‘Malaise’: The last time a president told the truth about energy

Today’s energy crunch is starting to look more and more like the energy crisis of the late 1970s. But if President Obama doesn’t want to end up like Jimmy Carter, maybe he should consider actually taking a page out of Carter’s playbook and start leveling with the American public about energy. After the anniversary of […]

Fracking French

Did you hear? Fracking is the new Gaddafi in France! That’s right. Shale gas production is the new distraction of the center-right government of Nicolas Sarkozy, the most recent of many populist gambits that seek to reverse Socialist gains ahead of next year’s presidential elections. In the past, fledgling polls or upcoming elections have coincided […]

Kunstler: Nobody Knows Anything

That sound you hear out there is spaghetti hitting the wall. Everybody wonders: will it stick?  The European Union lobbed a wad of kartoffelkloesse at a Greek wall last week. The thud was impressive, but then the darn thing started sliding down the greasy wall to where a gang of CDS counterparty wolves waited, snapping […]

Inside the Military’s Green Energy Mission

First up this week, the U.S. Department of Defense spends $15 billion a year on energy, mostly on oil-based fuels. Transporting that fuel to the battlefield puts lives at risk, so the military is finding ways to save energy and use alternatives to oil. Correspondent Lee Patrick Sullivan checks out a fighter jet that runs […]

Iranian nuclear scientist killed in Tehran

An Iranian physicist was shot dead by a motorcyclist in Tehran on Saturday and Iran’s student news agency ISNA quoted an unnamed police official as saying the man was a nuclear scientist. ISNA named the scientist as Darioush Rezaie, 35, a university teacher who held a PhD in physics. It was not clear whether he […]

Brazil’s new nuclear subs to defend oil wells

Work on the country’s first nuclear submarines has begun in an effort to defend oil reserves and project global power. Plans for a Brazilian nuclear submarine that had been postponed since the 1970s are beginning to materialise, as the nuclear-propelled sub is regarded as a strategic necessity to guard Brazil’s deep water oil reserves, and […]

Malawi: Fuel Shortages Ignite Violent Nationwide Protests

In light of the recent spate of protests in Malawi, government should rethink its policy to devalue the local currency, economists say. Economic and democratic governance concerns against President Bingu wa Mutharika’s government amid persistent fuel shortages ignited violent nationwide public protests on Wednesday as protestors called for Mutharika’s resignation. People looted shops and torched […]

Roscoe Bartlett Notes Urgency to Reduce Oil Dependency at the first joint United States Air Force and Army Energy Forum

Congressman Bartlett is the Chairman, Tactical Air and Land Forces (TALF) Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) and a member of its Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces. He is also a Member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and its Subcommittee on Energy and Environment; a member of the House […]

IEA: Additional crude oil stock releases possible

The International Energy Agency announced its completion of a 30-day review of the Libya Collective Action launched on June 23. IEA said it would take additional action if market conditions warrant. The review concluded that the release of strategic stocks of oil among IEA member countries served a market need by adding liquidity and bridging […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: Reality On Hold

As much of America bakes in some of the highest temperatures ever recorded and while Washington argues interminably over taxes, budget cuts and debt caps, one is struck by the unreality of it all. When the House of Representatives votes to preserve the incandescent light bulb for a while as a symbol of personal freedom, […]

Is an “Oil Shockwave” America’s Biggest Energy Threat?

War games have long been used to prepare the military for battle, but what about the national threat of a global energy crisis? According to an advocacy group called Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), Middle East turmoil, a shaky national economy, and heavy dependence on foreign oil have combined to make America’s energy supply “dangerously […]

The U.S. Military Targets Fossil Fuel Addiction

The U.S. military uses more energy than any single organization in the world, at a cost of $15 billion a year for operations across the globe, with almost all those dollars going to fuel costs. But that dependence has a human cost. More than 3,000 U.S. soldiers or contractors have been killed or wounded in […]

The New Austerity and the EROI Squeeze

The government of Michigan has shut down thanks to a $5 billion budget gap. Wisconsin public employees have been de-unionized so their salaries and benefits can be cut to close a budget gap. New Jersey just missed shutting down as a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor agreed that austerity cuts are needed (though there’s […]

Failure and Heroism at the IEA

On June 23rd, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the US government announced the intention to tap strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) of the US and other countries, with an eye to reducing oil prices. The US was to provide 30 million barrels (mb) and other countries a similar amount, for a total draw of 60 […]

Low fertility rate a serious warning to China’s population prpblem

The theme of this year’s World Population Day, “the world at 7 billion,” had an unclear message. Instead of giving a complex assessment of global demographic issues, it focused on the number the world population is expected to exceed later this year – 7 billion. According to the sixth national census conducted last year, China’s […]

Charting America’s Brief Trip In And Out Of Austerity… And Onward To Complete Disaster

