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BP kinda hoping the government can ignore a few hundred million barrels of spilled Gulf oil

by oks23po Posted on January 14, 2013

BP kinda hoping the government can ignore a few hundred million barrels of spilled Gulf oil

By Philip Bump

British Petroleum, former record-holder for “most inept at U.S. offshore drilling,” has a favor to ask of the government. Yeah, sure, the government says that 4.9 million barrels of oil were spilled when the Deepwater Horizon went blooey, but if we could agree it was actually more like, oh, 4.1 million, that would save BP a few bucks.

From FuelFix:

The U.S. government has asserted that the well discharged 4.9 million barrels of oil, or 206 million gallons. BP stated again in its filing Friday that it believes the spill was significantly smaller, though it hasn’t publicly provided its own estimate.

With a finding of gross negligence, the 4.9-million-barrel figure would carry a maximum Clean Water Act fine of more than $21 billion.

How big a dent would this obviously scientifically accurate adjustment make?

Such a ruling could reduce BP’s fine by as much as $3.4 billion if the court were to rule that BP acted with gross negligence when its Macondo well blew out 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, leading to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

BP doesn’t understand why this little incident has to be so expensive.

Data for 2012 hasn’t yet been released, but in 2011, BP only managed to pull in about $24 billion in profit. So you can see that having to pay for all of the damage that the company actually did would be a major imposition. That’s an extra $3.4 billion the company could be putting toward drilling more holes in the ocean floor, after all, and we certainly wouldn’t want it to stop doing that.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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Fixing a broken gas tax could fix broken roads

by u60uurf Posted on January 11, 2013

Fixing a broken gas tax could fix broken roads

By Susie Cagle

Too many people are driving too many dang efficient cars in the Pacific Northwest lately, and Washington and Oregon have had enough. Between those efficient cars and a population that’s just generally driving less, gas tax intake has fallen nationwide, meaning less money for road maintenance and repairs that all cars (and bikes!) need. Now some states are looking at new ways to make up the difference.

deborahfitchett

Starting next month, Washington will begin taxing electric vehicle owners $100 per year, though with about 1,600 electric cars in the state, that’s not likely to fill those empty coffers. In Oregon, lawmakers are considering a proposal to tax through a flat fee like Washington or by taxing drivers of fuel-efficient cars based on the number of miles they drive. (A new report to the Washington state legislature says a mileage tax there would be “feasible.”)

Some say that taxing based on vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, will be the gas tax of the future not just for West Coast hippies, but for everyone. From CNBC:

Either way, what’s happening in the Pacific Northwest is raising a number of questions. The primary one being: Is it only a matter of time until anybody owning a car or truck is paying a special tax based on how much they drive their car?

Supporters of VMT or per mile taxes point out that electric car and even hybrid car owners are paying nothing or very little to help maintain state roads.

Take a look at the Washington electric vehicle tax and compare it to the state’s current gas tax of 37 cents per gallon. If somebody drives an internal combustion car that gets 30 MPG and they average 12,500 miles driven each year, they’ll pay about $154 a year in state gas tax. By comparison, electric car owners will be paying less at just $100 per year.

On the flip side, critics of VMT or per mile taxes say it’s hypocritical of state governments to promote electrical vehicle ownership and then turn around and tax those who are the “early adopters”.

It might be nice if states provided other incentives for more efficient vehicles, but that’s not really the spirit of the gas tax. If its goal were penalizing and shaming us over fossil fuels, I could understand this annoyance, but it’s not! It’s how we fund our roads. Not that we couldn’t use some shaming, but we could really use some investment in crumbling infrastructure. This is how taxes work! (USA! USA!) We all use the roads, so let’s please all pitch in to fill the potholes. You can still do that while feeling righteously smug, Volt drivers.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Fixing a broken gas tax could fix broken roads

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Solar crowdfunding project Mosaic sells out in under 24 hours

by greenenergy4 Posted on January 8, 2013

Solar crowdfunding project Mosaic sells out in under 24 hours

By Lisa Hymas

Yesterday we told you about the launch of Mosaic, a new Kickstarter-style service that makes it easy to invest in rooftop solar projects. Today comes news that it’s already sold out shares in all of its public projects. Talk about pent-up demand!

Solar MosaicThese people invested in a solar project and now they’re happy.

From a company press release:

Mosaic, an online marketplace that connects investors to high-quality solar projects, sold out its first four projects in less than 24 hours with over 400 investors putting in between $25 and $30,000. In total, investors put in over $313,000 with an average investment of nearly $700. …

To date, Mosaic has raised $1.1M from more than 700 investors to finance twelve rooftop solar power plants in California, Arizona and New Jersey. Mosaic’s latest projects were available to residents of California and New York as well as accredited investors from around the country. …

Mosaic’s first investment offerings for New York and California residents are in solar projects on affordable housing apartments for low-income residents in California and offer a 4.5% annual return, net of servicing fees, with terms of approximately nine years.

