Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Political reality is hard to change, harder than ever since the Supreme Court delivered its Citizens United decision and loosed floods of more money into our political world. But physics and chemistry are downright impossible to shift. Physics and chemistry don’t bargain. So the president, and all the rest of us, had really better try a little harder.
– With Peak Oil Looming, Gulf States Consider Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies
– Coal Interests Fueling Gingrich’s Cash-Burning 527
– When energy comes to a Senegalese village, do people get more healthy, wealthy and wise?
– Poor people’s energy outlook 2010
“…we don’t know when exactly the oil is going to start peaking and production is going to start running down, but…we don’t as a nation want to be putting ourselves in hock…to these sorts of markets…” So said UK Energy Minister Chris Huhne speaking on Radio 4’s Today Programme on Thursday. ODAC believes that this is the first time a UK energy minister has actually acknowledged peak oil as a factor driving policy. While the statement remains vague on timing, this is nonetheless a very welcome shift.
– Wallerstein: Mr. Putin Makes an Audacious Offer (to Europe)
– Inequality and Economic Collapses
– Rising oil prices, the recession and a new world order
– Oil or Terrorism: Which Motivates U.S. Policy More?
– Steve LeVine: Big Oil’s big optimism
– If efficiency hasn’t cut energy use, then what?
– U.S. Called Vulnerable to Rare Earth Shortages
A year ago peak oil author Dave Cohen christened 2009 “A Year We Will Live To Regret.” But as it happens, 2010 has brought its own mother lode of discouragement, failure and tragedy. It began on the heels of the bungled climate change summit in Copenhagen, a major blackout in southern France and news of a disastrous crash in Yemen’s oil revenues. Before the year had rounded its halfway mark, it had presided over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history. And as if all this weren’t enough, 2010 also saw the sudden and unexpected death of one of the very icons of the peak oil movement, the revered Matthew R. Simmons.
This article is in response to last month’s article by Kathy Leotta and her colleagues, Observations on local governments’ preparedness for fuel supply disruptions. First, I congratulate Kathy on her earlier research and thank her for reviving this neglected topic in her most recent paper. The purpose of my submission is to support and supplement various observations made by the Leotta team.
The literature on Liquid Fuel Emergencies is considerable, dating back to rationing during World War Two. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) in the USA did some exceptional work for two decades (1975- 1994). Unfortunately, there have been relatively few studies during the past 15 years, with the notable exceptions of the comprehensive analysis by Alan Smart for the Government of Australia and Kathy’s research in the USA.
America is in the doldrums and President Obama risks becoming a one-term president. For too long politicians have treated the words “peak oil” as political cyanide. But could coming clean about the world’s energy challenge be just what Obama needs to save his presidency while giving America a boost at the same time?
Without increased revenue, legislatures will have no choice but to make deep cuts in spending. Some argue that peak energy in general, and peak oil specifically, implies that the current levels of revenue are a “new normal.” If that is the case, the cuts made next year may well be permanent. … As a member of a state legislative budget staff, I helped with new member orientation every two years… This essay provides an accessible (and hopefully interesting) look into the possible consequences of the budget crises on state government spending.
The international climate negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, have concluded, and despite the gloom-and-doom predictions that dominated the weeks and months leading up to Cancun, the Sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must be judged a success. It represents a set of modest steps forward. Nothing more should be expected from this process.
A weekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Oil and the global economy
-The IEA’s Oil Market Report
-Forecasts
-US gasoline prices
-Managing China’s Economy
-Quote of the Week
-Briefs
