Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Episode 69 features Timothy Mitchell and Richard Heinberg. Timothy Mitchell is author of ‘Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil’. Richard speaks about his recent book ‘Snake Oil: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future’.
•Methane Emissions in U.S. Probably Top Estimates: Study •Top 10 beneficiaries of fracturing dollars in Congress •From sunset to new dawnColorado creates rules to reduce fracking emissions •Boom city keeps optimism as gas drilling slows •Americans Uninformed About Fracking Says New Study
No matter who’s right in the peak oil debates, there has always been easily enough oil and gas, combined with coal, to wreck the climate and bring down civilisation.
Since it began producing oil in earnest in 1956, Nigeria has become the poster child for the environmental, social, and economic devastation that can be wrought by unfettered fossil fuel production.
When we inquire who benefits from the fracking frenzy, the intuitively obvious answer is, “the oil and gas industry, of course.” Yet this may be a simplistic assumption.
Despite the row about green levies the bulk of household energy costs are dictated by the cost of wholesale fuel, and investments in upgrading network infrastructure.
•Shale miracle is surprisingly unprofitable •France’s Fracking Ban ‘Absolute’ After Court Upholds Law •Duke Study: Fracking Is Leaving Radioactive Pollution In Pennsylvania Rivers •Montana Towns Struggle With Oil Boom Cost as Dollars Flee
The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico briefly focused attention on how the oil and gas industry exploits public resources with little or no accountability.
•Study Revises Estimate of Methane Leaks from U.S. Fracking Fields•Experts: Fracking Methane Leakage Study Financed by Gas Industry With Partner, EDF, is Deeply Flawed •The Oil & Gas Industry’s Fractured Fairy Tales
The notion that fossil fuels are supply-constrained has gone from being generally dismissed, to being partially accepted, to being vociferously dismissed. Who are the players in this game, and who’s winning?
•Air Pollution Concerns Halt Enormous Coal Plant In China •Solar power to trump shale, helped by US military •German Utilities Hammered in Market Favoring Renewables •Analyst: Utilities Challenged By Spread Of Solar
When it comes to the health impacts of fracking and drilling in California, there are more questions than answers.
