation are actually lies. For example, conservative media repeatedly claims that “a major Solyndra investor is also a […]
The problem with funding green energy seems to be that, unlike wars in Iraq — where billions of dollars went missing and even money that was accounted for often went into the coffers of companies that made major campaign contributions to Dubya — you can’t just dismiss those stories as unpatriotic or hide behind the […]
The east coast received a rare, but powerful earthquake earlier this week, which struck very close to a nuclear power station, causing it to be shut down. How lucky were we? First of all, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission rated that plant as the seventh most likely nuclear plant to receive core damage from a […]
Last week, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits went up, causing widespread speculation that even though corporate profits are up, the economy is not recovering from the great recession and may even be heading for a dreaded “double dip recession”. One of the main things being blamed for this problem is high energy […]
It should be of little surprise that the banks lied to us back when oil prices spiked in the summer of 2008, hitting $147 a barrel. The banks, the Bush administration, the media, etc. blamed it on their old friends supply and demand — mainly demand from China and from Americans who wanted to drive […]
AmeriPAC, a conservative Republican political action committee, sent out a fundraising letter recently that accused Democrats of banning incandescent light bulbs: The Democrats have already voted to BAN our conventional lights bulbs (that you and I use even today!) in favor of DANGEROUS fluorescent light bulbs. … Help put an end to governmental interference in […]
You do the math. Speculating in the price of oil is one of the main reasons gas prices are so high. And here’s Republican House Whip Eric Cantor promising speculators that he will fight any financial regulations on them: Of course, it makes sense, since high energy prices are one of the main things hurting […]
The new Fortune 500 listings are out, ranking big corporations by revenue. But the list gets even more interesting if you rank them by profits. Exxon Mobil is #2 by revenue, but they are far and away #1 in profits, making what even Fortune magazine called “astonishing” profits of $35.6 billion dollars. That’s 52 times […]
On Monday, House Speaker John Boehner said that oil companies are “gonna pay their fair share in taxes and they should” and that the industry did not “need to have the oil depletion allowances” they currently receive. But that just incensed the corporate-owned wing-nuts who screamed that any reduction in corporate subsidies — including the […]
In 2008, ExxonMobil set a record for making the most profits in a year, breaking their own former record. Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. According to the Wall Street Journal, spiking oil prices are set to lift earnings of ExxonMobil by around 50% compared to last year. Will they again break their record? Win […]
© Matt Davies The only thing heating up more than the Japanese Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant is the propaganda war here in the US over whether we should use nuclear power to help solve our energy needs. I don’t have the answer, but I do know that the arguments being made by both sides are […]
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