Can he fix it? Sarkozy's carbon-tax plan derided by environmentalists

A “carbon” tax on transport, homes and factories, intended to make France a “green” model for other large economies, was unveiled yesterday by President Nicolas Sarkozy. But the convoluted proposals, including mechanisms to refund most of the new energy levies through tax breaks and “green cheques”, were condemned by critics as half-hearted and a bureaucratic […]

Mexico

The news just keeps getting worse from Mexico …The proponents of peak oil

Peak Moment Television: The Waking-up Syndrome

Ecopsychologist Sarah Edwards, PhD, explains stages people often go through when facing the implications of climate change and resource depletion. She outlines various aspects of Denial, Anxiety, Awakening, Despair, Powerlessness and eventual Acceptance. Differentiating these from the normal grief process, Sarah emphasizes how we can face inevitable feelings of grief and free our energy for […]

Taking Stock of North Pole Riches

Oil and natural gas are luring the major powers to the Arctic. The new Great Game includes Russia, the US, Canada and other countries competing for natural resources around the North Pole. More information is available today than ever before about the location and abundance of the region’s riches. For years it remained economically unviable […]

Michael Pollan: People Are Finally Talking About Food

…Certainly these are heady days for people who have been working to reform the way Americans grow food and feed themselves — the “food movement,” as it is now often called. Markets for alternative kinds of food — local and organic and pastured — are thriving, farmers’ markets are popping up like mushrooms and for […]

Growing Asian middle class to propel oil use: study

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A rapidly expanding middle class in China and India will provide the main engine for world oil demand growth in the coming years as families in developing nations buy more cars and appliances to go with their thicker wallets, according to a study released on Thursday. The outlook could place a […]

John Michael Greer: A Terrible Ambivalence

…At some risk of oversimplification, the argument between Monbiot and Kingsnorth may be summed up more or less as follows. Both agree that industrial civilization faces imminent collapse. Monbiot argues that collapse might still be prevented if we all pull together, that the only alternative is letting total collapse happen, and that this is unthinkable […]

Nouriel Roubini: Is Resource Nationalism Back?

A look at Brazil, Iraq, China … and Alberta. …Even the U.S. and Canada have been tweaking their fiscal regimes concerning oil production. In 2008, the Canadian province of Alberta brought in new regulations recalibrating oil sands royalties depending on the oil price. Doing so would provide funds for needed infrastructure to maintain development in […]

France set to impose carbon tax

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans for a new carbon tax aimed at combating global warming. The tax will be introduced next year and will cover the use of oil, gas and coal, he said. The new tax will be 17 euros (

Oil, gas contracts on Chavez agenda in Russia

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was in Moscow on Thursday to negotiate and sign new oil and gas contracts between his country and Russia. “Agreements on cooperation in the oil and gas sector, and in environmental protection, are being prepared for the visit,” the Kremlin press office said. Chavez was meeting with […]

Renewable Fuel Contenders

I got quite a few interesting e-mails and comments following my previous essay: Biofuel Pretenders. I probably should have mentioned – but I thought it went without saying – that pretenders usually don’t think they are pretenders and will therefore protest mightily at the characterization. A number of people who e-mailed assured me that they […]

Mexico's Water Shortage Turning Into Food Crisis

California and Australia have lately been making the headlines for drought problems. But Mexico is facing the worst drought it has seen in the last 69 years. That on top of the already existing water crisis, precipitated by terrible water management, is beginning to push things over the edge. Corn, wheat and other crops are […]

Smart Growth Solutions Can Help Coastal Communities Address Climate Change

WASHINGTON The new interagency guide, aimed at planners, local government officials, developers, non-profit groups, and coastal and waterfront residents, includes a description of tools and techniques for applying smart growth guidelines, with case studies illustrating the guidelines in action. For example, communities can (1) protect and restore natural buffers between the community and water; (2) […]

Better world: Take Friday off

FANCY a three-day weekend – not just once in a while but week in week out? You may think your bosses would never agree to it, but the evidence suggests that employers, employees and the environment all benefit. The four-day week comes in two flavours. One option is to switch from five 8-hour days to […]

"Dramatic" rise in renewables needed for 2C goal

OSLO (Reuters) – The share of renewable energy will have to rise “dramatically” if the world is to have a chance of limiting global warming to a maximum 2 Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) temperature rise, a leading expert said on Wednesday. Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of a scientific group due to present a U.N. report on renewable […]

EU: THE WORLD IN 2025: Rising Asia and socio-ecological transition

pg 14. According to the International Energy Agency in 2025 the world energy demand will have increased by 50 % in relation to 2005 and will reach 15 billion tons oil equivalent. Oil production will have started to stagnate (peak), coal is expected to become the first energy source between now and 2050. But in […]

