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Environmental groups seize on California oil spill

Crews responding to a sheen from a spill of about 500 barrels from California oil pipeline. Photo courtesy U.S. Coast Guard LOS ANGELES, May 20 (UPI) — After 500 barrels of oil spilled from a California pipeline, environmental groups said the regional quality of life was under threat. "This incident is all the more reason to ban fracking both offshore and onshore to help prevent future spills and protect Santa Barbara’s beautiful beaches and coastal environment," Becca Claassen, a Santa Barbara County organizer with Food & Water Watch, said in an emailed statement. Sheen reported off the Santa Barbara coast stretches for about 4 miles from a leak of about 500 barrels, or 21,000 gallons, of crude oil from a 24-inch pipeline operated by Plains All American Pipeline, which has headquarters in Texas. Bob Deans, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said big oil comes with big […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Extent of California Oil Spill Being Assessed — 2ndUpdate

By Tamara Audi in Santa Barbara County, Calif., and Alison Sider in Houston The oil spill in Santa Barbara County, Calif., could be as large as 2,500 barrels, or 105,000 gallons, in a worst-case scenario outlined Wednesday by the burst pipeline’s operator, which estimated 500 barrels may have reached the water. As an investigation and cleanup efforts began in the aftermath of Tuesday’s spill near the shore, federal officials said the oil had spread into two large patches in the Pacific Ocean, covering an area 9 miles long by midday. Wednesday night, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in the county, which frees up emergency state funding and resources to help in the cleanup. It was uncertain how much oil seeped from the pipeline operated by Plains All American Pipeline LP. Initial estimates had put the leak at 500 barrels, or 21,000 gallons, of oil. Cleanup crews […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US weekly coal carloads drop to lowest total in 120 weeks: AAR

US railroads originated a new year-low volume of coal carloads for the week ending May 16, marking the lowest total in 120 weeks, according to data released Wednesday by the Association of American Railroads. The AAR reported a total of 93,664 coal carloads, down 27 carloads week over week from the previous year-low of 93,691. It was the lowest reported coal volume since 87,371 carloads in the final week of 2012 and sixth time in only 19 weeks this year that volumes fell below 100,000. The last year weekly coal carloads last fell below 100,000 more than six times was 1989 when it happened seven times, including in back-to-back intervals in the 51st and 52nd weeks of the year. Volumes did not fall below 100,000 in any week of 2014 and were sub- 100,000 in only three weeks in 2013. Weekly coal carload totals were below 100,000 five times […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Senate likely to vote on allowing crude exports in 2015, Hoeven says

WASHINGTON, DC, May 20 Ending the US crude oil export ban will produce such significant energy, economic, and geopolitical benefits that it appears likely to come to a Senate vote during 2015, Energy and Commerce Committee member John Hoeven (D-ND) predicted. “Low prices or high prices, we’ll be in a better place economically if US producers can compete globally,” he said in keynote remarks at a May 20 forum sponsored by the American Council for Capital Formation. “We’ll need the right mix of pipelines, rails, and roads, but it will be a net win for the country and for consumers.” Other speakers at the event, where ACCF released a new report, “ Crude Oil Exports: Economic and Geopolitical Impacts ,” said it’s difficult to determine the White House’s actual stand on the idea of repealing the crude export ban which was imposed 2 years after the 1973 Arab oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oregon to test pay-per-mile

Oregon is about to embark on a first-in-the-nation program that aims to charge car owners not for the fuel they use, but for the miles they drive. The program is meant to help the state raise more revenue to pay for road and bridge projects at a time when money generated from gasoline taxes are declining across the country, in part, because of greater fuel efficiency and the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric cars. Starting July 1, up to 5,000 volunteers in Oregon can sign up to drive with devices that collect data on how much they have driven and where. The volunteers will agree to pay 1.5 cents for each mile traveled on public roads within Oregon, instead of the tax now added when filling up at the pump. Some electric and hybrid car owners, however, say the new tax would be unfair to them and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Bakken, Eagle Ford Not Past Prime

