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Author Topic: Fossil Fuels: Degraded Democracy and Profit Over Planet Pollution  (Read 30343 times)

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AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE: The world's most in-your-face Welfare Queen Crooks and Liars, the Fossil Fuel Fascists, are a having a banner year at we-the-people's expense (as usual ).   

9 Gifts President Obama Gave Big Oil  in 2015

Lukas Ross, Friends of the Earth | December 28, 2015 11:12 am

SNIPPET:

Quote

Big Oil has already received plenty of gifts this holiday season. Despite another year of record-breaking temperatures, the last 12 months have seen a wave of policy wins that could secure an oil drenched status quo for decades to come.

http://ecowatch.com/2015/12/28/obama-gifts-to-big-oil/

Agelbert rhetorical question: What is the reason the profit over planet "real world" (see Orwell) modus operandi continues to be aided and abetted by governments AND defended by fossil fuelers like Mking and Roamer?

WHY, despite clear revelations of their toxic activity and widespread calls to make these bastards stop their insane environmental degradation of the planet,


do they continue to get away with it AND even continue to be SUBSIDIZED to DO IT!!!?  ???


Because the people that run the governments of human society who are running the biosphere into the Sixth Mass Extinction are those overwhelmingly responsible for the empathy deficit disordered profit over planet. Their "real world" is nothing but the routine fiction any criminal gang puts up to justify criminal behavior..

12/04/2015 12:12 PM     
Income Inequality = Climate Inequality, Says Oxfam

SustainableBusiness.com News

In the US, one of the major themes in our presidential campaign is income inequality between the richest 1% and the rest of our citizens.  Not surprisingly, this theme also applies to climate change.

Oxfam's new report - released at COP21 - lays bare "climate-change inequality": the world's richest 1% are also the biggest polluters by far, producing 175 times the carbon emissions as people in the bottom 10% of income.

Quote
The richest 10% are responsible for half the world's emissions, while the poorest half - roughly 3.5 billion people - produce only 10% of all emissions.

Income inequality

And the poor are - and will - be most negatively affected by climate change. They can't move to safer ground or even insulate their homes the way rich people can. They tend to live in countries with the least capacity to adapt.

"Climate change and economic inequality are inextricably linked and together pose one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century," says Tim Gore of Oxfam.

Another report, "Carbon and Inequality: From Kyoto to Paris" comes to the same conclusion. "It is the rich Europeans, Americans and Chinese that emit the most carbon, while the emissions from the world's poorest citizens are falling. The richest 1% of Americans, Luxembourgers, Singaporeans and Saudis emit more than 200 tonnes of carbon per person per year; 2,000 times more than the poorest in Honduras, Rwanda or Malawi," says author French economist Thomas Piketty (who wrote the best seller, "Capital"). 

Both Oxfam and Pikkety conclude the rich should be held accountable for emissions, no matter where they live. 

Oxfam points out that the super rich in developing countries like China, India, Brazil and South Africa have
 high and rapidly rising emissions, but are still "behind" their advanced country counterparts .. and they will soon catch up. 

 Oxfam says:

"While the richest citizens can and should contribute as individuals to cutting their own emissions through lifestyle changes, wherever they live, they can't solve the climate crisis through voluntary action alone. Their choices are often constrained by the decisions of their governments in all sorts of areas, from energy to transport policy.

"Without question, a weak agreement in Paris is no more in their interests than it is in the interests of the poorest and least responsible. Increasingly members of the richest 10% are experiencing the impacts of climate change themselves, and are mobilizing to demand action from their governments.

"The only beneficiaries of inadequate climate action in Paris and beyond are a much smaller elite with vested interests in the continuation of a high carbon and deeply unequal global economy.


Quote
The number of billionaires with interests in fossil fuel activities has risen from 54 n 2010 to 88 in 2015, while the size of their combined personal fortunes has expanded by around 50% from over $200 billion to more than $300 billion."


