German Renewable Power Production Hits Record High: 20.8%
Throughout the past decade, Germany has fundamentally transformed the way it produces electricity. The country increased its share of renewable electricity from 5 percent in 2000 to 18 percent in 2010. Over time, Germany has consistently met its legislated targets ahead of schedule, and appears poised to outdo itself again in the next years. The goal by the current center-right government of Chancellor Angela Merkel is to draw at least 35 percent of production from renewables by 2020. The opposition parties claim that 40 percent or even more is realistic.
Nuclear waste casks rattled
The earthquake that shook the East Coast last week rattled casks holding radioactive nuclear waste at a Virginia plant, moving them as much as 4.5 inches from their original position, the plant’s operator said.
The 5.8-magnitude quake shifted 25 casks, each 16 feet tall and weighing 115 tons, on a concrete pad at Dominion Resources Inc’s North Anna nuclear plant. There was no damage to the casks and no damage to the fuel, authorities said.
25 CEOs Earned More than Companies Paid in Taxes
A new study says 25 of the nation’s top 100 corporate executives earned more money last year than the amount their companies paid in taxes. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, the 25 companies averaged overall profits of $1.9 billion. They include Verizon, Bank of New York Mellon, General Electric, Boeing and eBay. Eighteen of the companies were found to be operating subsidiaries in countries identified as tax havens. The study also found the salary gap between corporate executives and workers has exploded in recent years, rising from a ratio of 263-to-1 in 2009 to 325-to-1 last year. The findings come just weeks after Congress approved the bipartisan debt deal that excluded any tax hikes on the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations.