Monday, December 19, 2011
RUSSIA: ONE-UPPING BP AND MASSEY, 49 LIKELY DEAD
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/world/europe/oil-rig-sinks-in-storm-off-russia-49-missing.html
Oil Rig Sinks Off Russia; 49 Missing
An oil drilling rig that was being towed in a storm sank Sunday off the coast of Sakhalin Island with 67 people on board, most of whom are still missing.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
AND, IN THE US: LAW ON THE SIDE OF INDUSTRY?
Accumulation by dispossession, 21st century American style?
As energy companies and states push to simplify regulations, some local governments are resisting an erosion of their control.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
CRIMINAL CORPORATIONS: INDIVIDUALS FOR SPEECH RIGHTS, WHY NOT THE RULE OF LAW?
Despite its questionable practices, Massey Energy will not be criminally prosecuted for a mine explosion that killed 29 workers in West Virginia
Thursday, December 8, 2011
NAOMI KLEIN VS. ANDREW REVKIN
Or, as one commenter put it, very "big of you [Andrew Revkin] to publish your spanking at the hands of Naomi Klein". True, true.
Naomi Klein’s Inconvenient Climate Conclusions
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
CHINA-US PING-PONG: WHO EMITTED?
China’s conditions for a treaty are unlikely to be met. And conditions by the United States seem to rule out any deal like the one China envisions.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
GULF OIL SPILL: WHERE DO FINES USUALLY GO?
The panel’s final recommendations were similar to those in a draft report it issued in October and are not binding.
COAL MINERS: HOW MUCH IS ONE LIFE WORTH? 29?
A source close the investigation said the parent company of Massey Energy, owner of a West Virginia mine where an explosion in 2010 killed 29 men, would pay to settle a criminal investigation.
In addition to the $46.5 million payout to victims and families, the agreement includes $80 million to bolster safety and infrastructure in all underground mines owned by Alpha and Massey; $48 million to establish a mine health and safety foundation; and about $35 million in fines and fees that Massey owed to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, the branch of the Labor Department that oversees the mining industry."
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
TAKE A DEEP BREATH: MORE CARBON IN THE AIR
Global emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil-fuel burning jumped by 5.9 percent in 2010, upending the notion that a brief decline during the recession might persist.
GAS & POWER: POLITICIANS FOR SALE IN OK
Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma is a champion in Washington of an industry that is experiencing a historic boom but also increasing scrutiny.
Friday, December 2, 2011
CLIMATE TALKS: US ROLE QUESTIONED
COP17: Discontent with US grows at climate talks
Leading American environmentalists complained to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday that her negotiators at the UN climate talks risked portraying the US as an obstacle to fighting global warming because of its perceived foot-dragging on key issues.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, November 25, 2011
MAN CAMPS: GENDER, LABOR, TEMPORARY WORK: LEGACIES OF FOSSIL ECONOMIES
Confronted with the problem of too many jobs and not enough empty beds, North Dakota embraced man camps. But now officials are trying to slow things down.
SPEAKING OF THE END OF SUBURBIA: THE END OF SUBURBIA
As demand for housing in walkable neighborhoods rises, we should be investing in carless transit options.
AND
AND
Local governments can adopt common-sense strategies to point their corporate residents to a more sustainable path than sprawling office parks, corporate campuses and estates.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
COAL MINER/UNION LEADER: AMERICANS SUPPORT UNION RIGHTS
Coal Miner, Richard Trumka in Esquire
And that was your vision, social change?"Absolutely."Not just a better life for the miners?"Better world. Better life for everybody, every worker. Poor kids oughta be able to go anyplace their brains will take them. Not where Daddy or Mommy's pocketbooks can send them. Everybody oughta have health care, everybody oughta have some retirement security, every American. Every one. Everybody oughta have a decent good job. That's what I believe in, and that's what I fight every day to try to achieve."
Read more: http://www.esquire.com/features/americans-2011/richard-trumka-1211-2#ixzz1epB8ZNty
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Sunday, November 20, 2011
FRACKING PENNSYLVANIA: DIVIDING COMMUNITIES
In Amwell Township, Pa., the dividing line is between those who are getting rich and those who are paying the price.