Mosaic still has one project left that’s open to “accredited investors who meet certain financial suitability requirements.” If you don’t know whether you’re an accredited investor, it’s a pretty good bet that you’re not.

While waiting for the federal government to democratize investing rules and let more people participate in Mosaic-style projects, the company says it’s “pursuing other avenues for crowdfunding clean energy.” Stay tuned.

Lisa Hymas is senior editor at Grist. You can follow her on

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Lead-bullet ad targets NRA, misses the point

by RubinkJoseph Posted on December 21, 2012

Lead-bullet ad targets NRA, misses the point

By Susie Cagle

Gun violence is America’s lurking health crisis. But not exactly the way the Center for Biological Diversity means in its full-page New York Times ad today.

Click to embiggen.

None of this is untrue! A drop in environmental lead has even been correlated with a (moderate) drop in violent crime — but that is cold comfort for the people who live in poor urban areas that are afflicted by both gun violence and environmental pollution that isn’t born from hunted meat or shooting ranges.

On a day when the National Rifle Association called for armed guards at every school in America, maybe getting rid of the lead in those would-be guards’ bullets shouldn’t necessarily be our first priority?

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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U.S. cities are getting denser

by biglermyrta910 Posted on December 20, 2012

U.S. cities are getting denser

By Susie Cagle

The U.S. EPA released a report this week on how our cities are growing. So there’s the first good news: They’re growing! But you knew that already. Other good news: Nearly 75 percent of major metro areas saw a higher proportion of housing being built in already-developed areas (“infill” in planning jargon) from 2005 to 2009 compared to 2000 to 2004. The bad? From sea to shining sea, we still really love to sprawl. Almost all major metro areas continued to grow outward faster than they grew inward.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Traffic deaths are down, but pedestrian and cyclist deaths are up

by Myrna Posted on December 18, 2012

Traffic deaths are down, but pedestrian and cyclist deaths are up

By Susie Cagle

Fewer people are dying in car accidents in the U.S. (except in California, where it’s been raining lately and people have been very confused). Traffic deaths fell 1.9 percent in 2011, hitting their lowest level since 1949.

That’s great news for drivers, who haven’t been getting a lot of good news in their driver-lives lately. Here’s the bad news: Drivers are killing the rest of us. The Los Angeles Times reports on new federal transportation figures:

Federal officials highlighted the overall decrease in [traffic] deaths. But at least one traffic safety group said the figures were alarming, particularly a 3% increase in pedestrian deaths and an 8.7% increase in cyclist fatalities from 2010 to 2011.

“We are still concerned about the numbers of cyclists and pedestrians at risk on our roadways,” said Paul Oberhauser, co-chairman of the Chicago-based Traffic Safety Coalition, which is partly funded by the traffic safety camera industry. “This new report is a reminder we still need to be cautious and share the road.”

Rory Finneren

Speaking of sharing the road, today Bike Score, an offshoot of Walk Score, rolled out more city ratings for bikeability. It turns out even many of the towns we consider cycle-friendly — like New York and Portland, Ore. — are barely getting a passing grade.

So if you’re walking or biking around right now, and you haven’t died yet, congratulations! NOW STOP READING THIS.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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New Yorkers create three pounds of garbage per person per day

by biglermyrta910 Posted on December 13, 2012

New Yorkers create three pounds of garbage per person per day

By Philip Bump

Twelve years ago, New York City residents created nearly four pounds of garbage per person per day. It was broken down as follows:

27 percent thin pizza crusts
20 percent tourists
18 percent surliness
14 percent unused Mets tickets
11 percent lox
6 percent rejected New York Post headline ideas
4 percent ticker tape

Today, good news: The figure has declined to less than three pounds a day, about 12 ounces of which is recycled material. That’s an estimated drop from 32 million pounds of garbage a day to 25 million pounds.

Not that the city is all that happy about it. From The New York Times:

While that’s the lowest amount since at least 2000, the cost of collecting and disposing of the garbage has remained relatively constant, ranging from a low of about 70 cents [per person per day] in 2002 to a high of more than 80 cents in 2008. In 2012, the average cost per person daily was about 75 cents. The cost figures are all in 2012 dollars.

Refuse accounts for most of the garbage, but recycling, which is more expensive per pound, makes up nearly half the daily expenditure.

Independent Budget Office

Click to embiggen.

Not only has the amount of garbage dropped, so has its number of components. According to an expert whose name we will make up if pressed, this is what comprises the city’s garbage now:

83 percent artisanal things of various kinds
17 percent rubble from Sandy

Some progress, anyway.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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2012 saw the fewest wildfires in a decade — but the second-most acres burned ever

by biglermyrta910 Posted on December 12, 2012

2012 saw the fewest wildfires in a decade — but the second-most acres burned ever

By Philip Bump

This is the most calm the Forest Service’s active fire map has looked all year.

