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Will Shale Revolution Trigger A New World Order?

EU-Turn: Europe May Roll Back Costly Green Agenda



EU leaders will grapple with controversial issues including shale gas development and climate change mitigation at an energy summit on 22 May, documents obtained by EurActiv show. As agreed at the 14-15 March summit, EU leaders will meet to discuss how to lower energy prices and so improve the Union’s industrial competitiveness. Competitiveness, in the EU energy policy context, translates into a re-thinking of the Union’s climate policies. Recently, the powerful employers’ group BusinessEurope called on European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to radically shift the EU’s energy policy away from climate change mitigation towards cost-competitiveness and security of supply. --EurActiv, 8 May 2013
Europe’s manufacturers are rapidly losing ground to US rivals because of soaring energy costs and the failure of the continent’s governments to be “rational” about nuclear power and shale gas, the head of one of the world’s biggest chemicals groups has warned. “There is very little European co-ordination,” he said, warning that energy costs should be ranked alongside the eurozone crisis as the most urgent problem confronting industry. The chief executive of one of Europe’s largest power groups told the FT that the continent’s political leaders were paying “zero attention to competitiveness” when deciding energy policy. --James Boxell, Financial Times, 13 May 2012 More than half the states with laws requiring utilities to buy renewable energy – including Arizona – are considering ways to pare back those mandates after a plunge in natural gas prices brought on by technology that boosted supply. Sixteen of the 29 states with renewable portfolio standards are considering legislation that would reduce the need for wind and solar power, according to researchers backed by the U.S. Energy Department. Killing support for renewable-energy policies threatens sales at companies from wind-turbine makers General Electric and Siemens to SolarCity Corp., the San Mateo, Calif.-based rooftop energy developer. --Christopher Martin, Bloomberg News, 5 May 2013

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The amount of new solar power installed in Europe fell sharply for the first time in more than a decade last year, in an arresting sign of how the region’s dominance of the global market is drawing to an end. “It is clear from the results of 2012 and the forecast for the coming years that Europe’s leading role in the PV market is coming to an end,” according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association’s market outlook. --Pilita Clark, Financial Times, 8 May 2013 The shale revolution has changed the energy scenario in the United States from a situation of shortage to that of plenty. The world’s biggest energy consumer may soon become the largest producer of hydrocarbons. The US gas boom is already impacting global energy relations. The impact will be felt even more keenly when it starts exporting gas- the first LNG exports are expected to start around 2017. Exporting gas to friendly countries in Europe, as well as India and China is being seen as a new way of extending the US sphere of influence, and cutting the dominance of the middle-east and Russia. Shale has begun replacing oil as the agent of the new great game. --Cuckoo Paul, Forbes India, 8 May 2013 Al Gore hopes to cross paths again with media titan Rupert Murdoch to pitch him on the dangers of climate change. Gore tells me of his ambition to have another meeting with Rupert Murdoch, to talk him through the issue, convert him to the cause. “There is still hope that he will awaken to the reality of this,” Gore says. “It would make a huge difference if he would.” --Ben Geman, The Hill, 7 May 2013 Rupert Murdoch has taken to Twitter to attack environmentalists claiming that rising levels of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels have been good for the planet. The media mogul based his statements on an article which reported that 30 years of satellite images have shown that the Earth is actually getting greener. Murdoch, a frequent and outspoken critic of renewable energy, tweeted today: 'World growing greener with increased carbon. Thirty years of satellite evidence. Forests growing faster and thicker.' He then referenced an article by Matt Ridley in the Wall Street Journal on January 5. Earlier in the day, the tycoon had posted: 'Why not switch from useless renewable energy investments to real job creating infrastructure projects. Many great possibilities waiting.' –-Daily Mail, 7 January 2013


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