Three links via Benny Peiser

AFP: Republicans urge more drilling in energy blueprint

ST PAUL, Minnesota (AFP) — Republicans adopted a blueprint calling for stepped up petroleum drilling and refinery construction in the "most aggressive" energy policy in the party's history.

RATTLED GERMANY TO BUILD NEW COAL-FIRED POWER PLANTS IN FACE OF RUSSIA'S ENERGY STRANGLEHOLD

Hamm: Chancellor Angela Merkel (Christian Democratic Union) has again reiterated the need for Germany to build coal-fired power plants. Merkel said in Hamm, North Rhine - Westphalia on Friday [29 August] that Germany would only be able to continue meeting its own demand for electricity if it built new and efficient power plants. Those preventing the construction of new power plants would accept "serious risks" for the economy, the labour market and the future of Germany. Rejecting new and modern power plants was also "counterproductive" in terms of environmental and climate policies.

Sinclair's Musings: Beware the renewable energy fairy tale

The major problem with Leggett's article is that he sees renewables as part of the solution, rather than part of the problem. In reality, one of the reasons why Britain is in such trouble is that over the last ten years we've had a Government with a fondness for airy, unrealistic fantasies that renewables can provide a substantial portion of the electricity we need. Our energy policy has been based, for a decade, on the ludicrous idea that a combination of gas and renewable energy can provide the stable, affordable and secure capacity we need.