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ESA spacecraft set for flyby of Steins asteroid

Posted by iansinkovits from Yahoo News!

AP - Scientists at the European Space Agency are preparing for the first fly-by of an asteroid by their deep-space explorer, Rosetta, on a mission to solve the mystery of the birth of the solar system.

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Helping the stars take back the night

Posted by Jeff from International Herald Tribune

When the Northridge earthquake knocked out power in Los Angeles in 1994, numerous calls came into emergency centers and even the Griffith Observatory from people who had poured into the streets in the predawn hours. They had looked into the dark sky to see what some anxiously described as a "giant silvery cloud" over the shaken city. Not to worry, they were assured. It was merely the Milky Way, the vast galaxy that humans once knew so well - until the glare from electric light effectively erased most traces of it from urban and near-urban skies.

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North Dakota Gets Into The Wind: 10,000 Megawatts For The Gubernatorial Election Debate

Posted by Jeff from Feeds.treehugger

Ever driven across North Dakota in August? North Dakota is the US State located top, center on the wind potential map (shown here). Step out of the car and the wind's fingers rip at your shirt buttons, threatening to tear them off. Day after day, wheat stems toss like waves in a storm. If you've been there and felt that wind, seen the prairie expanses, you know why it is easy to take interest in a gubernatorial platform like this one:

North Dakota should push for 10,000 megawatts of wind power development in the next 12 years along with local ownership of wind projects, the Democratic candidate for governor ...

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Chet Edwards: Obama's Vice President?

Posted by Jeff from Huffington Post

AUG 22 -- Officials Say Edwards Is A Finalist: The rarely-mentioned Edwards is on Obama's short list, Democratic officials say.

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama prepared to name his running mate, perhaps as early as Friday, from a small field that included at least one dark-horse finalist.

Democratic officials said little-known Texas Rep. Chet Edwards was one of the few Democrats whose background was checked by Obama's campaign and he was a finalist for the job. [...]

Edwards is a favorite of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who praised his "extraordinary credentials" on ABC's "This Week" on Aug. 3 and said: "I hope he will be the nominee."

One Democratic official with knowledge of the conversation said Obama told Pelosi recently that she would be pleased with the choice. Other Democratic officials said he was on the short list. All spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss Obama's selection process.

Edwards, chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, is a nine-term moderate Democrat representing the GOP-leaning Texas district. He is well-known in Texas but does not have a national profile.

The Case For Edwards: By Matt Glazer of the progressive Texas blog Burnt Orange Report:

He is a nationally recognized veterans champion in Congress, with strong military support in deep connections in the U.S. Army and at the Pentagon. Just this year, he's been honored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. And as chair of the House Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, he just authorized the largest increase in veterans' funding in the history of the VA.

Edwards is fresh face who won't overshadow Obama. He's a southern, moderate, white male in his late 50s who brings geographic and demographic balance to the ticket. He has humble blue collar roots, and has been known to speak Spanish from time to time.

Chet Edwards is a pretty darn good campaigner, with a record of winning in Republican turf. But in spite of (or perhaps because of) his broad appeal to Democrats as well as Republicans and Independents, he is well respected on Capitol Hill - with a wide range of support among liberals and conservatives. (An example: Congressman John Lewis, a liberal African American from Atlanta who fought beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, has been known to campaign with Edwards in Central Texas).

The Case Against Edwards: By Dylan Matthews at the American Prospect:

While the appeal of picking a Texas Democrat, especially one who has beaten back adversaries like DeLay in past elections, is understandable, Edwards would be a poor choice. Not only did he vote for the Iraq war authorization in 2002, a vote which could undermine the Obama campaign's emphasis on foreign policy judgment, he has an, at best, mixed record when it comes to votes on withdrawal.

While he voted for the House leadership's Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act in 2007, he also voted for a Republican resolution in 2006 rejecting an "arbitrary date for withdrawal or redeployment", and for a 2007 emergency appropriations bill for the war without a timetable for withdrawal (he even voted against an amendment adding such a timetable). The latter two votes, along with his votes in 2007 and this past week for telecom immunity have led to his inclusion on Matt Stoller and Chris Bowers' list of "Bush Dog Democrats".

