In Trump, We Trust to Muck Up US Climate Policy
Should Trump re-take the presidency, he’ll have vengeance in his soul and six conservatives on the high court bench. None of this bodes well for the future of US climate policy.
Energy featured
The Massive Harm of LNG Fracking, Tallied
Hurried pursuit of a liquefied natural gas windfall in B.C. and Alberta will squander a key component of Canada’s long-term energy security while causing environmental devastation, according to a new report.
Newsflash – global energy transition deferred, again
In the case of renewable energy, given that renewable electricity generation facilities are so cheap, why isn’t the global energy system switching rapidly to renewables? Because, Christophers shows, the economics of energy (like the economics of everything else in the modern world) isn’t driven by price, but by profit.
Brace for Peak Impact
Now that I have a demographic tool, I can ask questions relating to when we might hit peak power as a civilization. I use power (rate of energy use) as a proxy for all manner of resource dependencies, as energy usage correlates strongly with materials use and ecological impact. Plus, it is a readily-available measure.
Boondoggle Watch: Carbon capture great for making things worse, study finds
As global society advances further and further into its energy, resource and climate predicament, we can count on the creation of ever more ingenious boondoggles. This is because truly effective responses would require sacrifices and much more intensified cooperation. It is much easier and more fun to contemplate how our myriad boondoggles are going usher in an era of plenty and a stable environment.
Air Conditioning Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It
None of those hand-me-downs from the last century, including air conditioning, is consistent with the sweeping climate-mitigation policies that will need to be put in place in the coming decades.
Ed Conway: “Material World: The Key Resources Underpinning Modern Economies”
Today’s conversation with economics journalist Ed Conway focuses on the six essential resources that underpin our modern economies – sand, salt, iron, copper, oil, and lithium – and dives into the (often unseen) environmental and human costs of extracting them, as well as the surprisingly fragile global supply chains they fuel.
Navigating the Energy Transition: Renewables Abound, but Grid Challenges Loom
Fast-forward: If many of these young individuals translate anxiety into action, this could initiate a great global fossil-hunting stampede, triggering a rough rocking motion for the fossilized apparatus of governments still beholden to fossil fuel dependencies and obsolete grids minus a plan.
Out Over Our Skis – Energy Faceplant
The term “out over your skis” means careening forward, a little out of control, very likely headed for a faceplant. This is the position humanity is in when it comes to energy demand.
Debrief with May Boeve
Organizers looking ahead greatly benefit from pausing for a look back. The value of a good debrief surpasses the time it sacrifices. What can we each understand about the last 15 years that could inform the next — personally, as community and as a movement?
How extreme weather will affect the insurance and energy sectors
Energy systems are being pushed to the brink by wind storms and heatwaves, compounded by gas shortages and price rises caused by the war in Ukraine.
Plastic Pollution Is a Crime Against People and the Planet
Plastic particles and chemicals pollute all of our bodies. But people living on the fencelines of the fossil fuel, plastic, and waste industries face even more life-threatening pollution.
