Global resource consumption to triple by 2050 – ‘Far beyond what is likely sustainable’

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 (AFP) — Global consumption of natural resources could almost triple to 140 billion tons a year by 2050 unless nations take drastic steps, the United Nations warned Thursday. A UN environment panel said the world cannot sustain the tearaway rate of use of minerals, ores and fossil and plant fuels. It […]

Desperate U.S. sprawl developer gives away cars with houses

By Sarah Goodyear26 Apr 2011 My head nearly exploded at the breakfast table on Saturday morning. I was reading a piece in The New York Times about an Illinois developer who has finally found a way to unload the new houses he has built some 50 miles from downtown Chicago, in a place he has […]

Nuclear cuts ‘bad news’ for climate change

Singapore (AFP) April 4, 2011 – A global slowdown in the growth of nuclear power in reaction to the Japan crisis will seriously hamper the fight against climate change, a top International Energy Agency (IEA) official said Monday. IEA chief economist Fatih Birol told AFP that governments must study the implications carefully before making any […]

Deffeyes: Macondo – Fukushima

By Kenneth S. Deffeyes29 March 2011 One of my former students, Joel Achenbach, has a book being released this week about the BP blowout. (A Hole at the Bottom of the Sea.) His e-mail a week ago asked whether there were parallels between the BP Macondo blowout and the damaged nuclear reactors at Fukushima. My […]

Graph of the Day: Oil Price and Recessions, 1973-2010

By Gail the Actuary28 March 2011 The idea that high oil prices cause recessions shouldn’t be any surprise to those who have been following my writings, those of Dave Murphy, or those of Jeff Rubin. Last month, though, the Wall Street Journal finally decided to mention the idea to its readers, in an article called […]

Peak Oil Clock

Fred Palmer interview: ‘We’re 100 percent coal. More coal. Everywhere’

By Leo Hickman, www.guardian.co.uk8 March 201 All eyes are on the oil industry as prices continue to rise. But some argue that the biggest energy story in coming years will not be our travails with oil, but the increasing importance of coal, particularly if the much-discussed ‘carbon capture and storage‘ (CCS) hurdles can be cleared. […]

Food: What’s really behind the unrest in Egypt

By JEFF RUBIN, Globe and Mail BlogPosted on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 6:21AM EST It’s more than coincidence the Arab world is convulsing with social unrest just as the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization’s widely watched price index recently soared past the previous food price peak set in the summer of 2008. After all, […]

WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to control prices – Reserves have been overstated by nearly 40 percent

[Update: This claim has been widely disputed, most recently by Dr. Al Husseini himself:  Saudi Oil Reserves and the WikiLeaks Chinese Whispers Effect; The Guardian, Wikileaks cables and oil production in Saudi Arabia; Saudi Oil Production and Reserves – Reasons Behind Wikileaks Concerns; and finally, Press Release by Dr. Sadad Al Husseini.] By John Vidal, […]

Peak Water: What is it, and are we there yet?

By Peter GleickJanuary 27, 2011 Peak water is coming. In some places, peak water is here. We’re never going to run out of water — water is a renewable natural resource (mostly). But increasingly, around the world, in the U.S., and locally, we are running up against peak water limits. The concept is so important […]

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