His conservative record doesn't stop with national security issues; he voted to make permanent the repeal of the estate tax, in favor of the Bankruptcy Reform bill, for drilling in ANWR, and against the 2007 House renewable energy bill. Perhaps most egregiously, he was one of thirty-six House Democrats to vote in favor of the the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004. Is it really too much to expect the Democratic vice presidential nominee to be, at least, not to the right of John McCain on LGBT equality?

AUG 3 -- Pelosi Suggests Chet Edwards: The Speaker says she hopes Edwards will be the VP nominee.

In an interview Sunday, Pelosi said, "I didn't want to see a discussion of candidates for vice president without showing the House of Representatives... I just wanted people to be aware of the extraordinary credentials of Chet Edwards. And I hope he will be the nominee."

Pelosi told ABC's "This Week" that "for years, our colleagues have said to him, why don't you run for president? He is an extraordinarily talented person. He is a champion for veterans in the Congress. Under his leadership, we have passed, including just on Friday, the biggest increase in funding for veterans' health benefits and other benefits in the history of our country. "

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On The Hill: On Eve Of National Energy Summit, Poll Finds Most Expect Congress To Sink Pickens Plan

Posted by mediaman from

Although a vast majority of Americans believe the comphensive and much-touted "Pickens Plan" for energy independence can succeed, they think Congress ultimately will kill it.

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Energy Policy TV - Teleconference Preview of Clean Energy Summit

Posted by mediaman from

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); T. Boone Pickens, Energy Executive, Author of Pickens Plan; Daniel Weiss, Senior Fellow and Director of Climate Strategy, Center for American Progress

Reid, Pickens, and Weiss speak with reporters to preview the bipartisan National Clean Energy Summit to be held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Organizers want the Summit to produce energy recommendations to Congress as well as the 2008 presidential candidates.

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Letter: Ethanol and the Dead Zone

Posted by kellygarst from New York Times

To the Editor:.

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Renewable Fuel Standards Waiver Request by Texas Governor Denied by Feds

Posted by kellygarst from Feeds.treehugger

photo by Joe Lencioni A few months ago, citing rising corn prices hurting his state’s livestock industry and which he linked to Federal ethanol-blending requirements, Texas governor Rick Perry filed a waiver request with the EPA to reduce the Renewable Fuel Standards requirement by half. Next Years’ Biofuel Requirement Stays at 11.1 Billion Gallons Today the EPA has announced that is has denied this request. The total volume of biofuels (both ethanol and biodiesel) which are ma...

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Renewable Fuel Standards Waiver Request by Texas Governor Denied by Feds

Posted by kellygarst from Feeds.treehugger

photo by Joe Lencioni A few months ago, citing rising corn prices hurting his state’s livestock industry and which he linked to Federal ethanol-blending requirements, Texas governor Rick Perry filed a waiver request with the EPA to reduce the Renewable Fuel Standards requirement by half. Next Years’ Biofuel Requirement Stays at 11.1 Billion Gallons Today the EPA has announced that is has denied this request. The total volume of biofuels (both ethanol and biodiesel) which are ma...

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Using Sun's Energy to Split Water Means Solar Power All Night

Posted by kimberlydelacruzodom from Slashdot

phorm writes "Reuters is carrying an article about a recent MIT development which may pave the way for solar-energy to be collected for use in low-input periods. According to Reuters, the discovery of the a new catalyst for separating hydrogen+oxygen from water requires only 10% of the electricity of current methods. This would allow storage-cells to function as a form of battery for other forms of energy-collection, such as solar panels. The new method is also much safer (and likely environmentally friendly) than current methods, which require the use of a dangerously caustic environment, and specialized storage containers." sanjosanjo points out "coverage of the process at EE Times, which features the MIT group's press release.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Liquid Lakes On Saturn's Moon Confirmed

Posted by Jeff from Slashdot

Scientists have been using the robotic spacecraft Cassini to explore what looked to be large lakes of hydrocarbons on the surface of Saturn's planet-sized moon Titan. But they couldn't be entirely sure that the features were actually liquid lakes, and not simply very smooth, solid material. Now, new findings seem to confirm that the observations really do show extensive seas of liquid ethane and other hydrocarbons. In fact, Titan seems to have an entire 'water' cycle of ethane evaporation, rain and rivers.

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Gassing Up With Garbage

Posted by Jon from New York Times

Waste-to-fuel efforts continue.

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