May it please Your Majesty

I have the sinking feeling that Your ministers are not giving You the facts about one or two of Your possessions beyond the seas which, as the weeks tick by, take on the aspect of so many kegs of gunpowder. And it would be most unfortunate if those possessions were to be in the centre […]

Can Bush attack again?

Though the balance of reason weighs against the US waging war on Iran, since when has the Bush administration appeared reasonable, asks Galal Nassar. At a time of ongoing talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of diplomatic efforts by a group of UN Security Council members to persuade Iran to suspend […]

What happens when the gasoline station is on empty?

For those of you lucky enough to have outlived the OPEC oil embargo on the US in late October of 1973; you who remember driving up to the pump and the attendant (remember them) shrugging his shoulders, sorry, pal, we When the embargo first hit, my future wife and I were on the way to […]

Three Planetary Futures

The rapid pace of environmental change threatens to drastically transform our world. What might the future look like? Alan Weisman, best-selling author of The World Without Us, peers ahead 50 to 100 years to construct plausible scenarios for three widely divergent ecosystems, and the people who inhabit them. I: Las Vegas, Nevada By the late […]

Desalination can boost US water supplies

WASHINGTON — Recent advances in technology have made removing salt from seawater and groundwater a realistic option for increasing water supplies in some parts of the U.S., and desalination will likely have a niche in meeting the nation’s future water needs, says a new report from the National Research Council. However, a coordinated research effort […]

Ozone Hole Fix Equals Warmer Antarctica

A full recovery of the stratospheric ozone hole could modify climate change in the Southern Hemisphere and even amplify Antarctic warming, according to scientists from the University of Colorado at Boulder, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA. The study authors calculated that when stratospheric ozone levels return to near pre-1969 levels by the […]

North Pole could be ice free in 2008

You know when climate change is biting hard when instead of a vast expanse of snow the North Pole is a vast expanse of water. This year, for the first time, Arctic scientists are preparing for that possibility. “The set-up for this summer is disturbing,” says Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice […]

Insects left disfigured by nuclear radiation

No one wants to live too close to a source of artificial radiation, not even insects. Cornelia Hesse-Honegger has spent 20 years travelling around the world, mostly in Europe, capturing and studying over 16,000 insects, many living in the vicinity of nuclear power stations, or other artificial sources of radiation. Her conclusion, not surprisingly, is […]

Food rationing hits America

“Them belly full but we hungry,” sang Bob Marley, adding, “A hungry mob is an angry mob.” The world is about to discover that the slum survivor from Kingston, Jamaica knew what he was talking about. Food prices worldwide have nearly doubled, and wheat prices have trebled in the past few years. But the increase […]

Clothing stores feel sharp economic pinch

High fuel, food prices crimping spending on apparel After years of routinely asking consumers what they think of the coming fashion season, it would seem that nothing could surprise C. Britt Beemer. But this year, when Beemer asked women to rate spring clothes, he got an unexpected response If rising food and fuel prices aren

With First Car, a New Life in China

SHUANG MIAO, China

Hundreds of EPA scientists cite political interference

Washington EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar attributed some of the discontent to the “passion” scientists have toward their work. He said EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, as an EPA scientist himself, “weighs heavily the science given to him by the staff in making policy decisions.” But Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Scientific Integrity […]

The Politics of Food is Politics

An Alternative Agriculture is Possible In recent days, we have seen the rising price of oil and the devaluation of the dollar create two quantum shifts in the economy: the beginning of the collapse of the air travel industry and a global crisis of food-price inflation. These are related in ways that are crucial to […]

UK: Strike refinery shutdown complete

The shutdown of the Ineos oil refinery at Grangemouth in central Scotland has been completed, the company has said. The 1,700-acre plant is being closed in preparation for a two-day strike by staff over pension changes, which is due to start on Sunday. Oil giant BP has said that if the strike action went ahead, […]

U.S.-contracted ship fires toward Iranian boat: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A cargo ship contracted by the U.S Military Sealift Command has fired at least one shot toward an Iranian boat, a U.S. defense official said on Friday. “It was an MSC vessel,” the official said, confirming the ship fired on an Iranian boat. Other details were not immediately available. A spokeswoman for […]

Oil rises to $119 on U.S., Iran tensions

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil climbed above $119 a barrel on Friday after a workers strike cut production in Nigeria and tensions rose between the United States and Iran. U.S. crude futures surged $3.15 to $119.21 a barrel by 1454 GMT, within striking distance of the all-time peak of $119.90 reached on Tuesday. London Brent crude […]

U.S. Oil and Gasoline Import Statistics

For 2007, the Top 10 importers of finished gasoline into the U.S. in million barrels were: 1. United Kingdom 25.147 million barrels (total for the year) 2. U.S. Virgin Islands 23.590 3. France 11.209 4. Canada 10.605 5. Netherlands 10.518 6. Norway 8.406 7. Germany 8.351 8. Russia 7.387 9. Italy 7.239 10. OPEC Countries […]

