Picking the President: Energy

US Halts Solar Energy Projects

The US government is putting a hold on new solar energy projects on public land for two years so it can study the environmental impact of sun-driven plants.

The Bureau of Land Management says the moratorium on solar proposals is needed to determine how a new generation of large-scale projects could affect plants and wildlife on the land it manages.

The move has angered some solar energy proponents who argue it could hold up the industry at a vital juncture, given the pressing need to secure alternative energy sources at a time of soaring oil prices. "This technology has been around for nearly three decades. - Telegraph

Stuuuupid

Election update

SAN ANTONIO, June 17 (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain will call on Tuesday for energy conservation and the lifting of a ban on U.S. oil and natural gas exploration to help address the nation's "dangerous" dependence on foreign oil.

This excellent piece also contrasts McCain's stance on this issue with Obama's and Bush's. For more, click here.

Energy Survivalists

Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare.

The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.

These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves. - Yahoo! News

I guess their idea isn't too bad.