Friday, November 18, 2011
SPILL IN BRAZIL? TRANSOCEAN AND CHEVRON SEEP IN DEEPWATER
UPDATE: Chevron unprepared to react -- means that despite regulation and oversight, company working outside of the terms of the contract? Possible fines starting around 28 million and going up. Skytruth posts satellite images that suggest Chevron also underestimating the size of the spill.
Oil sheen and seepage offshore -- Chevron plugging the hole (Rigzone)
Oil sheen and seepage offshore -- Chevron plugging the hole (Rigzone)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
AND THE OIL FLOWS ON...
With the timing, and perhaps the future, of the Keystone XL pipeline project now uncertain, alternatives to the hotly contested project have begun emerging.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
DRILL BABY DRILL -- US ATLANTIC AND ANWR NEXT?
House Natural Resources Committee pushing 'Alaskan Energy for American Jobs Act'
and
Obama opens up survey of off-shore Atlantic for future drilling
and
Obama opens up survey of off-shore Atlantic for future drilling
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Corporate Welfare For Energy Companies Means We Paid $24 Billion In Taxes To Them
Corporate Welfare For Energy Companies Means We Paid $24 Billion In Taxes To Them: pTax breaks and subsidies for energy companies have gotten so extreme that dozens of top companies have made billions in profits while having negative taxes, actually receiving taxpayer welfare instead of paying anything to the federal treasury. An analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice and the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found dozens of [...]/p
Friday, November 11, 2011
CARBON CAPTURE, I.E. 'CLEAN' COAL: TWO STEPS BACKWARD WITH PUBLIC MONEY?
Coal Project Hits Snag as a Partner Backs Off
A power company that was expected to demonstrate a carbon-capture technology has said it cannot take part, leaving the remaining partners at risk of losing $1 billion in federal funds.
"At the same time, the Obama administration has faced consistent obstacles from Republican critics in pursuing tighter regulatory limits on air pollution."
FRACK THE HUNTERS: PRIVATE INTERESTS ON PUBLIC LANDS
An area of abundant deer, turkey and bear, known to hunters as “God’s Country,” lies atop vast reserves of natural gas
Carl Roe, the executive director of the game commission, acknowledges that drilling “does look ugly” but said that on most well sites, the agency had no control over drilling-related activities. Although the agency owns 1.4 million acres of game lands, it does not always own the mineral rights beneath them, so their private owners can lease them out to the gas companies — the case with Game Land 59. Where the agency owns the mineral rights, it can and does restrict drilling and construction on certain days during hunting season.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
KEYSTONE XL & CRUCIAL FOSSIL ISSUES: STALL AND DEMOBILIZE?
U.S. Delays Decision on Pipeline Until After Election (New York Times)
By JOHN M. BRODER and DAN FROSCH
The White House on Thursday delayed a decision on the contested $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline for 12 to 18 months while it studies an alternate route.
The move is the latest in a series of administration decisions pushing back thorny environmental matters beyond next November’s presidential election to try to avoid the heat from opposing interests —business lobbies or environmental and health advocates — and to find a political middle ground. Mr. Obama delayed a review of the nation’s smog standard until 2013, pushed back offshore oil lease sales in the Arctic until at least 2015 and blocked issuance of new regulations for coal ash from power plants.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
CHINA'S COAL MINES "DEADLIEST IN THE WORLD"
MORE THAN 40 TRAPPED IN CHINA COAL MINE ACCIDENT
More than 40 coal miners are trapped underground by a gas leak in southwest China less than a week after dozens of miners were pulled out safely from a cave-in at another Chinese coal mine....
The Climate Change Novel: A Faulty Simulator of Environmental Politics
The Climate Change Novel: A Faulty Simulator of Environmental Politics
A review of recent novels on climate change, and insights into the possibilities and limits of our cultural and moral imaginations.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
PHOENIX/ST LOUIS: ETERNALLY UNSUSTAINABLE CITIES?
