Grist | Topics | 102 Results

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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Climate vs. independence New report finds unconventional liquid fuels will boost CO2	David Roberts	09 Oct 2008	Gristmill
The interwebs are abuzz over a new study from RAND Corp., which finds that unconventional liquid fuels like oils sands and liquid coal would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions relative to regular oil. In other news, the earth is round. It also found that Canadian tar sands are economically competitive given current (and expected) prices of oil, even in the presence of a price on carbon. Not good. These fuels set "energy independence" and climate ...
Topics: climate, climate science, coal-to-liquid fuel, fossil fuels, greenhouse-gas emissions, oil sands (all these topics)

Plug-in hybrids revisited My worries about PHVs have mostly abated	Alan Durning	08 Oct 2008	Gristmill
In my post last fall on Rob Lowe's plug-in hybrid, I argued that in the absence of a cap on greenhouse gas emissions, switching to plug-in hybrids might actually be worse for the climate than just switching to regular hybrids. I no longer believe that. Electric vehicles are winners for the climate in the Northwest. My argument then, based on research at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was that the 'marginal kilowatt-hour' -- the extra electricity that's ge ...
Topics: climate, electric vehicles, electricity, energy, fossil fuels, hybrids (all these topics)

After platinum parachutes, a green lifeline It's time to build the green-collar economy	Van Jones	06 Oct 2008	Gristmill
This post originally ran on Wonk Room. ----- At best, the federal government's bail out of Wall Street will help the U.S. economy -- which is already in a ditch -- avoid a total meltdown. Fine. Now we need a plan to jumpstart the economy and actually get America moving again. In my new book, The Green Collar Economy, I propose a bold, green cure for the economic mess we are in. Think of it as a comprehensive plan to bail out ordinary people -- and the planet, too. We j ...
Topics: books, climate equity, economy, energy, fossil fuels, geen jobs, Van Jones (all these topics)

Exxon rears its head and violates Alaskan airspace Sarah Palin, polar bears, and junk science	David Roberts	02 Oct 2008	Gristmill
There's lots of buzz around this piece in the Guardian, in which Ed Pilkington shows that Alaska governor Sarah Palin, battling to keep polar bears off the endangered species list, made use of junk science and scientists funded in part by Exxon and the American Petroleum Institute. Those interested in the subject should read this follow-up from Greenpeace, which links to background info on ExxonSecrets and in the Anchorage Daily News. To me this doesn't reveal an ...
Topics: Alaska, Big Oil, elections, fossil fuels, oil, polar bears, politics, presidential race 08, Sarah Palin (all these topics)

Vaporizing gas Gas shortages plague the Southeast	Sara Barz	25 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Gas lines snake through parking lots, independent gas retailers ration supplies, and fights break-out at gasoline-starved filling stations across the Southeast ... Gas shortages throughout the Southeast continue after several oil refineries in the Gulf Coast region were knocked off line after the double whammy of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Though two refineries have plans to ramp up production, Reuters reported that the government expects supply disruptions could continu ...
Topics: public transportation, gas prices, oil, fossil fuels, cars, urban planning (all these topics)

A greenhouse-gas syllogism for policy-makers Do we want an economy that's a bit more Belgian or Belgian Congo?	Sean Casten	17 Sep 2008	Gristmill
A simple syllogism to expose the flaws in our GHG debate: Fossil fuels cost money. When burned, fossil fuels emit CO2. Therefore, burning less fossil fuel saves money and CO2. The logic is impeccable (even if not quite as entertaining as Lewis Carroll's syllogisms). And yet our entire GHG debate continues to be framed as those who would damn the economy against those who would damn the environment. The debate is false, and it's time to get beyond it. That ...
Topics: green jobs, energy, energy efficiency, mining, oil, fossil fuels, coal, economy (all these topics)

Much Ado About Driving On cruise control	Umbra Fisk	15 Sep 2008	Ask Umbra
Dear Umbra, To cruise or not to cruise? That is the question. Is it more fuel efficient to use cruise control when driving, or does it use more gas to use the cruise? Carrie Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Dearest Carrie, Whether 'tis nobler to travel at constant speed -- that is indeed a question. And Edmunds.com, which has suffered the slings and arrows of tedious car testing, says an emphatic yes. The venerable car group found that ...
Topics: Ask Umbra, cars, fossil fuels, fuel efficiency, greenhouse-gas emissions (all these topics)

Energy's third thing Castens and Recycled Energy Development featured in Forbes magazine	David Roberts	15 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Don't miss this profile of Tom Casten and his company, Recycled Energy Development, in the latest issue of Forbes. (Of course Tom spawn and Gristmill contributor Sean gets off some zingers, but they're about ethanol, so don't read them! I know how you people get.) Recycled energy -- otherwise known as cogeneration, or combined heat and power, or waste heat, or simultaneous recyclo-combinatory hot-waste power re-generation -- is an odd bird in the energy debate. Not ...
Topics: cogeneration, energy, energy efficiency, fossil fuels (all these topics)

