From The GWPF and Dr. Benny Peiser
Will Shale Revolution Trigger A New World Order?
EU leaders will grapple with controversial issues including shale gas development and climate change mitigation at an energy summit on 22 May, documents obtained by EurActiv show. As agreed at the 14-15 March summit, EU leaders will meet to discuss how to lower energy prices and so improve the Union’s industrial competitiveness. Competitiveness, in the EU energy policy context, translates into a re-thinking of the Union’s climate policies. Recently, the powerful employers’ group BusinessEurope called on European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to radically shift the EU’s energy policy away from climate change mitigation towards cost-competitiveness and security of supply. —EurActiv, 8 May 2013
Europe’s manufacturers are rapidly losing ground to US rivals because of soaring energy costs and the failure of the continent’s governments to be “rational” about nuclear power and shale gas, the head of one of the world’s biggest chemicals groups has warned. “There is very little European co-ordination,” he said, warning that energy costs should be ranked alongside the eurozone crisis as the most urgent problem confronting industry. The chief executive of one of Europe’s largest power groups told the FT that the continent’s political leaders were paying “zero attention to competitiveness” when deciding energy policy. –James Boxell, Financial Times, 13 May 2012
More than half the states with laws requiring utilities to buy renewable energy – including Arizona – are considering ways to pare back those mandates after a plunge in natural gas prices brought on by technology that boosted supply. Sixteen of the 29 states with renewable portfolio standards are considering legislation that would reduce the need for wind and solar power, according to researchers backed by the U.S. Energy Department. Killing support for renewable-energy policies threatens sales at companies from wind-turbine makers General Electric and Siemens to SolarCity Corp., the San Mateo, Calif.-based rooftop energy developer. –Christopher Martin, Bloomberg News, 5 May 2013
The amount of new solar power installed in Europe fell sharply for the first time in more than a decade last year, in an arresting sign of how the region’s dominance of the global market is drawing to an end. “It is clear from the results of 2012 and the forecast for the coming years that Europe’s leading role in the PV market is coming to an end,” according to the European Photovoltaic Industry Association’s market outlook. –Pilita Clark, Financial Times, 8 May 2013
The shale revolution has changed the energy scenario in the United States from a situation of shortage to that of plenty. The world’s biggest energy consumer may soon become the largest producer of hydrocarbons. The US gas boom is already impacting global energy relations. The impact will be felt even more keenly when it starts exporting gas- the first LNG exports are expected to start around 2017. Exporting gas to friendly countries in Europe, as well as India and China is being seen as a new way of extending the US sphere of influence, and cutting the dominance of the middle-east and Russia. Shale has begun replacing oil as the agent of the new great game. –Cuckoo Paul, Forbes India, 8 May 2013
Al Gore hopes to cross paths again with media titan Rupert Murdoch to pitch him on the dangers of climate change. Gore tells me of his ambition to have another meeting with Rupert Murdoch, to talk him through the issue, convert him to the cause. “There is still hope that he will awaken to the reality of this,” Gore says. “It would make a huge difference if he would.” –Ben Geman, The Hill, 7 May 2013
Rupert Murdoch has taken to Twitter to attack environmentalists claiming that rising levels of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels have been good for the planet. The media mogul based his statements on an article which reported that 30 years of satellite images have shown that the Earth is actually getting greener. Murdoch, a frequent and outspoken critic of renewable energy, tweeted today: ‘World growing greener with increased carbon. Thirty years of satellite evidence. Forests growing faster and thicker.’ He then referenced an article by Matt Ridley in the Wall Street Journal on January 5. Earlier in the day, the tycoon had posted: ‘Why not switch from useless renewable energy investments to real job creating infrastructure projects. Many great possibilities waiting.’ –-Daily Mail, 7 January 2013
“Europe’s manufacturers are rapidly losing ground to US rivals because of soaring energy costs”
You need three things to make a product Labour/Resources/Energy, if you price yourself out of the market, industry will move. I’m glad to see politicians are starting to figure this out.
Maybe I won’t freeze to death in my imminent old age after all
I can only afford heating for about four months of the winter…
Europeans have been brainwashed for years by outfits like the University of East Anglia’s CRU and its cabal of “climate scientists” who feed on grants to study “warming”, never “cooling”
Germany calls the shots in the EU. All German parties are Green parties. (Maybe with the exception of the new AfD, I still have to find out).
So expect NOTHING to change.
Nice thought, but it is unlikely the EU will be this sensible. History has demonstrated that if it is expensive, complicated and makes little economic sense, then the EU is likely to back it.
Simplifying things, reducing costs and economy supporting measures are not really their strong point. .
