Posts Tagged by energy policy
Predicting the Future in Energy Policy — Thanks to Survey Respondents
| May 21, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
My thanks to everyone who has participated in the recent 2GreenEnergy survey. I note that Dr. David Doty, one of the greatest intellects I’ve ever run across, boldly predicted the following for the coming five years:
Oil, coal, and gas will steadily become more expensive at a mean rate of ~20%/year. EVs will have negligible impact on oil usage – for decades.
Global economic growth will still continue at a rate of ~2%/yr, and inflation in the U.S. will remain low.
The gap between the rich and the poor will continue to widen. It will take 10-12 more years of this before something close to revolution (major rioting) comes to the U.S. We will not see another period of sustained strong growth in the U.S. until several years after that happens.
We will not see serious and effective commitment to reduced CO2 emissions until after we’ve seen several years of strong economic growth.
Much of what you’ve written here is so counter to most people’s thinking — not to say that this means it’s wrong. 20% CAGR? Read More
Energy Policy Should Be Based on Reason
| May 21, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Perhaps the greatest single threat facing mankind today is our failure to apply reason to effect solutions. In fact, we appear to openly defy and ridicule the findings of our scientific community, writing them off as so many lairs and frauds. At least here in the United States, a significant segment of our population has bought into the idea that science has conspired to fabricate the notion of global climate change, fudging the figures so as to create the appearance of a problem, in order to generate ongoing funding for additional research. Read More
Survey: Given Our Energy Policies, How Likely Is It…..?
| May 19, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
I’d like to ask a favor, if I may. We have a quick survey up on the 2GreenEnergy website – one that, interestingly enough, calls for you to predict the future. Given our current energy policies and the rate at which they’re changing, what do you think the world will be like five years from now? What events do you believe are likely to occur between now and the year 2017? Which do you think are improbable?
As usual, we’ll tabulate the results and offer you a free copy of the report that comes as a result.
And as always, we appreciate your help.
Here’s the link:
http://2greenenergy.com/survey-what-will-happen-in-the-next-five-years/
“Is Renewable Really Doable?” — Climbing on Amazon
| March 15, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I’m happy to report that my new book, “Is Renewable Really Doable?” just hit #3 on Amazon.com in the “Environmental Economics” category, and it’s climbing steadily. I figure this is good news for anyone who’s a fan of living things, as the more people understand the issues here, the better chance the world will have to correct its course in terms of energy policy before it’s too late.
When I first checked this morning, it was #19, thus I want to thank everyone who jumped on board and bought a copy today, its official launch day.
Energy Policy and the Skyrocketing Rates of Certain Childhood Diseases
| March 14, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Over the years, I’ve learned that the most productive way to deal with climate change deniers is to point out that global warming is only one of half-a-dozen reasons to knock off our dependence on coal and oil. “Just pick your favorite,” I smile.
How about the obvious and growing damage to human health? It would seem to me that this would be a fact that even the most fanatical of the anti-government types couldn’t argue. Don’t we need some empowered body to protect our health from those who are indifferent?
One of the very clearest – and saddest – indications that we’re on the wrong road with respect to environmental regulation is our skyrocketing rate of respiratory disease, e.g., asthma, in children. Read More
Our Energy Policy Should Be Rooted in Logic
| March 10, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
I just started a fine historic novel that my brother gave me for Christmas, The Hangman’s Daughter; the first 100 pages are really good. In addition to the story itself, a murder mystery set in mid-17th Century Bavaria, the author reminds us of the horrors and brutalities of living at that time, e.g., the persecution of witches and the outrageously illogical ways in which this took place. “If she has a birthmark, she’s probably a witch. Stick it with a needle; if she bleeds, then she’s definitely a witch.” How would you like to have been born female with a birthmark in 1650?
To me, the remarkable aspect of this isn’t that people were at one point so stupid to think like this. The truly amazing thing is that this was fairly recent. Almost exactly 2000 years earlier we had Ancient Greece with its fantastic developments in mathematics, science, education, philosophy, theater, focus on virtue, jurisprudence, democracy and the like – not to mention logic. Aristotle Read More
Religion and Energy Policy
| February 29, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Earlier today we had a very interesting guest-post on Religion and Renewable Energy, in which the author, Brian McGowan, begins:
Recently the subject of religion has come up several times. I try not to discuss it but it keeps coming up and it is hard to avoid.
I respond:
Thanks for this very interesting post. Yes, I try to avoid the subject as well, for fear of coming off as disrespectful to people’s beliefs. Having said that, someone needs to say something when we have elected representatives using a religious platform from which to make important decisions that fly in the teeth of science. For example, last year, Illinois Congressman John Shimkus, Read More
With a Level Playing Field in the 21st Century, Nothing Is Impossible
| February 20, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Reg Wessels of South Africa’s Earth Corporation writes about my piece on the uncertainties of investors in renewable energy:
I often watch this debate with dismay, and as a non-American (but hugely supportive), I can’t help being frustrated by the US having to dance with the enemy. Whatever the solution, the free world looks to America with hope and admiration. Was this not the country that had the courage to pool all its resources for common purpose when the smoke had cleared over Pearl Harbor? Is this not the country that leads the world in innovation and technological expertise? Is this not the country that has shown ‘nothing is impossible’?
Reg: What a good point you raise here. I too wonder where my country has gone wrong, and I have to think I’m not alone here. Read More
Moral Philosophy and Energy Policy
| February 2, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Last week, my son, a college freshman, sat down to his first class in philosophy.
First, can someone tell me why philosophy isn’t taught in high school? Is there some reason we think we need to shelter kids from life’s great questions until they’re older? I never taught the subject formally, though I tutored quite a few undergraduates while I was in graduate school, which often caused me to wonder how I would construct my own “101” course if I happened to be in that position, and at what age group I would present it.
What happened when mankind evolved to the point, about 10,000 years ago, that we had a solid grasp on basic agricultural principles, and so no longer needed to roam, hunting for and gathering food in a nonstop life-and-death struggle? What happened when we started to look up into the heavens — and the questions started to flow: Who made all this stuff? Why are we here? What happens when we die? Read More
Is It Pointless to Care About Energy Policy?
| January 22, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Here’s a wonderful video presentation of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire,’ the clever reminder that problems in the world are nothing new, and really nothing to get too concerned over. I infer that this philosophy must be quite dear to him, as he expresses it in many of his songs, e.g., The Angry Young Man:
There’s always a place for the angry young man
With his fist in the air and his head in the sand
He’s never been able to learn from mistakes
So he can’t understand why his heart always breaks
His honor is pure, and his courage as well
He’s fair and he’s true, and he’s boring as hell
And he’ll go to his grave as an angry old man.
….
I do believe I’ve passed the age
Of consciousness and righteous rage
I’ve found that just surviving was a noble fight
I once believed in causes too
I had my pointless point of view
But life went on no matter who was wrong or right.
While this is brilliant stuff, and extremely musical, Read More