Poor nations haven't caused the problem
but they are most vulnerable to it. They need help to adapt so their people can live.

And the world can't afford ANY more emissions, so developing countries must get assistance to leap frog to renewable energy instead of using coal. 

Accelerating natural disasters already impacts hundreds of millions of people a year. The Rockefeller Foundation estimates that $1 out of every $3 spent on development is lost to these recurring crises - a total $3.8 trillion worldwide. Resilient societies would suffer less and recover more quickly.

Nearly 634 million people live in risk-prone coastal areas and areas at risk from droughts and floods.

Read Oxfam's report, "Extreme Carbon Inequality": 
 
Website: www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/file_attachments/mb-extreme-carbon-inequality-021215-en.pdf

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26487

Talk that blames the poor people because they "have too many babies" is irresponsible, as well as being IRRELEVANT. But, it is a devilishly clever method for taking the spotlight off the real culprits, especially those biosphere math challenged criminals among the fossil fuel worshippers.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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I remember clearly the fight they put up to take lead out of gasoline, Yes LEAD.

Can you imagine 250 million vehicles on the road here 24/7 spitting out LEAD constantly.

They told everyone their cars would knock like hell and their engines would be toast after 10 thousand miles.

The real reason was the Benjamins, they didn't want to spend the dough on the advanced safer additives. Lead was just fine according to them. ::)

Yep. But it gets better.    When Prohibition came into effect (that was REALLY about Rockefeller's Benjamins too!), farmers could no longer grow their own fuel for their tractors. You see, ethanol, known in Brazil as E100 and used routinely to run internal combustion machines efficiently (only a slightly higher compression ratio is required) was IDEAL for high compression engines. Guess who needed fuel for those engines? The aviation industry! Tetra ethyl lead makes the witches brew of VOCS (mostly toxic volatile organic compounds) and various long chained hydrocarbons (i.e. gasoline) combust more evenly at a certain temperature. The very same result was ALREADY available from ethanol because it carries its own oxygen and is only one chemical compound. Ethanol has a HIGHER octane rating than gasoline.

As more powerful and bigger engines were invented AND aviation needed high compression engines for high altitude flying efficiency, Rockefeller and his pals at Dow Chemical (or Du Pont - I can't remember right now)scramble for something to goose gasoline with. They sure as Benjamins did not want to admit ethanol was the better fuel...

Well, Prohibition ended and America began the long march to prepare for war in the air with fighters and bombers that REQUIRED high compression engines. We-the-people were STUCK with tetra ethyl lead and a spurious propaganda campaign bad mouthing ethanol, when anybody that has ever been to a drag race KNOWS alcohol is IT for high compression engine dragsters.

Finally, TO THIS DAY, it is STILL LEGAL for gasoline powered aircraft to USE LEADED GASOLINE. It's called avgas. The 130 octane stuff I used fuel Piper Navajos with has a green die to differentiate it as the "good stuff" for high compression, high horsepower engines. So, if you live under the approach end of general aviation airport, you get a routine shower of lead for your kids to enjoy, complements of the fossil fuel government. 

The laws on fuel as corrupted in this country that you CANNOT legally make ethanol for fuel UNLESS it has a REQUIRED percentage of gasoline added to it. The excuse is that it is a "safeguard" to make sure it is not sold as booze, as per the Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco portion of the fossil fuel government. But we know that is BALONEY. It's just one more hidden subsidy for the fossil fuel government profit over planet welfare queens.

As you said, it's all about the Benjamins.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Quote
The laws on fuel as CORRUPTED in this country that you CANNOT legally make ethanol for fuel UNLESS it has a REQUIRED percentage of gasoline added to it. The excuse is that it is a "safeguard" to make sure it is not sold as booze, as per the Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco portion of the fossil fuel government. But we know that is BALONEY. It's just one more hidden subsidy for the fossil fuel government profit over planet welfare queens.

As you said, it's all about the Benjamins.