The worm is starting to turn.
MAY rollback?!?! Not a hope as long as the leech politicos can steal money from the taxpayers.
Energy Insecurity
The False Promise of Liquid Biofuels
http://www.au.af.mil/au/ssq/digital/pdf/spring_13/kiefer.pdf
Corn ethanol, takes away 40 million acres of the worlds most fertile soil for growing food in the Cornbelt, causes much higher food prices, uses up natural resources(is helping deplete the Ogallala Auquifer) is our biggest polluting crop(increasing the size of the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf of Mexico) and does almost nothing to decrease our dependency on foreign oil as promised.
The UK’s one and only Green Party MP, is bleating that climate’s at the bottom of the current Government’s agenda.
The worm’s turning, if a little slowly.
I can’t think of anything I would like more than for Al Gore to get to meet with Rupert Murdoch all we have to do is arrange for some of WUWT contributors to be their to lend support for Rupert.
DirkH says: (May 8, 2013 at 9:41 am )
“Germany calls the shots in the EU. All German parties are Green parties. (Maybe with the exception of the new AfD, I still have to find out). So expect NOTHING to change.”
Sad but true. I have no hope either, especially if I look at the shale gas discussion going on in Europe. The socialists simply don’t want it. Given the need for coalitions with socicalists to form governments, shale gas will never get a chance.
Europe hasn’t hit rock bottom yet. The worst is yet to come.
As public poverty and discontent grows in Europe, politicians naturally mouth platitudes as if they intend to address the voters concerns, while they carry on enriching themselves and their peers.
Change will come when thieves, incompetents and liars are punished,until then, its business as usual with the obligatory statements;”We take your concerns seriously…”
Unfortunately the UK is run by idiots
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-22436103
“The government is going to continue with the legislation it started in the last Parliament to reform the energy sector. It is designed to ensure there is always enough capacity to generate the amount of electricity the UK needs, and that this is done in a low-carbon way. It also contains measures to ensure people are always on the best energy tariff for their needs. It will apply to all of Great Britain, with some measures extending to Northern Ireland.”
We can’t get there soon enough. People could die in their droves if this nonsense continues for too much longer.
Unlike the G8 uproar therelll be no violent protests. The demo will be organised by a couple of Chinese guys.And two Wongs dont make a riot.
Didn’t the UKIP just have big gains in recent elections?
Thank you for the link to this excellent article. Author Captain Kiefer links to a longer version of it which is even more spectacular, IMO.
I so love reading these news bytes. Thanks! 🙂
Thanks, Benny. Good news!
Lest hope you are right and Europe can save itself from itself.
Look at that chart. The shale gas and oil revolution have saved the USA. I can’t imagine what would have happened if QE hadn’t been mitigated by low priced shale gas. Unfortunately, the rate of increase will tail off. But QE won’t tail off. Which means more misallocation and a destroyed US economy. Still, we are way better off than Europe or Japan. If Keystone gets approved, we’ll see another bump in our economy as the cheap Canadian oil is sent to the Gulf refineries and we back out Saudi Arab Heavy crude.
In some regards Europe and Japan are ahead of the US in rolling back the craziness. Both Germany and Japan are each starting to build a program of about 28 large coal fired generating plants, while the EPA outlaws them in the US.
JamesD- What is “QE”?
Don’t get too excited. The EU is run by unelected bureaucrats who REALLY don’t like ‘people power’, of which cheap energy is a manifestation.
Not only that – but certainly in the UK, there are just too many politicians with hands deep into ‘renewables’ pockets, and they will squeal like stuck pigs if forced to acknowledge that the game is changing…
I think American’s really misunderstand how the EU operates. It is not run by pragmatists or realists it is run by ideologues.They have little regard for the electorate whom most see as being too stupid to know what is good for them. So it never really matters if the decisions made by the political elite impoverishes the populous, because they [the elite] know that it in the long run it is good for them [populous].
Many of the European leaders imagine Europe to be a new super power to rival the US (which they see as evil). So the only thing that might change their mind is that if they see their – imaginary – global influence damaged by poor economic performance. But, do not be shocked if they continue to run the economy into the ground. Europe has been run by social democrats of form or another for about 50 years now. They don’t understand economics so they’ll just keep driving toward the cliff.
@Atlstnspc says:
May 9, 2013 at 5:11 am
JamesD- What is “QE”?
+++++
QE = Quantitative Easing. Basically, printing money to devalue the dollar (more dollars per unit of economic activity). Then the Fed Treasury buys debt with it… and the US government has the dollars to waste on other things. The Fed has been printing about $85Billion per month now for some years… Hope this explains it in simple terms.