[Graeme]

Green Energy Likely Winner, Big Oil Loser In US Senate Races

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') strengthened Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate will likely boost the outlook for renewable-energy companies while large oil companies could be socked with a multi-billion dollar windfall profits tax next year.

Many polls predict Democrats will win a half-dozen or so U.S. Senate seats from Republicans in the Nov. 4 general election. This could give Senate Democrats a voting edge needed to approve a Renewable Portfolio Standard, or RPS, a requirement for greater alternative energy production from wind, solar and biomass.

Many Democrats promise a "new direction" in energy policy, supporting a move away from fossil fuels.

If elected, these candidates could allow Democrats to pass a windfall profits tax for Big Oil companies such as ExxonMobil (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP), according to a Dow Jones Newswires review of campaign promises and polls.

There would also be more political mass to set stricter energy market regulations and to pave the way for congressional intervention of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Given the polling numbers, "the RPS is almost a certainty," said Dave Hamilton, Sierra Club director of its Global Warming and Energy Program.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') strengthened Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate will likely boost the outlook for renewable-energy companies while large oil companies could be socked with a multi-billion dollar windfall profits tax next year

[Graeme]

Well, lets play devil's advocate here. Let's say that our best hope is for revival of your renewable energy industry. This is probably the only way to stimulate your economy (and worlds for that matter) and to lead to a recovery. The recent bail-out package provides incentives for this purpose.

You, as a peakist, should know that the price of oil will not stay low for long. So the "windfalls" will come back soon.

I'm far from an expert on American corporatelobbying, but I suspect that the outcome of these practices are far from predictable, and with a new Democrat President, I suspect that there will be changes in corporate influence over the next few years.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f he wants to defend a tax code that's more than 10,000 pages long and filled with loopholes written in by corporate lobbyists like the ones running his campaign, he's got every right. He has every right to defend offshore tax havens that let companies avoid paying taxes here in America. But I say, it's time to close corporate loopholes, shut offshore tax havens, and restore balance and fairness to our tax code.

[pup55]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou, as a peakist, should know that the price of oil will not stay low for long. So the "windfalls" will come back soon.

[Graeme]

You appear to be right about Carl Levin. Here are 27 comments about his record from some of his constituents. Is he likely to win again in Michigan?

I've just had a quick look at what the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) means. It appears that it doesn't go far enough or fast enough considering that peak oil is likely to occur within the time frame they are talking about, i.e. 2020-25. One way or another, oil consumption will drop over the next 10 years or so. It's going to be interesting to see what's going to happen during this period.

[pup55]

Levin was dragged kicking and screaming into the CAFE standards, and only then after bountiful subsidies for the auto company execs. His main method of operation is to, in a grandstanding way, demand an investigation of the oil companies any time pump prices go up by some newsworthy amount.

His main source of power is that he is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who of course approves the development of all of the damned weapons systems, which makes him the number one pet of the infamous "military/industrial complex". He is impervious to election challenge because of an unlimited supply of campaign money from this source.

He is leading 60/40 in the polls vs. a Republican lightweight.

Guys like this are precisely why the system is so screwed up.

[Graeme]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that this article by Richard Heinberg is the first attempt by a senior member of the Peak Oil community to put down on paper a comprehensive strategy for the transition to a post-oil society. I'm asking members to comment on his proposal, criticise, and perhaps add policies/strategies that Richard may have missed.

Memo to the President-elect on Energy Realism and the Green New Deal
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'O')ur continued national dependence on fossil fuels is creating a crippling vulnerability to both long-term fuel scarcity and catastrophic climate change.

The current economic crisis requires substantial national policy shifts and enormous new government injections of capital into the economy. This provides an opportunity for a project whose scope would otherwise be inconceivable: a large-scale, coordinated energy transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.

This project must happen immediately; indeed, it may already be too late. We have already left behind the era of cheap and plentiful fossil fuels, with a permanent decline of global oil production likely underway within three years. Moreover, the latest research tells us we have less than eight years to bring carbon emissions under control if we hope to avoid catastrophic climate change. Lacking this larger frame of understanding and action, a mere shift away from foreign oil dependence will fail to meet the challenge at hand.

The energy transition must not be limited to building wind turbines and solar panels. It must include the thorough redesign of our economic and societal infrastructure, which today is utterly dependent on cheap fossil fuels. It must address not only our transportation system and our electricity grid, but also our food system and our building stock.

Our 21st century nation’s dependence on 20th century fossil fuels is the greatest threat we face, far more so than the current financial crisis. A coordinated, comprehensive transition to an economy that is no longer dependent on hydrocarbon fuels and no longer emits climate-changing levels of carbon—a Post Carbon Energy Transition—will be the Obama Administration’s greatest opportunity to lead the nation on a path toward sustainable prosperity.

We need to reduce our overall energy consumption, and restructure our economy to run primarily on renewable energy—and the federal government must lead the way. This energy transition should have five components: a massive shift to renewable energy, and a retrofitting of the four key systems of electricity, transportation, food, and buildings.

[mos6507]

Is Richard Heinberg really not high profile enough to get a personal audience with Obama? I don't see why he can't meet directly with him. He's pretty much the Al Gore of Peak Oil.

[Petrodollar]

As usual, Heinberg has provided us with a very thoughtful and impressively holisitic analysis of the scope of the problem and potential mitigation strategies. Two sections I found particularly interesting, and IMO warrant discussion:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '3'). Carbon and energy policy
Worldwide, there has already been much discussion of, and some experimentation with, policies to discourage fossil fuel use and encourage the transition to renewable energy sources. More exploration of such policy options is needed.

The carbon Cap-and-Trade scheme that was deployed in the European Union, in which fossil fuel companies were automatically awarded carbon credits, has tended merely to push high-polluting jobs to poorer nations, while enriching bankers with trading commissions and rewarding established polluters.

The auctioning of all carbon credits, so that existing polluters must buy them, would be a clear improvement on that system. Cap-and-Dividend or Cap-and-Share programs would go further still by promoting social equity, with the proceeds from carbon credit auctions going directly to the public to offset the impact of rising energy costs.

[Starvid]

Sadly, Heinberg is something of a koko.

I've only read one of his books (The Party is Over) but people who have read more tell me that he usually just recycle the content to support himself and his litte doomster cottage industry.

When it comes to the content itself it's a mix of energy tidbits which usually miss the point or are outright erroneous, interspersed with his own political views (which reads like a 70's hippie nightmare) mixed with 9/11 conspiracy.

The idea that he would get to meet the President elect is somewhat... deluded.

[Plantagenet]

Mr. Obama has apparently already picked his main energy advisor. Gen. James Jones, his national security advisor, also has deep expertise in energy

Gen. Jones current job is President and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy

[mos6507]

Who would be credible enough to meet with obama then?

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'G')en. Jones current job is President and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'G')en. Jones current job is President and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy

[seldom_seen]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'W')hy do you see that as a bad thing?

[Starvid]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'G')en. Jones current job is President and chief executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy