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RESULTS		Results 351 – 375 of 662
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Headline	Author	Published	Section
Hint: Two words that both start with 'c' Why $100-per-barrel oil would be no big deal	Tom Philpott	01 Oct 2007	Gristmill
At current levels of around $80 per barrel, oil prices have leapt nearly eightfold since 1998. Many observers would have predicted economic disaster from such a leap, but the global economy just keeps chugging along. An interesting article in Saturday's Wall Street Journal reports that many analysts figure that $100/barrel oil is on the way -- and that the global economy will shrug that off, too. I was working in Mexico as a finance reporter in 1998-99, and wro ...
Topics: business, energy, oil (all these topics)

The War on Error Inspector general's report finds problems with royalty-collection program at Interior		26 Sep 2007	News
Posted at 6:57 AM on 26 Sep 2007 A new report by the U.S. Interior Department's inspector general points to a "profound failure" of the technology that the Minerals Management Service uses to monitor the roughly $10 billion in oil and gas royalty payments from energy companies each year. But it's not just the technology. Higher-ups in the agency apparently decided that even after cat ...
Topics: business, Department of Interior, news, oil, politics (all these topics)

Greenspan vs. Naomi Klein and Amy Goodman A remarkable bit of radio on Democracy Now	Tom Philpott	25 Sep 2007	Gristmill
I agree with Joseph Romm that Alan Greenspan is way overrated. Sure, he declares in his new book that "I'm saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows -- the Iraq war is largely about oil." But he adds in his very next sentence, to paraphrase: And that's a good thing. Yes, he supported the war because he saw it as essential to maintaining a smooth flow of oil. Everything else, for him, was political window dressing. ...
Topics: climate, energy, oil, politics (all these topics)

Alan Greenspan is very overrated: Part I Greenspan on energy	Joseph Romm	22 Sep 2007	Gristmill
Greenspan is no polymath, to go by the discussions of energy and climate in his instant bestseller, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World. During his nuclear power love-fest, he writes (p. 453): Nuclear power is not safe without a significant protective infrastructure. But then, neither is drinking water. Wow! That's an analogy I bet you never heard before. Greenspan is actually comparing drinking water infrastructure -- which is needed mainly to p ...
Topics: books, energy, oil (all these topics)

Knowing as little as possible: a candidate competition Thompson and Romney quibble over oil drilling in the Everglades	Brian Beutler	20 Sep 2007	Gristmill
Here's a fun game for campaign reporters: Ask Fred Thompson questions. The results are often hilarious: Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson seemed taken by surprise when asked Tuesday about oil drilling in the Everglades, apparently unaware it's been a major Florida issue. Before answering, he laughed at the question. 'Gosh, no one has told me that there's any major reserves in the Everglades, but maybe that's one of the things I need to learn whi ...
Topics: energy, Florida, Mitt Romney, national parks, oil, oil and gas drilling, politics (all these topics)

O Canada, what are you doing? Tar sands are the enemy of the planet	Jon Rynn	14 Sep 2007	Gristmill
Our civilization's addiction to oil is being displayed in all its nefarious glory in the tar sands of Canada. According to Chris Nelder: What we have here is arguably the most environmentally destructive activity man has ever attempted, with a compliant government, insatiable demand, and an endless supply of capital turning it into 'a speeding car with a gas pedal and no brakes.' It sucks down critical and rapidly diminishing amounts of both natural gas and water, paying ...
Topics: Canada, energy, oil, oil sands (all these topics)

The Spillage Voice EPA says oil spill in Brooklyn, N.Y., may be larger than originally thought		14 Sep 2007	News
Posted at 6:04 AM on 14 Sep 2007 A giant oil spill that's been languishing underground in Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Greenpoint neighborhood since at least the 1950s might not be as big as first thought -- it's likely even bigger! Initial estimates pegged the spill, which came from a number of petroleum facilities in the 1950s, at 17 million gallons, but a new U.S. EPA report says the spill could be as large as ...
Topics: New York City, news, oil, toxics (all these topics)

A slippery (upward) slope Demand for oil remains strong despite price increases	Clark Williams-Derry	13 Sep 2007	Gristmill
I was wrong. Back in the summer of '05, when oil prices were flirting with $60 per barrel, I predicted that oil would surpass $70 before it fell below $50. That is, I thought that oil prices would continue to rise in the short term. I got that part right. Oil prices on the futures market briefly touched the $70-mark that fall, and reached the mid-$70s by the following spring. But I also predicted that oil would fall to $40 per barrel before it rea ...
Topics: climate, energy, oil (all these topics)

