If you thought that the U.S. government shutdown was the top story at the Wall Street Journal today (print edition), you would be wrong. Instead, this headline took the honor: U.S. Rises to No. 1 Energy Producer Whoa. This wasn’t supposed to happen until 2017, according to recent projections by the International Energy Agency. But some…Continue Reading…
In March, several green groups, notably the Environmental Defense Fund, formed a partnership with Chevron and other energy companies to, as the LA Times reported, provide more stringent standards for fracking of natural gas in parts of the eastern United States. The collaboration, which also includes several philanthropies, has been formalized with a non-profit organization called…Continue Reading…
As you undoubtedly heard, climate change was mentioned prominently by President Obama in his second inaugural speech. Greens are applauding the strong words but based on his record (or lack thereof) on the climate issue (some believe he is unfairly maligned), and his lofty (unfulfilled) 2008 promises, many are taking a wait-and-see approach. Meanwhile, what to…Continue Reading…
This might be true: The United States continues to slumber while a catastrophe lies in wait. Increasing numbers of analysts and policymakers are warning of another super price spike for oil and the likelihood of “peak oil” more generally. But I wish the author good luck with this: It is time for public discussion of…Continue Reading…
Yesterday, I took an expansive, meta perspective on who’s responsible for climate change and the U.S. addiction to fossil fuels. But make no mistake, the legacy of George W. Bush’s two terms, in all things related to domestic energy development, from deliberate lax oversight to eye-popping corruption, looms large today. Rebecca Lefton at The Center…Continue Reading…
Liberal bloggers are befuddled, enviros are outraged, and the opposition party, as President Obama likely anticipated, is scornful. Most of the conventional analysis is trying to make sense of the Administration’s decision in the context of the Senate’s tortured energy bill negotiations. And because that doesn’t seem to make sense, people are scratching their heads….Continue Reading…
Germany’s leading magazine, Der Spiegel, has a fascinating interview with Russia’s President Dimitry Medvedev, which includes this exchange: SPIEGEL: In a recent article that you wrote entitled “Go, Russia,” you spoke of your country’s “humiliating” economic “backwardness.” Why hasn’t Russia managed to overcome its dependency on natural resources in the time since the end of…Continue Reading…
I’m confused. Several weeks ago Stephen Payne at Oil and Gas Investor said the latest James Bond movie taught him a valuable lesson, which he boiled down to this: in order to have access to oil, geopolitics unfortunately requires politicians to have a sort of flexible morality when it comes to from where we import…Continue Reading…
Folks over at Oil & Gas Investor are finding consolation in the latest James Bond movie. And pretending to learn something new about the role oil plays in geopolitics. After seeing “Quantum of Solace,” Stephen Payne got to thinking about the world we live in and writes that, “unfortunately,” politicians need to have a sort…Continue Reading…