Blog

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Nov. 11, 2010 — Pardon my cynicism, but I don’t for a minute believe that the Republican electoral sweep earlier this month will result in significant cuts in federal spending anytime soon. Am I charging that Republican electoral doctrine is a tissue of hypocrisy? Yes, I am, and we will […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Nov. 5, 2010 – It could be a sign of the times, or merely a temporal coincidence. Liza Heinzerling this week announced she is leaving the Environmental Protection Agency, where she has been a hard-charging policy chief, to return to teaching at the Georgetown University law school. The departure came […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Nov. 4, 2010 — Here’s another major blow to the increasingly problematic nuclear renaissance: France’s “European Pressurized Water” (EPR) reactor design is “in crisis,” according to a new analysis by a British economist  and nuclear energy policy analyst. The problems with the “Generation III+” reactor are so serious that they […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Oct. 25, 2010 – Over the years, presidents have appointed energy secretaries with a variety of backgrounds: policy wonk, business person, political apparatchik, former elected official, military officer, even dentist. None have exactly worked out. Scratch that. None have worked out at all. The latest incarnation at the fortress-like Forrestal […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Sept. 29, 2010 – I love Alaska. The beauty of the mountain ranges, rivers, islands, and glaciers is stunning. The diversity of habitat and wildlife inspires wonder. The summer days and winter nights are filled with mystery. The people, of all ethnicities and political persuasions, are endearing and quirky. My […]

By Kennedy Maize Let us hope that the false hope of fast breeder reactors fueled with plutonium reprocessed from spent light water reactor fuel is finally properly interred. A new report from the same MIT crew that examined the future of nuclear power in 2003 buries the pipe dream of breeder reactors, or, at least, […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Sept. 7, 2010 — The time has come for all of us to abandon the sterile, and now futile, brawl over massive federal legislation to deal with the alleged problem of global warming. For the advocates of measures such as carbon taxes, cap-and-trade (a second-best tax), or Environmental Protection Agency […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Sept. 3, 2010 – Look for significant changes in the way Congress addresses energy policy and legislation when the 112th Congress convenes in January 2011. By most expert accounts, Democrats are going to suffer major losses at the polls in November, with many pundits predicting a Republican takeover of the […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Aug. 23, 2010 — It’s time to stop fretting about climate change and start worrying about space weather. In an opinion article in the Aug. 15, 2010 New York Times, journalist Lawrence E. Joseph raises the issue of the havoc a major solar storm could have on modern electric power […]

By Kennedy Maize Washington, D.C., Aug. 9, 2010 –  Washington is abuzz with talk of a lame-duck session of Congress after the November mid-term elections. Many pundits seem to assume that the Democratic leadership will call the solons into session after the elections (with the Democrats having done very poorly, possibly losing their control of […]