Energy
A good time to think about off-shore energy
Rick recently pointed out the ironic timing of the tragic Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The news from the Gulf in the wake of that explosion just gets worse. The first report was that the well had sealed. Offshore wells have “blowout preventer” valves which are supposed to shut in the event of an emergency …
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CONTINUE READINGKammen to be Energy Envoy
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named Dan Kammen as a Senior Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) Fellow to advise Western Hemisphere governments on clean energy issues. As one of the first ECPA fellows, Kammen, the Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor in UC Berkeley’s Energy and Resources Group will consult with and offer …
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CONTINUE READINGNews Flash: Senate Will Consider Climate Bill First
It looks like Senator Graham won his fight with the Democratic party leadership over timing: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he is willing to bring up climate change legislation ahead of an immigration bill, the first step toward resolving a dispute with Senate Republicans that threatened to derail a bipartisan effort months in …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Offshore Oil Drilling Debate–Revisited (Again)
Earlier this month, the Sacramento Bee published an interesting point-counterpoint debate over the wisdom of re-commencing offshore oil drilling in the U.S., with a particular focus on California and the West Coast. Arguing in favor of the proposition was U.C. Santa Barbara Professor of Political Science and Environmental Studies Eric R.A.N. Smith, who maintained that …
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CONTINUE READINGHas the Recession Been Good for the Planet?
Sure, the economy is still hurting, and unemployment levels are unbearable and inequitable. But in terms of the desire to reduce climate disruption, are we better off now than we were before the recession hit? I am far from the first person to ask this question, but evidence pointing in a certain direction continues to …
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CONTINUE READINGBeing Lindsey Graham
I posted over the weekend about Lindsey Graham’s about-face on the climate bill. The Washington Post has a more sympathetic view, which I thought I should report out of fairness: And this is why Graham is angry: He’s taken a huge risk to be the lone Republican on climate change. Patrick Creighton, a flack for …
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CONTINUE READINGFuture Energy Scenarios
In a recent post, I discussed projections of future oil prices. There are big uncertainties, which obviously pose challenges for major oil companies among others. The approach that Shell takes to such uncertainties is instructive. Shell has a long history of using scenarios as a planning tool. An important recent example is its analysis of …
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CONTINUE READINGPopular Support for “Cap and Dividend”
According to a poll by Public Opinion Strategies, there seems to be strong public support for cap and dividend, at least if the question is framed positively. Here is the question along with some key results: “Some Democratic and Republican Senators have proposed an overhaul to America’s energy system. The goal is to reduce pollution, …
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CONTINUE READINGFuture Oil Prices
The Energy Information Agency at DOE has some really interesting projections of future oil use and prices. According to the EIA, in their baseline scenario, “the price of light sweet crude oil in the United States (in real 2007 dollars) rises from $61 per barrel in 2009 to $110 per barrel in 2015 and $130 …
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CONTINUE READINGIs Solar Power a Greyer Shade of Green?
Talk about green power is often colorblind, minimizing the darker side of the technologies. Land use and ecological concerns are sometimes raised about wind and solar, but we don’t often hear about the toxics and occupational health issues raised by these renewable energy sources. In 2009, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition issued its a report–Toward …
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