Energy

By Juan Cole Iraq’s former oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, warned on Thursday that the so-called “Islamic State” terrorist organization could hit the Iraqi oil fields in the south around Basra. Basra is deep in the Shiite south, so IS could not take the city of 2 million as it did largely Sunni Mosul. But […]

Energy

The Politics of Energy and the Destabilization of Palestine

contributors

By Tareq Ramadan The latest Israeli military campaign directed towards the 139-square mile, densely-populated Palestinian Gaza Strip has already led to the deaths of more than 1,900 Palestinians[i] (more than 80% are civilians including at least 440 children), the wounding of more than 9,500 which includes 2,800 children[ii], the homes of some 65,000 people destroyed[iii], […]

Climate Change

Climate Change, Dirty Natural Gas, and the Gaza War

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Calls by Israeli politicians in mainstream positions for the Palestinians to be ethnically cleansed from Gaza in part reflect frustration over the security issue many Israelis maintain the people of Gaza pose to Israel. (If the concern were justified, you’d think the death toll for the Israeli side would be much greater […]

Climate Change

Natural Gas isn’t the Global Warming Solution: It Endangers the Earth

contributors

By Naomi Oreskes via Tomdispatch.com Albert Einstein is rumored to have said that one cannot solve a problem with the same thinking that led to it. Yet this is precisely what we are now trying to do with climate change policy. The Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, many environmental groups, and the oil and […]

Climate Change

Can Norway’s Dams serve as a Huge Battery storing Europe’s Green Energy?

contributors

DW: “Norway derives almost 100 percent of its energy from hydropower. For Germany’s planned transition to renewable energy, a close partnership is crucially important, because Norwegian pumped storage power stations could balance out variations in renewable energy sources. But do Norwegians actually want to their country to become Europe’s storage battery?” DW: ” Norway: Energy […]

Climate Change

The U.S Has More Solar Workers Than Coal Miners

contributors

By Christopher DeMorro via CleanTechnica Though solar power is still far from surpassing coal as America’s primary energy source, the number of people employed by the solar industry has surpassed the number of coal miners. The non-profit Solar Foundation estimates that there are about 142,000 people in the U.S. workforce who spend “at least 50% […]

Climate Change

Green Energy Robin Hood: India Doubles Tax on Coal to Fund Solar and Wind

contributors

By Smiti Mittal 22,000 MW solar power capacity by 2022, a dedicated national-level program for promoting wind energy generation, implementation of the world’s largest solar power projects (with capacity of up to 4,000 MW), covering canals with solar panels, implementing dedicated transmission corridors for distributing electricity from renewable energy projects, and cleaning one of the […]

Climate Change

Ignore the Smears: Germany’s Green Energy is 1/3 of its Power, Price Falling, Coal Down

contributors

By Roy L Hales Originally Published on the ECOreport Germany’s renewable sector (RE) is flexing its muscles, with solar production up 28% and wind up 19% during the first half of 2014. As a result, the renewable sector accounted for 31% of the nation’s electricity. If this trend continues, this may be the third year […]

Economy

What the West means by “stability” in the Middle East

contributors

By Victor Argo “For them, a stable country is a country with a strong government favorable to the United States”: When Western governments pompously talk about “stability in the Middle East”, the interest and the security of the people of the region are seldom on their minds, writes Victor Argo. Stability, stability, stability. Comments on […]