By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
For years Israeli leaders have urged Palestinian leaders to make peace with Israel as a path to prosperity for the Palestinian people. In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS taped prior to his speech to the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reversed this logic.
By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel
The BBC reported yesterday that the UN commander in Sudan, Gen. Martin Agwai, declared the war essentially over…what now?
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Sarah Palin has weighed in against the costly, controversial and complicated cap-and-trade plan passed by the U.S. House. Surprise: She scores some points. But she also misses on others.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
A variable tariff on crude oil imports set to maintain a price floor of $70 a barrel could force world oil prices down to $50 a barrel and deprive Iran, Venezuela, Russia and Saudi Arabia of oil revenues while putting our oil dollars to work right here at home.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
In today's Financial Times*** law professors Michael Levine and Mark Roe propose a tax at the pump with all the tax revenues given back to voters as tax credits or refunds. Each taxpayer would get back the amount of gas tax paid by the average taxpayer.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
The world oil market is like a giant tank of oil. Canada and Mexico are just two spigots. Our national security does not depend on which spigots we're using, but on the price we are willing to pay for oil.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
Should we let Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid pick the next big thing in alternative energy? Will their pet projects save the day, or turn out to be losers that crash and burn?
By Bashir Bakhshandeh, Special to the Kansas City Star from Tehran, Iran
Today (Saturday) at 2:46am
Dear Larry,
I've written some few lines, and I do not mind to write my name if you want to publish my article. Please inform me if you publish it or not.
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
After years of inaction, Missouri has finally moved forward on an ambitious energy agenda.
It should help consumers use less electricity and save money, spur utilities to produce more renewable power and better control harmful emissions from coal-fired power plants.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Nuclear power's long-sought comeback suffered another defeat today in Congress.
That's a good thing, partly because the industry and government still haven't solved where high-level nuclear waste will be stored for centuries to come.
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
President Barack Obama has made a crucial move toward reducing America’s use of gasoline and cleaning up the environment. But a second major initiative should be in the wings.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Making major changes in U.S. energy and climate change policies will be tough -- and risky.
U.S. House members are finding that out as they work out a new plan to promote renewable energy while also curbing greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Editorial Page columnist
At first glance, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson has done almost a 180-degree turn from former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on coal-fired power plants.
That's not encouraging news for Kansans who had hoped to promote more renewable energy and less from dirty coal.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
The plunge in U.S. gasoline prices led to lower revenues and profits for Exxon Mobil in early 2009. That's great news for American motorists, bad news for Exxon stockholders.
By David Warm, Special to The Kansas City Star
Since January 2008, the Kansas City area has focused on a vision to make the region more sustainable, and advancing investments in energy efficiency has been a top priority.
By The Kansas City Star Editorial Board
In a pro-consumer move, a major retailer has stepped forward to show it’s possible to sell fuel without overcharging motorists.
Costco Warehouse Inc. says it’s ready to battle the hot fuel problem. Gasoline and diesel expand in warmer months and, as a result, customers get less energy than they pay for at the pump.
By Vanessa Crawford, Special to The Kansas City Star
Missouri’s unemployment rate currently sits at 8.9 percent. That’s a little better than Illinois with its 9.1 percent but much worse than Kansas’s 6.1 percent.
By Roy Blunt, Special to The Kansas City Star
Imagine paying an additional $3,000 hidden tax every year. Unfortunately, you might not have to imagine that extra burden because the last thing Congress did before going home for the Easter holiday was to pass a budget that spends too much, borrows too much and taxes families, small businesses and farmers too much.
Steve Isirk is a dairy farmer, a former county commissioner in western Kansas — and a big supporter of renewable energy and wind farms.
Rick WagonerBy Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Rick Wagoner helped drive General Motors into the ground financially and is now out as CEO. It's good news for U.S. motorists.
The Obama administration acted properly in pushing Wagoner out. The GM board failed its shareholders and the public -- which has invested billions in GM -- by sticking with Wagoner for so long.
By Barb Shelly, Kansas City Star editorial page columnist
Trust me, I'm as happy as the next person to hear we're not likely to be looking at $4-a-gallon gasoline this summer.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
Congress is in a difficult dilemma.
On one hand, it needs to keep gasoline prices low to avoid burdening already overburdened consumers during this recession.
On the other hand, it needs to protect green jobs and give alternative energy a chance.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
Congress is trying to figure out how to protect green jobs and give alternative energy a chance. It has given the auto companies a stern warning and some bailout money to produce and promote fuel-efficient vehicles. If gas gets too cheap, nobody will want those fuel-efficient vehicles.
By Larry Marsh, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist
The volatility of crude oil prices will undermine Barack Obama’s big effort to promote green jobs. The energy policies of past administrations failed because they failed to address this volatility.
Cheap oil makes alternative energy relatively expensive.
Missouri should be promoting responsible use of renewable energy, not trying to disrupt it.
Yet the Public Service Commission has placed roadblocks in front of homeowners who want to set up solar panels or wind turbines to help power their houses — and even get credit for sending excess power to utilities.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
Will Barack Obama provide the leadership George Bush never did in boosting the U.S. gasoline tax? Unfortunately, Obama's not off to a great start.
By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist
A fascinating new study ranks alternative energies from best to worst -- and showing up last is ethanol.
It's time to ban all federal subsidies for this wasteful taxpayer investment in Midwest farmers and this inefficient use of corn to power vehicles across America.
As many Kansas Citians prepare to travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, they have plenty to be thankful for at the pump.
As of Tuesday, this area had the cheapest fuel in America — $1.47 a gallon for regular, on average — as compiled by GasBuddy.com. While Missouri had the lowest prices of all states, Kansas was close behind in eighth place.
By Loretta Colombel, Special to The Kansas City Star
A recent "As I See It" by Kansas State Sen. Chris Steineger and an editorial in The Star regarding the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities failed to recognize that over the past two years the governing board and the new general manager have identified several problems and implemented many changes to tighten oversight and improve fiscal responsibility.
Stunning declines in energy prices since summer stand out amid the gloom of bad economic news.
Motorists in Kansas City and around the nation are paying a lot less for gasoline. And the cost of using natural gas to heat houses and offices this winter will be far cheaper than once expected.
But there’s less-welcome news that deserves attention, too.