Oil, Oil, Oil and Trouble Six explosions rock oil and gas pipelines in Mexico		11 Sep 2007	News
Posted at 6:06 AM on 11 Sep 2007 In what appears to have been a string of politically motivated attacks, explosions rocked at least six oil and natural-gas pipelines in Mexico's state of Veracruz on Monday. The pipelines that were hit are all owned by Mexico's petro-monopoly Pemex and occurred at opposite ends of Veracruz state. Some 15,000 people were evacuated from various towns and cities near the explosions afterw ...
Topics: Mexico, news, oil, politics (all these topics)

Give Bush some (perverse) credit for emissions drop Spike in gasoline prices is partially due to Bush's weak energy policy	Joseph Romm	04 Sep 2007	Gristmill
The Washington Post reported that President Bush made the following claim at a fundraiser: Do you realize that the United States is the only major industrialized nation that cut greenhouse gases last year? The Post noted immediately that the White House 'was unable to substantiate the claim' because they really don't know what other industrialized nations have done. But does Bush deserve any credit for the unusual U.S. drop in emissions? I say yes, but only in a ...
Topics: energy, George Bush, oil, politics (all these topics)

The Shrimp and Petroleum Festival... ... for real	Roz Cummins	30 Aug 2007	Gristmill
It sounds like an unappetizing combination, I know, but it's for real: http://www.shrimp-petrofest.org/
Topics: fishing, food, funnies, Louisiana, oil (all these topics)

Rule four of offsets: No enhanced oil recovery Injecting CO2 into oil wells is not real carbon sequestration	Joseph Romm	24 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Capturing CO2 and injecting it into a well to squeeze more oil out of the ground is not real carbon sequestration. Why? When the recovered oil is burned, it releases at least as much CO2 as was stored (and possibly much more). Therefore, CO2 used for such enhanced oil recovery (EOR) does not reduce net carbon emissions and should not be sold to the public as a carbon offset. Yet a company, Blue Source, LLC, proposes to do just that: to capture the CO2 from a f ...
Topics: carbon offsets, carbon sequestration, climate, climate change mitigation, energy, oil (all these topics)

Victory, with a catch BP promises to stop dumping waste into the Great Lakes	Jon Rynn	24 Aug 2007	Gristmill
On July 15, the Chicago Tribune reported that BP wanted to significantly increase the discharge of ammonia and toxic wastes into the Great Lakes. The outcry was enormous -- even Republican congressmen from the area joined in the criticism, and several powerful congressional members, including Rahm Emanuel in the House and Barack Obama in the Senate, threatened hearings. The city of Chicago was considering legal action, and a large petition drive began. Apparently the pol ...
Topics: business, Chicago, energy, George Bush, Indiana, oil, waste, water pollution (all these topics)

Big Oil's biggest toadies And the 'Climate Balls of Steel' award goes to ...	Glenn Hurowitz	22 Aug 2007	Gristmill
A new report penned by the environmental movement's genius uber-strategist Daniel J. Weiss of The Center for American Progress and his alliterative sidekick Anne Wingate examines exactly how big Big Oil's influence on individual members of Congress is. Working with OpenSecrets.org, Weiss and Wingate found that the 189 members who opposed a Democratic measure to redirect $16 billion in oil and gas subsidies to clean energy like wind and solar received on average $109,2 ...
Topics: Big Oil, energy, oil, politics (all these topics)

Don't go to BP Amoco! And don't piss off Pearl Jam	Sarah van Schagen	21 Aug 2007	Gristmill
BP's sludge dumpage into Lake Michigan has a whole mess of people pissed off. Including green-leaning band Pearl Jam, who performed an angry li'l ditty at this year's Lollapalooza festival. The lyrics are pretty simple; sing it with me: "Don't go to BP Amoco!"
Topics: business, energy, music, oil, waste, water pollution (all these topics)

Pricey oil, more carbon From the Boston Globe, the dirty truth about 'alternative energy'	Tom Philpott	21 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Referring to high oil prices, the billionaire airline magnate Richard Branson recently declared, "Thank God it's happened ... A high oil price is what we needed to actually wake up the world" to the reality of climate change. (This from a man who openly pines for a techno fix that will allow us to burn through all the fossil fuel we want, and enjoy our climate, too.) David and others have made the point before, but it bears repeating: High oil prices do ...
Topics: energy, oil (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)

