“In the late 1970s, only three prominent energy experts continued to insist that oil prices would not rise inexorably and to display a contrariness to all efforts to dissuade them: Peter Odell of Erasmus University, the late Morry Adelman of MIT, and Arlon Tussing.” (Michael Lynch, below)
Several months ago, a giant of modern energy economics died at age 82. I belatedly sing his praises.
Arlon Tussing, author, co-author, or editor of an estimated 300 books and publications, influenced a generation of market-oriented energy economists. He also educated the energy industry by being realistic and blunt at a time when the conventional thinking was that ‘depleting’ resources meant that costs and prices had to go up.
Tussing analysis such as in his 1983 “An OPEC Obituary” (Public Interest) were spot-on, at a time when many voices were saying ‘Just Wait’ for Energy Crisis #3 (following #1’s Arab OPEC in 1973/74 and #2’s Iranian Revolution in 1979).…
Continue Reading“The environmental battles over energy infrastructure expansions will continue to ramp up…. The bottom line from these examples is that the risk of energy projects is creeping higher and that will filter into energy company spending – hurting both the nation’s future energy supply and its profitability for the companies.”
Energy availability is often ignored until it isn’t available. Whether that is a grid power outage, such as those in 1965 and 2003 that blacked out the Northeast region of the country, or the loss of power at your home or work, the issue of insuring adequate energy availability isn’t a high priority for most people until you don’t have it. Ask the residents of south Australia who suffered a blackout last week.
Two interesting examples – one on each coast of the U.S.…
Continue Reading“We have at most ten years—not ten years to decide upon action, but ten years to alter fundamentally the trajectory of global greenhouse emissions.”
– James Hansen, “The Threat to the Planet.” The New York Times Review of Books (2006).
“Contrary to the impression favored by governments, the corner has not been turned toward declining emissions and GHG amounts…. Negative CO2 emissions, i. e., extraction of CO2 from the air, is now required.”
– James Hansen, “Young People’s Burden.” October 4, 2016.
Ten years ago, James Hansen predicted doom if mankind did not “fundamentally” reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in ten years. This ultimatum to the world came due this summer.
But far from raising the white flag, the father of the modern climate alarm now demands via legal action that CO2 and other GHG emissions go negative “if climate is to be stabilized on the century time scale, as a result of past failure to reduce emissions.”…
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