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More evidence that the demise of coal – Al Gore to the contrary notwithstanding – is greatly exaggerated. On Sept. 11, Tulsa-based Alliance Resource Partners announced it will open a new underground coal mine on the West Virginia-Pennsylvania border, digging high-sulfur Pennsylvania No. 8 coal for the utility market. At the same time, the U.S. […]

If you love irony, as I, then you will find this delicious. Hybrid electric vehicle enthusiasts are less than enthusiastic about the plan by natural gas empresario T. Boone Pickens to boost wind electric generation. Pickens has proposed a major expansion of wind power to back out gas generation in electricity markets. That, in turn, […]

My friends, John McCain’s pronouncements in his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination as president were entirely bogus when it comes to energy. Unfortunately, so were Barack Obama’s when he accepted the Democratic nomination. Both candidates tout plans for “energy independence,” while neither actually defines the term. What exactly is “energy independence?” Is it zero […]

More evidence that the globe is not catastrophically warming comes from the current issue of Science magazine. A research team led by W.T. Pfeffer of the University of Colorado at Boulder in the current issue of the magazine concludes that current global circulation models vastly overstate the possibilities of sea level rise as a result […]

Just when you thought coal was down for the count, here’s a report from London’s Financial Times. “British coal production looks set to grow for the first time since 2001, thanks to higher prices and power generators’ new-found appreciation of domestic coal supplies.” Coal production in the UK mostly has been falling since the 1950s. […]

Have you noticed that liquefied natural gas has dropped off the charts when it comes to U.S. energy supply projects? Just a few years ago, LNG was a very big deal. Today, new imported gas in liquid form from foreign countries has become a largely dead-end. Why? It’s mostly a matter of domestic gas technology, […]