Texas

Will Wisconsin's Conservative Legislators Put An End To Critical UW Science?

September 13, 2011 by The Political E...

And high-end jobs, and scads of high-tech businesses in and around Madison that go with it?

It sure does look that way.

The ideologues who run the legislature, who carry Scott Walker's water, who get their marching orders and talking points from right-wing talk shows and shrill advocacy groups are now hell-bent on closing Wisconsin's best, home-grown businesses and driving some of the state's most productive research scientists, life-giving disease fighters,  skilled grant-writers, bold venture capital funders, and fearless corporate innovators to Texas, California, South Korea and elsewhere overseas.

All in a twisted application of anti-abortion politics, and in a misdirected campaign against embyronic stem cell science, as a Wisconsin technology spokesman points out.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a paper that endorsed Walker for Governor, also wants the legislature initiative stopped:

US Pipeline Management Not Ready For New National Conduit

September 12, 2011 by The Political E...

I've posted any number of links and items about fuel pipeline leaks in Wisconsin, Montana, Michigan, and Canada, and this weekend the The New York Times catalogued many of these spills as the feds are considering green-lighting the granddaddy pipeline of them all - - the 1,661-mile Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL tar sand crude link over the biggest underground supply of fresh water in the US.

And finds that government inspections and oversight are woefully lacking.

Not a good prescription for keeping tar sand oil in the line and out of the environment.

Texas Toxic: Was Wednesday's Debate Rick Perry's Dukakis-In-The-Tank Moment?

September 9, 2011 by The Political E...

Candidates have undone themselves quickly. The entire environment is unforgiving, especially if you are unprepared or foolish.

Texas Governor Rick Perry's repeated, no-retreat attack on Social Security during his real first national exposure - - "a lie," "a Ponzi," etc. - - and Mitt Romney's pouring it on for the next 24 hours could spell trouble for the Texas macho man, and for Republicans that might line up with him..

Tar Sand Protests In DC An Undercovered Story

September 6, 2011 by The Political E...

Mass protests and arrests at the White House have received little national attention.

Efforts to stop a cross-country pipeline carrying Canadian tar sand oil for export from Texas present a political problem for Pres. Obama - - he has to say aye or nay - -  whose relations with environmentalists have been weakened by his recent abandonment of new clean air regulations.

Controversial Cross-Country Oil Pipeline Would Serve Foreign Markets, Industry Sources Say

August 31, 2011 by The Political E...

I've posted a number of stories about the proposed Canada-to-Texas Keystone XL pipeline that will move tar sand crude oil across the US and over the largest underground source of water in the country.

In the comment section of a recent item, there is a discussion of whether the oil is destined for US consumers. The distinction is crucial, as its approval rests on a finding by the Obama administration that the pipeline would be in the country's national security interest.

One blog reader sends along information and a compilation of industry documents that show the oil is headed for overseas markets::

A new report from Oil Change International lays out the case, based on data and documents from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Canadian National Energy Board, corporate disclosures to regulators and investors, and analysis of the rapidly shifting oil market.