One of the “positive” side-effects of the Treasury’s plundering of retirement accounts is that total US debt in June actually declined for the first time since January 2010, dropping by $1.6 billion from the May 31 closing print of $14.344 trillion. No doubt this was predicated by the US Treasury officially breaching the debt ceiling […]

Former CIA Official: Israel Will Bomb Iran In September

The Israeli security establishment is increasingly worried by Netanyahu’s bellicose stance towards Iran A longtime CIA officer who spent 21 years in the Middle East is predicting that Israel will bomb Iran in the fall, dragging the United States into another major war and endangering US military and civilian personnel (and other interests) throughout the […]

War Game Exposes Grim Reality: Few Oil Crisis Options

The Oil Shockwave simulation event poses a hypothetical but very feasible scenario: What if there were a serious, crippling disruption to the world’s oil supply? Terrorists strike the world’s largest oil production facility in Saudi Arabia, sending global oil prices skyward: What should the U.S. president do? For three hours Wednesday, a group of former […]

Fracking Rules Could Allow Drilling Near New York City Water Supply Tunnels

The latest draft of guidelines for hydraulic fracturing in New York could open the door to drilling within 1,000 feet of aging underground tunnels that carry water to New York City—a far cry from the seven-mile buffer once sought by city officials. The draft environmental impact statement, released last week by state officials, is a crucial […]

$76 Trillion: UN’s Cost of “Going Green” Soars

Last time I was there, the UN HQ was still based on New York’s east-side. As of July 5 when it published its innocuous sounding World Economic and Social Survey 2011, there is increasing evidence it may have floated away on the East River, took a left at Spielberg’s Dreamworks studios and is now circling […]

Bermuda sets out goals of national energy policy

Bermuda is positioning itself as a leader among small island nations in finding greener ways of energy production, Environment Minister Walter Roban said today. Mr Roban said: “The primary threat to energy security in Bermuda is the impending threat of peak oil — the time at which the world’s production of oil peaks and thereafter […]

Italy, Eni told to ‘forget’ Libya’s oil

Libya’s Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmoudi said his government has stopped all cooperation with Eni SPA, the country’s largest international oil company, due to Italy’s participation in the bombing campaign being waged by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. “The Italian government needs to totally forget about Libyan oil and every agreement we signed in the […]

Why Europe Needs Its Own Energy Agency

Oil prices have once again reached record levels and volatility is more than ever destructive. While the public complains, governments remain powerless. Growing demand from non-OECD countries, stagnating production and unrest in the Middle East are the main causes for this new paradigm. In every crisis, understanding the overall situation is a first step for […]

‘Fracking’ Has EPA Seal of Approval

Natural gas is clean and cheap compared to other forms of energy. Over the last few years, U.S. and world natural gas reserves have soared – U.S. reserves are up by over a third – as we’ve discovered how to apply the technique known as fracking to unleash gas trapped in deep underground shale formations. […]

IEA Says Additional SPR Releases Possible

If there is one thing in the past year that has received more ridicule than the Fed’s horrendous monetary policy it is the IEA unprecedented decision to release 60 million in crude from the global strategic petroleum reserve. One needs to take a simple look at the price of crude just today to see what […]

Germany to fund new coal plants with climate change fund cash

The German government wants to encourage the construction of new coal and gas power plants with millions of euros from a fund for promoting clean energy and combating climate change. The plan has come under stiff criticism, but the Ministry of Economics and Technology defended the idea. A spokeswoman said it was necessary as the […]

Bernanke Fights Ron Paul In US Congress: Gold Isn’t Money

Chairman Ben Bernanke faced-off with Fed-hating Representative Ron Paul during his monetary policy report to Congress on Wednesday.  The head of the Fed was forced to respond to accusations of enriching already rich corporations while failing to help Main Street, while he was pushed on his views on gold.  When asked whether gold is money, […]

Factional fighting brings Yemen unrest nearer Saudi

Factional fighting in Yemen’s north entered its fifth day on Tuesday, bringing violence closer to the border with Saudi Arabia, while the United States’ top counter-terrorism official visited Sanaa. Twenty-three people have been killed and dozens injured in the northern province of Jawf since clashes broke out on Friday between members of Yemen’s main opposition […]

Peak Oil: Getting Off Oil – A 50-State Roadmap for Curbing Our Dependence on Petroleum

America’s dependence on oil inflicts a heavy toll on our environment. There are many technologies and policy tools, however, that can curb America’s dependence on oil. By taking strong action to cut down on energy waste and shift to cleaner sources of energy, America could re- duce its consumption of oil for energy by 1.9 […]

Bangladesh: Our population problem

WORLD Population Day was observed yesterday around the globe on the theme of “World at 7 billion” as the world is set to reach this number by the end of October of this year. Bangladesh, too, observed the day, but amidst major population control concerns. Lack of clarity seems to be a key characteristic of […]

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