Amazing revelations in that posting Agelbert. Pains one to think these guys are still running the show.

I'm wondering when they're going to move on and take over the solar industry? Just like them, with their water boys in government, to start charging us to use the Sun?


Good point. There is ample evidence that they want to put bureaucratic fascist regulatory meter on solar power. It's really and old colonialist style modus operandi going back to the Dutch, English and Spanish Empires. The difference now is that we-the-people are the targets, not some native tribes.

As you know, the colonial MO was to prohibit finished industrial goods from being made in the colonies while the "mother" country imports all the raw materials from skins to make saddles with to ore for finished metal products to quality wood for furniture (and so on). The finished goods were then sold back to the people in the colonies for exorbitant prices.

It is mind boggling to think it was illegal to make a saddle in South America for centuries after the European invasion. It was just as hard (and illegal) to get mills going in the English colony we now know as the USA to make cloth from cotton and hemp. Making a clock in the colonies was very difficult because it was considered a "finished" industrial product. People actually made them with (illegally) wooden parts. The accuracy was, of course, not so great.

What does all this have to do with solar power? The LAW, like in colonial times, is used for the purpose of fleecing the people and defending the cartels (in this case as applied to solar energy). The power companies will push for, and win, the right to put giant solar farms here and there to centralize the energy. THAT will cost us because they will then have their typical duplicitous excuses for jacking up rates on a regular basis due "maintenance costs".     


At the same time, local ordinances will make it increasingly expensive to get permits for panels on your property, require a NEW roof for your house if your roof is more than X amount of years old and other economic hurdles make it more and more expensive for your to just get started. THEN they will require some annual inspection by a "designated" ass hole that will charge a fee to "make sure" your solar panel setup is not afire hazard" (or an eye sore, or "violates" some ordinance, etc).

To add insult to injury, the LAND the power company gets to put massive solar farms on will be subsidized by we-the-people. WE will also NOT be able to deduct our solar maintenance costs from our taxes because we "aren't a business" while the power company profits from subsidies AND tax deductions on maintenance costs.

The only upside is that fossil fuels will FINALLY be gradually phased out as the overwhelming evidence of how in-your-face expensive they are in comparison to renewable energy continues to cause businesses and power companies to break ranks and abandon support for and investment in fossil fuel industry crooks.

Who knows? We might even survive all this colonial MO through clever "adaptation".  ;)

But it looks pretty hopeless right now.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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I agree very much that the utilities and bureaucrats will fight tooth and nail to control solar.  I'd recommend installing solar in parallel to the grid and use it to phase out critical appliances. Use it to power small DC deep freeze which could act as a form of storage with a little forethought.  Small system decoupled from grid  to power essentials can provide fast payback, avoid utility involvement and help start the distributed solar revolution which is needed.


One small correction. The solar revolution really started about three years ago when the cost of solar panels began dropping faster than Wile E. Coyote.  8)


Those were the days when the baloney was flying fast and furious from Stoneleigh and fossil fuel worshipping friends about renewable energy not amounting to a hill of energy beans (see: "drop in a bucket"). Many here thought she was an "energy expert". LOL!  Her predictions were all wrong. But she never owned up to her bad advice. So it goes. She sticks to her guns, even if they are pointed squarely at her face and are going off as we speak.

And the vertiginous drop in price of the Renewable Energy from Solar Power (that the fossil fuel shill Nicole Foss - Stoneleigh denied would ever happen) is ACCELERATING.

Solar Costs Will Fall Another 40% In 2 Years. Here’s Why. January 29th, 2015 by Giles Parkinson    

Meanwhile, there are developments at the Department of energy that bare watching.  8)

Dr. Cherry Murray Confirmed as Director of the Office of Science

December 11, 2015 - 3:04pm

WASHINGTON – Dr. Cherry Murray was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday, December 10, 2015 as the Director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

“Dr. Murray will be an outstanding Director of the Office of Science, drawing upon her experience in academia as professor and dean of one of country’s leading universities of engineering and applied sciences, key R&D leadership roles in industry, and as former head of science and technology at one of the Department’s national laboratories, ” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “I thank the Senate for the approving her nomination and look forward to working closely with her as Director.”

