Latest Articles
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China’s emerging car market.
Headlines this morning announced that China's state-run oil firm, the China National Offshore Oil Company, has bid US $18.5 billion for Unocal, the California-based energy company, topping Chevron's bid.
Looks like someone is anticipating a large jump in the number of cars in China; after all, only 1.2 percent of Chinese citizens owned cars in 2000, according to this Wired article. It also notes that:
The booming Chinese auto market, which grew by 76 percent in 2003, is an obvious lure. It's a market still under central control - for the moment, anyway - which means that if Beijing wants to go green, it can go in a huge way.
Guess they don't want to. Or maybe they are bidding on Unocal to turn it into a 100% renewable energy company... -
Bodman on board
Good catch from Mike at GCC: U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, in a speech before the National Petroleum Council, basically admitted the core peak oil argument -- that supply is declining and remaining reserves are going to be harder and harder to get to.
So someone in the U.S. government, at least, knows what's coming. Maybe he should chat with his colleagues.
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Markets
One of my pet peeves is the argument that clean energy is inferior because it relies on government subsidies -- as though oil, coal, and nuclear simply rose to the top of the market heap through pure merit. Bullsnot.
So, in the grand blog tradition of linking to posts that agree with you, do go check out this Brad Plumer post on the ancient practice of market-gaming by industries, with a special emphasis on oil.
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Efficiency
Jamais at WC just put up a long and fascinating post, but I warn you number-phobes -- it's got numbers. If you just want the short, sweet point, here it is:
An aggressive focus on improvements to efficiency amounting to an average of 3-4% annually over the century could mean a world where everyone can live well without risk to the climate. To say that the effect of improving the efficiency of use is dramatic is perhaps an understatement. Without it, avoiding disastrous greenhouse effects will be nearly impossible; with it, avoiding the worst-case scenarios is almost over-determined.
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Schwarzenegger’s solar-roof plan could get sidelined by partisan squabbling
Fiddling on the roof. Photo: AstroPower/NREL. The Golden State could soon enact the most ambitious solar-energy initiative ever proposed in the U.S. — legislation intended to put photovoltaic panels on a million California rooftops. Unless, that is, the bill gets derailed by a behind-the-scenes political pissing match between Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has thrown […]
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C’est Finny
New marine management rules may hamper restoration of fisheries The National Marine Fisheries Service has released new guidelines for restoring depleted fish stocks, but some friends of the finned worry the rules may unduly favor the fishing industry. Current rules mandate that regional fisheries managers aim to restore stocks within 10 years. The newly proposed […]
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Terminal Billness
Senate quashes emissions caps and state authority over LNG terminals The Senate voted yesterday to reject a measure that would have given governors more power over the siting of terminals for tankers carrying liquefied natural gas. The Bush administration has pushed for total federal control over LNG terminal sites, while many state officials — including […]
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A Glowing Reception
Bush travels to nuke plant to tout nuke subsidies, is well-received Yesterday, President Bush became the first commander in chief in 26 years to visit a nuclear power plant in the U.S. (The last time, you may recall, was when President Carter visited Three Mile Island after the accident there. Good times, good times …) […]
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They Don’t Say Test Until I Say They Say Test
Pentagon has refused to test for toxic rocket-fuel chemical Department of Defense operations are a primary perpetrator of perchlorate contamination nationwide, but the department has regularly turned down state and federal requests to test for the toxic chemical, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Perchlorate — which is commonly found in rocket fuel and […]