Bakken production will keep growing, albeit at a slower pace, and the Eagle Ford still has running room within high-return portions of the play, according to a recent analysis by Wood Mackenzie. The Bakken and Eagle Ford together produce just over 2.5 million barrels per day of oil, or nearly two-thirds of U.S. tight oil production. Higher oil prices in the 2013 to 2014 timeframe spurred operators to drill not only in the core of the Williston Basin, but in the fringe and speculative areas. This included areas along the Montana-North Dakota border, the northern most part of the play near the Canadian border, and the southern portion of the Williston Basin. Operators have responded to the decline in global oil prices from over $100/bbl last year to around $60/bbl today by reducing rig counts and retrenching drilling activity to the core Bakken area, Jonathan Garrett, principal analyst for […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Peak Resource Constraints Threaten Product Supply

We have for years been hearing about the potential for ‘peak oil’ and more recently about ‘peak metals’ but for the first time, several peer reviewed articles are warning us other peak resource constraints are threatening several key areas of product supply, including food. Peak oil has been discussed for a number of years, but its timing has been pushed out into the future by the emergence of high environmental impact mining techniques like shale oil, oil sands and fracking of natural gas (also used as an oil substitute) across the world. This change in timing is particularly notable in the US, where for the first time in many decades the nation is not dependent on imported supplies of fossil fuels. Coming at a time when OPEC is trying to retain some control of world markets, this has resulted in a massive price drop that is not truly related […]

Posted On : Published By : ASPO-USA
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The IMF Tells a Half-Truth

Air pollution image via shutterstock. Reproduced at Resilience.org with permission. On May 18 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report titled “ How Large are Global Energy Subsidies? ” The question is a bit misleading: most readers, when they see the word subsidy, probably tend tothink of tax breaks or cash gifts to specific industries. The report, however, uses the term mostly to refer to environmental externalities—and not ones tied to all energy use, but ones related to fossil fuel combustion in particular. An economic externality is an impact of a commercial activity that is not reflected in the prices of goods or services traded. There can be positive externalities: if I buy organic, responsibly farmed food, I usually expect to pay more—thus the beneficial impact of my food choice upon the environment isn’t reflected in a price that would reinforce my behavior; just the opposite is true. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hijacking the Anthropocene

How the anti-green ‘Breakthrough Institute’ misrepresents science to advance a technocratic agenda and undermine grassroots environmentalism. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.” —Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass — What can lobbyists do when science contradicts their political messages? Some simply deny the science, as many conservatives do with climate change. Others pretend to embrace the science, while ignoring or purging the disagreeable content. That’s what the Breakthrough Institute (BTI) is doing with one of the most widely discussed issues in 21st century science, the proposal to define a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. BTI has been described as “the leading big money, anti-green, pro-nuclear think tank in the United States, dedicated to propagandizing capitalist technological-investment ‘solutions’ to climate change.”[1] Founded in 2003 by lobbyist Michael Shellenberger and […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Oil prices rise on U.S. stock draw, strong Japan data

LONDON Crude oil prices bounced back on Wednesday from steep falls in the previous session as industry data showed that U.S. crude stocks fell more than expected last week and strong Japanese economic growth surprised markets, stoking producer hopes of increased demand. Brent futures LCOc1 rose 79 cents to $64.81 a barrel by 0840 GMT. U.S. crude prices CLc1 rose 58 cents to $58.57 a barrel. The price rises came after a session on Tuesday that saw oil slide over 3 percent on a dollar rally and concerns of a building glut, which Goldman Sachs said would lead to a return towards 2015 lows. "The market came under a lot of pressure yesterday and it’s not unusual to see a bit of a correction the day after," said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist with Netherlands-based ABN Amro. U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.2 million barrels last week, said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple