Petroleum

( Otherwords.org ) – Long used to cheap gas at the pump, Americans are experiencing serious sticker shock these days. News headlines link this sharp increase to Russia’s war on Ukraine. But that assumes oil companies have no control over the price of oil — that high prices stem “naturally” from things like the war […]

Climate Crisis

Industrialized Nations must stop Producing Fossil Fuels by 2034 to keep Climate from Going Tropical and Chaotic

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scientists Dan Calverley and Kevin Anderson at Manchester University have brought out a new report looking hard at what would have to be done for us to have a 50/50 chance of keeping the increase in the average temperature of the earth’s surface to 2.7 degrees F. (1.5C) over preindustrial […]

Climate Crisis

Biden needs an Iran Deal: The US cannot Afford to Sanction both Moscow and Tehran without Risking $300 a barrel Oil

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States cannot afford to impose severe economic sanctions and boycotts on Russia and on Iran at the same time. That way lies $300 a barrel oil, global economic retraction, and likely a Democratic Party bloodbath in the midterms as voters protest their anguish at the pump. There is […]

Latin America

In the new Great Game, can Venezuela negotiate an end to deadly US sanctions?

Ramzy Baroud

(Middle East Monitor ) – The tables have turned. A high-level US delegation visited Venezuela on 5 March, hoping to repair economic ties with Caracas. One of the world’s poorest countries, in part due to US-Western sanctions, Venezuela is, for once, in the driving seat and capable of alleviating an impending US energy crisis if […]

Economy

This isn’t the First Oil Price Shock, but it is the Most Complex in Modern History

The Conversation

By Scott L. Montgomery, University of Washington | – The world is in the grip of an oil price shock. In just a few months, prices have risen from US$65 a barrel to over $130, causing fuel costs to surge, inflationary pressure to rise and consumer tempers to flare. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, […]

Climate Crisis

Oil Sheikhs have us Behind the 8-Ball: The UAE’s mixed Signals on Oil underline need for US to move Rapidly to Green Transportation

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – America is paying the price for lagging behind in its adoption of electric vehicles and in putting in more electric mass transit. Because we are still mostly a society that moves on gasoline, we are dependent on the worst people in the world for our energy. Even where we produce […]

Germany

Could the G7 Wealthy Countries Really Boycott Russian Petroleum?

The Conversation

By Amy Myers Jaffe | – One option the U.S. and other nations have for ratcheting up pressure on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine is reducing their Russian energy purchases. U.K. Foreign Minister Liz Truss has proposed that the G7 nations – the U.S., U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan – […]

Climate Crisis

Scorching the Earth: When Big Oil and Gas Flare, the Methane traps 80x as Much Heat as C02

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Nicole Sadek, Zoha Tunio and Sarah Hunt | Howard Center for Investigative Journalism< When companies flare, they do more than burn natural gas. They burn money ( Cronkite News ) – Every year, U.S. oil and gas companies set fire to billions of cubic feet of natural gas and directly vent an additional unknown […]

Climate Crisis

Conflict with Russia is Raising your Gasoline Bill; an Electric Car is the Answer

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Reporters pressed White House spokesperson Jen Psaki on Wednesday about the likelihood that any Russian military engagement in Ukraine will raise petroleum prices further. Ensuing US sanctions on Russia would keep some of its petroleum off the market, as has already happened to Iran, at a time when demand is […]