Britain is drawing up plans with the US and other European countries to “disarm” the threat of President Vladimir Putin using Russian gas and oil supplies as “a weapon” against Ukraine and its Eastern European neighbours. Next month, David Cameron and other G7 leaders are expected to sign off on an “emergency response plan” to assist Ukraine this winter if Russia restricts gas supplies. At the same time, G7 energy ministers this week agreed a plan to eliminate Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas over the longer term and prevent energy security being used as political bargaining chip by the Kremlin. --Oliver Wright,
The Independent, 9 May 2014
The White House is examining the longstanding US ban on exports of crude oil, a senior official said, offering the Obama administration’s most detailed statement yet of its thinking on the issue. John Podesta, who is one of President Barack Obama’s most senior advisers, said the administration was “taking an active look” at the strains caused by the US shale oil boom. His comments indicate that the administration is actively discussing one of the hottest topics in US energy policy. Any change would have implications for global oil traders, refiners and consumers. --Gregory Meyer and Ed Crooks, Financial Times, 8 May 2014
Britain could lose energy-intensive industries such as petrochemicals to regions with lower energy costs such as the United States and Middle East if it does not speed up shale gas extraction, a parliamentary report said. “If the UK does not develop its shale resources in a timely fashion, it runs a serious risk of losing the energy intensive and petrochemical industries which depend on competitively-priced energy and raw materials,” the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee said in a report published on Thursday. --
Reuters, 8 May 2014
The White House rollout of a climate-change report this week was aimed squarely at showing the public that inaction affects people directly, covering everything from extreme weather to seasonal allergies. Facing dim prospects for legislation on Capitol Hill, the president is asking people to pressure Washington to act on climate change. But a raft of polls shows that the president faces a steep challenge. While most people say there is evidence that the Earth is warming, climate change consistently ranks near the bottom when voters are asked to assess public-policy priorities. --Colleen McCain Nelson,
The Wall Street Journal, 8 May 2014
The Ivanpah solar facility supplies 140,000 homes with renewable, zero-emission electricity–and is the world’s largest solar-thermal power station. Located in Southern California’s Mojave Desert, Ivanpah may be the best example yet of green energy produced on a large scale, but there’s a problem. The plant is a “mega-trap” for birds: The focused light attracts the avians, and then fries them in midair. Once ignited, the birds plummet to the ground like tiny meteors; workers at the Ivanpah facility have taken to referring to such events as “streamers.” --Walter Russell Mead,
The American Interest, 2 May 2014
Sensationalism makes for a splash of danger, and sometimes, when the danger isn’t there, you miss it. In a re-run of the classic little wildlife programme of 2006 Rabbits of Skomer (BBC Four) you could see the danger, or lack of danger, that some animal shows faced before the global warming theme got going… There is not a single whiff of oncoming planetary doom. If the show were being made now, there would have to be a climate change expert called Tim to say that the whole island will soon be a hundred feet under water with sharks cruising through waves dotted with the corpses of rabbits and puffin chicks. Or perhaps not. Perhaps the Beeb, in view of the current shifting of the emphasis in climate science from mitigation to adaptation, is now, at last, dialling down the alarmism. --Clive James,
The Daily Telegraph, 8 May 2014
