From the Wyoming coal mines, to the gasification plant in Penwell, to the oilfields of the Permian Basin — this subsidy spotlight explores the human impact of government subsidies gone haywire.
CCS
The Angry Mermaid Strikes Back
All the news reports this morning are that a deal at Copenhagen is dead. Barack Obama has said that we had run out of time to secure a deal in December. This will please the corporate lobbyists no end. The longer they can delay action on climate the better. But now Copenhagen’s iconic mermaid is … Read More
The “Corporate Killer” that is Nuclear Power
At the end of the day energy comes down to economics. Drilling oil out of the deserts of the Middle East is inherently more profitable than boiling them out of Canadian boreal forest. Any deal at Copenhagen will hinge on how much the rich are prepared to pay the poor. There will be no clean … Read More
Protestors and Advisors Tell UK Gov to Act on Climate
Headline on the BBC’s flagship radio show, the Today programme at 8.00 AM this morning: 20-odd Greenpeace protestors have spent the night on the House of Commons to highlight the government’s lack of action on climate change. Next headline: a report by the Government’s own advisors on climate change says the government must do more … Read More
King Coal Crumbles ..
Environmental activists across the globe are celebrating this morning after the energy giant E.On shelved its controversial plans for a new coal fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent in the UK. Blaming the recession and not the sustained three-year campaign to stop it, E.ON, said the fall for electricity had caused it to re-think.
Shell Enters British CCS Race
Twelve years ago the oil giant Shell announced it had established a fifth core business – called Shell International Renewables or SIR- which was designed to exploit the growing renewable market. Over a decade later, the oil company has beat a humiliating retreat out of the main renewable market. In March this year Shell came … Read More
UK Outlines Flawed “Low Carbon Transition Plan”
After twelve years in power the British Labour government yesterday outlined what it has deemed a “low carbon transition plan”. Coopting language from the growing Transition Town movement is a crafty tactic by the British government that is promising to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34% by 2020 with 80% cut by 2050. Let’s get … Read More
Shell Warns of “Oil Spikes” as its Tar Sands Strategy is Criticised
The outgoing CEO of oil giant Shell, Jeroen van der Veer, has warned of “oil spikes” in the years to come as investment in the oil industry fails to keep up with demand. “There are going to be six to nine billion people by 2050 and it means more energy use, especially in this part … Read More
New King Coal
Much to the utter dismay of climate scientists, the British Government is to announce a new generation of coal-fired power plants to stave off a potential energy crisis. The plants will also use unproven carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to try and pump CO2 emissions under the sea. Each CCS could cost more than … Read More
Lukewarm Response to “Centrist” Clean Energy Bill
As President Obama has breakfast with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and demonstrators start taking to the streets to protest at the G20, we should not forget the events of yesterday. Congressman Henry Waxman and Ed Markey released a discussion draft of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 – a massive 648-tome that … Read More