As Director of the Office of Science, Dr. Murray will oversee research in the areas of advanced scientific computing, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental sciences, fusion energy sciences, high energy physics, and nuclear physics. She will have responsibility not only for supporting scientific research, but also for the development, construction, and operation of unique, open-access scientific user facilities. The Office of Science manages 10 of the Department’s 17 National Laboratories.

For the past year, Dr. Murray served as the Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy and Professor of Physics at Harvard University.  Previously she was the Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University from 2009 to 2014.  Dr. Murray served as Principal Associate Director for Science and Technology at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory from 2007 to 2009 and as Deputy Director for Science and Technology from 2004 to 2007.

Dr. Murray held a number of positions at Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, formerly AT&T Bell Laboratories and previously Bell Telephone Laboratories, Inc. from 1978 to 2004.  She began as a Member of Technical Staff within the Physical Research Laboratory and eventually finished her tenure as Senior Vice President for Physical Sciences and Wireless Research.

Dr. Murray was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1999, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001, and the National Academy of Engineering in 2002. Dr. Murray was appointed to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling in 2010  . She was also awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the White House in 2014 for contributions to the advancement of devices for telecommunications, the use of light for studying matter, and for leadership in the development of the STEM workforce in the United States.  Dr. Murray received a B.S. and a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

http://energy.gov/articles/dr-cherry-murray-confirmed-director-office-science

Agelbert NOTE: It is hoped that Dr. Murray, who has in the past written some excellent pieces about future plentiful rooftop gardens and the potential for bountiful solar power to be used for sequestering excess CO2 from our atmosphere, has not been brought in as a stalking horse for the new "small reactor" nuclear power scam AND/OR another fossil fuel government excuse to keep burning fossil fuels through solar powered CO2 sequestering technology. 

But I wouldn't put it past them.  :P

And as to Stoneleigh and anybody who thinks she is an "Energy expert", diner is served.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE:
Here is MORE evidence that SHELL is gearing up for LNG BIG TIME, the biosphere and CO2 pollution be damned.  >:(

Fifteen New Inland Barges to Run Mostly on LNG   

LNG-powered inland barge

December 28, 2015 by gCaptain
A total of 15 LNG-powered inland barges to be chartered by Shell for use in European waterways will be equipped with Wärtsilä dual-fuel main engines running primarily on liquified natural gas, the Finnish engine manufacturer announced Monday.

The 110-meter barges are being built for Belgium-based Plouvier Transportation and will be chartered by Shell Trading Rotterdam in support of its growing operations in the ARA (Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp) and Rhinetrack (Germany/Switzerland) regions.

The barges will each be equipped with a 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel main engine operating mostly on LNG. Wärtsilä will also supply other propulsion equipment and its LNGPac fuel gas handling system.

“The specified requirements were for environmental compliance, reliability, fuel flexibility, low operational costs, and a proven concept,” Wärtsilä said in statement announcing the contract award. “The development of LNG as a cleaner fuel for shipping is supported by Shell, and these innovative new vessels represent an important endorsement of this support. They will also enhance the safety and efficiency performance of the company’s fleet.”

The ships’ hulls are under construction at the VEKA Shipyard CENTROMOST in Poland and final outfitting will be carried out at VEKA Shipyard Werkendam. Delivery of barges are expected to take place between late-2016 and mid- 2018.

https://gcaptain.com/fifteen-new-inland-barges-to-run-mostly-on-lng/

Agelbert Comment: There is no doubt that this is all part of Shell's plan to profit from exploiting the ocean bottom with the giant Prelude FLNG monstrocity.


but there is more...
Shell has contracted STX Offshore & Shipbuilding to build a special bunker vessel to serve ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

At the above link you will find happy talk cheerleading for LNG as a "cleaner" fuel for ships, TOTALLY ignoring CO2 pollution or the MASSIVE amount of energy it takes to process natural gas into LNG. So it goes.  :(
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Record Year for VLCCs in Port of Rotterdam     
VLCC tanker Genmar Vivtory

January 6, 2016 by gCaptain


The Port of Rotterdam has reported a record number of very large crude carriers in port in 2015 helped by growth in full oil supply in northwest Europe and Russian stockpiles flowing into the region.

