The threat to supply from Hurricane Dolly in the Gulf of Mexico diminished as the storm veered away from offshore oil installations.

So where, exactly, will all this energy come from? And how do we get it from there into our wall outlets?

EDF said in a statement that sensors detected a rise in the level of radiation while maintenance work was being carried out at the Tricastin site's reactor number four, which had been shut since July 12.

SALT LAKE CITY - The Bush administration's push Tuesday to speed up development of oil shale in the Rocky Mountains runs headlong into Colorado and Wyoming leaders, who say the environmental costs are too high and the technology unproven.

The Western Climate Initiative's system will be phased in starting with industrial process emissions, with emissions from transportation and other fuels added to the system in 2015. It also will include emissions from electricity imported from sources outside of the group.

The Finnish-language forum claims to be first of its kind in the world, and wants to provide an alternative to what its members perceive as foot-dragging in the oil and auto industries.

In a world increasingly concerned with energy costs and supply, so-called clean coal has arisen as a possible solution. While coal has been viewed by many as an old fashioned fuel source, bringing to mind images of smog-filled towns and blackened industrial wasteland, businesses and politicians are encouraging more investment in clean coal technology that reduces some of the harmful emissions that result from the burning of coal.

The bill passed Wednesday is essentially a stop-gap measure designed to plug a gap between fuel-tax revenue flowing into the federal Highway Trust Fund and funding promises Congress has made to the states. But it also spotlights a long-term problem confronting policymakers as consumers drive less and use more fuel-efficient vehicles.

* Notable believers: Kenneth S. Deffeyes, author, former Shell geologist and retired Princeton professor; Colin J. Campbell, retired British geologist, author and founder of the Assn. for the Study of Peak Oil; T. Boone Pickens, oilman, hedge fund owner and alternative energy investor; Matthew Simmons, author and chairman of oil investment bank Simmons & Co. International.

rate of production enters terminal decline. The theory is a global application of an original piece of work from the 1950s. This original theory was developed in the US and gave a date for maximum US oil output as lying somewhere between 1965 and 1970. Since then it has been all downhill.

KUNSTLER'S VIEW IS DARKER...

What was strange from Louie's point of view was not the topic of the day, but that we were stuck in the house. Usually at that hour, we'd be working in the backyard, where he can better leverage his skill set, which includes chasing squirrels, digging up tomato plants, eating wicker patio chairs, etc. On this particular afternoon, however, the typically cornflower-blue San Jose sky was the color of wet cement, and thick soot was charging down from the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. Sitting outside would have been about as pleasant as relaxing in a large ashtray.

As fertilizer prices continue to soar, crop producers may be turning to manure for their fertility needs. Manure management will be the focus of a one-day event, being held this summer at the Molly Caren Agricultural Center in London, Ohio.

Lehman added it believes the oil market is "approaching a tipping point" with prices expected to decline to an average of $90 a barrel in the first quarter of 2009.

The state-run oil company, however, denied the existence of such a deal and said local media had misquoted company officials.