Top 10 Energy Stories Of 2008
Posted by Sonja Ebron
From where I sit, it’s very difficult to distinguish energy from foreign policy, especially when your country uses more energy than any other country. So here, in no particular order, are my picks for the most significant energy-related stories this year:
- Iran’s proposal for an OPEC-like consortium of the major natural gas producers
- Russia’s threat to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline during its short war with Georgia
- The 10-week scramble for gasoline in the southeast following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike
- The massive increase in disconnections of utility services in deregulated areas
- The $100 swing in oil prices, with gasoline dropping from $4.00 to $1.50 in six months
- The promise of Barack Obama’s Green Team and some new thinking on energy
- Mass awareness — but no real debate — of T. Boone Pickens’ plan to sell lots of natural gas
- Iraqi journalist throws shoes at outgoing U.S. president Bush
- U.S. failure to find African host country for AfriCom
- Expulsion of U.S. diplomats from energy-rich Venezuela and Bolivia
There’s only one thing left to say –> Happy New Year!
Save Energy At Home And Get A Higher Bill?
Posted by Sonja Ebron
We’re about to get ripped off again by our electric utility companies. Regulated utilities have sought repeated rate increases from state regulators as the costs of oil and natural gas rose the last few years. Deregulated firms have collectively raised their rates with impunity. With rare exceptions, few have lowered those rates now that prices have declined for both fuels.
The Wall Street Journal reports that consumers are using much less electricity this fall and winter than in past years. Just as we limited our driving when gasoline prices rose, it appears we’ve also lowered our use of electricity as electric rates have climbed. Perhaps the milder weather this winter reduced the need for electricity to heat homes and businesses. Or perhaps the slow economy shuttered businesses and forced people from their homes, reducing the demand on power plants. But some utilities report residential use down as much as 9%, a much greater reduction than could be caused by abnormal weather and economics combined. “Something fundamental is going on,” says Jim Rogers, chief executive of Duke Energy. Perhaps the real reason is that people are finally getting serious about energy efficiency and conservation and simply eliminating wasteful practices in their homes.
2008 Energy Town Hall Meeting In Atlanta
Posted by Sonja Ebron
We hear a lot about energy and the economy in Atlanta, and for good reason. While gasoline prices have come down, supply is still spotty due to Hurricane Gustav, and the almost daily reports of job losses are worse than I can ever recall. National pundits blame our economic crisis on the housing bubble bust, but historical oil prices have always predicted recessions. Despite a dramatic decline in oil prices, we’re still paying three times the historical average in today’s dollars. Like all crises, this one hits Black people first. Add the impact of climate change, and it’s clear we have some difficult times ahead.
The Cuban Counterpoint
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Any post-Katrina disaster response would have been better than the fiasco three years ago in New Orleans, but the response to Gustav was startling. I was happy to see a generally well-orchestrated mass evacuation of New Orleans last week as the hurricane approached. Mass transit in the city had never worked so well. And was I dreaming or were they flying people out of town? I agree with Kanye that “George Bush doesn’t like Black people,” and Katrina’s devastation caused no change of like minds or hearts. So give thanks that the Republican convention schedule motivated the government to get it right this time.
Slavery and the Value of a Barrel of Oil
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Edwin Drake drilled the first major U.S. oil well in 1859 outside Titusville, Pennsylvania. U.S. oil production that year was 2000 barrels but rose to over 4 million barrels per year within a decade, driven by the growth in internal combustion engines. That decade also saw the U.S. Civil War and the emancipation of slaves. Coincidence? Hardly.
Energy is the ability to do work. Oil represents a form of energy so dense and liquid that there is no adequate replacement. According to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), longterm member of the House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, one barrel of oil does the work of 12 grown men doing physical labor for a year. [Four men by my calculations, but that's a distinction without a difference.] What is the market value of that work? $100,000 if they’re prisoners, $250,000 if they’re free. That’s the value of a barrel of oil.
And we’re squealing at $150 per barrel? In less than 150 years, humans have grown a global economy based on a very limited supply of extremely cheap energy. We’ve used up half the available supply, and we’ll use up the rest in far fewer than 150 years. I’m a pessimist today, so I don’t think those of us in the most developed countries have time to unwind and ramp down without a very difficult adjustment. Our fluorescent lighting and electric cars and rooftop gardens will help, but they are not enough.
There are neither substitutes nor good ideas for substitutes that will get us anywhere near the economic benefits of oil, not even a return to slavery. At least I hope that’s off the table…
