Energy

Greenbushes lithium mine

The Global Energy Transition: Critical Minerals & Water Scarcity

The water issues surrounding copper and lithium are daunting and may seem shocking (and dangerous) to tolerate. New mines will exacerbate existing water scarcity. Yet at some point (not yet) every EV battery that hits the road will not only reduce our reliance on oil but will save substantial amounts of water. The question is, do we have sufficient supply to complete this transition at all?

September 28, 2023

Easter Island

To Boldly NOT Go into Space

Time to prioritize solving critical problems again, before destruction of the Earth systems we depend on triggers civilizational collapse, and humanity’s brief jaunts into space become a barely-remembered memory or even just a myth.

September 27, 2023

rusty car

Can modernity last?

We will likely shed more than a few tears at modernity’s passing, and that’s understandable. But joy awaits as well.

September 27, 2023

Rishi Sunak

In-depth Q&A: What do Rishi Sunak’s U-turns mean for UK climate policy?

In a shock announcement, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak revealed earlier this week plans to abandon or delay core parts of his government’s climate strategy.

September 26, 2023

LNG tanker

It seems like the next big fight

Just a single proposed terminal that I talk about in the New Yorker piece—the so-called CP2 LNG plant proposed for Cameron Parish, Louisiana—would over its lifetime be associated with twenty times the greenhouse gas emissions of the huge Willow oil complex that Biden controversially approved earlier this year.

September 26, 2023

Stamp commemorating the Salt March

Breaking the law in response to climate change

I do think it’s necessary to control Big Oil, and to stop governments subsidising fossil fuels, and given the sheer scale and influence of the oil companies I’m not sure what we’re going to have to do make that happen.

September 25, 2023

Screen shot of court filings about bad river spill

How to Take out a Pipeline

The speed of economic growth hinges to a large extent on the supply of fossil fuel, especially of oil and gas, which depends in turn on pipeline capacity. Thus, if we are to turn the tide against economic growth, pipelines are a good strategic place to start.

September 22, 2023

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