Peak Oil Notes – August 21
A mid-week update on peak oil, including:
– Prices and consumption
– Georgia and the BTC pipeline
Energy Policy
Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac, nuclear energy and government
As we see news of the possible (and increasingly likely) bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae by the US Treasury, I am reminded of something that I have been writing about nuclear energy, ie that it should be financed by the State, and I’d like to extend on why I think there are fascinating similarities between the two topics, however distinct they may seem.
Russia: There is life after peak oil
Several years ago, at what seemed to be one of the darkest moments of the Russian collapse, I was walking in one of the avenues of Moscow. I noticed a series of large signs hanging from lampposts, showing traditional Russian buildings and landscapes. One of my Russian colleagues translated the text of the signs for me as saying, “Nobody will help Russia, so Russia will have to help herself”. Government propaganda? Sure, but that is what the Russians did. Never underestimate a country that has survived peak oil.
US oil companies finding more oil in old fields
If the peak theory proves true, the intersection between rising worldwide demand and a decline in world production would likely drive prices much higher, giving drillers even more incentive to go after every last drop of oil they can find in old fields as well as new ones. (Texas oil man Jim Baldauf, co-founder of ASPO-USA, is interviewed.)
United States – August 20
Anti-regulation aide to Cheney is up for energy post
Why oil prices continue to fluctuate
Petrol pump pilgrims keep faith
Renewed push for uranium mining in West
OPEC, peak oil and the end of cheap gas
Amid all the discussion about peak oil, one voice has been conspicuously absent, that of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC’s position on the petroleum-resource question should be the decisive factor in this ongoing and seemingly inconclusive debate. The organization now supplies about 42 percent of the world’s petroleum …
Oil Producers – August 18
Bolivia gets the change it asked for
Life is a misery for ‘married bachelors’ in the UAE
Fresh start for Nigerian oil activists?
Solutions & sustainability – August 18
Bumps on the road to a greener city
San Francisco peak oil town hall meeting: What’s happening with oil? (audio)
Fred’s footprint: the best solution to climate change
On American sustainability – summary
Message to mainstream America: our American way of life—300+ million people enjoying historically unprecedented living standards—has been enabled by our increasingly dysfunctional ecological and economic behavior over the past 200 years. Our existing way of life is therefore unsustainable; in fact, America is facing imminent societal collapse.
Deep thought – Aug 17
David Holmgren interview (part 2)
Holmgren: Relevance of mainstream sustainability to energy descent
Delusion Revolution: on the road to extinction and in denial
Jimmy Carter’s speech is remembered for something he never said – we should recall what he did say
United States – Aug 17
Friedman on McCain & renewables: 8 strikes and you’re out
Colbert on offshore drilling
Raleigh county mountain at center of coal vs. wind debate
Beware the energy hot air (the Pickens plan)
Woolsey on T Boone Pickens
API: Oil demand at 5-year low
Windfall tax lets Alaska rake in billions from Big Oil
Do it ALL for energy?
Energy plan lacks clear goals
In “Deep Survival: Who lives, who dies, and why,” Laurence Gonzales describes a climb up Yosemite’s Cathedral Peak … They’d timed things from their 4 a.m. start to get to the summit and back the same day. As Gonzales says, however, “The annoying thing about plans is how rare it is for everything to go just right.” .. In July, the Department of Public Service released the draft Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan. Like the climbers, the Department checked yesterday’s forecast.
