James Howard Kunstler: Colbert Appearance and a Response to Critics

First off, here is JHK on Colbert (Flash required, methinks). It’s smart, it’s funny, and it’s worth your time (6 min). And, Jim has sent us a reply to the critics of World Made By Hand…it is posted here in its entirety. I don’t intend to mount a “defense” against all your complaints, but would […]

Former Cabinet Members Simulate Oil Crisis

BOSTON — It’s late December 2009. A simulated cable news network reports, “A brazen terrorist attack left dozens dead.” A global oil crisis is triggered in Turkey. “Apprehension about the damage this will cause to international oil markets is rising rapidly,” the news anchor reports. Terrorists strike with an oil shockwave that sends gas prices […]

Shell shuts more Nigerian oil after rebel attack

LAGOS (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell shut down more of its production in Nigeria after a fresh militant attack on Saturday on a flowstation in the restive Niger Delta, where local militants have stepped up a campaign of violence. The bombing of the Shell facilities in Nigeria’s southern Bayelsa state, the fifth militant attack in […]

David Strahan: Oil is expensive because oil is scarce

Polishing the portholes on the Titanic hardly does it justice. This week saw ministers giving an uncanny impersonation of Corporal Jones urging calm over the Grangemouth refinery strike; lorry drivers protesting in Park Lane over a two pence rise in fuel duty; and much righteous indignation over the level of profits reported by Shell and […]

The Coming War for Earth

How It Will Change the World! Consider activities most take for granted, particularly those who live in industrialized nations: drinking a glass of water; driving a car or traveling by mass transportation; living in a decent house or apartment; using modern household appliances; using tools to build, fix and repair; even breathing fresh air. These […]

There goes the neighbourhood: mortgage crisis sees suburbs slump

As the banks foreclose on loans across the US, worried householders watch their tree-lined streets change Susan McDonald doesn’t look like an activist. She drives a nice car, wears smart clothes and appears to be the embodiment of the neighbourhood personal banker she is during office hours. But after work McDonald has another life. It […]

Chevron: Follow-Up Appraisal Well for Jack Later in 2008

Chevron Corp. (CVX) said Friday it plans to drill another appraisal well at its Jack and St. Malo prospects in the deepwaters of Gulf of Mexico latter in 2008. “One follow-up well for Jack and St. Malo is underway right now…and another a little bit later in the year,” said Steve Crowe, Chevron’s vice president […]

Why Exxon Still Denies Peak Oil

One beauty of British mystery writers like Conan Doyle and early Le Carre is their use of deductive reasoning to relate odd facts and explain reality. Matt Simmons used the same powers to help us understand why major oil companies deny Peak Oil and why they finance groups like Cambridge Energy Research Associates that go […]

The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation of supply to demand. It A third rather new oil exchange, the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), trading Dubai crude, is more or less a daughter of Nymex, with Nymex President, James Newsome, sitting on the board of DME and most key […]

Shell, Repsol aim to leave Iran gas project

MADRID (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Spain’s Repsol are negotiating with the Iranian government to pull out of a $10 billion natural gas project due in part to U.S. pressure, Spanish newspaper Expansion reported on Saturday. The companies want Iran to agree to drop their current development plans for block 14 of the […]

High petrol prices see Americans ditch SUVs

America’s love affair with sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-up trucks is finally over. The gas-guzzlers that ply the country’s freeways and clog its city streets and parking lots are falling victim to ever-rising petrol prices, rather than concern about the country’s oversized carbon footprint. The fall-off in sales is dramatic however. Even offers like […]

Ethical bank offers wind of change for green consumers

You are keen to play your part in tackling climate change and have a bit of money to invest. You are distrustful of some of the big financial institutions but would like to earn a decent return on your cash if possible. If that sounds like you, then you may be interested to hear that […]

GM crops? We don’t have a choice

…There aren’t many quick and easy solutions in the food arena. Take tomatoes for instance – they were one of the topics I included in my Birmingham speech. Should we be buying English tomatoes or Spanish? It sounds obvious – local is best because it means less food miles. What’s more English tomatoes use far […]

Controlling crops goes against the grain

To describe it as opportunistic doesn’t do justice to the Thai Prime Minister’s proposal: a rice cartel as food riots erupt over West Africa and the Philippines, another Asean nation, goes begging for supplies. Still, it is nothing new. Eight years ago a similar idea was floated and came to nothing. Plans for cartels among […]

Union highlights aviation job loses

Unite, the biggest union for the UK’s aviation industry representing over 70,000 staff, has warned that a significant number of jobs are at risk following a spate of redundancy consultations with airlines. The union said the cutbacks were a clear indication of widespread problems facing the industry. A spokesman for Unite said the recently implemented […]

