Fossil Fuels

Asymmetrical accolades: Why preventing a crisis almost never makes you a hero

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If a catastrophe of sufficient magnitude to get the public’s attention were to occur–a sudden rise in sea level or a rapid, persistent decline in world oil production–then those in the sustainability movement would move from being prophets to being emergency responders. Maybe this would finally give them the recognition and respect they deserve. Only by then it will be too late to avert the worst.

A Deutschland disconnected from its Volk

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As elsewhere in western Europe, the advanced liberal consumer democracies are ever more unable (politically unwilling) to implement genuine change. Deutschland’s rulers in Berlin firmly believe that techno-managerial innovation (and a hefty dose of financial risk-taking) will continue to provide cures for current ideas of what is unsustainable. As has happened time and again in Europa’s history of nations, from the mid-19th century onwards, the costs of such ‘revolutions’ will be externalised elsewhere (east and south), and the ecological sustainability that Germany’s admirable network of communes have long been admired for will remain out of reach of the country’s policy and practice.

Geologist Berman: Shale gas reserves ‘substantially overstated’

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“You have to acknowledge that shale gas is a relatively new and significant contribution to North American supply. But I don’t believe it’s anywhere near the magnitude that is commonly discussed and cited in the press. There are a couple of key points here. First the reserves have been substantially overstated. In fact I think the resource number has been overstated.”

ODAC Newsletter – July 23

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As dozens of ships at the BP spill site are forced to head for harbour by the approach of Tropical Storm Bonnie, work to plug the well permanently could be delayed by up to two weeks. But eight days on the temporary cap is still holding, and officials are now ‘encouraged’ by the results. Earlier this week they were concerned that seepage near the well might be evidence of damage from the disaster that could lead to a further leak…

It’s a race to failure between rogue states and global oil output

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Dwindling global oil supplies are leaving the world ever more reliant on a group of unstable countries – many of which are themselves facing major domestic problems right now.
Believe it or not, many of the world’s major oil exporters cannot maintain their own domestic energy requirements. Venezuelan consumers endure electricity blackouts of “seven or eight hours a day,” but less well known is the situation in the Middle East, where residents are facing rolling power outages just as summer temperatures soar, and with it, the demand for air conditioning.

What else?

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For more than 100 years the coal-producing counties of eastern Kentucky have been dependent on the coal industry, which has dominated them politically and, submitting only to the limits of technology, has come near to ruining them. The legacy of the coal economy in the Kentucky mountains will be immense and lasting damage to the land and to the people. Much of the damage to the land and the streams, and to water quality downstream, will be irreparable within historical time. The lastingness of the damage to the people will, to a considerable extent, be determined by the people.