Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 09:50PM This Week:
Protests Over High Fuel Costs Continue in Europe
Senate To Debate Lieberman-Warner Carbon Cap-And-Trade Bill
Santa Fe Group Creates Citizens' Energy Board
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Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 09:45PM 
Higher energy prices, drilling for oil in pristine natural areas, and attempting to revive nuclear power are all outgrowths of the same phenomenon: oil and gas decline. It had to happen sometime – we’ve been hooked on powerful but finite energy resources for more than a hundred years now.
It’s not difficult to kick the habit of oil and gas from a technical perspective – if you add up all the energy we get from coal, oil, and gas every day, it doesn’t hold a candle to the energy the sun provides – the sun gives us 14,000 times more energy on a daily basis. There isn’t even an economic problem associated with getting off oil and gas. In fact, the transition to renewable energy would put an end to the practice of shipping more than a billion dollars a day out of the country to buy foreign energy.
Renewables are price-stable, because once installed, there are no fuel costs. And studies of renewable energy systems all show higher job creation and better local retention of energy dollars. So if switching to renewables is technically feasible and economically beneficial, why instead are we drilling in pristine areas and reviving nuclear power?
The answer of course is buried in that last word – power. The Greeks word for power is “kratos” – but for the Greeks this word also meant “rule”. To them, it was clear that the one with the power was the ruler. They added the word “demos”, meaning “people” to form “demokratia”, or “democracy” meaning “rule by the people”.
We still say we have a democracy, but as long as our energy supply is controlled by the few – the powerful, there is no denying that they are the rulers.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 09:27PM 
Protests over fuel prices continue to spread across Europe, as the fishing industries in Spain, Italy and Portugal have joined France’s fishermen – now three weeks into protests of their own. Truckers and taxicab drivers are also striking in many parts of Europe.
Gasoline and diesel prices are now around one and a half euro per liter – the equivalent of about 8 and a half U.S. dollars per gallon. And that’s with oil prices at $127 dollars per barrel. Goldman Sachs and other analysts are warning that oil could reach $200 dollars per barrel in the next 6 to 24 months.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 09:24PM 
The U.S. Senate voted Monday to begin debate on a bill that would cap the allowable level of greenhouse gas emissions by electric power producers and other large emitters, then reduce the allowable level of emissions gradually through the year 2050.
The cap-and-trade system for carbon being proposed by the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act is supported by some environmental groups including the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, but anti-nuclear groups are warning that the bill will push the U.S. to develop nuclear power.
The Nuclear Information and Resource Service and several other groups cite a statement made by a staffer from Senator Joe Lieberman’s office, who said the bill represents, “the most historic incentive for nuclear in the history of the United States.”
