Mother Jones offers Interviews

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Our friend Richard Reynolds over at MoJo offers interviews with their writers all the time -- real experts on stuff. You should drop him a line some time. xxoo L

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If Senate Republicans and Democrats don't act soon to settle a seven-month-old dispute, the 2008 elections may go virtually unregulated for the first time since the Federal Elections Comission was founded more than 30 years ago, says JONATHAN STEIN in an article just published on MotherJones.com.

The FEC normally has six commissioners, three from each party, but a Senate standoff has left four of these seats vacant, in spite of the fact that four commissioners must agree in order to act on most matters that come before the commission. Unless this is settled, says Stein, the 2008 election with be "an election with no referees."
To set up an interview with Mother Jones Washington-based reporter JONATHAN STEIN, call (415/31-1740) or email (reynolds@motherjones.com) Richard Reynolds.

Meanwhile, in case you missed Monday's email, here are five interview suggestions related to our May/June special issue on the "future of energy."

1) "The Seven Myths of Energy Independence"

PAUL ROBERTS, author of The End of Oil, argues that energy independence is "a populist charade masquerading as energy strategy." Fossil fuels are a finite--and planet-killing--source of fuel, he observes, and finding an alternative will require an economic and social transformation as great as the Industrial Revolution.

2) "Put a Tyrant in Your Tank"

Gone are the days when oil-rich nations made lucrative deals with U.S. oil companies to help them develop their oil, reports JOSHUA KURLANTZICK. Big Oil has little influence over Russia, Kazakhstan, Iran, Venezuela, Burma, and other oil-producing countries, he observes, and these state-run companies are proving even more ruthless and environmentally irresponsible than Big Oil.

3) "The Nuclear Option"

JUDITH LEWIS attempts to "shut out the chatter" from both sides and take a fresh look at the other "N" word. Nuclear power is expensive, flawed, and dangerous, she observes. But such is the urgency of the energy and environmental challenges we face that we cannot dismiss it out of hand.

4) "Scrubbing King Coal"

Energy companies' alternative fuel commitment comes down to a three-point strategy, says Mother Jones Senior Correspondent JAMES RIDGEWAY: "First, make small overtures toward developing renewable energy, and milk them for maximum PR value. Second, invest more generously in carbon-based 'alternative energy' that gets passed off as green. Third, invoke the goal of energy independence to pump, mine, transport, and sell more and more of the same old fuels to an ever-hungrier market."

Of the $3 billion BP spent on alternatives between 2006 and 2008, reports Ridgeway, about half is going to dubious alternatives like synthetic gas made from petroleum. BP's 2006 capital expenditures on oil and gas: $16.2 billion.

5) "Breaking the Gridlock"

Our current power system is inefficient and poorly equipped to deal with fluctuations in demand, reports JENNIFER KAHN. Kahn surveys various strategies for changing this, including a "Smart Grid," which would spread the load through microadjustments on how much power consumers use and when. Smart appliances could regulate themselves, making adjustments so subtle that consumers would hardly notice.