Chickens come home to roost in backyards around the USA

PORTLAND, Maine “They eat insects, they fertilize the yard

Mexico eyes risk contracts to offset Cantarell downturn

LOS ANGELES — Mexico The paper cites official letters 400-455 and COFEMER/09/3988 (Federal Regulatory Improvement Commission), dated Nov. 3 in which Sener urges regulatory institutions to speed up the procedures in the new legal framework that was approved with the recent energy reform. Sener explains that it is urgent “to speed up the discovery of […]

Study sees transit saving Californians' energy, cutting greenhouse gas

A new study says Californians could save billions each year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by developing neighborhoods within easy access of public transportation. The study The study concentrated on four metropolitan centers

Natural gas prices fall 12 percent in November

U.S. natural gas inventories higher than at any point in the nation’s history NEW YORK – Natural gas prices have dropped by more than 12 percent in the past month as the country continues to sip at its energy reserves and a balmy November allowed homeowners to leave the heat off. …The recession has kept […]

Lester R. Brown: A hotter planet means less on our plates

As the U.N. climate-change conference in Copenhagen approaches, we are in a race between political tipping points and natural ones. Can we cut carbon emissions fast enough to keep the melting of the Greenland ice sheet from becoming irreversible? Can we close coal-fired power plants in time to save at least the larger glaciers in […]

The Critical Unraveling of U.S. Society

The economic elite have launched an attack on the U.S. public and society is unraveling at an increased rate. …Considering our current economy, what will happen when another extreme weather event like Hurricane Katrina hits a major US city? What will happen when storms, droughts and fires continue to spread with increasing intensity? How many […]

Recovery over a barrel

After a fall in demand during the depths of the crisis, the IEA now expects global demand for oil to be 84.2 million barrels a day this year and more than 86.2 million barrels a day next year. Then there is the looming problem of Peak Oil – the stage when demand outstrips the world’s […]

Sustainability and Social Justice: Do the Math

According to data compiled by the UN, the Global Footprint Network, and Dr. William Rees at the University of British Columbia, total human consumption already exceeds the Earth’s capacity by 30 per cent. This is known as biological ‘overshoot’. The UN estimates that most natural services to human societies – forests, fish, fresh water and […]

Electricity imports hit France's energy autonomy

France has for decades been fiercely proud of its world-beating nuclear industry but is now having to import electricity from its neighbours and could face blackouts this winter. News of the imports prompted the environmental group Greenpeace to say Wednesday that this was further proof that France’s policy of producing three quarters of its electricity […]

Hacked E-Mails Fuel Global Warming Debate

An online debate over global warming science has broken out after an unknown hacker broke into the e-mail server at a prominent, British climate-research center, stole more than a thousand e-mails about global warming research and posted them online. Global warming skeptics are seizing on portions of the messages as evidence that scientists are colluding […]

The global warming scandal of the century

The e-mail system of one of the world

Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study

Permafrost thaw threatens Russia oil and gas complex: study (AFP) MOSCOW “For Russia, the biggest threat of the permafrost melt is to oil and gas company infrastructure,” said Vladimir Chuprov, who heads Greenpeace’s energy programme in Russia. He said that the group had consulted with experts at gas giant Gazprom in writing its report, which […]

Climate change causing 'corrosive' water to affect Arctic marine life:

Scientists have uncovered a large expanse of “corrosive” water in the Canadian Arctic that is putting the marine food web at risk. The waters have been so altered by climate change and melting sea ice that plankton, shellfish and fish may have trouble building their protective shells and skeletons, an international team reports Friday in […]

America's Pending Collapse

In an essay, written by Richard Heinberg entitled As the price of petroleum becomes higher, imported goods will become more expensive. When our government fails to repay our foreign creditors, or pays them back in hyper-inflated dollars, there will be no credit issued to this country. This can be a significant problem because we currently […]

With fuel demand week, refineries shutting down

WILMINGTON, Del. — Refineries from New Mexico to New Jersey are under severe economic pressure because of falling demand for fuel, with a number of facilities shutting down in recent months. Valero Energy Corp., which shuttered a major refinery over the summer, said Friday it would permanently close its Delaware City oil refinery and layoff […]

Matt Simmons: Water and Energy Crisis Looms on Horizon

Ocean Energy Institute founder and energy investment banker Matthew Simmons gave an hour-long keynote address at the Island Institute’s 2009 Sustainable Island Living conference on Saturday morning at the Strand Theatre in Rockland. Simmons titled his talk “The Gulf of Maine: What Lies Beyond the Fossil Fuel Horizon,” but his presentation ranged far outside the […]