If urban policy makers focus only on those who can afford carbon-reducing technologies, the movement for sustainability may end up exacerbating climate change.
KEYSTONE XL: DOES US STILL HAVE RULE OF LAW?
Harold W. Geisel, the senior official in the inspector general’s office, told top agency officials in a memorandum dated Friday that he would open the review “to determine to what extent the department and all other parties involved complied with federal laws and regulations” relating to the pipeline permit process.
Improper pressure and conflicts of interest have been alleged in the project, which would carry oil from Canadian tar sands to Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
OIL LEGACIES: BOKO HARAM ATTACKS IN NIGERIA
The United States Embassy instructed its staff to avoid three hotels in Abuja, Nigeria, as the death toll rose from attacks by the Boko Haram in the northeast.
Read closely: democratic process? corruption? what cause?
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Take Power Back from Big Power (i.e. Coal)
Facing an attempt to replace it with a municipally owned utility in Boulder, the energy company Xcel says it is better equipped to ramp up renewable energy.
FRACK YOUR NEIGHBOR: THE JOYS OF SHALE GAS
In the New York village that is home to baseball’s Hall of Fame, ill will over hydraulic fracturing has pitted neighbor against neighbor.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
New Technologies Redraw the World’s Energy Picture
New Technologies Redraw the World’s Energy Picture
By CLIFFORD KRAUSS
Published: October 25, 2011
Unconventional fossil fuels extracted by new technologies should shift geopolitical and economic calculations around the world in the coming decades
Low-Carbon Futures?
Drive Toward Low-Carbon Future Stalls
By ANDRÉS CALA
Published: October 25, 2011
As countries reassess the likely depth and duration of the economic chill, many are rethinking their energy policies.
Brazil's Conundrum: More Oil, More Emissions
Renewables Hit a Wall in South America
By VINCENT BEVINS
Published: October 25, 2011
There are few signs that the region will soon produce more than a small portion of the world’s renewable energy.
The Story of 'Clean Coal' on Tribal Lands
Rich in Coal, a Tribe Struggles to Overcome Poverty
By ERICA GIES
Published: October 25, 2011
Leaders of the Crow Nation are trying to develop the tribe's energy resources to create more jobs. But starting a new coal project has proved difficult, and some members are pursuing wind power.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
NPR PODCAST: The Future of Energy
The Future of Energy (NPR): Daniel Yergin, sympathetic biographer of the oil industry, gives his view of our future (and plugs his new book, Quest)
And, Planet Money, on how ethanol production is leading to land price booms in Iowa.
And, Planet Money, on how ethanol production is leading to land price booms in Iowa.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Fracking and Earthquakes
The high-pressure injection of materials called fracking could cause small temblors, the seismologist said, but not larger ones.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Beverly Hillbillies, redux, sort of
Worried about property values, and landowners signing drilling leases without clearance, lenders are trying to reinforce restrictions.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Yours truly, on Bolivian Gas Politics
Bolivian Resource Politics, from Revista, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Discussion : St. Charles County loves its cars despite gas prices
Insights into the American way of debating cars, gasoline, race, public transportation and the city-region.
Alternatively: challenges to resolving our conjoined fossil fuel and climate change dilemma...
Discussion : St. Charles County loves its cars despite gas prices
Alternatively: challenges to resolving our conjoined fossil fuel and climate change dilemma...
Discussion : St. Charles County loves its cars despite gas prices
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
New York Times: Another Editorial Against Keystone XL
Say No to the Keystone XL
And Bill McKibben calls out the corruption:
"One of the stars of this sordid drama was Paul Elliott, TransCanada’s chief Washington lobbyist for its pipeline project. Back in 2008, he was the deputy national campaign manager of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid. Around the time she became secretary of state, he was hired by TransCanada. Why did he get the job? Just ask Marja Verloop, a member of the diplomatic staff at the United States Embassy in Canada who oversaw environmental and energy issues. In one of the friendly e-mails between the diplomat and the lobbyist, Ms. Verloop reassured Mr. Elliott about an article that mentioned his possible conflicts of interest: “it’s precisely because you have connections that you’re sought after and hired.”
