Tuesday, 07 Jun 2005

An ex-CIA chief and unapologetic foreign-policy hawk is not someone most greens would think of as on "their side." But think again: James Woolsey has advocated tirelessly, through the Energy Future Coalition and other venues, for substantial increases in fuel efficiency and support for renewable fuels. The surprisingly gregarious veteran of four presidential administrations let loose his inner tree-hugger in a recent chat with Amanda Griscom Little.

I Will Singh, Singh a New Song

To feed energy demand, India gets friendly with old adversaries

India's foreign policy, like that of most every major economic power, is increasingly driven by its need for oil. The globe's fifth-largest consumer economy, India already imports 70 percent of its oil, and energy demand is expected to nearly double from 2002 levels by 2030. So the country is pursuing arrangements once thought politically impossible with old South Asia adversaries, like a gas pipeline from Iran across Pakistan, and another from Myanmar across Bangladesh. It's also seeking deals with oil producers, soliciting, for instance, Saudi investment in its oil and gas projects. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to talk nuclear reactors with President Bush during a visit to Washington in July; the U.S. has had a policy of no nuke-technology sales to India since 1998, when India tested a nuclear bomb, but Indian officials are hoping that might change. If conservation is part of India's plan, no one's talking it up too loudly.


What we really want to know is: When will we reach the peak of peak-oil books? But in the meantime, a new perspective on the topic comes from geologist Kenneth Deffeyes. This guy knows from rocks. And in Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak, as he predicts the peak of oil production and investigates alternative "fuels from the earth" -- like tar sands and gas hydrates -- the future begins to look, well, not much clearer than before. Jennifer Weeks reviews this entry into the oil pantheon.

East Meets Quest

China, in quest to be more efficient, could take a lesson from Japan

China just kicked off a new $80 million venture to boost energy efficiency and slash pollution; it aims to quadruple its gross domestic product by 2020 while merely (!) doubling its energy consumption. For inspiration, China might look to its neighbor and sometime rival to the east: In Japan, energy use in industry has been flat since 1973, even as output has tripled. (So much for that "conservation vs. economic growth" chestnut.) Now Japan is going further by exhorting private citizens to do their part. They can, for example, buy highly energy-efficient new appliances, like a refrigerator that uses one-eighth the energy of a typical 10-year-old model and buzzes at energy-wasters who leave the door open more than 30 seconds. The government has also subsidized some $1.3 billion in residential solar systems, and a tax break for fuel-efficient mini-cars has been expanded to include hybrids -- undoubtedly sweet news for Toyota and Honda, world leaders in hybrid automotive technology. China (and U.S.): take note.

Soda Jerks

American activist leads international anti-Coke movement via internet

The next time you feel ground under the heel of global capitalism, take inspiration from Amit Srivastava. The "one-man NGO armed with just a laptop computer, a website, and a telephone calling card," as The Wall Street Journal describes him, has become the lynchpin of an international movement demanding that Coca-Cola Co. be held accountable for causing environmental and human-health damage in India. Charges against the mega-peddler of fizzy sugar water include draining water supplies in drought-stricken areas, selling drinks containing pesticide residues, and giving away cadmium-laced sludge to farmers for fertilizer. Coke is defending itself across India, losing millions of dollars in sales and legal fees. While a Coke exec complains that activists "are making false environmental allegations against us to further an anti-globalization agenda," Srivastava and his allies are undeterred by Coke's denials.