Fossil Fuels

United States – Aug 24

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Barack Obama selects Biden as his running mate (Biden’s energy positions)
Energy politics proving difficult to master
‘A whole new world’: oil and Alaska
Xcel takes unusual step to shut down coal power plants
Pickens’ plan and California’s Proposition 10
Californians wary of costs of going green: survey

Note to Biden on the Russian energy weapon

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Russian behavior is driven to a large extent by the personal strategies and interests of a few individuals at the very top. There is no overarching geopolitical plan, but a lot of political infighting and short term asset-grabbing strategies. That may be even more worrying in itself than purposeful strategies to use the “energy weapon”, but the motivations are different. It is true however that the global energy situation allows Russia to be a lot more assertive, or even brutal, on the international stage, and there’s little that can be done about that … [There is something that] Europe can actually do: it controls its own demand, and should focus its efforts on that.

New peak oil film on CBCNewsworld

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Shot in 13 countries over a four-year period, Oil Apocalypse Now? reveals the myths and conspiracy theories surrounding the future of our world’s oil supplies. It includes interviews with over 30 of the most influential people on both sides of the argument to examine if the oil age is coming to an end. The film will be shown on CBC (Canada) in September.

The Long Descent (excerpts from new book)

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The Stories We Tell Ourselves: “One of the things that makes our culture’s reliance on the utopian myths of progress and apocalypse so problematic as we approach the end of the age of cheap energy is that both narratives claim to explain the entire universe.”
Tools for the Transition: “One of the most hopeful features of this side of our predicament is that the revitalization of old technologies can be done successfully by individuals working on their own. It’s precisely those technologies that can be built, maintained, and used by individuals that formed the mainstay of the economy in the days before cheap, abundant energy…” (paean to the slide rule)