The organic times are a changin' New data show that 2008 organic food sales will reach $32.9 billion	Meredith Niles	11 Sep 2008	Gristmill
As people from Haiti to Ethiopia are tragically struggling to cope with rising food prices, many are piecing together the reasons behind our recent price spikes. The culprits lie in everything from the switch to growing crops for biofuels to market speculation. The situation is complex and involves multiple factors. But as economists tally up the numbers and politicians scramble for solutions, others are beginning to wonder if this is the end for organic food as we k ...
Topics: agriculture, food, fossil fuels, organic food (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 11 So how much do renewables cost anyway?	Michael Hoexter	11 Sep 2008	Gristmill
One of the attractions of renewable energy is that for most renewable generators (except biomass power plants) the cost of the fuel is free. However, even more so than with a conventional power plant, much of the expense of a renewable generator is concentrated at the beginning of the power plant's life. The cost of electricity is the sum of the initial, fixed capital costs for building a generator, variable costs of maintenance and fuel, any profit or return ...
Topics: fossil fuels, utilities, electricity, renewable energy, energy (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 10 Renewables and the 'Cheap Energy Contract'	Michael Hoexter	10 Sep 2008	Gristmill
Earlier in this series, we established that electric-driven transport can fairly rapidly substitute for petroleum in most ground transport applications and that renewable electric generators will be the most quickly deployable and functional of the available energy alternatives. However, there are challenges and barriers to overcome in order to move quickly toward the clean energy economy of the near future, as we have not yet seen a strong, spontaneous mar ...
Topics: politics, utilities, electricity, renewable energy, energy, fossil fuels (all these topics)

Putin's ruthless gambit The Bush administration falters in a geopolitical chess match	Guest author	02 Sep 2008	Gristmill
This is a guest essay from energy analyst Michael T. Klare. It was originally run on TomDispatch; it is reprinted here with Tom's kind permission. ----- Many Western analysts have chosen to interpret the recent fighting in the Caucasus as the onset of a new Cold War, with a small pro-Western democracy bravely resisting a brutal reincarnation of Stalin's jack-booted Soviet Union. Others have viewed it a throwback to the age-old ethnic politics of southeastern Europe, ...
Topics: oil, fossil fuels, Russia, international politics, politics, natural gas (all these topics)

You're Not Fueling Anyone Ending fossil-fuel subsidies would help climate and economy, U.N. says		27 Aug 2008	News
Posted at 4:21 AM on 27 Aug 2008 Ending fossil-fuel subsidies around the world could slash greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 6 percent and help the economy at the same time, according to a new United Nations report [PDF]. Globally, governments spend some $300 billion on fuel subsidies that encourage consumption, delay transition to cleaner energy sources, and mainly benefit the already-rich even tho ...
Topics: climate, economy, fossil fuels, gas prices, news, United Nations (all these topics)

The pretender Why McCain hates renewables but pretends he loves them	Joseph Romm	15 Aug 2008	Gristmill
McCain has been an opponent of renewable energy all his political life. Why? He is a conservative -- and that is what conservatives do. The GOP's ultra-rich big energy donors don't like competition and dole out millions to get their way. He has long been uncomfortable around cutting edge technology -- witness his Internet illiteracy. As a former FCC chair put it, 'Basically, John is a technological troglodyte, and proud of it.' And yet in his speeches an ...
Topics: energy, fossil fuels, John McCain, mainstream media, nuclear power, politics, presidential race 08 (all these topics)

Russia and the limits of oil wealth Oil wealth contains the 'seeds of its own destruction'	Michael Moynihan	15 Aug 2008	Gristmill
Originally posted to the NDN blog. The reappearance of a belligerent Russia on the world stage, buoyed by high oil prices and newfound wealth, would appear to signal a new era in global politics. For anyone still clinging to the idea of the unipolar moment, the spectacle of Nicholas Sarkozy brokering a deal between Russia and Georgia, shows that the moment of a single superpower is probably over, and something like a return to the era of the Great Powers, at best, ...
Topics: economy, fossil fuels, international politics, oil, politics, Russia (all these topics)

