Natural Gas

Global emissions almost back to pre-pandemic levels after unprecedented drop in 2020, new analysis shows

By Pep Canadell, Corinne Le Quéré, Glen Peters, Pierre Friedlingstein, Robbie Andrew, and Rob Jackson | – Global carbon dioxide emissions have bounced back after COVID-19 restrictions and are likely to reach close to pre-pandemic levels this year, our analysis released today has found. The troubling finding comes as the COP26 climate talks continue in […]

Climate Crisis

Top 4 Reasons Sen. Manchin will Fail to Stop the Tsunami of Green Energy and Biden will get Climate Progress

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia may succeed in preventing Congress from legislating the quick demise of coal and gas plants, but once President Biden has Manchin’s signature on his two big legislative packages, there are other ways to move against Big Carbon that Manchin can do nothing about. 1. […]

CO2

Sordid Advantage: America can’t avert Climate Hellhole because Manchin, Sinema are Corporate Hired Mercenaries

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – American journalists like to personalize stories and create horse races empty of real content. That is why most Americans don’t know what is in the Democratic Build Back Better Bill backed by President Joe Biden– the substance has not been reported on. That bill was originally budgeted at $350 billion […]

Climate Crisis

No, Renewables didn’t cause the Global Energy Crisis; Strangling Iranian Gas and failing to put in Enough Wind and Solar Did

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – As the world starts back up after the pandemic, the price of energy is spiking, as Pippa Stevens at CNBC explains. The flacks for dirty energy are trying to blame renewables for the jump in energy costs this fall in Europe and China, but frankly that is ridiculous. Demand for […]

Natural Gas

How Sen. Joe Manchin’s support for natural gas could derail Biden’s US climate plan

The Conversation

By Michael Oppenheimer | – ( The Conversation) – President Joe Biden has a goal for all U.S. electricity to come from zero-carbon sources by 2035. To get there, he’s counting on Congress to approve an ambitious package of incentives and penalties designed to encourage utilities to clean up their power sources. That plan, part […]

Climate Change

Will the move to Solar-Wind-Battery Accelerate as Natural Gas Spikes 1000% in Europe with long term price rises expected?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Anna Shiryaevskaya, Stephen Stapczynski and Ann Koh at Bloomberg.org report that natural gas prices have risen 1,000 percent in Europe since the pandemic crash of May, 2020. Other parts of the world with more natural gas of their own also saw price increases over the past year, though not on […]

Coal

Renewables for first time on Record generated more Electricity than either Coal or Nuclear in US in 2020: EIA

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Energy Information Administration, the primary authority in the federal government on energy numbers, concludes that renewables, primarily hydro, wind and solar, rose to become 21% of electricity generation in the US in 2020. This is the first time on record that renewables were the second-largest generator of electricity in […]

Climate Crisis

Eye of Fire as Ocean burns in Gulf of Mexico foretells Earth Future if we Keep Burning Fossil Fuels

Common Dreams

By Julia Conley, staff writer | – ( Commondreams.org) – A fire that raged for hours in the Gulf of Mexico Friday offered the latest illustration of the climate emergency and the urgent need to end fossil fuel extraction and invest instead in burgeoning renewable energy industries. An underwater gas pipeline controlled by Mexico’s state-owned […]

European Union

The Int’l Community at Berlin II wants Oil and a Stop to Emigration from Libya; What Libya needs is Strong Institutions and Peace

John Hickman

Mt. Berry, Ga. (Special to Informed Comment) – A lazy international press corps is missing the big story on Libya. English language news coverage of the June 23rd Berlin II International Conference on Libya has been focused almost exclusively on the presence of foreign mercenaries while eliding information crucial to understanding the negotiations and the […]