Although the oil price has now dipped significantly from its highs of the summer, its relatively high price is having an effect on both oil consumption and production. Take the UK: The rising cost of running a car has caused traffic on Britain’s major roads to drop for the first time since congestion was measured, … Read More
While all the indications are that we are heading for an oil crunch soon, in the short term the high oil prices have finally had an effect on demand. There is an old saying in the world’s financial institutions that “nothing cures high prices like high prices,” and it certainly seems as true today as … Read More
The crude politics of oil sands is laid bare for all to see. Despite a court ruling stopping the oil sands project the Canadian government is giving Imperial Oil the green light to begin construction of its $8-billion Kearl oil sands mine. In a notice yesterday, the government said the federal cabinet endorsed an environmental … Read More
The record oil price of $135 a barrel is due to “market sentiment” rather than a shortage of supply, according to Shell’s chief executive, Jeroen van der Veer. “What we say and what we see is there are no physical shortages,” said van der Veer. “There are no tankers waiting in the Middle East, there … Read More
The US is starting to break its “addiction” to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since the late seventies. According to a report in today’s Financial Times, the country’s foreign oil dependency is expected to fall … Read More
Are the days of the SUV and large gas-guzzlers over? The New York Times reports how “Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede.” According to the Times: “In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was … Read More
This is an interesting story that could have wide reaching implications. A Federal Court decision has sent Imperial Oil’s $7 billion Kearl oil-sands project in northern Alberta back to a review panel over concerns over greenhouse gas emissions. Yesterday’s ruling will force harmful emissions to be much more carefully considered in future assessments, says a … Read More
Environmental groups are accusing UK Prime Minster, Gordon Brown of the “Great Green Betrayal”. They are arguing that his government’s green policies are standing still or even going backwards. First, environmental taxation, which could help curb greenhouse gas emissions and much other pollution, is actually falling rather than rising – and falling substantially, a powerful … Read More
On the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, this report by Oil Change International quantifies both the greenhouse gas emissions of the Iraq War and the opportunity costs involved in fighting war rather than climate change.
The true scale of climate change emissions from shipping is almost three times higher than previously believed, according to a leaked UN study. It calculates that annual emissions from the world’s merchant fleet have already reached 1.12bn tonnes of CO2, or nearly 4.5% of all global emissions of the main greenhouse gas.
