The Daily Graphic: Drill Baby, Drill is Over Baby, Over
Good story over at the New York Times on the slowdown in oil drilling and exploration as energy prices have fallen off the cliff over the past several months.
What Would You Do if Your Budget Increased 10x?
According to an article in today’s Plain Dealer, the first stimulus money to begin reaching Ohio poses an interesting dilemma for the state’s community action agencies – how do you effectively spend it all?
… Ohio is concerned that local, nonprofit community action agencies – where the $267 million will end up – will not have the capacity to spend such an enormous amount of money over the next two years.
Before the federal stimulus package, Ohio would have received about $21 million for this program, said Mark Shanahan, energy adviser to Gov. Ted Strickland.
“We are looking at what the new federal rules are and whether we can use up to 20 percent of the money for job training,” he said. …
The $267 million being talked about is Ohio’s amount from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to do energy efficiency upgrades in the homes of the elderly, low and middle income earners.
The Daily Graphic: Global Warming Not Settled in Public’s Mind
I’m not a scientist, but the presentations I’ve seen on global warming and humankind’s contribution make sense to me. I thought it was making sense to most people, but apparently not. Take a listen to the drumbeat of conservative talk show hosts and other opinion leaders like the Drudge Report. I started noticing months ago that there seemed to be more of a concerted effort for all of them to use every cold snap and snow storm as some sort of counter argument against global warming. The way I understand the “popular science” is that global warming is not just about some areas of the earth getting warmer, it’s about climate change in general. I also don’t think you can take one season which is a bit more cold than the norm and call it a game changer. These guys may be moving public opinion however. You can find the whole Galllup Report here.
The Daily Graphic: February U.S. Oil Imports
Click Graphic to go the Pickens Plan oil imports page:
Video: Al Gore Handles a Critic at WSJ Conference
Video: President Obama Weekly Address – Keeping Promises – The Budget – February 28
Filed under: Barack Obama, Energy Policy, Health Care, Recession, U.S. Economy
Full Text: President Obama Weekly Address – Keeping Promises – The Budget – February 28
Filed under: Barack Obama, Energy Policy, Health Care, Recession, U.S. Economy
(Source: White House Press Office)
Remarks of President Barack Obama – Weekly Address
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
Washington, DC
Two years ago, we set out on a journey to change the way that Washington works.
We sought a government that served not the interests of powerful lobbyists or the wealthiest few, but the middle-class Americans I met every day in every community along the campaign trail – responsible men and women who are working harder than ever, worrying about their jobs, and struggling to raise their families. In so many town halls and backyards, they spoke of their hopes for a government that finally confronts the challenges that their families face every day; a government that treats their tax dollars as responsibly as they treat their own hard-earned paychecks.
The Daily Graphic: The Space Between Lower Oil Prices and The Price of Gasoline
I keep hearing about the price of oil still being weak due to the U.S. and world’s lagging economies. But, I’ve also noticed that I’ve been paying about the same for gasoline over the past few weeks and it seems to be about 20 cents per gallon more than what I was paying when oil was the same price or a little higher. I went to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and pulled some data from September to February to compare the decrease in oil with the decrease in gasoline – to see if they are the same. They’re not. There seems to be a 10% or so difference. This must be where someone is making a ton of money – it’s apparently not passed on to the consumer. Comments on this are welcome.
Transcript: President Barack Obama, First Press Conference, February 9, 2009
Filed under: Afghanistan, Bailout Bill, Barack Obama, Economic Stimuls, Energy Policy, Joe Biden, National Security, Pakistan, Recession, Terrorism, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
(Source: CNN)
President Obama: Good evening, everybody. Please be seated.
Before I take your questions tonight, I’d like to speak briefly about the state of our economy and why I believe we need to put this recovery plan in motion as soon as possible.
The Daily Graphic: January U.S. Oil Imports
Courtesy of the Pickens Plan is the following graphic about how much oil we imported into the U.S. during the month of January. They get their numbers from the U.S. Dept. of Energy.
Transcript: Remarks by President Obama to Department of Energy Staff | February 5, 2005
Filed under: Barack Obama, Economic Stimuls, Energy Policy, Environment, Peak Oil, Recession, U.S. Economy
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT TO DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY STAFF
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C.
12:12 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you so much. Well, it is a thrill to be here. Thank you, Secretary Chu, for bringing your experience and expertise to this new role. And thanks to all of you who have done so much on behalf of the country each and every day here at the department. You know, your mission is so important, and it’s only going to grow as we transform the ways we produce energy and use energy for the sake of our environment, for the sake of our security, and for the sake of our economy.
We Need the Stimulus Bill, But Let’s Not Oversell It
President Barack Obama said today in the Washington Post that he believes his stimulus bill is “a strategy for America’s long-term growth and opportunity …”
With this I disagree. No single bill, however omnibus it may appear, which was cobbled together over a few weeks by very few Congressional leaders is a “strategy.” America needs a strategy – first and foremost for dealing with the end of the fossil fuel economy – but that would be an inclusive, collaborative process with as much input from Americans outside of Washington as from those inside the Speaker of the House’s office.
As broad and deep as this bill is, let’s not oversell it. It’s spending, pure and simple. When the economy is in the tank, the government primes the pump. There’s nothing wrong with that, let’s not shy away from it Democrats. We used to proudly call it Keynesian Economics.
