Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
With high gas prices and the coming of Peak Oil, coal is making a big comeback these days. The industry says that it’s not a question of whether we’ll use coal – we’ll need the energy – but how we’ll use coal. Environmentalists disagree. They say that coal is the dirtiest energy source, emitting far more greenhouse gases than natural gas or even oil.
Planner Richard Gilbert’s vision for Hamilton, Ontario. Part one looks at the implications of peak oil and peak natural gas for Hamilton’s growth strategy. Part two discusses transportation, goods movement, and building energy use in more detail, focusing on Hamilton’s opportunities in energy production and conservation.
Is it OK to fly? / Turned off by global warming (we need imagination & daring) / China faces rising temperatures, shrinking crops / Upcoming BBC series on climate change features David Attenborough / Canada moves closer to anti-Kyoto group
Hamilton, Ontario: the electric city (local planning for peak oil) / Colin Campbell’s latest /
King Coal again raises his sooty scepter /
Peak oil taxonomy: the doombat
Seventeen leading U.S. pension fund and other institutional investors controlling $658 billion in assets are pushing for a face-to-face-meeting with independent members of the Exxon Mobil board of directors as a result of growing financial world concerns that Exxon Mobil is “a company that fails to acknowledge the potential for climate change to have a profound impact on global energy markets, and which lags far behind its competitors in developing a strategy to plan for and manage these impacts.”
Full ‘Energize America’ proposal released /
Congressional report: ‘Securing America’s energy future’ / ‘Kick the Oil Habit’ campaign kicks off / Democrats offer alternative to Republican energy plan
A grassroots effort created and refined by informed citizen activists, and not by lobbyists or politicians. It takes an unvarnished and objective look at U.S. energy policy with the single goal of achieving U.S. energy security by 2020 and U.S. energy independence by 2040. (Executive Summary, Version V)
I would encourage the New York Times to adopt an editorial policy of stating directly that our burning of fossil fuels is linked to climate change. A critical related matter is the impact of peak oil on the mix of fossil fuels being burned.
Jeff Vail: The Great Game / Klare: Less oil, more wars / Thomas Friedman lays out his “laws of petropolitics” / The deep breath before the plunge
Glaciers in Africa expected to disappear / Legal battle to get feds to act on global warming / India says to tackle poverty before global warming / House Science Chairman Boehlert looks back at his environmental legacy
Report for California on long-term crude oil supply / Le Monde Diplomatique: Addicted to crude / Byron King: peak oil letters / CEO Shell: ‘World is not running out of oil’ /
Ian Cohen speech on PO & biofuels in NSW Parliament
It’s a big disappointment to see papers like the New York Times or the Guardian peddle the Cheney/Blair “war of the worlds” vision of energy markets. This is the vision whereby, in order to make people forget that it is … their refusal … to reduce demand through conservation or efficiency that has brought about the current energy crisis, they invent external enemies to blame for that situation.
