Posts Tagged by externalities
Thanksgiving – An Appropriate Time to Appreciate Mankind’s Benefactors
| November 24, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Albert Einstein left us a number of gifts, most obviously his landmark breakthroughs in theoretical physics. The other, in my estimation, is the utter truckload of pithy philosophic quotes about mankind’s role in the universe. If you’re looking for something that will keep you out of trouble for a few hours, check this out – there are ten full pages of them.
Perhaps the most often quoted is this:
We can’t solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used to create them.
… which is often invoked by environmentalists to suggest that we’re foolish to count on the fossil fuel and nuclear industries to deal with the pollution and other externalities that come along with their products.
I’m with you all the way, good sir, and suggest that a combination of new modes of thinking are in order here:
1) Environmentalism itself, inspiring more and more people to act responsibly vis-a-vis the natural world
2) Energy conservation per se, making wholesale reductions in consumption, driven by building retrofits, mass transit, electric vehicles, etc.
3) Renewable energy – biting the bullet and making the investment in a clean energy future
Again, thanks to the ultimate man of ideas.
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“The Price of Gas” Explores the True Costs of Our Oil Addiction
| July 8, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Here’s a short animated video aptly called “The Price of Gas” that takes the viewer through the comprehensive costs to the environment of exploration, extraction, shipping, refinement of crude, and the distribution and consumption of gasoline. Very nicely done, IMHO.
It’s the work of the nonprofit organization Center for Investigative Reporting, who, since their inception in 1977, has worked to reveal injustice and strengthen democracy through journalism.
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The Hydrogen Economy and the Migration from Fossil Fuels
| April 13, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Here, 2GreenEnergy Video Report host George Alger interviews me on the hydrogen economy: what it means, its validity, and its ramifications.
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2GreenEnergy Report – Peak Oil
| April 11, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
In this episode of the 2GreenEnergy Video Report, host George Alger interviews me on the phenomenon known as “peak oil,” i.e., that the world has peaked in terms of its oil production capacity. I discuss my take on this, as well as its many social, financial, and political ramifications.
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2GreenEnergy Video Report — Peak Oil
| March 19, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Here’s another episode of the 2GreenEnergy Report, in which I’m interviewed on the subject of peak oil. I manage to squeeze in references to related subjects as well: the consequences of our addiction to foreign oil, the externalities associated with fossil fuels, long-term environmental damage, the associated costs of healthcare, ocean acidification, and global climate change.
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Externalities of the Oil Industry — Great Comments
| February 12, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
There have been some fantastic comments to my piece on the externalities of fossil fuels the other day. I encourage folks to check out the response of frequent blogger Cameron Atwood in particular, to whom I reply:
Unfortunately, this corporatocracy has gotten so strong that it’s really tough to refocus people on what’s happening at the macro level which, you’ve nailed with 100% accuracy in your excellent remarks. There’s a great deal of mainstream coverage of the perils of Lindsay Lohan, but very little insight into the true cost of oil and gas. So when you write: Read More
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Bringing Fairness to the Discussion on Energy
| December 28, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
I was going through some old blog posts here at 2GreenEnergy in an effort to make sure that we’re emphasizing the most important elements of the discussion on renewables. One theme that is central to the conversation, of course, is the need to understand and account for the externalities of our current system of generating energy, based, as it is, more than 80% on fossil fuels. For those looking for a solid but fairly high-level treatment of the subject, check out this marvelous summary: What’s The Real Cost of Fossil Fuels?
I understand the frustrations of those who say we’re about a million miles from a world that forces these costs onto the energy industry, but I point out that we may be closer that many people believe.
When I interviewed James Woolsey (Director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency from February 5, 1993 until January 10, 1995) for my book, he called my attention to Boyden Gray’s piece in the Texas Review of Law and Politics, putting the cost in damage to peoples’ health and medical costs total at approximately $250 billion a year from the aromatics. It’s only a matter of time in this data-rich world in which we live before the we have complete quantification of each of the major externalities, forcing even the most unreasonable people to demand fairness here. Read More
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Renewable Energy — Conservatives vs. Liberals?
| September 3, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
It seems that affection for renewable energy often breaks down across political (conservative vs. liberal) lines. I’m not sure I understand how this can be. Obviously, everyone cares about the quality of the planet we live on and leave to our descendents. So I’m guessing the fundamental issue is the cost of renewables.
But, as Tom Rooney points out in his recent article Why Conservatives Are Bad on Energy, the financial analysis of clean energy is largely based on misconceptions. A recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal referred to photovoltaic solar energy as a “speculative and immature technology that costs far more than ordinary power.” The author went on to point out that the only thing holding the industry together were subsidies. Didn’t this guy get the memo? A few weeks ago, the International Energy Agency said worldwide, fossil fuels receive $550 billion in subsidies a year — 12 times what alternatives such as wind and solar get. Read More
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The Economics of Electricity Markets
| August 26, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
In his recent article on Renewable Energy World titled Electricity markets are weird: why a carbon price isn’t enough, Sean Casten provides several scholarly reasons that establishing a carbon tax is tricky business. I encourage everyone to read this; it’s really worthwhile.
But at the end of the day, Mr. Casten seems to be to be splitting hairs. Where we are now is a million miles from where we need to be in terms of providing a level playing field for renewables. I simply ask Congress to get us into the right galaxy – then we can start talking about Pareto-efficient markets and cost/price causality. As long as the fossil fuel energy industry receives multi-billion dollar government subsidies, favorable treatment from the Bureau of Land Management, and immunity from the costs of the environmental damage it’s causing, I can’t see the reason to get too heavily into the microeconomics here.
We need to make wholesale changes in the way we view the costs of energy. Until that time, the energy industry is looking on at this discussion and snickering as they continue on their path of rape and ruin.
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Liquid Ammonia as Fuel – Another Article
| July 17, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Here’s another interesting article on liquid ammonia as fuel. The author, Dr. Paul A. Curto, a retired NASA scientist residing in Potomac, MD, has a wonderfully lucid writing style. Give me a Ph.D. who writes like a real person any day!
My only issue here — and it’s a criticism of myself as well, as I’ve done this many times personally — is the statement that liquid ammonia will create 30 million jobs. That’s not incorrect, per se, but it fails to address the question: Who’s going to hire these people? The government? Some blend of the public and private sectors? Why? By what mechanism can we create an environment in which there will be sufficient incentive for the private sector to embrace ammonia with a full-on commitment?
The answer, of course, goes back to the old “internalizing the externalities” argument. Until we, as a civilization, pay the full and true costs of the carbon-based energy we’re producing and consuming, there is no reason on Earth to considering any other solution. But making that happen is a political impossibility. How far we are away from looking at this issue fairly? The EPA and the DoE don’t even list ammonia as a fuel — that’s should give you some idea.
Having said all this, I think we need to agree that the Obama administration has really opened things un in terms of renewable energy. Obama’s popularity is falling — due, I believe, to the horrible compromises that have left no one happy: shoddy, half-way healthcare reform, ineffective financial reform, and a foreign policy that no one could possibly like. But a great number of new conversations — and even investments — are happening in the energy space that never, ever would have taken place a few years ago.