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Economists: Coal Is Incredibly Costly
Economists: Coal Is Incredibly Costly: pA new economic analysis of the costs of pollution to the United States finds that coal power is harming the economy. In the American Economic Review article “Environmental Accounting for Pollution in the United States Economy,” economists Nicholas Z. Muller, Robert Mendelsohn, and William Nordhaus model the physical and economic consequences of emissions of six [...]/p
State Department Keystone XL Hearings Run By TransCanada Contractor
As per Zalik: How the law is structured by and for the interests of extractive industries---
TransCanada (the pipeline company) contractors and the API helped write the Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL Pipeline, for the State Department.
This - under Obama - is about as good as it got during the Bush era for big oil.
Government of the people, by the people, and for the people?
State Department Keystone XL Hearings Run By TransCanada Contractor: pIn a stunning conflict of interest, public hearings on federal approval for a proposed tar sands pipeline are being run by a contractor for the pipeline company itself. The U.S. Department of State’s public hearings along the proposed route of the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline this week are under the purview of Cardno [...]/p
TransCanada (the pipeline company) contractors and the API helped write the Environmental Impact Statement on the Keystone XL Pipeline, for the State Department.
This - under Obama - is about as good as it got during the Bush era for big oil.
Government of the people, by the people, and for the people?
State Department Keystone XL Hearings Run By TransCanada Contractor: pIn a stunning conflict of interest, public hearings on federal approval for a proposed tar sands pipeline are being run by a contractor for the pipeline company itself. The U.S. Department of State’s public hearings along the proposed route of the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline this week are under the purview of Cardno [...]/p
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
The Keystone Debate (from Rigzone)
The Keystone Debate --
Wagers that Obama will end up signing this thing, despite the bigger issue of dirty tar sands oil.
Wagers that Obama will end up signing this thing, despite the bigger issue of dirty tar sands oil.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Prelude to Oiligarchy: Oil Money at Work
A Billionaires' Coup in the US
By George Monbiot
The Guardian/UK
September 23, 2011
...
So who or what is Americans for Prosperity? It was founded
and is funded by Charles and David Koch. They run what they
call "the biggest company you've never heard of", and between
them they are worth $43bn. Koch Industries is a massive oil,
gas, minerals, timber and chemicals company. In the past 15
years the brothers have poured at least $85m into lobby
groups arguing for lower taxes for the rich and weaker
regulations for industry. The groups and politicians the
Kochs fund also lobby to destroy collective bargaining, to
stop laws reducing carbon emissions, to stymie healthcare
reform and to hobble attempts to control the banks. During
the 2010 election cycle, AFP spent $45m supporting its
favoured candidates.
By George Monbiot
The Guardian/UK
September 23, 2011
...
So who or what is Americans for Prosperity? It was founded
and is funded by Charles and David Koch. They run what they
call "the biggest company you've never heard of", and between
them they are worth $43bn. Koch Industries is a massive oil,
gas, minerals, timber and chemicals company. In the past 15
years the brothers have poured at least $85m into lobby
groups arguing for lower taxes for the rich and weaker
regulations for industry. The groups and politicians the
Kochs fund also lobby to destroy collective bargaining, to
stop laws reducing carbon emissions, to stymie healthcare
reform and to hobble attempts to control the banks. During
the 2010 election cycle, AFP spent $45m supporting its
favoured candidates.
Tar Sands Action Plans To Encircle The White House
Tar Sands Action Plans To Encircle The White House: pIt’s been several weeks since the last people got out of jail in Washington, DC at the end of two weeks of civil disobedience that led to 1,253 arrests to stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. On Sunday, Nov. 6 — a year before the presidential election — the Tar Sands Action will return [...]/p
Monday, September 26, 2011
Does the Public Have a Say on Tar Sands
How public hearings on Keystone XL Pipeline are structured by State Department:
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/keystone-xl-state-department-hearings/
http://www.tarsandsaction.org/keystone-xl-state-department-hearings/
Scientific American: Health Problems and Gas Wells Linked?
