For those who may not have heard yet, there’s a huge and historic battle brewing in California. Proposition 23, if passed would suspend the California Global Warming Act of 2006 (AB 32) which requires that greenhouse gas emissions in the state be cut to 1990 levels by 2020. At least 92% of contributions being pumped … Read More
Month: October 2010
Safety Versus the Bottom Line
Slowly but surely BP is trying to rebuild its battered image and rebuild the way it does business. Part of that process is rebuilding its internal processes and values and the way it rewards success. In an innovative move, the company has announced that performance to be judged solely on improving safety in the fourth … Read More
Denial Nation
A new study by Yale University makes seriously depressing reading for those who have been trying to educate the American public about the dangers of climate change. The study finds that less than two thirds of American adults (63%) believe climate change is occurring, but many do not understand why. Only half understand that climate … Read More
Shell to Pay $30 Million to Settle Nigeria Bribery Case
Nigeria was once Shell’s jewel in its crown. But for so long it has been the thorn in its side. Whether its pollution, collusion, corruption, bribery or false accounting, Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary has been accused of them all. So many of the group’s problems keep coming back to Nigeria. The company settled out of court … Read More
Separate Oil and State
Our government should not be under the influence of Big Oil. The greatest barriers to clean energy are political, not technical—and these barriers are largely fueled by the oil industry. We know that in order to achieve a clean energy future, we have to expose and eradicate the political influence of the oil industry; we … Read More
After a Pause for Breath, Let’s Drill Baby…
It was always a matter of time before the Obama Administration buckled under the intense pressure of the oil industry and Gulf States and let drilling resume in the Gulf. Weeks earlier than expected, the administration lifted the moratorium on deep-water drilling, that was put in place in the aftermath of the Deepwater disaster. “We … Read More
Shift Subsidies
Every year, billions of our tax dollars are given away to Big Oil and Coal. Estimates of the value of US federal subsidies to the domestic oil industry alone (not coal) range from roughly $6 billion to an amazing $39 billion annually. Billions more US federal dollars each year go to “oil aid” – money … Read More
Are We Heading for An Arctic Oil War?
The next resource war may happen not in the Middle East, but in the Arctic. That is the view of the one of NATO’s most senior commanders, Admiral James Stavridis, the supreme allied commander for Europe. The Admiral’s argument is that as the ice melts because of climate change, the race for resources could lead … Read More
Support Energy Access
We don’t like oil, but that doesn’t mean we want people to live in the dark. Around the world, one out of every five people doesn’t have electricity in their homes. Almost two out of every five rely on wood or other biomass for cooking or heating. Achieving universal energy access is an ambitious goal, … Read More
Offshore Safety Inspections Were Compromised
Ask anyone who works say as a teacher about being inspected by government officials and they say that it is the surprise inspections that matter. If you have weeks of notice about an inspection you by its very nature have to make sure everything is in order. The kids are all behaving themselves at the … Read More