The Port of Rotterdam Authority said Monday that in 2015, no fewer than 51 VLCCs called at the port to discharge and/or load fuel. That is 22 more VLCCs, ranging from 200,000 to 320,000 dwt, than in 2014 and 12 more than in the record year of 2012. In 2015, a total of around 28.3 billion liters of fuel oil was shipped from Rotterdam, the Port Authority said.

“The increase in the transport of fuel oil is due to a slight growth in its supply in the Northwest Europe region on the one hand,” says Ronald Backers, Business Intelligence Advisor for the Port of Rotterdam Authority. “The refineries here are operating at full capacity due to this year’s high margins.

In addition, Russia saw a large build-up of fuel oil stocks in 2014. At the beginning of 2015, this stock ‘flowed’ in the direction of Rotterdam and other ports. On the other hand, the demand for fuel oil is slightly lower. This is partly due to the introduction, in January 2015, of the requirement to use bunker fuel in the North and Baltic Seas with a maximum sulphur content of 0.5%. This was achieved by using Marine Gas Oil. All in all, this has led to a surplus of fuel oil, which had to be shifted to other markets. The market calls this a ‘supply push’.”     

With last year’s 51 VLCCs, 283 of the world’s largest tankers visited Rotterdam in the last ten years. Two thirds of these discharged crude oil before leaving again with fuel oil, the Port Authority says.

“75% of the loading of the VLCCs takes place at the terminals in Rotterdam, 25% at the Caland Canal and Maasvlakte2 dolphins, Backers adds. “There is often a combination of both locations, with most of the loading taking place at a terminal and the loading being completed at the dolphins.”

The Port Authority says that average cargo volume of the mammoth tankers has increased over time by about 30,000 tonnes to 280,000 tonnes. The record in this field is still held by the TI Europe, which sailed with 353,000 tonnes of fuel oil in August 2013.

Incidentally, there was also a record number of Suezmax tankers (120,000-160,000 tonnes deadweight) in Rotterdam, the Port Authority also reported. With a total of 45, this was 4 higher than in 2014.

https://gcaptain.com/2016/01/06/record-year-for-vlcc-at-port-of-rotterdam-2015/

And, as NIGHT follows DAY, the pollution just keeps on ADDING UP
   

Map of oil spills listed in Table 1.

Table: Table 1A. Top 20 major oil spills from oil tankers since the Torrey Canyon in 1967, update as of 2012.

Oil Pollution in the Marine Environment I: Inputs, Big Spills, Small Spills, and Dribbles


 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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What fossil fuel companies knew and when they knew it

The fundamentals of global warming have been well established for generations. Fossil fuel companies have almost certainly been aware of the underlying climate science for decades.

As early as 1977, representatives from major fossil fuel companies attended dozens of congressional hearings in which the contribution of carbon emissions to the greenhouse effect was discussed. By 1981 at least one company (Exxon) was already considering the climate implications of a large fossil fuel extraction project.

In 1988, the issue moved beyond the scientific community and onto the national stage.


Full article:

The Climate Deception Dossiers (2015)

 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Schlumberger (SLB), as I said a year and a half ago, is in serious financial trouble. However, they DO NOT plan to accept responsibility for their pollution or their mistakes.  >:(

SLB, true to it's excellent corruption connections with the fossil fuel bought and paid for government, has had a GIANT merger with CAM PRE-APPROVED by the "Justice" Department. No sir, no risk of a monopoly here. LOL! Think about that, sports fans.

