Throughout his Congressional testimony yesterday, BP CEO Tony Hayward had one consistent message: he did not know what was going on in the tumultuous weeks leading up to the Deepwater Horizon accident. He had no direct knowledge of the company’s much criticized decisions in drilling the well, and he had no comment on the causes of the …
Are We Failing to Stop the Next Flu Pandemic?
A cross post from TIME’s Wellness blog:
The H1N1 flu pandemic last year came out of nowhere. Well, not exactly—H1N1 first emerged in human beings in Mexico. But that wasn’t where most influenza experts were looking. The focus had been on southeast Asia, where the H5N1 avian flu had been infecting—and killing—human beings for
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Why the Early Failure to Measure the Oil Spill Was So Important
The oil spill can frustrate in many ways. The mix of regulatory failures and oil industry cost cutting that appeared to directly lead to the Deepwater Horizon accident—that’s pretty galling. The inability of BP and the government brain trust to successfully shut off the leak, more than a month and a half after it began—that’s …
Sweden Goes Nuclear (maybe)
The Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, voted on June 17 to overturn a three-decades old ban on new nuclear reactors in what many see as a test-case for the long-predicted “nuclear renaissance ” in Europe.
The legislation annuls a a referendum in 1980 in which Sweden’s population voted against renewing or replacing the country’s fleet of 12 …
BP’s Tony Hayward Stonewalls Congress
Republican Congressman Joe Barton of Texas has received $27,350 in campaign donations from BP—and today during the Congressional inquisition of BP CEO Tony Hayward, Barton was worth just about every penny. Barton’s odd apology in his opening statement to Hayward—Barton said he was “ashamed of what happened in the White House” …
Does Energy Security Really Matter?
Energy security—it’s the policy everyone loves. Republicans love it. Democrats love it. Environmentalists love it. President Barack Obama loves it. Even BP CEO Tony Hayward loves it. While we fight over the need to fight climate change and battle over subsidies for oil, there’s a strong consensus that the U.S. needs to break its …
A Sea Change
Science publishes a special issue this week on “Changing Oceans.” Perhaps the most striking article in the issue is a review on “The Impact of Climate Change on the World’s Marine Ecosystems.” The article begins by pointing out how oceans, which currently cover 71% of the earth’s surface, nurtured life on our planet. The paper then …
Hot Times in Antarctica
The world’s polar regions are warming up faster than the global average, but the western edge of the Antarctic Peninsula is especially steamy. Over the past 50 years, winter temperatures have shot up by an almost unbelievable 6°C—more than five times the global average, according to a paper just published in Science.
BP’s Tony Hayward Doesn’t Know…Much at All
The grand Congressional inquisition of BP CEO Tony Hayward has been adjourned until 2 PM—annoyingly, members of Congress are occasionally expected to vote for things—but so far the biggest revelation has come from Republican Representative Joe Barton. As Jay Newton-Small observed over in Swampland, Barton began his opening …
5 Questions BP’s Tony Hayward Will Face in Congress
The explosion and fire aboard the Deepwater Horizon and the resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico never should have happened—and I am deeply sorry that they did.
That’s how BP CEO Tony Hayward will begin his testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday morning, according to several media reports. Hayward’s …