Cuba tries to keep the lights on

Cuba gets plenty of oil from Venezuela. So why is it adopting “extreme measures” to avoid blackouts? …Cuba is one of more than a dozen nations in the region that receive oil shipments on favorable credit terms as part of the PetroCaribe agreement. Cuba pays Venezuela back for some of the oil shipments by sending […]

Industrialized Nations Unveil Plans to Rein in Emissions

With less than three weeks remaining before negotiators gather in Copenhagen to hammer out a global response to climate change, a rapid-fire succession of countries are unveiling national plans that serve as opening bids for reining in heat-trapping emissions. But, speaking at the United Nations headquarters on Thursday, he seized on the latest pledges to […]

A Dim View of U.S.-China Electric Car Plan

Should the United States and China be teaming up on clean urban transportation systems instead of clean cars? After the announcement of a suite of new energy partnerships between China and the United States, I sought feedback on the electric vehicle project from Lee Schipper, an energy and transportation specialist who splits his time between […]

U.N. Report Calls for More Environmental Protection in Wartime

A report released this month by the United Nations Environment Program and the Environmental Law Institute calls for stronger international laws to protect the environment during times of war. The report found that although existing laws of war

Utility shut-offs soar for poor PG&E customers

The number of low-income households cut off by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. after they fell behind on their utility bills jumped 75 percent this year, according to a state report released Thursday. For the 12 months that ended in August, 91,393 low-income households lost their utility service, compared with 52,202 in the previous 12-month […]

The Political Challenge of Affecting a Societal Transition to Renewable Sources

Below is a summary of my presentation, The Renewables Gap, from the ASPO 2009 conference. The intent of my presentation was to highlight the political challenge of affecting a societal transition to renewable sources of energy. In particular, I focus on wind and solar, though it seems to me that the problem will be largely […]

Even in a season of apocalyptic films, these facts are really, really scary

Former L.A. narcotics detective turned whistle-blower turned radical critical thinker Michael Ruppert is probably not the kind of guy you would want to meet face-to-face in the basement of an abandoned meat-packing plant in Los Angeles. But that’s just where we encounter him in Collapse, an urgent and riveting new documentary from Chris Smith, one […]

IEA provides a rosy supply of crude

The International Energy Association (IEA) released its World Energy Outlook to controversy on Nov. 10. The U.K.-based Guardian newspaper quotes IEA sources admitting the agency’s figures for future oil production were inflated because of U.S. pressure. The two separate sources within the IEA want to remain anonymous because they feared reprisals. Now why does this […]

Doubts raised on nuclear industry viability

A scientist from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology predicts that supplies of uranium are running out and countries relying on imports of uranium may face shortages by 2013, while a New York Times journalist suggests new nuclear power plants are an “abysmal” investment that will never pay for itself without government financial support. Dr […]

China's Solar Industry Outshines the U.S

Just something to keep your eye on as your politicians promise you that the U.S. will be the world leader in green tech jobs. In fact they will have to layer countless more debt on your children and grandchildren for temporary “green jobs” jobs, to make this mirage come true – for a while. Most […]

How Understanding the Human Mind Might Save the World From CO2

…The example illustrates a basic principle in social psychology: that people’s attitudes do not translate into action. But most environmental activism remains centered around the assumption that changing behavior starts with changing attitudes and knowledge. “Social psychologists have now known for four decades that the relationship between people’s attitudes and knowledge and behavior is scant […]

Peak Oil Files: Why Is Saudi Aramco Building Supercomputers?

Saudi Aramco pumps about 10 million barrels of oil a day, about four times as much as Exxon Mobil Corp. How much oil Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, can pump has an enormous impact on oil prices The biannual list of the world

Thomas Friedman: What They Really Believe

If you follow the debate around the energy/climate bills working through Congress you will notice that the drill-baby-drill opponents of this legislation are now making two claims. One is that the globe has been cooling lately, not warming, and the other is that America simply can Yes, the opponents of any tax on carbon to […]

The Rooftop Garden Climbs Down a Wall

IN most ways, the Barthelmes Manufacturing Company is a typical sheet metal fabricator. Five days a week, machines here stamp out thousands of computer cases, electrical patch panels and other items for companies like United Technologies. Yet a growing part of the company They may sound like a piece of Willie Wonka

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