According to the NY Times (May 24), Shell’s, seemingly, successful effort to secure a permit to drill was very costly and took many years. It was replete with often acrimonious dialogue. On one side, were native villagers, who feared the… Continue Reading →

A new Working Paper by researchers at the International Monetary Fund warns that oil prices could permanently double over the next decade, with dire consequences for global economic growth. The report, entitled “The Future of Oil: Geology versus Technology,” finds… Continue Reading →

On May 16th, the American Policy Institute’s President (API) and CEO Jack Gerard announced, seemingly with some pleasure, that a recent study by the Coordinating Research Council (funded by API and the auto industry) proved that the use of gasoline… Continue Reading →

William Stanley Jevons, a British economist during the mid 1880s, argued that technological breakthroughs relative to energy efficiency would increase rather than decrease fuel consumption. Improving efficiency of coal would lessen the amount used to achieve energy objectives (e.g. the… Continue Reading →

The Los Angeles Times’ Susan Carpenter reports on the official opening of the Propel Clean Mobility Center in Fullerton, “which sells E85 flex fuel and biodiesel, along with traditional gasoline, and also allows customers to purchase carbon offsets at the… Continue Reading →

Stop! Look! Listen or Read! Exxon is number one (Fortune Magazine, May 7). It topped Wal-Mart, now number two, on Fortune 500 list. Exxon’s revenues neared $452.9 billion…and some small change. Its profits jumped 35% to over 41 billion. 2011… Continue Reading →

Throw away the sleeping pills. Get rid of the antidepressants. For those of us concerned about oil dependency, Time Magazine in an article authored by Bryan Walsh(May 23) indicated we may no longer need to worry. We are “entering the… Continue Reading →

Poverty in America is rarely talked about when American leaders participate in what passes for political dialogue. Despite the fact that poverty in America has increased quite significantly, the poor seem no longer a popular subject for discussion. Why?
Not… Continue Reading →

Ron White at the LA Times has a good piece about the woeful shortage of fueling stations nationwide that offer replacement fuels such as CNG, LNG and ethanol (E85). He contrasts the 160,000 gasoline stations in the U.S. with the… Continue Reading →

Electric or gas? “Choice comes into Focus” was the banner headline in the business pages of the L.A. Times on April 26th. It was a story announcing Ford’s commitment to marketing two similar Focus models at the same time: one… Continue Reading →