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Obama Administration Submits Plan for Cutting Greenhouse Gases

ENLARGE Republicans in Congress have called the administration’s efforts to regulate power plants a ‘war on coal.’ Here, a coal-fired plant in Michigan. Photo: Jeff Kowalsky/Bloomberg News The Obama administration formally submitted its plan for cutting greenhouse gases nearly 30% by 2025, part of a global effort this year to curb emissions of carbon dioxide. The move adds pressure on other countries—including Australia, Canada, and India—that haven’t spelled out concrete plans. The U.S., the second-biggest carbon emitter after China, has taken a leading role in recent months in negotiations with nearly 200 nations to strike an agreement through the United Nations to rein in gases blamed for global warming. “Our target will help spur others to step forward with targets of their own,” said Todd Stern, the U.S. special envoy for climate change. Republicans used the announcement to amplify criticism of President Barack Obama’s federal emissions rules, with Senate […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Crude by Rail Up 1700%

Crude by Rail 2015 | Click to Enlarge The Energy Information Administration (EIA) released the latest data today for crude by rail  (CBR) across the country that shows a significant increase over the last five years. Total CBR movement in the United States and between the United States and Canada was more than 1 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2014, up from 55,000 bbl/d in 2010. The regional distribution of these movements has also changed over this period. Crude by rail continues to be highly controversial as people question the safety for individuals and the environment.  With production at an all time high, the CBR numbers will continue to escalate as producers must find a way to move their product. The EIA developed a new tracking system that will gather data across all regions of the country and parts of Canada from January 2010 through the current month. CBR activity is tracked between pairs […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. oil-by-rail overshadows Canada’s

The volume of oil carried by rail in the United States far exceeds that in Canada, U.S. federal data show. Photo by Steven Frame/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) — The volume of crude oil transported by rail in the United States is greater than the volume in Canada by a factor of nearly 9-to-1, federal data show. In a first, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said it was now publishing monthly data on the volume of crude oil transported on regional railways. "The new crude-by-rail data provides a clearer picture on a mode of oil transportation that has experienced rapid growth in recent years and is of great interest to policy makers, the public, and industry," EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said in a statement Monday. U.S. oil production has accelerated at a faster pace than at any other time since record-keeping began more than 100 years ago. The growth […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Gas prices falling back to earth

U.S. refineries move back into production, pulling retail gasoline prices down, motor club AAA says. Photo by George Spade/Shutterstock WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) — The national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the United States is falling as refineries resume production, motor club AAA said. AAA reports a national average retail price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline at $2.41, about one cent less than Monday. The price has held more or less steady over the course of a month, though prices spiked early in the season because of refinery problems in California and the Midwest. AAA said the national average price for gas has declined for 18 of the past 24 days. "The status of regional refineries continues to be a driving factor for gas prices in many parts of the country," the motor club said in a weekly status report. "However, while […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Berkshire’s BNSF Bucks U.S. Railroads With Oil-Train Speed Limit

(Bloomberg) — BNSF Railway Co., the largest hauler of crude by rail, moved ahead of U.S. peers in the push for safety by reducing oil-carrying train speeds beyond an agreement last year between regulators and the railroads. BNSF’s oil trains will go 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour) in areas with at least 100,000 residents, a 30 percent reduction in speed in some cases, the company said Monday. Union Pacific Corp., the largest U.S. railroad by revenue, said it will study BNSF’s actions, while CSX Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp., the two largest railroads in the eastern U.S., said they aren’t taking similar steps. “Norfolk Southern remains committed to improving the safety of crude oil transportation by rail,” Rick Harris, a company spokesman, said. “We are not planning additional changes at this time.” BNSF, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., in its effort to improve safety […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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At least nine dead as fatal storms hit Germany and Austria

German emergency services have reportedly been called to more than 900 incidents At least nine people have been killed in gales that have battered Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK. Seven people were killed in Germany, including two men whose car was hit by a tree. German media reports that there have been dozens of injuries from flying branches. In Austria, a man fell from a ladder and suffered fatal head injuries while securing an awning over his patio. Forecasters said that on Germany’s highest mountain, the Zugspitze, winds of more than 190km/h (118 mph) were recorded. Rail services were disrupted and the main station in Munich had to be evacuated due to concerns that parts of the roof might collapse. A man in Birmingham , UK, was seriously injured when his car was crushed by a falling tree. The biggest winds in the Netherlands were put at 120km/h […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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The Hidden Effects of Cheap Oil

From Russia to your local gas station, the consequences of low fuel prices are clear. But the consequences of those consequences are less apparent. An oil field in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk ( Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters ) What do Russia, Exxon Mobil, and ISIS have in common? Not much, except that they’re all grappling with an inconvenient but incontrovertible truth: a sudden, significant, and prolonged shift in the price of oil changes the world.   That truth was on display in 1974, and it’s on display again now. Over the course of just a few months in 1973-1974, the price of oil surged from $3 to $12 per barrel. The new price created new global economic powers: oil-producing countries primarily in the Middle East and North Africa. It also dealt a severe blow to the economies of the United States, Europe, Japan, and other oil importers. The oil shock […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple