Grist | Topics | 10 Results

RESULTS		Results 1 – 10 of 10
Headline	Author	Published	Section
Train of thought Rail and the coming changes in transport	Erik Hoffner	03 Jun 2008	Gristmill
National Train Day was marked this year on May 10, so it's not too incredibly late to mention two new books of note: John Stilgoe's Train Time: Railroads and the Imminent Reshaping of the United States Landscape that came out in the fall says that rail is 'an economic and cultural tsunami about to transform the United States.' Maybe that's a little grand, but rail is definitely on the ascendancy, since it can move people and freight at a fraction of the energy usage vs. ...
Topics: books, energy, holiday, oil, placemaking, public transportation (all these topics)

The transit surge is working Despite increased ridership, we need more funding as well as support for our trains	Jon Rynn	12 May 2008	Gristmill
Paul Krugman ponders the reason that conservatives are so enamored of the idea that speculators are driving up the price of oil: The odds are that we're looking at a future in which energy conservation becomes increasingly important, in which many people may even -- gasp -- take public transit to work. I don't find that vision particularly abhorrent, but a lot of people, especially on the right, do. And indeed -- gasp -- according to an article in The New York Times, 'Gas ...
Topics: energy, oil, placemaking, public transportation (all these topics)

Oil hysteria, part 2 Are low gas prices an inalienable right?	Jon Rynn	02 May 2008	Gristmill
I'm listening to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) talk to Thom Hartmann on Air America. Sanders is arguably the best senator in decades, and understands, as he just explained, that we need to transform our energy system toward renewables. But he also said something to the effect that 'we have to get gas prices back down.' I can't blame him -- particularly in his state of Vermont, rural people are getting slammed by high gas prices, because they have to drive long distances. ...
Topics: energy, oil, placemaking, politics, public transportation, renewable energy, sprawl, Vermont (all these topics)

The unbearable tightness of oil markets America is ill equipped to handle expensive oil	Ryan Avent	30 Apr 2008	Gristmill
The Times' Jad Mouawad has written a piece describing the state of the world's oil market. It is, in a word, tight. Production volumes have been flat at best, and consumption growth has continued. Kevin Drum comments: I imagine that a global economic slowdown will flatten oil consumption a bit over the next year or two, and eventually higher prices will rein in demand more permanently. On the other hand, we've seen oil prices double three times in the past eight years wi ...
Topics: economy, energy, oil, placemaking, politics, public transportation, urban planning (all these topics)

Oil hysteria Let's rebuild our national rail network instead of repealing the gas tax	Jon Rynn	17 Apr 2008	Gristmill
At the rate things are going, any money that would be available for global warming mitigation is going to go into subsidizing the oil used by airplanes, trucks, cars, and heating oil so that most Americans do not become hysterical -- or am I being hysterical? From Michael T. Klare's latest article: Oil at $110 a barrel. Gasoline at $3.35 (or more) per gallon. Diesel fuel at $4 per gallon. Independent truckers forced off the road. Home heating oil rising to unconscionabl ...
Topics: energy, fossil fuels, oil, placemaking, politics, public transportation, urban planning (all these topics)

Don't celebrate this holiday We need to be freed from gas, not the gas tax	Ryan Avent	17 Apr 2008	Gristmill
John McCain's proposal to institute a gas tax 'holiday' during the summer driving season is as clear an example of a pander as one is likely to see during election season, but its inclusion in a major economic policy speech suggests that this is no easily ignorable one-off. As Joseph Romm notes, any hope progressives might have had that the maverick, straight-talking conservative could bring some principle to the table on climate and energy issues has now gone out the win ...
Topics: energy, gas prices, John McCain, oil, placemaking, politics, public transportation, regulation (all these topics)

The forgotten solution Transit investment should and will be a part of the peak oil solution	Ryan Avent	01 Apr 2008	Gristmill
Joseph Romm has made a number of very good points in his new Salon piece (and accompanying Gristmill post) on the problem of peak oil. He is, in my view, quite correct that oil prices will continue to increase based on supply and demand fundamentals. He is right that alternative oil source development would be a monumental mistake, and that biofuels are unlikely to be much help either. And I'd like to strongly associate myself with his statement that a solution to the cli ...
Topics: placemaking, oil, energy, urban planning, public transportation (all these topics)

Gas up The next generation of infrastructure should help more Americans go carless	Ryan Avent	04 Mar 2008	Gristmill
It appears that oil has reached a new all-time high in real terms. Given that gas prices normally peak during the summer season, the stage could be set for some ugly pump prices this year, although expensive oil may not be the most painful part of the current commodity price boom for consumers (an honor which may go to the exploding cost of grain). With oil so expensive, commuters may wish they had better transportation options. Some of them may even begin to wonder ...
Topics: energy, oil, placemaking, public transportation, urban planning (all these topics)

How bad is peak oil, really? Would the biosphere care?	Jon Rynn	20 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Recently we've had a couple of discussions here at Gristmill concerning various aspects of peak oil; that is, the assertion that very soon (if it hasn't happened already) the global supply of oil will peak, and even though demand is going up, supply will start to come down, so prices will skyrocket. It seems to me that some of the contention in these discussions boils down to the question: would it really be so bad if the oil started running out? After all, we would ...
Topics: biofuels, climate, coal, energy, oil, placemaking, public transportation (all these topics)

Gas price roundup Do gas prices affect behavior or not?	Clark Williams-Derry	18 May 2007	Gristmill
Despite record-setting gas prices, U.S. drivers haven't changed their gas-guzzling habits, says AP. Not only are we consuming as much as we always have, new vehicle sales seem to be tilting even more in favor of trucks than cars. But wait, USA Today disagrees. They say that drivers are, in fact, starting to cut back on how much they drive -- a clear sign that higher gas prices are starting to bite. Who's right? Who cares! Either way, the consumer respons ...
Topics: placemaking, public transportation, cars, green living, oil, energy, Vancouver, gas prices (all these topics)

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