European rainfall could decline by 20 per cent

Summer rainfall in northern Europe is likely to decline by between 5 and 20 per cent by the end of this century, scientists have said. The prediction by the Meteorological Office’s Hadley Centre is the first to give a precise range of predicted rainfall which is expected to be used by insurance companies and flood […]

National Express suffers as fewer fly from Stansted

Fears for the state of the UK aviation industry deepened after National Express warned that fewer people are travelling to Stansted, hitherto London’s fastest growing airport. In a trading update today, National Express warned twice of the effect that Stansted is having on its business: of a “softening of demand” on its Stansted Express train […]

Indonesia: Govt to issue new decree on energy savings

While the existing decree on energy savings remains ineffective in easing soaring energy consumption at home, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is slated later this week to issue another similar decree. Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters Friday the decree would be stricter than its predecessor, forcing the public to limit energy use amid soaring fuel […]

Big powers to offer sweeteners to Iran

The world’s major powers agreed in London on Friday to offer Iran new incentives aimed at coaxing the country to freeze its nuclear activities. The agreement followed a meeting that brought together Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior officials from the foreign ministries of Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.“We’ve got an agreement on […]

Japan, China to Use CO2 in Oil Extraction Project, Nikkei Says

Japan and China will cooperate on technology to extract crude oil by injecting carbon dioxide into wells, the Nikkei newspaper reported today. Toyota Motor Corp., JGC Corp., China National Petroleum Corp. and China Huadian Corp. will participate in the project, which is expected to cost as much as 30 billion yen ($285 million), the Japanese-language […]

The cost of keeping the economy afloat on oil

A two-day stoppage gave Scotland a flavour of what might happen when North Sea supplies run out, and the effects are graveIain Armstrong oil and gas analyst with Brewin Dolphin: Oil firms are having to go further, dig deeper and spend more to get less out of the ground. We have constantly got this catch-up. […]

Iran moving into the big league

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad’s three-nation tour of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India and the welter of agreements and understandings reached between Tehran and these governments serve notice beyond the mere issue of energy security and Iran’s expanding role in the sub-continent’s energy market; rather, these developments signify a new stage in Iran’s foreign policy that […]

The future of energy

If you believe Richard Heinberg, then you think we’re facing some very serious problems. But if you believe Van Jones, then we have hope in the future. If we act soon. Mr. Heinberg and Mr. Jones spoke last Wednesday at White’s of Westport in a forum focused on environmental awareness that drew more than a […]

Asking the right questions about high gas prices

The notion of “peak oil” — which holds that the world’s production of oil is at it’s all-time high this year, or within a few years — has recently become credible in the business community. While most everybody will agree that petroleum is a depleting resource with a limited supply, the question many now wrestle […]

The Day the Gas Dried Up

But surely not in the land of glens, golf and whiskey? Is Scotland really

Lawmakers being forced to give up gas-guzzling cars

A little-noticed amendment to last year’s energy bill requires House members who lease vehicles to select those that emit low levels of greenhouse gases. WASHINGTON — Rep. Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley likes his taxpayer-funded Ford Expedition. He isn’t worried that it’s not the most fuel-efficient car. It’s reliable, suits his mountainous district and is […]

Fatih Birol interview: ‘Leave oil before it leaves us’

“The Sirens Shrill” The International Energy Agency (IEA) gives the alarm: The world could run out of oil faster than expected – the danger of a supply shortage is rising Hunger for energy vs. energy shortage: While the demand for oil is on the rise, the production is decreasing – shortages, escalating prices and inflation […]

Rob Hopkins: Eco Worrier

The era of cheap oil is over and our economic system is doomed, believes environmentalist Rob Hopkins. So is he gloomy? Not a bit of it. It This scenario may be fictional, but it has echoes of the 1973 oil shock.

Australia: Low autumn flows sink Murray hopes

IT has been a very dry autumn along the Murray, with inflows into the river for March and April back to near-record lows. Murray-Darling Basin Commission head Wendy Craik said the outlook was grim. “Our storages are at record lows. Our inflows are at record lows. The Queensland floods have not really changed the situation,” […]

GOP’s Bill Breaks with Bush on Oil Stockpiles

With voters clamoring about high gasoline prices, Senate Republicans unveiled energy legislation Thursday that echoes President Bush’s call for more oil drilling but would interrupt the administration’s efforts to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are expected to unveil their own energy legislation next week that would likewise halt deliveries to the nation’s […]

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