Energy Policy

What strategy for a green recovery?

by

Few have been more enthusiastic about Obama’s recovery plan than the Apollo Alliance, which sees it as the culmination of their hopes to re-energize the US economy through “green” technology. Will they be rewarded? The Alliance channels a vision of restoring growth and world leadership to the US by investing in technology which is less polluting and less dependent on fossil fuels. The Apollo does not acknowledge a crisis in energy based on resource depletion, although they do acknowledge a crisis based on global warming.

Hope and fear

by

Mr. Obama’s first task taking stage in the lonely Oval Office should be to get right with his own credo of “change,” meaning he’ll have to persuade the broad American public that the “change” required to salvage this society runs much deeper, colder, and thicker than they’d imagine in their initial transports over hallelujah-Bush-is-Gone. Many of the familiar touchstones of the recent American experience have got to go.

Fuel Emergency Part 1

by

Preparing for a liquid fuels emergency does not appear to be on the radar screens of most government officials and emergency planners. This is a very worrying situation in light of emerging energy supply realities (accelerating oil-field depletion rates, plummeting exploration and development, rusting infrastructure, and greying workforce). All of these factors put together mean there is an increasing potential for fuel supply emergencies in the years ahead.

The price illusion

by

The prices we are seeing for fossil fuels are creating an illusion of plenty that masks the central issue of our time: How do we move from our nonrenewable energy economy to a renewable one and do it quickly enough to avoid a catastrophic and rapid decline in the total energy available to human society?