SLB has shed 22,000 jobs in the last year and has announced that it will lay off more people this year. It's stock is in the tank. It has lost BILLIONS! It's business model is threatened, not just by lower oil prices, but by pollution lawsuits and damage claims from people and various levels of government AND the coming carbon taxation AND the end of it's subsidy welfare queen gravy train.

So what does SLB do? It fires the "salt of the earth" employees that it had promised to take care of and be loyal to (and so on ;)) on the bottom of the rubber meats the road rig totem pole. AND it plans a merger with CAM to throw off the wages bus a bunch of middle mangers too! Of course this WILL constitute a reduction of competition and an IN YOUR FACE monopolistic practice. But SO WHAT? They've got the "Justice" Department in the fossil fuel government to "take care of the legal business" for them. 


The fact is that SLB has its ass in a giant crack and is being BABIED to enable it to survive. Do you see where I'm going with this, sports fans? The Fossil fuelers and their pals in Houston love to talk about RESPONSIBILITY and COMPETITIVE energy prices and WELFARE WHINERS that MILK THE SYSTEM. Yet that is EXACTLY what the fossil fuel industry WEFARE QUEENS in Houston have DONE in this country from the word "oil find" to the present. 

But more to the point, what SLB is doing is an attempt to manipulate the energy field they are in by merging for price "control"    with the "help" of some friends in the "Justice" Department. 

This is IRRESPONSIBLE. They SHOULD NOT be allowed to merge and they SHOULD go bankrupt because of their incorrect management decisions and their failed business model (creating polluting messes wherever they go that generate damages claims). BUT THAT ISN'T HAPPENING! WHY NOT!!!? You won't get an answer from the trolls defending fossil fuels, who think all this crooked welfare queenery is fine and dandy "corporate fiduciary responsibility", when it is exactly the opposite.


Also, Conocophilips id up to no good. I mention them here because that is MORE interesting financial information: That corporation is planning on making a killing in DIRTY (Fracked) LNG profits within the next year.

Do your part. HELP profit over planet fossil fuel industry WELFARE QUEENS GO BANKRUPT! 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Agelbert NOTE: To be filed under SOCIAL ENGINEERING that is quite acceptable to those who claim they are "skeptical" of social engineering.   What these Capitalist/Libertarian/Game Theorists REALLY mean by that is that they are SELECTIVELY skeptical.

You see, it's fine and dandy for we-the-people to Disproportionately Subsidize Polluting Predators 'R' US  but it's, uh, "financially unsound social engineering" (i.e. Socialism for everybody instead of just for the elite Welfare Queens  ;)) for government money to be used to help in feeding the poor, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick or other "financially unsound" examples of altruistic "nonsense" that "SUCCESSFUL Apex Predators" should nevah, evah, evah engage in...     

 
01/15/2016 03:52 PM     

Little Known Fact: Renewable Energy Companies Pay Way More Than Fossil Firms to Lease Public Land

SustainableBusiness.com News

When fossil fuel companies are allowed to lease our public lands to extract oil, gas and coal, they pay close to nothing for the privilege of disrupting our climate and destroying wildlife habitat.

But for renewable energy developers it's another story. They pay top dollar to put solar or wind arrays on public lands. 

For solar, costs per acre have a huge range. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) charges between $16.50 and $6,897 and rates rise each year, but oil and gas leases are set in stone at the bargain price of $1.50 per acre per year, according to Renewable Energy World.

"It's almost embarrassing what we charge," Dick Bouts, energy program analyst at BLM told Renewable Energy World. "It's certainly pocket change for these companies that will spend millions of dollars developing a lease to get it in production, and the rent is almost nothing."

Quote
And while solar and wind projects produce energy forever, once the oil and gas is pulled from the ground, it's gone.