USFS

After all, here was the year 2012 in fires, as compiled by NASA.

NASA/E360

From the description: “Areas of yellow and orange indicate larger and more intense fires, while many of the less intense fires, shown in red, represent prescribed burns started for brush clearing and agriculture and ecosystem management.” Click to embiggen.

Through August, the continental U.S. had seen the most acreage burned by wildfires in history. Happily, that trend didn’t continue. We only came in second.

Data from

National Interagency Fire Center

.

2012 was actually not a bad year for fires as discrete incidents. But notice how few fires did all of that damage. As we noted over the summer, the link between fire intensity and climate change isn’t direct. Clearly, though, the year’s epic drought meant drier conditions — and such drought is strongly correlated to climatic shifts. So it’s not surprising to see that this year’s fires were the most intense in a decade.

Data from

National Interagency Fire Center

.

It’s this acres-burned-per-fire number that we don’t want to see rising in the future. Let’s hope this year is an aberration — particularly those of us who live near wildlands.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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USDA backpedals on healthy school-lunch rules

by Myrna Posted on December 10, 2012

USDA backpedals on healthy school-lunch rules

By Susie Cagle

Whiny kids and Republicans have a lot in common. For example, they both complained enough to weaken still-relatively new USDA rules requiring school lunches to be more healthy. Some kids said they were still hungry after eating the new lunches, and Republican legislators (who often act like they’re cranky due to low blood sugar) said the government was meddling too much in local affairs, so now the USDA is lifting the cap on the amount of meats and grains permitted in school meals.

In a letter to Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), USDA head Tom Vilsack said the meat and grain limits had been “the top operational challenge” for states and schools in implementing the new standards, in part because they had a hard time locating the “right-sized” meats, and apparently cutting the meats into the right sizes is just too much work.

From the Associated Press:

Several lawmakers wrote the department after the new rules went into effect in September saying kids aren’t getting enough to eat.

School administrators also complained, saying set maximums on grains and meats are too limiting as they try to plan daily meals.

“This flexibility is being provided to allow more time for the development of products that fit within the new standards while granting schools additional weekly menu planning options to help ensure that children receive a wholesome, nutritious meal every day of the week,” Vilsack said in a letter to Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

The development of products like spinach, right? Or maybe tomato paste infused with spinach for double vegetable points? Schools still only need to offer one fruit or vegetable per meal.

Vilsack wasn’t all about appeasement, though. His letter to Hoeven included this slightly snarky bit:

It is important to point out that the new school meals are designed to meet only a portion of a child’s nutritional needs over the course of the school day. This should come as no surprise — students never have and never will get all of their daily dietary needs from a single meal. School breakfasts and lunches are designed to meet roughly one-fourth and one-third, respectively, of the daily calorie needs of school children.

Despite the rule change, calorie caps for meals will remain the same. This should come as no surprise — the way math works means meals with more meat and grains will have to have less of something else. Let’s hope that something else is chocolate milk, not fruits and veggies.

Susie Cagle writes and draws news for Grist. She also writes and draws tweets for

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Projections for future carbon emissions in U.S. keep dropping — but the emissions keep rising

by Myrna Posted on December 10, 2012

Projections for future carbon emissions in U.S. keep dropping — but the emissions keep rising

By Philip Bump

The U.S. Energy Information Agency has a graph showing how its projections for U.S. carbon dioxide output keep being revised downward. In case you didn’t get the point, it has a big blue arrow pointing down. They probably had a few meetings to discuss whether the arrow was big enough.

EIA

Year after year, the EIA has revised its projections. Its 2013 calculations suggest that 2040 emissions will still be 5 percent lower than what the U.S. produced in 2005. Which is good news!

But it is also higher than what we’re emitting today. Every projection from the agency shows an increase in emissions over 2010 levels by 2040. So the celebratory down arrow is maybe a bit much.

The agency explains why it thinks the U.S. will end up producing less carbon dioxide than it expected last year. (I am pleased to report that the reasons largely align with David Roberts’ description from this summer. Grist FTW.)

Downward revisions in the economic growth outlook, which dampens energy demand growth
Lower transportation sector consumption of conventional fuels based on updated fuel economy standards, increased penetration of alternative fuels, and more modest growth in light-duty vehicle miles traveled
Generally higher energy prices, with the notable exception of natural gas, where recent and projected prices reflect the development of shale gas resources
Slower growth in electricity demand and increased use of low-carbon fuels for generation
Increased use of natural gas

In particular, carbon dioxide emissions from power plants are expected to continue to decline, for two reasons: economics (read: cheap natural gas) and increased regulatory curbs on pollution.

All of this data is subject to change, as the agency’s year-over-year comparison suggests. We’re all on tenterhooks to see how big next year’s arrow will be. And, of course, which direction it will point.

Philip Bump writes about the news for Gristmill. He also uses Twitter a whole lot.

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