Posts Tagged by Obama Administration
James Hansen on Global Climate Change
| March 19, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Fossil Fuels |
Here’s top climate scientist Dr. James Hansen on global climate change. When people ask where I stand on this subject and why, I simply request that they watch this; I sure wish I had it in my power to get everyone to do so.
Not only are we doing nothing to stop this unfolding catastrophe, we’re actively making it worse, subsidizing the fossil fuel industries worldwide with hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Why? Big Energy wants it that way, and has spent a fortune to convince voters that putting a tax on carbon to curb our dependence on fossil fuels will hurt the economy. Read More
The Tragic Results of Political Compromise in US Energy Policy
| December 23, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
The results of political compromise — maybe by definition — are seldom satisfactory to anyone. But hasn’t this whole process recently gotten worse than ever before? The healthcare reform bill that the Obama administration put through was the product of a hammer and tongs fight from the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and the enormous money and power that they and their partners brought to the battle. Supported by a political machine that benefited from convincing voters that the whole idea of reform was tantamount to socialism, the bill that was ultimately passed is an utter disappointment — and may ultimately fall apart for any number of reasons, one of which is as basic as a successful constitutional challenge.
Closer to my home in the energy sector, I have to say that cap and trade legislation is a similar sort of disaster in the making. Anyone sincerely wanting to use the public sector to lead the way to a sustainable approach to energy has extremely clearcut tools at his disposal. How about the simplicity of a carbon tax? A feed-in tariff? What’s the matter with just pulling the subsidies on oil? If you really want clean energy, there are abundant and crystal clear ways to do it — instantly. Read More
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.
Good News in Energy Subsidies
| February 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Hey — some good news for a change! Progressive change in energy subsidies.
“Ask and ye shall receive,” as my father is fond of saying.
Bermuda — Going Green
| January 10, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
A few months ago I wrote a post about my consulting company’s relationship with the island nation of Bermuda, in which I mentioned how proud I am to be a part of an entire country’s movement away from fossil fuels. A quick update:
This week, I’m on my way to Bermuda for a series of meetings with governmental agencies and private sector sponsors, each of which will be integral to making this whole thing happen. And as I just happened to see this morning, this will be occuring in the context of a great number of governmental stimuli affecting this region of the world.
It seems that virtually no one approves of the exact tack the Obama Administration is taking. Progressives are disappointed with his pandering to entrenched interests and failing to take a hard line on things like healthcare reform, the war(s), and regulation of the big banks and Wall Street; conservatives, true to form, reject him as a socialist. But let me tell you this: in terms of confronting the environmental nightmares that lie ahead of us if nothing is done to wean us from our oil addiction, far more has happened in the last few months than happened in the previous three decades.
Renewable Energy and the Obama Administration
| September 23, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
As I’m sure many readers have observed, I am normally cynical about the honesty of government. Even on Washington’s best day, I’d far rather see things happening in the private sector than in the public sector. Yet I have to say that I’m pleased with the Obama administration’s aggression in supporting renewable energy.
I have no insight into the workings of the selection process by which stimulus money is handed out. As far as fairness is concerned, I’m told that the process favors large companies over small ones, and I’m sure that I would find the details, if I were privy to them, just as unpalatable as the fine points of sausage-making. Yet I have to say that it’s a refreshing change from the days that oil-men ran the country and the DoE was forced to sit on its hands while essentially no progress was made in developing alternative energy sources, and the CO2 levels went through the roof.
From these recent annoucements from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, it is apparent that for some reason our boys in Washington favor wind and photovoltaics over solar thermal, hydrokinetics, and the others. This concerns me greatly; one can only think that we’re entering a new realm of politics as usual. At least this time we’re wrangling over technologies that won’t kill us.