Mineral Leasing Act of 1920   

It all goes back to the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, when Congress set the rates. Congress raised the fee from $1 per acre in the 1980s, but since then Congress has refused to act. Cattle and sheep ranchers can graze their animals on public lands for bargain prices for the same reason.

"Even if we were to try to do a rule making and try to raise the rate for oil and gas, BLM would get beat up so bad by the industry and by certain members of Congress," he told Renewable Energy World.

But Congress does allow BLM to set rates for renewable energy. These market rates rise every year and are based on population and GDP.
 
In addition to paying rent for the land, there are royalty fees. Oil and gas companies pay 12.5% of the value of what they extract, but various loopholes reduce it to more like 5%.
 
Solar pays a per-megawatt fee, and the bigger a project is, the price goes up for every megawatt of energy produced.
Fees are lowest for solar PV ($5,256 per MW), followed by concentrating solar without energy storage ($6,570 per MW) and are highest with energy storage ($7,884 per MW), reports Renewable Energy World.

The only other fee BLM is allowed to set rates is for oil and gas pipelines and transmission lines for renewables that run through federal land.

This is one more sweetheart deal that continues to subsidize fossil fuels at the expense of renewable energy.  >:(
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/26521

Agelbert NOTE: Please repeat after me, Fossil Fuels are NOT a REsource because the CANNOT be use more than ONCE. ONLY RENEWABLE ENERGY is a RESOURCE of energy. Fossil Fuels are a SOURCE of (polluting) Energy, NOT a RESOURCE. This corruption of the language to describe energy sources by the polluters is worthy of Machiavelli in general and Game Theory in particular.   

There is absolutely NO JUSTIFICATION (unless you are into game theory, of course ) for the POLLUTION of public lands and the HARM it does to wildlife for this ONE SHOT DEAL of sucking fossil fuels out of the ground while you kill every bit of wildlife that gets in your way!!! 

And what do the fossil fuelers/game theory worshippers/SELECTIVE Skeptics of social engineering say to above? See below.


 
« Last Edit: January 16, 2016, 05:44:44 pm by AGelbert »
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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California to investigate whether Exxon Mobil lied about climate-change risks   

Exxon Mobil, which operates a refinery in Torrance, above, has issued statements denying news reports that it suppressed climate-change research.  (Christina House / For The Times)

Ivan Penn •Contact Reporter

January 20, 2016, 3:00 AM

California Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris is investigating whether Exxon Mobil Corp. repeatedly lied to the public and its shareholders about the risk to its business from climate change — and whether such actions could amount to securities fraud and violations of environmental laws.


Harris' office is reviewing what Exxon Mobil knew about global warming and what the company told investors, a person close to the investigation said.

The move follows published reports, based on internal company documents, suggesting that during the 1980s and 1990s the company, then known as Exxon, used climate research as part of its planning and other business practices but simultaneously argued publicly that climate-change science was not clear cut.

Those documents were cited in stories by reporters for Columbia University Energy and Environmental Reporting Fellowship, published in partnership with the Los Angeles Times. The nonprofit InsideClimate News also published several stories based on the documents.

Shortly after the news reports, Harris' office launched the investigation in response to the findings, the person said. New York's attorney general also is investigating the oil company as a result of the published reports.

Special Report Investigation: How Exxon went from leader to skeptic on climate change research

Exxon Mobil did not respond to several requests for comment made by telephone and email.

A spokesman for Harris declined to confirm the investigation.

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu    (D-Torrance), who has called on federal authorities to investigate Exxon Mobil, praised Harris' decision.

Lieu said the investigation means that any damages won from Exxon Mobil could benefit Californians.  ;D

"I commend … Harris for taking this action," he said.   

Lieu said he has sent letters to U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission calling for federal investigations of securities fraud and violations of racketeering, consumer protection, truth in advertising, public health, shareholder protection or other laws.

Lieu said he hopes the decision by Harris, representing a state with the eighth-largest economy in the world, will prompt other states and the Justice Department to investigate.

"I think this action will be taken very seriously by Exxon Mobil  , " Lieu said.

