Free Republic

Twenty-six energy companies with business before the state donated nearly $10million to Gov. Jerry Brown and the California Democratic Party over the past eight years — donations that often were made within days or weeks of winning favors. That’s the contention of “Brown’s Dirty Hands“ a report released Wednesday by the Santa Monica-based public interest group Consumer Watchdog. [snip]The report alleges that Brown and his operatives have used the California Democratic Party as “a political slush fund” to receive contributions from unpopular energy companies in amounts greater than permitted to his candidate committee. The group has logged its report as...

An explosion in Middletown, Connecticut has rocked the town. Initial reports are that about a dozen people have been injured. Middletown, United States - The Middletown Fire Department just said in a phone interview that they are in the process of putting out a second alarm. There are an unknown number of casualities. The explosion took place at NRG Power Plant on River Road. According to their web site they are the fossil-fueled electric generating plant in the state. Reports are saying that the blast could be felt as far away as Durham.

Israeli company finds oil beneath Rosh Ha'ayin By Lior Zano, The Marker Last Update: 24/12/2009 13:36 An Israeli oil exploration company on Thursday announced that it had found a huge amount of oil and gas during drilling below the city of Rosh Ha'ayin this week. Givot Olam Oil Exploration Limited Partnership said that more than 60 percent gas was measured in the drill, indicating the first such find in Israel. Advertisement The company said it was too soon to determine what significance the find would bring to Israel, but added that it would become clear over the next few months...

NRG Energy, Inc. rejected Sunday a $6.1 billion takeover bid by Exelon Corp., openly challenging whether the Chicago-based parent company of Commonwealth Edison could successfully manage what would have been the country's largest power generation company. Exelon made an unsolicited all-stock offer last month that valued NRG at a 37 percent premium, a figure that dipped to 9.4 percent by the close of the stock market Friday. The offer proved underwhelming to the board of directors at NRG, which unanimously turned down a merger it said "significantly undervalues" the Princeton, NJ-based company. ``Under your proposal, NRG shareholders would own only...

ASHINGTON - Less than a month after declaring polar bears a threatened species because of global warming, the Bush administration is giving oil companies permission to annoy and potentially harm them in the pursuit of oil and natural gas.

CARLSBAD – The developer of a proposed power plant in Carlsbad plans to float a familiar idea to provide water for its generators: desalinate ocean water. NRG Energy has applied to the California Energy Commission to build a 540-megawatt power plant west of Interstate 5 on the south shore of Agua Hedionda Lagoon. The new plant would be on NRG's 95-acre ocean-view property, where it owns and operates the 965-megawatt Encina Power Station. That power plant is best known for its 400-foot-tall smokestack, visible for miles. The new plant would replace three of Encina's five steam-driven turbines, so the old...

TIFTON, Ga. - Part-time farmer Jimmy Griner hopes his ever-so-fragrant, crystal-clear, 180-proof moonshine can help solve the nation's energy problems. Griner arrived at the Georgia Bioenergy Conference this week carrying of quart of the stuff in a Mason jar. He's licensed to make 10,000 gallons a year of the high-octane elixir that's distilled from fermented Georgia-grown wheat. Sponsored by the University of Georgia, the three-day conference attracted about 500 farmers, scientists, engineers and politicians. Speakers from across the nation and at least one foreign country, Brazil, discussed the future of global energy supplies, the economics of biofuels, energy legislation and...

Swiss researchers have developed the world’s most economical car that could circle the globe on only eight litres of fuel. The Pac-Car uses hydrogen fuel cell technology and was developed by a team at the Swiss Federal Technical University headed by Professor Lino Guzzella. He said the “car could drive around the earth only using eight litres of fuel”, and that it could be ready for mass production in the next couple of years.