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The residue of millions of tons of coal burning at Kingston Fossil power plant in the Watts Bar Reservoir in Tennessee burst the bounds of the pond in which it was contained, burying as many as 400 acres of land in up to six feet of sludge. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which owns the coal-fired power plant-first operated in 1955-announced that 15 homes were buried and no injuries were reported. A combination of rains and accumulating sludge likely contributed to the disaster-one of two major ash pond collapses in the past decade. All told, about 2.6 million cubic yards of so-called coal ash slurry escaped, the TVA says. The collapsed pond is one of three on the site.

"…collapse isn't inevitable, but depends on a society's choices". - Jared Diamond I have argued elsewhere that our American way of life is not sustainable[2], and I have presented compelling evidence to demonstrate that America is on the verge of imminent societal collapse[3]. The purpose of the following paper is to make the case that we-all Americans-through our distorted worldview and resulting dysfunctional resource utilization behavior, are responsible for our "predicament", and that we lack the collective will to take meaningful action to mitigate its catastrophic consequences.

My top 10 oil industry stories of 2008: 1. Crude prices soar in 1H, WTI tops $147, Brent right behind 2. Prices collapse below $50 in 2H as demand retreats 3. Ethanol's struggles: VeraSun bankruptcy, others barely profitable, spreads collapse 4. Push begins to lift offshore drilling ban in US; Obama and McCain differ on approach 5. Capital crunch and low prices lead to deferred investment 6. Shale gas supply in US surges, a new factor in supply/demand balance 7. Credit crunch slows activity for once free-wheeling traders 8. Diesel surges, gasoline/naphtha plunge; traditional cracks skewed 9. Russian oil output to fall in 2008, first time in a decade 10. Brazil subsalt finds continue to lift nation's upstream prospects

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid reversed plans Wednesday to hold a test vote on an automakers' bailout bill on Thursday. Reid had planned to move on legislation that would have taken $25 billion from the $700 billion already approved for Wall Street and diverted it to the big three automakers. Filmmaker Michael Moore says the collapse of General Motors could mean the loss of millions of jobs. CNN's Larry King talked Wednesday with Michael Moore, a filmmaker with deep ties to the auto industry. Moore's father worked for General Motors for 35 years. In 1989, Moore became an international figure for his film, "Roger and Me," which centered on the declining auto industry in his hometown of Flint, Michigan and the ripple effect on the town's residents. The following is an edited version of the interview.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBC2YqFuZ8k From the people who brought you Economic Collapse... It's another Wall Street Dip Shit! Meet Mr. Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal, Heritage Foundation, and Cato Institute [Stephen Moore] "I'm not a believer in peak oil, I'm a big believer in the Julian Simon idea that these [oil] are infinite resources, not finite resources. And the reason for that is that oil comes from the human mind, it doesn't come from the ground! [T. Boone Pickens] I don't understand, Steve, when you said oil is not from the ground but it's in the human mind. What does that mean? [Stephen Moore] Well what I mean is that it's human ingenuity that uh...it used to be that people first discovered oil it was just this black gloop that came out of the ground and nobody had any use for it...Do you agree with that?

TipSheet provides biweekly news tips to notify journalists of potential environmental stories and sources. TipSheet is a joint product of SEJ and the Radio and Television News Directors Foundation. Your contributions are needed; please send them to sej@sej.org. For free subscription, send name and full contact information to sej@sej.org. TipSheet is also available via RSS feed. noseeum Select another year Expand all categories Collapse all categories Previous page Next page Search wedge 2008 wedge Dec. 24, 2008 wedge POLICY & REGULATION OUTLOOK FOR 2009 (Part 1) wedge POLICY & REGULATION OUTLOOK FOR 2009 (Part 2) wedge FEDERAL ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY LINE-UP FOR 2009 (Part 1) wedge FEDERAL ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY LINE-UP FOR 2009 (Part 2) wedge Dec. 10, 2008 wedge SUPREME COURT CASE COULD AFFECT NEARLY 550 POWER PLANTS wedge CAN "SMART GRIDS" REALLY HELP? wedge ECO-PACKAGING FOR WINE: BOTTLES AND BEYOND

The London Evening Standard reports that the economic slowdown seems to have hit European truck slaes particularly hard - Volvo truck sales plunge 99.7%. The depth of the recession was revealed today as truckmaker Volvo admitted demand across the Continent has crashed by 99.7% as it took orders for just 115 new lorries in the last three months. That compares to orders totalling 41,970 in the third quarter of 2007. Global orders for Volvo slumped 55% in the last three months while Scania, of which Volvo has majority control, said its western Europe truck orders collapsed by 69%.