Science Lags as Health Problems Emerge Near Natural Gas Fields
note the onslaught of gas defenders in the comments.... the battle over 'science' is at once a battle over truth, and over the criteria of reasoned debate in our country as a whole...
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Jimmy Carter reflects on oil
Apropos of our conversation yesterday. Coincidentally, he's looking back 30 years ago at the U.S., energy, and oil -- a video, check it out.
From Platt's
You may have to sign in. If anyone is interested in doing a historical project, we can get access.
From Platt's
You may have to sign in. If anyone is interested in doing a historical project, we can get access.
Libya's National Oil Company back in business fueling Europe...
EU Lifts Sanctions On Libyan NOC, Clears More Libyan Oil Imports
The European Union said Friday it was lifting sanctions on Libya's National Oil Corp. following the fall of Col. Moammar Gadhafi last month, ending a key hurdle to the meaningful return of the country's oil exports to European consumers. (RIGZONE)
The European Union said Friday it was lifting sanctions on Libya's National Oil Corp. following the fall of Col. Moammar Gadhafi last month, ending a key hurdle to the meaningful return of the country's oil exports to European consumers. (RIGZONE)
The American Dream: Oil and Gas Billionaires on Forbes Richest List
47 O&G Billionaires Make List of Forbes' Richest Americans (Rigzone)
Warren Buffet, with lots of $$ in oil and gas, is #2.
Charles Koch, and his brother David Koch, right-wing pipeline men about whom we will speak in our oiligarchy section, are tied for #4. (25 Billion each)
See also, straight from Forbes, the glorification of unimaginable wealth.
Warren Buffet, with lots of $$ in oil and gas, is #2.
Charles Koch, and his brother David Koch, right-wing pipeline men about whom we will speak in our oiligarchy section, are tied for #4. (25 Billion each)
See also, straight from Forbes, the glorification of unimaginable wealth.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Hydrocarbons and a New Strategic Region: The Caspian Sea and Central Asia
Article from Military Review (2001) on oil and strategy in Caspian Central Asia (re: Afghanistan and pipelines)
Great Resource on Oil in the Persian Gulf
For maps, background on so forth on Persian Gulf Oil projects...
Foreign Policy's Oil issue, September 2009
thegulfblog, with maps, articles and so forth.
Foreign Policy's Oil issue, September 2009
thegulfblog, with maps, articles and so forth.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Is Oil Running Out, or Is it Not?
The "peak oil" discourse works in multiple directions, in this article, Rigzone editorialist John C.K. Daly comments on Daniel Yergin's (author of The Prize) recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal, which argued that we would find more oil...
Read on: Rigzone
Yergin's WSJ editorial is on our telesis site.
Read on: Rigzone
Yergin's WSJ editorial is on our telesis site.
EPA TO HOLD HEARINGS ON NATURAL GAS AND OIL POLLUTION
EPA to Hold Three Public Hearings on Proposed Air Pollution Standards for Oil and Natural Production
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold three public hearings in September on the agency’s proposed standards to reduce air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations. The proposed standards would rely on cost-effective, existing technologies and practices to reduce pollution that contributes to smog and can cause cancer, while supporting the administration’s priority of continuing to expand safe and responsible domestic oil and natural gas production.
WHAT: Public hearings on proposed air pollution standards for the oil and natural gas industry
WHEN: Sept. 27, 28 and 29, 2011
Each hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until 8 p.m. (local time)
WHERE: Sept. 27: Pittsburgh
David L. Lawrence Convention Center
Rooms 315-316
1000 Ft. Duquesne Blvd.
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
Sept. 28: Denver
Colorado Convention Center
Room 207
700 14th St.
