Stakes are high as US plays the oil card against Iran and Russia
Larry Elliott, The Guardian UK
With the help of its Saudi ally, Washington is trying to drive down the oil price by flooding an already weak market with crude. As the Russians and the Iranians are heavily dependent on oil exports, the assumption is that they will become easier to deal with. Washington is trying to drive down prices by flooding the market with crude but risks collateral damage to its own shale industry.
The Collapse of Oil Prices and Energy Security in Europe
Ugo Bardi
Written version of the brief talk given by Bardi at the hearing of the EU parliament on energy security in Brussels on Nov 5, 2014.
India set to defy warnings on coal’s climate impact
Climate News Network
While even China, the world’s leading coal producer, begins to recognise the fuel’s serious polluting effects (as with its recent emissions pact with the U.S.), India has announced it aims to double production to meet soaring energy demand. Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable energy, says India needs to dig twice as much coal as it does today if it is to meet its soaring energy demand.
We Have Just Witnessed The Last Gasp Of The Global Economy
Brandon Smith, Alt-market.com
I believe that the admissions of financial danger by internationalists, the sharp drop in stocks at the beginning of fall, the reversal of the political theater, and the fact that mainstream investors now recognize the illegitimacy of the markets yet continue with the scam anyway, signals the last gasp of the global economy. I expect increasing market instability from this point on, as well as numerous geopolitical distractions which will be blamed for the fiscal chaos.
How to Shrink the Economy without Crashing It: A Ten-Point Plan
Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
Is it possible, at least in principle, to manage the process of economic contraction so as to avert chaotic collapse? Such a course of action would face daunting obstacles. There is no significant constituency within society advocating a deliberate, policy-led process of degrowth, while there are powerful interests seeking to maintain growth. Nevertheless, managed contraction would almost certainly yield better outcomes than chaotic collapse—for everyone, elites included. The following modest ten-point plan is an attempt to do so.
Why warnings on climate spark aggressive denials
Climate News Network
If you don’t like the message on climate change, it seems that the answer is to shoot the messenger. A new book argues that death threats and abuse illustrate how climate change messengers are being demonised in a way that is without parallel in the history of science.
How Green Are Those Solar Panels, Really?
National Geographic
As the world seeks cleaner power, solar energy capacity has increased sixfold in the past five years. Yet manufacturing all those solar panels, a Tuesday report shows, can have environmental downsides.
Fabricating the panels requires caustic chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and hydrofluoric acid, and the process uses water as well as electricity, the production of which emits greenhouse gases. It also creates waste. These problems could undercut solar’s ability to fight climate change and reduce environmental toxics.
Posted by Peak Oil India in Climate Change, India, News, Peak Oil and tagged Climate Change, climate denial, coal, energy security, Europe, global economy, India, peak oil, Richard Heinberg, Russia, U.S.A., Ugo Bardi