Energy

By Donna Katzin | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus) – On September 9, Harvard University President Larry Bacow heralded the university’s commitment to shift its $41.9 billion endowment — the largest in the world — to “a portfolio of investments that support the transition to the green economy.” Two weeks later, September 23, Boston […]

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 […]

Bush

Iraq is seeking 10 Gigawatts of Solar Power; if World had gone Green in ’80s, Would the US have ever invaded Iraq?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a historic irony, Iraq is turning to solar energy, according to Dania Saadi at SPGlobal. Ali Jawad at the Anadolu Agency reports that the Baghdad government is seeking to generate 10 gigawatts of solar power for electricity by 2030, though it already has several projects in train that will […]

Climate Crisis

California’s latest offshore oil spill could fuel pressure to end oil production statewide

The Conversation

By Charles Lester | – An oil spill first reported on Oct. 2, 2021, has released thousands of gallons of crude oil into southern California coastal waters. The source is believed to be a leak in an underwater pipeline connected to an oil drilling platform 17.5 miles offshore. Oil has washed ashore in Huntington Beach […]

Climate Crisis

Britain, once victim of Coal-driven “Great Smog,” vows 100% Green Electricity by 2035

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a goal of getting all electricity from renewables by 2035. The announcement was flawed in various ways, but it was historic. The world’s first coal-fired electric plant opened in London in 1882. It was the Edison Electric Light Station, at 57 Holborn […]

Green Energy

Are the Renewables Initiatives of the Arab Oil Producers of the Gulf a Game Changer or just Greenwashing?

Sustainability Times

By Anna Schneider ( Sustainability Times) – Major oil-producing countries in the Arabian Gulf have lately committed to reducing their carbon emissions in the face of global climate change. In 2015, five major governments pledged to reduce carbon emissions, but none of those nations were major oil producers. This August, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) […]

CO2

Ecological Disaster at Huntington Beach as Oil Spill Threatens Marine Life, Wetlands, Tourism Industry

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Drilling for oil in the ocean off California’s pristine beaches is about the stupidest and most evil human activity you can think of. Oil is leaky and gets spilled into the ocean, harming the environment. But if it gets delivered without incident to the refinery and is made into gasoline […]

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 […]

Featured

In Height of Hypocrisy, Nuclear-Armed Israeli PM Bennett slams Iran, which has no weapons or program, for “crossing all red Lines”

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that far-right Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Monday, ignored the Israeli-Palestinian struggle and focused instead on the issue of Iran. He alleged that the Iranian nuclear program had “surpassed all red lines,” asserting that Iran […]