Denver, Colo. 80202
Sept. 29: Arlington, Texas
Arlington Municipal Building
City Council Chambers
101 W. Abram St.
Arlington, Texas 76010
To register to speak at a specific time at any of the hearings, please contact Joan C. Rogers at 919-541-4487 or rogers.joanc@epa.gov. People also may sign up to speak in person on the day of a hearing; however, they may not be given their preferred time slot to speak. EPA must issue a final rule by Feb. 28, 2012.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Rush on Oil or New Onslaught on Nature in the Americas?
New Fields May Propel Americas to Top of Oil Companies’ Lists
Friday, September 9, 2011
Carnegie Council's Evan O'Neil: Don't Build Keystone XL
http://www.policyinnovations.org/ideas/commentary/data/000220?sourceDoc=000052
From conservative ranchers to tree-huggers, to mainstream think tanks that usually don't take a stand on things like this, a consensus emerges that this pipeline to transport tar sands oil is a really bad idea.
From conservative ranchers to tree-huggers, to mainstream think tanks that usually don't take a stand on things like this, a consensus emerges that this pipeline to transport tar sands oil is a really bad idea.
U.S. shale oil scheme and water...
Yet another reason to question shale oil and gas development as a 'solution' to anything.
GAO: Water Supply Poses Obstacle to Green River Oil Shale Dev't
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?hpf=1&a_id=110799
GAO: Water Supply Poses Obstacle to Green River Oil Shale Dev't
"Some analysts project that large scale oil shale development within Colorado could require more water than is currently supplied to over 1 million residents of the Denver metro area and that water diverted for oil shale operations would restrict agricultural and urban development."
"About 72 percent of this oil shale is located beneath federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management, making the federal government a key player in potential development of this resource. The federal government through the Department of Energy and Interior sponsors research on the impacts of oil shale on water resources."
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?hpf=1&a_id=110799
Speaking of how meaningless "sustainability" has become....
The Dow Jones Sustainability Index, created annually, ranks companies in different economic sectors according to their "Corporate Sustainability," defined as:
Corporate Sustainability is a business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments. Corporate sustainability leaders achieve long-term shareholder value by gearing their strategies and management to harness the market's potential for sustainability products and services while at the same time successfully reducing and avoiding sustainability costs and risks. (source)
Note that, although some of their fonts are green, and there is a picture of a tree and some rocks on this website, this has virtually nothing to do with social or environmental sustainability as understood by most activists. This is about sustainability of the corporation as a business enterprise, not sustainability of society or the environment.
This year's winner in the 'Oil and Gas' category is Repsol, S.A., a Spanish-Argentine giant with oil and gas projects around the world. Seems a bit funny.
Corporate Sustainability is a business approach that creates long-term shareholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments. Corporate sustainability leaders achieve long-term shareholder value by gearing their strategies and management to harness the market's potential for sustainability products and services while at the same time successfully reducing and avoiding sustainability costs and risks. (source)
Note that, although some of their fonts are green, and there is a picture of a tree and some rocks on this website, this has virtually nothing to do with social or environmental sustainability as understood by most activists. This is about sustainability of the corporation as a business enterprise, not sustainability of society or the environment.
This year's winner in the 'Oil and Gas' category is Repsol, S.A., a Spanish-Argentine giant with oil and gas projects around the world. Seems a bit funny.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
China: Central Planning Goes from All Out to....
“The government must take the leading role in controlling unrealistic growth” of the auto industry, Jiang Kejun, the influential director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency, said Sunday during a speech at the conference."To suggest that cars should be about fuel efficiency, and not sheer quantity of production seems reasonable. Though ultimately, looks like they aim to hit the market with cars, cars, cars. Quandary: when does central planning seek to sensibly address environmental issues and when does it merely promote increased production, however tactically allocated?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/05/business/global/china-changes-direction-on-car-sales.html?scp=1&sq=china%20cars&st=cse
Gernot Wagner on the futility of individualized approaches to sustainability
He's certainly right that individual anxieties and practices will do little to change things. What is needed is social mobilization.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/opinion/going-green-but-getting-nowhere.html?src=recg
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/opinion/going-green-but-getting-nowhere.html?src=recg
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