Joseph Davis jdavis2@starpower.net Joseph A. Davis has been writing about the environment, energy, and natural resources fror 30 years. During the 1980s, he covered the environment-energy beat on Capitol Hill for CQ Weekly Report. He currently edits three newsletters on a contract basis for the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ). Davis directs the SEJ Watchdog Project, which focuses on freedom-of-information and First Amendment issues as they affect environmental journalists.

 

Contributions

NOAA on the BP oil blowout: Is this any way to communicate science?
ASK THIS | November 305, 2010
Joseph Davis asks: How did NOAA scientists come to be transformed into Obama administration team players, whose scientific judgment was being filtered through the quasi-military Unified Command and the politically controlled Office of Management and Budget?


What about Gore’s challenge to drop oil altogether?
COMMENTARY | July 205, 2008
Joseph A. Davis lists nine points reporters often overlook when dealing with climate and energy. As he does, the question changes—it’s no longer whether becoming 100 percent carbon free in 10 years is possible. It’s whether the current system can last another 10 years.


Is carbon capture the next energy fix?
ASK THIS | May 142, 2008
It would be nice if coal could be made clean; therefore, it will be made clean. That’s the coming political logic and we’ll be hearing a lot more about it. But first, writer Joseph Davis has a few questions that need looking into.


10 tough questions on oil and gas prices
ASK THIS | May 126, 2008
For starters, Joseph Davis asks: Why is Congress so passive on the lack of refining capacity? What about probes into price manipulation? The House passed a bill on price gouging; who’s holding it up in the Senate?


The farm bill and the food crisis
ASK THIS | May 122, 2008
What with soaring prices, shortages of staples and energy concerns, this year’s farm bill, now in conference, could have major national and international ramifications.


How about a candidate debate on science?
ASK THIS | January 30, 2008
Leaders in various fields, not just the sciences, back such a debate. They envision holding it in April, and having both Republican and Democratic candidates--whoever is left at that point--share the stage.


A campaign threat to the nuclear power industry
ASK THIS | January 18, 2008
If a Democrat wins the presidency—and if campaign promises count—it may be time to write the obituary for Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site. What happens then to the renewed call for nuclear power in the U.S.?


The ethanol gold rush: How much is fools' gold?
ASK THIS | July 211, 2007
Politicians and Midwest farmers have jumped on the bandwagon but, as writer Joseph A. Davis points out, ethanol development involves many nasty trade-offs. And while 4 million cars on American roads can use an ethanol blend already, hardly any gas stations sell it. Why is that?


Coal to liquids—silver bullet or coal-state pork?
ASK THIS | June 155, 2007
Making liquid fuel out of coal is a costly process both in dollars and energy expended, and it’s no environmental bargain, either. So why do Barack Obama and others favor it? (The first in an occasional series on environmental issues in the 2008 elections.)