Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The economist Adam Tooze has an article on his newsletter assessing the cost of getting to net zero in Europe by 2050. It’s based on a close reading of a McKinsey report and a look at some of the assumptions in the technical report produced for the EU Commission.
Despite months of struggle by water protectors, the tar-sands oil of Alberta, Canada is flowing through Enbridge Inc.’s controversial Line 3 pipeline in northern Minnesota. But for indigenous-led water protectors, environmental activists and concerned citizens who stood with them, the fight against the “black snake” is far from over.
The fossil fuel production gap — the difference between global fossil fuel production projected by governments’ plans (red line) and those consistent with 1.5°C- and 2°C-warming pathways (blue and green lines), as expressed in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions released when the extracted fuels are burned — remains large.
Progressives feel Manchin went back on his word about supporting a reconciliation package if Congress would first vote on the infrastructure bill. Trust within the Democratic caucuses is nearly non-existent.
We have entered the age of global energy disruptions, and the “energy transition” that we are inevitably headed for is unlikely to be the one we expect.
Citizen-led retrofitting, long the poor relation of climate policy, could now be its secret weapon in accelerating rapid transition.
Nearly every major oil and gas company now claims that they accept the science and that they support sensible climate policies. But their actions speak louder than words.
The campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty embodies key principles of Green foreign policy: peaceful disarmament, dealing with the root causes of ecological devastation by holding polluters to account, and a belief in internationalism and multilateralism.
The best response to this constellation of emergencies is to actively shrink the technosphere and radically reduce economic growth and energy spending. Our political class can’t imagine such a conversation.
A new report from Earth Scientist David Hughes seriously undermines rosy long-term forecasts made by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) for U.S. oil and natural gas from shale deposits.
“This is what the state, this is what the fossil fuel industry will do to protect this big, outdated, ancient asset — instead of protecting us, the people, and taking action against the climate crisis.”
Without missing a beat, Shapiro-Weiss boldly stated, “This is why we’re doing this.”
And the suspicion arises that, behind all these manifestations of extraction, lies the same emotional and metaphysical vacuum – a hole in the heart as long and wide as the Berkeley pit: unappeasable, irrational, and ultimately incapable of ever being filled.