The (not-so) Great Game Oil geopolitics of the Georgia pipeline	Tom Philpott	14 Aug 2008	Gristmill
I'd like to be a fly on the wall for the upcoming talks between Condoleezza Rice and the Russian leadership. From The New York Times, May 6, 2006:� A day after chastising Moscow for its use of oil and natural gas as "tools for intimidation or blackmail," Vice President Dick Cheney visited Kazakhstan on Friday to promote export routes that bypass Russia and directly supply the West. With his comments, Mr. Cheney waded into a messy geopolitical struggle for ...
Topics: fossil fuels, international politics, oil, politics, Russia (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 5 More ideas for a post-oil society	Michael Hoexter	14 Aug 2008	Gristmill
This is the fifth in a series on how we can build an energy future based on our best science and no longer critically dependent upon exhaustible and polluting fossil fuels. Promoting battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles Governments can play a key role in promoting electric vehicles by buying electric vehicles en masse and helping develop battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric fleets and fleet systems. With current technology, battery electric tr ...
Topics: electric vehicles, energy, fossil fuels, placemaking, urban planning (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 4 Toward the post-oil society	Michael Hoexter	12 Aug 2008	Gristmill
This is the fourth in a series on how we can build an energy future based on our best science and no longer critically dependent upon exhaustible and polluting fossil fuels. The tripartite approach allows our society to cut oil demand and dependence substantially within a decade, much more quickly than a sole reliance on electrification of the autonomous vehicle fleet through sales of battery-electric and plug in hybrid vehicles. Combining these vehicles with th ...
Topics: electric vehicles, energy, fossil fuels, placemaking, public transportation, trains (all these topics)

Re: the Russia-Georgia unpleasantness	David Roberts	11 Aug 2008	Gristmill
Let's not forget that recent fossil fuel prices have boosted Russia's power considerably, and without any of the messy work required to empower an independent judiciary or build democratic institutions. Let's also not forget that Georgia houses two large oil pipelines.If John McCain really wants to constrain Russia, he'll help lead America and the rest of the developed world to a post-fossil-fuel energy system, ASAP. That will accomplish a hell of a lot more than chest ...
Topics: fossil fuels, international politics, politics (all these topics)

The (renewable) electron economy, part 3 A three-pronged approach to getting off oil for transportation	Michael Hoexter	10 Aug 2008	Gristmill
This is the third in a series on how we can build an energy future based on our best science and no longer critically dependent upon exhaustible and polluting fossil fuels. Getting off oil: a three-pronged approach Oil is not 'evil,' it's an undervalued resource that has been squandered on tasks that could be much more efficiently achieved through the use of electric drive transport. Cheap oil has enabled individual and family mobility and autonomy at a low ...
Topics: electric vehicles, energy, fossil fuels, hybrids, placemaking, public transportation, trains (all these topics)

Brownstein on land use	David Roberts	08 Aug 2008	Gristmill
It's time to link climate and energy policy to land-use policy. We won't be able to reduce emissions and escape fossil fuels if we keep building communities that require massive amounts of driving. That's practically a truism among greens, but I'm not sure it's really entered the political bloodstream, so it's nice to see a kick-ass journalist like Ron Brownstein making the point in a prestigious publication like National Journal.
Topics: fossil fuels, placemaking, sprawl (all these topics)

Price is nice As energy costs rise, supply chains go local	Adam Stein	07 Aug 2008	Gristmill
Two articles you should read if you're interested in eating local, growing local, building local, buying local, or any of the other ways that geography, economy, and environment intersect: The first is an article from a few weeks ago, detailing the destruction of the domestic catfish industry due to rising prices for oil, corn, soybeans, and other commodities. All meat is getting more expensive, but catfish doesn't have the advantage of being a dietary staple. The ...
Topics: climate, energy, fossil fuels, gas prices, local food (all these topics)

What can we do about oil? Short, medium, and long-term solutions to phase out oil	Gar Lipow	29 Jul 2008	Gristmill
As opposed to emission or energy, what can we do about oil? As I've said in the past: not a lot. But 'not a lot' is not equal to zero. Here are some pretty immediate things we can do: There have been some real drops in oil use in response to increased prices. I think Charles Komanoff once suggested that various types of conservation and efficiency measures could reduce oil use 10 percent more or less overnight [PDF]. Many of his suggestions are not exactly pain ...
Topics: electric vehicles, energy, fossil fuels, oil, public transportation (all these topics)

Short-term, yes; solution, no Gas tax revenue falling, feds seek to raid mass transit budget to pay for highways	Adam Stein	29 Jul 2008	Gristmill
From The New York Times: Gasoline tax revenue is falling so fast that the federal government may not be able to meet its commitments to states for road projects already under way, the secretary of transportation said Monday. The secretary, Mary E. Peters, said the short-term solution would be for the Highway Trust Fund's highway account to borrow money from the fund's mass transit account, a step that would balance the accounts as highway travel declines and use of ...
Topics: fossil fuels, gas prices, politics, public transportation, taxes (all these topics)

Why flying sux	David Roberts	28 Jul 2008	Gristmill
Ever wondered why air travel sucks so bad these days? Chris Hayes, D.C. editor at The Nation, asked a source inside the industry. The answer is fascinating. You'll not be surprised to find out high fuel prices play a big role.
Topics: gas prices, fossil fuels, air travel (all these topics)

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