How to End the Global Food Shortage

The world economy has run into a brick wall. Despite countless warnings in recent years about the need to address a looming hunger crisis in poor countries and a looming energy crisis worldwide, world leaders failed to think ahead. The result is a global food crisis. Wheat, corn and rice prices have more than doubled […]

BMI reveals approaches from ailing airlines

Several airlines struggling to cope with the record oil price have approached BMI to sound out whether the carrier would be interested in buying them. “They have already started coming to us,” said the chairman Sir Michael Bishop after a speech in which he predicted the slowing economy and the record price of fuel was […]

New Matthew Simmons presentations

Including: The 21st Century Energy Crisis Has Arrived Are We Nearing The Peak Of Fossil Fuel Energy? Has Twilight In The Desert Begun? The Peak Oil Debate As The EIA Turns 30 Simmons & Company International

UK: Dithering governments blamed for biofuel tanker shortage

Britain is facing a big shortage of ships for carrying biofuels unless politicians give clear guidelines about the future of renewable fuels, a leading maritime organisation warned last night. The comments from Lloyd’s Register that the world fleet might be “unable to cope” unless an extra 400 suitable vessels – 20% of the present fleet […]

Peak Civilization And The Winter Of Our Disconnect

The appearance of springtime in North America may be more welcome this year than at anytime in recent history. The winter has been long, cold, and dreary-particularly in the Rust Belt where the devastations of housing foreclosures, unemployment, and the resultant blight have left a trail of human misery and degradation not seen since the […]

Is B.C. ready for peak-oil refugees?

When Kitsilano-based strategic planner, architect, and peak-oil proponent Richard Balfour talks about environmental refugees, he mentions his own speculation that Environment Canada defines the Georgia Basin as an area made up of Puget Sound, the straits of Georgia and Juan de Fuca, and the lands around them. In the past 25 years, the Georgia Basin

The Peak Oil Crisis: The Case for 2008

It is conventional wisdom for most of the people following the peak oil story that we still have a few years to go before the real troubles begin. Some say 2011, others 2015 or later, but in general, among those calculating the depletion vs. new supply balance most have been talking about troubles starting in […]

Unpaid utility bills soar as economy sags

CHICAGO Xcel disconnects 600-650 customers daily, he says. “Obviously the economy is playing a very big role in the disposable income that folks have,” Boland says. Another factor: Cold weather added 7%-8% to this year’s bills. The extent of the problem is becoming apparent now because most states in the Midwest and Northeast have moratoriums […]

UK: Strike to close key oil pipeline

The Forties oil pipeline, which provides a third of the UK’s daily oil output, is to close as a result of the Grangemouth dispute, it has emerged. The BP-run pipeline relies on steam and electricity from the Ineos refinery at Grangemouth in central Scotland. Workers at the plant are due to take part in a […]

Britain faces industrial unrest as unions threaten strikes

Britain faces a wave of industrial unrest this summer as unions, emboldened by Gordon Brown Yesterday teachers staged their first national strike for 21 years, 100,000 civil servants in Jobcentres and benefits offices walked out over pay and workers at Grangemouth oil refinery prepared to strike over changes to pensions. Teachers are expected to set […]

European airlines face squeeze on profit

The American airline industry lost $1.5 billion ( The City expects European airlines to experience the same problem as high oil prices drive up operating costs. British Airways

Global warming fix could damage ozone layer

A climate “fix” to curb global warming would have a serious side effect, damaging the Earth’s protective ozone shield. Scientists have put forward several proposals to reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the planet’s surface, including the use of light-reflecting sulphate particles in the atmosphere and putting mirrors in orbit around the planet. But […]

Saudi Output Growth Can Help Forestall Peak Oil, Bernstein Says

(Bloomberg) — Saudi Arabian oil output has the potential to rise, helping avoid a peak in world crude production, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Oil prices may fall toward the end of this year as worsening economic conditions reduce demand, analysts Neil McMahon and Ben Dell forecast in a report today. Prices will […]

« Previous Page — Next Page »

LATEST NEWS HEADLINES

• Why the IEA is Wrong About Peak Oil Demand
• Did we inadvertently speed global warming?  
• Venezuela’s Oil Monopoly Eases
• Why Germany is Choosing Natural Gas Over Nuclear Power
• U.S. coal-fired electricity generation decreased in 2022 and 2023

• America Cracks Down on Methane Emissions from Oil and Gas Facilities
• Meet America’s Newest Oil Trader Extraordinaire: Joe Biden
• Is It Time To Refill America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve?
• Oil prices set to end year 10% lower as demand concerns snap winning streak
• What’s Driving America’s New Oil and Gas Boom?
• China’s peak oil demand bombshell eviscerates Danielle Smith’s energy strategy