Dave's First Law of Sustainability Politics Sustainability doesn't just happen	David Roberts	20 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Tom Friedman is fond of the theory that high oil prices will drive investment in renewables and spur reform in corrupt governments. He's not alone -- some peak oil types believe that oil price spikes will force us to do the very things that will save us from global warming. This has always struck me as dangerous folly. Nothing good in politics happens automatically. Regress is the path of least resistance. Progress must be fought for. To wit, I commend you to Drake B ...
Topics: energy, oil, renewable energy (all these topics)

Regular oil cleaner than ethanol Saving and restoring forests better for climate than switching to biofuels	Glenn Hurowitz	20 Aug 2007	Gristmill
A new study in the journal Science ($ub req'd) validates what many have been saying here in Gristmill: Biofuels, especially those from the tropics, are far worse for the planet than regular old crude oil. The study finds that we could reduce global warming pollution two to nine times more by conserving or restoring forests and grasslands than by razing them and turning them into biofuels plantations -- even if we continue to use fossil fuels as our main source o ...
Topics: biofuels, climate, deforestation, energy, ethanol, greenhouse-gas emissions, oil, rainforests (all these topics)

There's Cash in Them There Fires Oil fires in Nigeria can be source of cash for impoverished residents		20 Aug 2007	Daily Grist
There's Cash in Them There Fires Oil fires in Nigeria can be source of cash for impoverished residents Some residents in Nigeria's oil-rich river delta have resorted to setting fires to an oil pipeline to force companies like Shell to pay citizens to enter the area to put out the fire. One of the most recent blazes, which was extinguished only about two weeks ago, raged for 45 days, sickening nearby residents and polluti ...
Topics: air pollution, news, Nigeria, oil (all these topics)

BioWillie pens a biodiesel book	Sarah van Schagen	19 Aug 2007	Gristmill
Willie Nelson is talking about biodiesel again. This time in book form, and the result is On the Clean Road Again: Biodiesel and the Future of the Family Farm. The 90-some-page pocket-size book (it's like a li'l Willie you can carry with you everywhere!) is divided into two parts: the past (or the history of petroleum) and the future (in Willie's world, that's biodiesel). Thankfully there's also an afterword to talk about the other future ... you know, wind and ...
Topics: biofuels, books, celebrity, energy, green living, oil (all these topics)

Making do without Substitution isn't the solution to peak oil	JMG	17 Aug 2007	Gristmill
The growing recognition that the world is at or nearly at the all-time peak of conventional oil production (meaning from that point on, oil flows will inexorably decline at some unknown rate) has prompted a furious search for replacements, all intended to keep the high-carbon, high-flying, automobile lifestyle going. Like crack addicts warned of a future shortage, we are literally searching the corners of the Earth to figure out how we're going to get our fix when times is ...
Topics: energy, oil (all these topics)

The latest from peak oil land: ponies and lollipops! Except not really	David Roberts	17 Aug 2007	Gristmill
I don't do much writing about peak oil here. It's horrifically depressing, for one thing, and for another I doubt I could add to the comprehensive work being done at the Oil Drum and elsewhere. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. If you're like me and you only tune in to the issue occasionally, check out the latest from Michael Klare over at TomDispatch: "Tough oil on tap." It's a nice, fairly concise roundup of the latest reports and news from the peak ...
Topics: energy, oil (all these topics)

Um, If It's Not Too Much Trouble? EPA suggests wishy-washy compromise in Indiana BP permit mess		15 Aug 2007	Daily Grist
Um, If It's Not Too Much Trouble? EPA suggests wishy-washy compromise in Indiana BP permit mess Officials from the U.S. EPA have stepped in to quell the furor over a controversial permit the state of Indiana granted to a BP refinery. The permit will allow BP to discharge more ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan -- at legal limits, but increased over previous amounts. Residents and politicians in Indiana, Illinois, M ...
Topics: Big Oil, energy, Indiana, news, oil (all these topics)

Oopsy Daisy Alaskan study says 2 million gallons of oil, seawater spilled over 10 years		13 Aug 2007	Daily Grist
Oopsy Daisy Alaskan study says 2 million gallons of oil, seawater spilled over 10 years Did you hear about the 2-million-gallon spill in the Alaskan tundra? No, you didn't, because it happened slowly, from different sources, over the course of 10 years. A study by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation says spills on the North Slope between 1995 and 2005 included a 994,40 ...
Topics: Alaska, Big Oil, energy, news, oil, oil and gas drilling, wildlife (all these topics)

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