Trident Resources Files for Bankruptcy Citing Gas Price Decline

(Bloomberg) — Trident Resources Corp., a Canadian natural gas explorer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S., citing a drop in prices and fluctuations in the Canada-U.S. currency exchange rate. The company listed as much as $10 million in assets and as much as $1 billion in liabilities in a filing yesterday in […]

IPI Gas(pipe)line – Crucial for Energy Requirement

While Pakistan welcomed the US offer to help it overcome the energy crisis, the US made it clear that it was linked to the relinquishing of long-dreamt-about Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project. The need for natural gas is more imperative than ever both for India and Pakistan. Long-term projections indicate that the demand for gas […]

Better world: Tax carbon and give the money to the people

CONSIDER this injustice. Governments tax labour and profit, the engines of prosperity, while pollution and the depletion of resources – arguably the greatest threats to our economic well-being – remain largely untouched. So while we’re thinking about how to rebuild our broken economies, here’s a plea for a new cornerstone: a universal carbon tax. The […]

Better world: Generate a feed-in frenzy

ONE day, 100 per cent of our energy will have to come from renewable sources. But how do we make it happen? There is a proven way to rapidly boost the adoption of renewable energy – give companies or individuals who want to generate green energy access to the grid and promise to pay them […]

Revealed: how Congress members sound off about science

Words matter, especially for elected officials whose careers prosper or falter on the cut and thrust of political debate. So with the US Congress now back in action after its summer recess, New Scientist has used a neat online tool to find out which members are uttering the words that lie close to our readers’ […]

IEA Sees Higher Global Oil Use as Economy Recovers

LONDON (Reuters) – Global oil demand will be almost 0.5 million barrels per day (bpd) higher than previously forecast this year and next on stronger-than-expected U.S. and Chinese fuel consumption, the International Energy Agency said. The IEA, adviser to 28 industrialized economies, said on Thursday world oil consumption would average 84.4 million bpd in 2009 […]

Peak Oil – Economy and Climate on the path down from the peak

by Kjell Aleklett …Our oil needs for the next 20 years can be found in known reserves. The problem is that the oil exists in small pores within layers of stone and must be forced towards the borehole from which it is pumped up. Investments in new technology can influence the flow, but this flow […]

Behind India's Intransigence on Climate Change Talks

If you ask India’s climate change negotiators, the December summit in Copenhagen will be not about how to save the planet, but about how to accommodate the rights and aspirations of millions of Indians like Kumar. Since developed countries have already pumped out a large proportion of the greenhouse gases that the environment can safely […]

Home power plants project unveiled in Germany

An ambitious project was unveiled in Germany on Wednesday to install mini gas-fired power plants in people’s basements and produce as much electricity as two nuclear reactors within a year. The Hamburg-based renewable energy group Lichtblick and its automaker partner Volkswagen say the plants would produce not only heating and hot water but also electricity, […]

North Sea cod 'doomed by climate change'

Cod are doomed to disappear from the North Sea because of climate change and not just as a result of over-fishing, researchers have discovered. In the past 40 years the average temperature of the North Sea has increased by 1C with catastrophic effects on its delicate eco-systems. Species of plankton, on which cod larvae feed, […]

Mexico's Fading Oil Output Crimps Exports

Mexico’s oil output is falling faster than expected, increasing the chance that the country will lose its status as a major oil exporter in coming years and face a worsening budget shortfall. Output at state-owned oil monopoly PetrCarlos Morales, head of Pemex’s exploration and production division, says Cantarell is expected to stabilize at 400,000 barrels […]

Kenya: Geothermal Key to Power Woes – Firm

Geothermal energy is the answer to Kenya’s unreliable and expensive electricity, an investment adviser has said. The country’s geothermal potential is estimated at more than 7,000 megawatts compared to the current output of 1,100 MW. Sixty two per cent of the existing power production is from hydropower, which is undependable because it relies on rainfall, […]

Egypt: Desert Winds Stir New Hope

With oil and gas reserves running dry, the most populous country in the Arab world is eyeing wind power as a solution to its looming energy crunch. Egypt relies on the burning of fossil fuels to satisfy about 85 percent of its electricity requirements. But with electricity consumption growing at 8 percent a year, and […]

Wind Power Capacity May Exceed India's Estimate by Fivefold

India can build wind power plants that may be able to generate almost five times more than the government’s estimate by 2030, according to a study by the Global World Energy Council. Wind energy capacity can climb to as much as 231,000 megawatts in India, compared with the government’s forecast of 48,000 megawatts from 216 […]

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