This spending proposal is targeted at projects or proposals which create jobs and create them fast. The one strategic piece may be the infrastructure outlays, but there again can anything that is rushed be considered strategy? In the context of today’s U.S. and world economies, this recession is a deadly serious threat to our security. Priming the pump is the way out of it and that should be enough reason for any member of Congress to vote for it.
Obama Action Will Please Environmentalists, Peak Oil Advocates
Filed under: Barack Obama, Big Three Automakers, Energy Policy, Environment, Peak Oil, State Governments
Action that President Barack Obama will take Monday to allow California and other states to require stricter tailpipe emissions and automobile fuel efficiency standards shouldn’t just please environmentalists.
If you’re concerned about Peak Oil and the United States’ dependence on foreign oil, this is also a win for energy conservation. This could be a market force that Detroit cannot ignore, pushing fuel efficiency farther faster. Conservation isn’t everything, but for a society so totally unprepared, it’s one span in the bridge to the energy future.
The New York Times is reporting tonight that President Barack Obama will reverse Bush Administration environmental policy tomorrow and allow California and other states to mandate their stricter rules.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had requested and been denied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2007 a waiver to set California automobile emission standards higher than federal guidelines. The Bush Administration told California and several other states that 2007 increases in federal fuel efficiency guidelines for cars and light trucks made their efforts moot and that a national patchwork of differing emissions laws would be untenable.
This is a win not only for environmentalists but also those concerned about the Peak Oil crisis and America’s continued over reliance on fossil fuels. The stricter standards set by states will be a market force that the Big Three and other automakers will not be able to ignore. According to the Times’ reporting, California’s action alone could have a great effect on fuel efficiency in the nation’s car and truck fleet:
The California law, which was originally meant to take effect in the 2009 model year, requires automakers to cut emissions by nearly a third by 2016, four years ahead of the federal timetable. The result would be an increase in fuel efficiency in the American car and light truck fleet to roughly 35 miles per gallon from the current average of 27.
In order to deal with the strategic, economic and societal changes which will brought on by a world where oil is harder to find and harder to extract, the U.S. and other nations will need to build bridges to the next energy economy. Actions such as the one Obama will take on Monday will make it easier to build the “conservation” span of our nation’s bridge.
One question remains — will the Big Three automakers fight this in court? Probably, but they should be shamed out of the courthouse. U.S. taxpayers are keeping two out of three of them afloat. They should be discouraged from using our cash to fight our government …
My Ideas for the Obama ‘Citizens’ Briefing Book’
One Way to Deal With Torture Legacy:
If the country were not facing such an historic economic crisis, perhaps I would be one of those angered by signals that neither the incoming Congress, nor the Obama Administration, seem to have the will to investigate and potentially hold accountable those who broke the law in the areas of interrogation, detention and rendition during the past administration.
Here’s an idea – a truth commission. What if the concept was based around answering the questions regarding the Constitution, the efficacy of torture, who was ultimately responsible, etc. This could be done in such a way as to put off any public hearings or transparency until after a bipartisan panel of serious legal, policy experts and just plain citizens had a chance to pursue the issues with subpoena power under a media blackout. Their product would be public. In some manner, either through the office of the President or the Congress an acknowledgement would be made and a strong statement, law or EO would be enacted to guide the government through these issues in the future. An acknowledgement could be made that any mistakes in judgement or action were the result of trying, out of the ordinary times (although this shouldn’t be an excuse).
Click this link to vote for this idea at change.gov
Initial Focus on the Bridge to Our Energy Future:
Our economy and society and is intertwined with petroleum – a single resource – that there is no single alternative on the horizon. Many speak of a Manhattan or Apollo project for energy independence, but this economic is much to complex to be solved in a timeframe akin to either of those two great American achievements.
Think of the bridge with its major parts, the spans. We can begin our Apollo-style project of basic research, advanced research, work on prototypes, testing, the development of economic models, etc. But at the same time, we can also build the bridge, span by span. One span may be the Pickens Plan, an effort that will attract private as well as government resources. Another span could be an aggressive tax credit program for making existing American homes energy efficient.
This also has the benefit of being a communications or message construct which will help educate America as to the pervasiveness of petroleum and the strategic disadvantage we are in due to our dependence on this diminishing, primarily foreign supplied resource.
Click this link to vote for this idea at change.gov
Call to Action: Citizens Briefing Book to Close – Vote or Submit Your Ideas This Weekend
Filed under: Barack Obama, Energy Policy, Obama Transition
I would encourage anyone who is online this weekend to visit and participate in the Obama team’s Citizens’ Briefing Book.
Let go of the cynic in you for just a few minutes and give them the benefit of the doubt that the ideas being collected and the voting on those ideas will actually be considered in the Obama policy agenda. The signup was easy and after that you can ideate and vote to your heart’s content.
I posted two ideas today, which I’ll write about later. One deals with a potentially constructive way to handle the torture legacy and another speaks to the need for a bridge to the energy future, not just an Apollo-style grand solution.
The more we use web-based outreach efforts by government, perhaps the more they will be offered. Perhaps this attempt at transparency, or at least government collection of ideas and opinion will have effect.
One thing I will say is that if government at various levels is going to seek information in this manner, government cannot just “reply” to the ideas which they find “easy” to speak on. Some of the highly voted ideas are not mainstream, but due to their “popularity” an acknowledgment from somewhere in government might go a long way to fighting cynicism. The briefing book closes at 6 p.m. Sunday.
