Staff

United States – Aug 24

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Barack Obama selects Biden as his running mate (Biden’s energy positions)
Energy politics proving difficult to master
‘A whole new world’: oil and Alaska
Xcel takes unusual step to shut down coal power plants
Pickens’ plan and California’s Proposition 10
Californians wary of costs of going green: survey

Note to Biden on the Russian energy weapon

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Russian behavior is driven to a large extent by the personal strategies and interests of a few individuals at the very top. There is no overarching geopolitical plan, but a lot of political infighting and short term asset-grabbing strategies. That may be even more worrying in itself than purposeful strategies to use the “energy weapon”, but the motivations are different. It is true however that the global energy situation allows Russia to be a lot more assertive, or even brutal, on the international stage, and there’s little that can be done about that … [There is something that] Europe can actually do: it controls its own demand, and should focus its efforts on that.

Not preparing, living my life

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By the time we were finished [with the interview], I felt that I’d lent myself to a subject about something I really know very little about – that is, preparing for a hypothetical crisis that may come someday. What I actually am starting (and I’m still just starting) to know something about is living in such a way that I’m somewhat insulated (not perfectly) from a whole host of scenarios.

New peak oil film on CBCNewsworld

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Shot in 13 countries over a four-year period, Oil Apocalypse Now? reveals the myths and conspiracy theories surrounding the future of our world’s oil supplies. It includes interviews with over 30 of the most influential people on both sides of the argument to examine if the oil age is coming to an end. The film will be shown on CBC (Canada) in September.

Food & agriculture – Aug 22

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A modest proposal for sustainable eating (Slow Food)
Saudi Arabia: Feeding its own people more cheaply
Food price rises push 14m to the brink of starvation
Charles’s fantasy farming won’t feed Africa’s poor
6 ways mushrooms can save the world
Costs spiral for cigar-leaf farms