New Energy
A Little Love for Big Oil
May 1st, 2008
As gas prices head towards $4 a barrel, some politicians, as Rev. Jeremiah Wright would say, "do what politicians do" and propose a gas-tax holiday. Only there's one small problem with this tax cut: The oil companies are likely to pocket most of it. We've seen it happen before.
Obstruction Alert: Renewable Energy Stalled in Senate
March 5th, 2008
As oil prices hit record highs, all indications are that a stubborn conservative minority in the U.S. Senate will stand in the way of sensible energy legislation that would shift tax breaks away from Big Oil, which doesn't need them, and toward renewable energy companies that do. ... more »
Green, the Color of Good Jobs
By Tula Connell
February 22nd, 2008
The union movement is turning green. Not with envy, but with an escalating sense that the nation must work to address climate change and that we must be part of the effort to create good jobs that also are green jobs. more »
The Gas Price Rebate
By Bill Scher
February 1st, 2008
Thanks to the utter lack of a clean energy policy, the stimulus package may amount to little more than a gas price rebate. Here's one reason why.... more »
Fossil Fuel CEOs On Their Heels
By Bill Scher
January 17th, 2008
Today's edition of Environment & Energy Daily (sub. req'd) reports on a conference featuring the chief lobbyists for the fossil fuel industries. more »
The Voices
The Fierce Urgency of Now
There is no problem that existentially challenges the United States — and every other country in the world — more than energy and climate change. Anyone who thinks the problem can wait for another few years, or the next American administration after this one, should take a hard look at the gathering global food crisismore »
A Last Chance for Civilization
All of a sudden it isn't morning in America, it's dusk on planet Earth.more »
The News
Gas Prices Send Riders to Transit
May 11th, 2008
Oil Reaches $126
May 9th, 2008
The Facts
Wind Power Capacity Rapidly Expanding
The largest component of renewables generation capacity is wind power, which grew by 28 percent worldwide in 2007 to reach an estimated 95 GW. Annual capacity additions increased even more: 40 percent higher in 2007 compared to 2006.
Increase in Use of Renewable Energy
Renewable electricity generation capacity reached an estimated 240 gigawatts (GW) worldwide in 2007, an increase of 50 percent over 2004.
The Case
Environmental Standards Don't Reduce Refinery Capacity
Oil companies can build refineries now if they want. But they don’t, because they make more money when they dictate supply and keep prices high.
As the Natural Resources Defense Council explains: "Although refinery capacity is a factor in today's higher gasoline prices, environmental regulations are not the reason for tight refinery capacity, according to the DOE, the Environmental Protection Agency, the General Accounting Office, and even oil industry executives. Consider the market fundamentals: refiners reap higher profits when capacity is tight, so they actually have a disincentive to significantly expand production. In fact, oil executives have stated that the reason they did not expand refining capacity in the 1990s is that the low profitability of the business did not justify the investment."more »
Oil Drilling in ANWR Won't Significantly Lower Gas Prices
Bush greatly misstates the Energy Department's conclusion. The AP reported in 2004: "Opening an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil development would only slightly reduce America’s dependence on imports and would lower oil prices by less than 50 cents a barrel, according to an analysis released Tuesday by the Energy Department ... if Congress gave the go-ahead to pump oil from Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the crude could begin flowing by 2013 and reach a peak of 876,000 barrels a day by 2025. But even at peak production ... the United States would still have to import two-thirds of its oil..."
During the Bush presidency, crude oil prices have risen from about $30 a barrel to $117. Shaving off 50 cents per barrel, more than a decade from now, is meaningless as far as price at the pump.more »
Latest from our Bloggers
may
8
2008
Is It Even Possible To Reduce Gas Prices This Year?
Both parties in the Senate have just introduced legislation in response to high gas prices. more »
may
1
2008
Rockefeller Family Joins the Uprising
In my upcoming book, The Uprising, I report a whole chapter on the increasingly brilliant use of shareholder resolutions as an instrument of powerful political populism. more »
may
1
2008
A Little Love for Big Oil
As gas prices head towards $4 a barrel, some politicians, as Rev. Jeremiah Wright would say, "do what politicians do" and propose a gas-tax holiday. Only there's one small problem with this tax cut: The oil companies are likely to pocket most of it. We've seen it happen before.more »
apr
16
2008
Living Up To Lame Duck Status
Another empty speech on global warming from President Bush, designed to give the appearance of action without actually acting.more »
apr
8
2008
Hard Questions for Clinton and Obama
At the upcoming Clinton-Obama debate in Philadelphia, there is only one thing the American public wants to hear less than another policy wonk discussion—that would be more personal sniping over race, patriotism or honesty. So, instead, here are a few things for Katie, Hillary and Barack to kick around. more »
apr
2
2008
So You'll Be Giving Back Those Oil Subsidies Then?
Big Oil peddles the fiction they operate in a free market, while demanding they keep billions in subsidies.more »
mar
27
2008
Gallup gets it wrong
A brand new Gallup poll reports:
“Americans prioritize protecting the environment over economic growth by 49% to 42% -- but this seven-point margin is near the low of the past couple of decades.”
This simple, perhaps disappointing poll, hides as much as it reveals. more »
mar
13
2008
Conservatism Is Dying
Conservatism as we’ve known it since Ronald Reagan is dying, ground down in the desert of Iraq, drowned in the floods of Hurricane Katrina, foreclosed by the housing crisis and poisoned on toys imported from China.
more »
