While more and more people around the world are coming to recognize the need for restraints on fossil fuel consumption, the new Republican-dominated Congress will lead the United States in the opposite direction, writes Michael Klare, author of many books and articles on energy policy. Klare outlines the energy policies the Republicans in Congress are likely to pursue and explains what is behind their fervent commitment to oil and gas. In an … [Read more...]
The “historic” US-China climate change deal confirms that we are failing in the fight against climate change
The US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change made on 11 November, has been hailed by many as a historic breakthrough in the fight against climate change, but it has also met with quite a bit of scepticism. Robert Wilson, who publishes the blog The Energy Transition on the website of The Energy Collective, argues that the agreement between the two largest economies in the world demonstrates that the world is failing to deal with the threat of … [Read more...]
What are we to make of the US and China’s "historic" climate deal?
The US-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change made on 11 November, has given rise to a lot of commentary in the media worldwide. In this article, Mat Hope of The Carbon Brief provides an excellent critical overview of some of the most significant analyses. Energy Post chief editor Karel Beckman adds some insights of his own. … [Read more...]
What the Republican midterm election victory means for global climate policy
The US electorate has spoken. The Republican party yesterday won a majority in the US Senate, meaning the party controls both chambers of Congress for the first time since 2005. That's thrown the future of US climate policy into some doubt, as Republican voters and politicians are generally less concerned about the issue than their Democrat colleagues. … [Read more...]
The end of an era: is the US petrodollar under threat?
Western sanctions imposed on Russia are driving Moscow further into the arms of Beijing, writes Andrew Topf for Oilprice.com. This may have the unintended consequence of ushering in the demise of the “petrodollar” – with profound consequences for global energy markets. … [Read more...]
A trip to Kuwait on the prairie: life inside the US oil boom
Today we have an unusual article for you: a first-hand report about daily life in oil boom state North Dakota written by journalist Laura Gottesdiener. This is not perhaps about energy as such – but it is about some of the “external costs” carried by one source of energy production. And it’s a fascinating read! We can publish this article thanks to our cooperation with Tomdispatch.com, where it first appeared. … [Read more...]
Exporting a revolution: why the US LNG stampede will change the gas business forever (part 2)
The time for doubt is past. The US is well on its way to becoming a major LNG exporter – on a scale to rival Qatar and Australia. In part 2 of this two-part series, energy journalist Alex Forbes reviews the implications of what he is convinced will be the next gas revolution to come out of the United States. (Part I was published on 14 October here.) … [Read more...]
Exporting a revolution: why the US LNG stampede will change the gas business forever
The time for doubt is past. The US is well on its way to becoming a major LNG exporter – on a scale to rival Qatar and Australia. Export capacity could exceed 100 million tonnes per year by the early 2020s – 40% of the current global market. The US Department of Energy certainly seems to think so. The implications of this are profound: for US gas consumers, for natural gas markets around the world, and for proposed LNG export projects elsewhere. … [Read more...]
In defence of TTIP: Good for the economy – and for the climate
The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) currently being negotiated between the European Union and the United States may deliver significant benefits not just in terms of greater economic competitiveness, but also as regards energy security and even environmental sustainability, writes Carlo Stagnaro, senior fellow at the Italian think tank Istituto Bruno Leoni and advisor to Italy’s Minister for Economic Development. According … [Read more...]
King Coal dethroned: future looks black
New research by the Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI), the London-based NGO that invented the concept of “stranded assets” (aka the “carbon bubble”), claims that “the tide is turning against coal exporters”. After taking on the oil and gas industry, CTI has for the first time calculated the risks faced by the coal sector from slowing demand in combination with climate change policies. It concludes that most new coal mines will not be economic. … [Read more...]
Oil is back – how Obama went from climate president to drill-baby-drill commander
Just a few years ago, president Obama promised he would reduce America’s dependence on oil. Now, energy expert Michael Klare points out, his administration is doing everything possible to boost oil production: opening up the waters off the Eastern seaboard to exploration, ramping up sales of leases for oil and gas drilling, expanding drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, even speeding up the processing of drilling permits. The results are visible: … [Read more...]
Is the US Department of Commerce protecting utilities from the solar revolution?
At the end of July, the US slapped new import duties on solar products from China coming on top of earlier “anti-dumping” levies. These measures are damaging for US consumers, the US economy and the renewable energy sector, writes solar power entrepreneur Peter F. Varadi, author of a new book on the history of the PV industry. Indeed, it now turns out that even the vast majority of the US solar industry is opposed to them! So why does the … [Read more...]
The EU’s drive for free energy trade in the TTIP endangers action on climate change
With the EU seeking to  diversify its energy sources and US companies eager to export their "unconventional” oil and gas riches, energy has become a major focus of the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), about which the two blocs are negotiating. The EU is eager for the US to remove any barriers to the export of its natural gas and crude oil, as is clear from a leaked EU proposal. However, this drive for unrestrained fossil … [Read more...]
US Energy Information Administration: Energy reform could increase Mexico’s long-term oil production by 75%
On August 11, Mexico's president signed into law legislation that will open its oil and natural gas markets to foreign direct investment, effectively ending the 75-year-old monopoly of state-owned PetrĂłleos Mexicanos (Pemex). These laws, which follow previously adopted changes in Mexico's constitution to eliminate provisions that prohibited direct foreign investment in that nation's oil and natural gas sector, are likely to have major … [Read more...]
Wishful thinking about natural gas: why fossil fuels can’t solve the problems created by fossil fuels
Natural gas is touted as a great success story in the US, not just by industry but also by the Obama administration and even by many environmentalists. The gas boom is supposed to have led to lower greenhouse gas emissions and to help pave the way to a greener future. But according to Harvard historian of science Naomi Oreskes, this is wishful thinking. There is no evidence that higher gas use has led to lower emissions and there is every reason … [Read more...]
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