In US South, Drought Spooks the Nukes!

onJan 23, 2008 @ 09:35 PST

Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate.

Utility officials say such shutdowns probably wouldn’t result in blackouts.

But they could lead to shockingly higher electric bills for millions of Southerners, because the region’s utilities could be forced to buy expensive replacement power from other energy companies. Already, there has been one brief, drought-related shutdown, at a reactor in Alabama over the summer.

By Ross Gelbspan

Somalia’s Parliament and Public Are Questioning the President’s Shadowy Oil Deal With Turkey

ByOscar Rothstein

on Nov 10, 2026 @ 20:00 MST

Some MPs say the arrangement — which gives Turkish Petroleum 95% of revenues on estimated 20 billion barrels of oil — is "illegitimate".

UN Fails to Disclose Company Names on Biodiversity Summit Delegates List

ByRachel Sherrington, Clare Carlile and Brigitte Wear

on Nov 10, 2026 @ 09:39 MST

Hundreds of representatives from the world’s most powerful industry bodies representing sectors that harm, or exploit, the natural world were present on the ground at the October nature summit in ...

Series: Big Ag's Climate Push

French Oil Giant Backs Dozens of Lobby Groups Fighting New Methane Rules Around the World

ByCécile Marchand and TJ Jordan

on Nov 10, 2026 @ 04:07 MST

TotalEnergies has won plaudits for voluntary steps to tackle the planet-heating gas. So why does it fund moves to delay, dilute or dismantle regulation?