Dream or Nightmare? | Power Line

Maybe we’ll figure this out, and look back on the nightmare of the Dreamliner as a milestone in the development of larger battery technology. (Boeing’s stock value is holding up remarkably well through this ordeal.) But I’m skeptical. The basic problem with all battery technology boils down to simple physics: what we’re trying to do is get a solid-state device to deliver the same concentrated and rapid energy delivery we currently get from hydrocarbon fuels. Gasoline is, of course, explosive under certain conditions, as is natural gas. When you pack in a lot of energy into a solid-state device designed for rapid energy release, we often call it by a different name: a bomb.

Awkward! Keystone opponent to host Obama fundraiser in SF next week

San Francisco billionaire Tom Steyer has made no secret of his opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, a project President Obama is considering approving this year.

But the fact that Obama may sign off on a pipeline that would ship heavy crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Gulf Coast refineries isn’t stopping Steyer from hosting the president at his Pacific Heights home April 3, in an event to raise money for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, will host the $5,000-per-person cocktail reception before a $32,500-per-person dinner to be hosted by fellow billionaires Ann and Gordon Getty at their home nearby.

Climategate Leaker: Civilization Is Being Destroyed By Lying “Science” Elitists - OpEd | Albany Tribune News

I asked Christopher C. Horner, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and attorney in the ATI v. UVa/Mann lawsuit for his take on the leaker’s message. He told me, “Whatever prompted ‘Mr. FOIA,’ I take it as a statement that, so far, the courts have failed us, as have our political institutions – and he has concluded that those in the public who have resisted the climate industry agenda should now have a chance to review these taxpayer-financed records, which are the subject of a remarkable campaign to subvert transparency laws.”

Cold U.S. weather a growing market concern

Cold weather, not drought, is becoming a major concern amongst traders for US weather forecasts in the near term. The unprecedented cold weather as we enter the planting season has left much of the country under snowbanks that typically have drying soils this time of year.