Climate Politics

The current oil shock

This essay was originally published on TomDispatch and is republished here with Tom's kind permission.

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When will it end, this crushing rise in the price of gasoline, now averaging $4.10 a gallon at the pump? The question is uppermost in the minds of American motorists as they plan vacations or simply review their daily journeys. The short answer is simple as well: "Not soon."

As yet there is no sign of a reversal in oil's upward price thrust, which has more than doubled in a year, cresting recently above $146 a barrel. The current oil shock, the fourth of its kind in the past three-and-a-half decades, and the deadliest so far, shows every sign of continuing for a long, long stretch.

The previous oil shocks -- in 1973-74, 1980, and 1990-91 -- stemmed from specific interruptions of energy supplies from the Middle East due, respectively, to an Arab-Israeli war, the Iranian revolution, and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Once peace was restored, a post-revolutionary order established, or the invader expelled, vital Middle Eastern energy supplies returned to normal. The fourth oil shock, however, belongs in a different category altogether.

Sounds like a good speech!

Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, safely removed from any position from which he might actually do anything about it, discovers that climate change is real.

Taking a three-day weekend for the planet

From the Beehive State, a gratifying way to reduce energy use (and carbon emissions): Taking Fridays off. And it's mandatory. In part to deal with rising gas prices, Utah's republican governor John Huntsman introduced the measure for state employees. The move, of course, instantly reduces commutes by 20 percent.

The remaining four work days get longer -- state offices will now stay open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. -- so that the total number of hours worked remains the same.

I'll bet there's a civic benefit too: The change may actually makes government offices more accessible by extending open hours beyond the tight 9-to-5 window that most citizens still work.

From the USA Today article:

Ex-policymakers urge current politicians to get off their asses

In order to avert “a long-term energy crisis,” writes a bipartisan group of former political up-and-ups in a letter to U.S. politicians, we must “reexamine outdated and entrenched positions” on energy. The letter, sent to Barack Obama, John McCain, every member of Congress, and all 50 governors, declares that “we must rise above partisan differences […]

Romney believes McCain would allow drilling in ANWR

About 59 seconds into this video, former GOP presidential candidate and possible VP pick Mitt Romney argues that John McCain would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: (Via Marc Ambinder)

EPA proposes new regulations for injecting carbon into the ground

The EPA released a proposal for a new rule on Tuesday that lays some of the groundwork needed to get carbon capture and storage technology up and running. If formally adopted, the new rule would create a new class of injection wells under the authority of the Safe Drinking Water Act’s Underground Injection Control program. […]

Gingrich’s ‘grassroots’ drilling campaign is funded by Big Oil, report says

*Several corrections have been made to the original post to fix inaccuracies in the report from Alaska Wilderness League. “Green conservative” Newt Gingrich is scheduled to deliver his “Drill here, drill now, pay less” petition to Congress today. According to his American Solutions website, more than 1.3 million people have signed the petition. But who’s […]

EPA scientists spell out dangers of climate change while EPA chief delays action

While EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson and the rest of the Bush administration have decided to run out the clock on regulating greenhouse-gas emissions, EPA scientists have released their own document [PDF] detailing the health risks posed by a warming planet, including wildfires, smog, disease, and an increased number of heat-related deaths. The 149-page endangerment analysis […]

Climate action requires leadership beyond political ‘reasonableness’

This post is by ClimateProgress guest blogger Bill Becker, executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project.

Let's face it: The Bush Administration has made a mess of things, as noted in "Hog heaven, part 1." It is now clear, if it hasn't been all along, that by the time George Bush leaves office, the White House will have wasted eight years of leadership on the Mother of All Issues.

If those eight years are a profound disappointment looking backward, then they are a profound tragedy looking forward. The head of the IPCC is spreading the message that the world community has seven short years to act decisively to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. Dr. John Holdren is among the prestigious U.S. scientists who now say more openly that the effects of climate change already are upon us. Dr. Jim Hansen now estimates that atmospheric concentrations of carbon must level off at 350 ppm, nearly 30 percent lower than everyone thought was needed to keep climate change at "safe" levels. Anyone who's paying attention sees that the impacts of global warming are occurring much faster than predicted.

If this year's weather extremes are a sample of climate change, how much worse will they be 10 years, 20 years, or 30 years from now, as today's rising and accumulating emissions take their toll?

Cost-benefit analysis can help environmentalists battle offshore drilling

In a time of fiscal crisis, environmentalists will have to make a strong case against the economic wisdom of offshore oil drilling to ensure that Congress does not pay dearly for its continued opposition.