As the CEOs of Detroit's Big Three automakers pleaded for a $25 billion bailout from Congress this week, conservatives have been looking for an easy culprit to blame for the auto industry's seeming collapse. First it was the unions. Now conservatives have turned their attention to the modest fuel economy (CAFE) standards - fleetwide average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 - imposed in last year's Energy Independence and Security Act. Last night on Fox News, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney echoed other conservatives in pointing the finger at the fuel economy changes: - MITT ROMNEY: Well, government did [cause a lot of this]. There's no question but that the CAFE standards have put an unusual burden on the domestic automobile manufacturers. And our energy policies as a country continue to put burdens on domestic manufacturers. That's just - that's reality. [11/19/08]

The Economist has a look at some of the factors affecting oil production, warning "Oil prices have plunged. Another spike may be on its way" - Well prepared. WITH the price of crude mired at half the peak of $147 it reached in July, this may seem like an odd time to invest in oil wells. Despite trimming its output along with other members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in an effort to prop up prices, that is just what the United Arab Emirates plans to do. Short-term price movements, its oil minister insists, should not distract from the world's enduring thirst for oil. Indeed the collapse of oil prices, one of the few reasons around for economic cheer, may be setting the stage for another spike. Just now oilmen are focused on the rapidly slowing demand for their product. Since early October, reckons the boss of BP, a big oil firm, America's consumption of crude has fallen by perhaps 2m barrels a day, or about a tenth. Sales of cars in America fell even more steeply last month-by 32%. There is also gloomy news from emerging markets, which have been the driving force in the oil markets of late. Demand for oil is growing much more slowly in China and India, for example, and car sales are down in both countries. There is even talk of global oil demand falling next year, for the first time since 1991.

OPEC has cut oil production targets for the first time in almost 2 years to stem a collapse in prices. The 13 OPEC nations decided to lower supply by 1.5 million barrels a day from Nov 2008, oil ministers said today [24 Oct 2008] at the end of a meeting at the group's Vienna's headquarters. Crude oil has tumbled 57% from a July 11 record of $147.27 a barrel as the financial market crisis spreads, job cuts increase and fuel consumption slows. Prices fell as much as 7.1% to $63.05 on NYMEX after the decision. Another cut in December is "possible," depending on how the oil market reacts, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said.

The Cold War competition between the United States and Russia - played out in Europe with the threat of mutual nuclear destruction - ended with the collapse of the Soviet empire nearly two decades ago. But the Russian bear has re-emerged from its cave with a new and powerful weapon - the West's dependence on Moscow's vast energy supplies. The Russians now supply about 25 percent of the European Union's crude oil needs and half of its natural gas.

A serious oil supply crisis is looming, which could push prices above $200 a barrel, a think tank has warned. A "supply crunch" will affect the world market within the next five to 10 years, the Chatham House report said. While there is plenty of oil in the ground, companies and governments were failing to invest enough to ensure production, it added. Only a collapse in demand can stave off the looming crisis, report author Professor Paul Stevens said.

Richard Heinberg, author of "Peak Everything", reviews the accelerating events since mid-2007, including the credit crunch and fossil fuel price volatility, noting that we've missed most of the best opportunities to manage collapse. He asks, "how far down the staircase of complexity will our global civilization have to go until we're sustainable?

Could the combination of record household and government debt, rising interest rates, soaring energy prices, the bursting housing bubble, a falling dollar and a little nudge in the right direction from Osama all conspire to create that perfect economic storm? Could it all just collapse on us here in the largest "economy" on earth? And if it does, what would the new America look like after the fall?

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half - and food by 80 percent - people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time.

For years, residents of the tiny lakeside community near Kingston, Tennessee, watched as the local power plant mixed tons of leftover coal ash with water and pumped the heavy mud into a massive pond just up the road. "We never gave it a second thought," says resident Diane Anderson. To read more of Kelly Hearn's reporting on the TVA spill, check out "Toxic Coal in Tennessee," "Tennessee's Dirty Data" and "The Dredge Report." Share this article * * * * Add to Mixx! * * * Related * Also By * Radioactive Revival in New Mexico Environment Shelley Smithson: Navajos say "No!" as the return of uranium mining threatens to despoil their lands and health. * The Most Important Number on Earth Environment OntheEarthProduction : Bill McKibben, Noam Chomsky and Terry Tempest Williams discuss the urgent need reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million. » More * Tennessee Spill: Regulation Hazards Environment Kelly Hearn: The recent coal ash spill in Tennessee reveals the toxic fallacy that states should regulate industrial waste. * Letters Subscribe Our Readers & Kelly Hearn * Tennessee Spill: The Dredge Report Environment Kelly Hearn: The TVA's efforts to clean up after its massive coal ash spill may create even more health hazards. But on December 22 the pond collapsed, triggering a billion-gallon mudslide that knocked houses off foundations and roiled into the Emory River. State officials and the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federally funded utility responsible for the spill, scrambled to allay fears, saying that the ash wasn't toxic and that the drinking water was safe. But residents also heard about the litany of harmful substances in the ash, like arsenic and lead, and about studies linking it to cancer.

Are the relocalization eco-freaks finally getting a clue??