Richard Keil, an Exxon Mobil spokesman, previously said that the company denies any wrongdoing in regard to the climate-change reports.

"We  unequivocally reject allegations that Exxon Mobil suppressed climate change research contained in media reports," Keil said  in a statement issued in response to the letters sent in October by Lieu and Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord). Keil issued a statement with the same quote in early November when the New York investigation became public.


Exxon Mobil continues to face calls from several current and former U.S. lawmakers for criminal investigations based on the media reports. They include Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Al Gore.

It is unclear what approach Harris intends to take in California's investigation.

Harris' office is casting a wide net and looking at a variety of issues, according to the person familiar with the matter.

What Exxon knew about the Earth's melting Arctic

Legal experts say the SEC requires that companies disclose the risks of climate change to their business operations but that the agency has taken almost no action to enforce it.

The moves by California and New York are seen as a step to fill that void.

Exxon Mobil already has received a subpoena for documents dating from 1977 from the office of Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general.

Schneiderman has at his disposal New York's Martin Act, a law that gives the state's attorney general broad power to prosecute companies for financial fraud.

Unlike federal securities law, the New York statute does not require the state to prove that a company intended to defraud    — only that it misrepresented relevant information or withheld it from investors.

The law applies to any company doing business in the state.

ivan.penn@latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-exxon-global-warming-20160120-story.html

 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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6 Ways to Kick Fossil Fuel Money Out of Politics
Cassady Sharp, Greenpeace USA | January 25, 2016 2:46 pm

Last week marked the sixth anniversary of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which unleashed unlimited corporate spending on our elections. Thinking about the widespread impact of this ruling, it’s easy to get pretty down on the state of our democracy. In addition to the immediate wreckage Citizens United caused in our democracy, there was a simultaneous attack on voting rights, leaving people in this country with less access to the polls than in 1965.

Activists dressed as $100 bills representing “The Money” have a tug of war with activists as “The People” in front of the Supreme Court. Photo credit: Greenpeace / Robert Meyers

For instance, in this election cycle alone, employees from oil and gas companies have contributed nearly a million dollars on just three candidates, Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Jeb Bush and Sec. Hillary Clinton, respectively.

Yeah, that can be pretty disheartening.

The good news is the American people are not putting up with any of this. People from Florida to Washington are determined to build a democracy in which everyone has equal voice and can rest assured that their vote won’t be immediately squashed by corporate money.

The best part is they’re winning.

There is still a lot to be done to fix our democracy. Feast your eyes on these six beautiful reasons that solutions are possible.

6. In Tallahassee, Florida voters overwhelmingly supported a sweeping set of ethics and campaign finance laws in 2014. The reforms included the creation of an ethics board, public campaign financing and a lower cap on individual contributions to candidates.

5. A unanimous state court in Texas ruled that a voter ID law that discriminated against African-American and Hispanic voters was unconstitutional. This law had disenfranchised more than 500,000 voters.

4. Maine voters showed their support for clean elections by passing campaign finance reforms that would strengthen public financing for legislative and gubernatorial races, increase fines for violators of campaign finance laws and require groups to disclose political ad spending.

3. Meanwhile, voters in Seattle passed by a vote of 60 to 40 percent public financing of the city’s elections. This will initiate new system in which voters can distribute up to four $25 “democracy vouchers” to candidates. Who wouldn’t want a democracy voucher?

2. Hawaii typically has the lowest voter turnout nationwide. State legislators recently passed a much-needed bill that will allow residents to register and vote on the same day starting this year. This bill should increase voter participation with easier access to the polls.

1. If you listened to President Obama’s State of the Union address last week, you may have heard his tough talk on fixing democracy—“fixing our politics” to be exact. The White House reassured us this week that his strong rhetoric was not just lip service when officials said the president is seriously considering a “dark money” executive order that would require companies with government contracts to disclose their political contributions. If passed, the law would be a major step forward in increased transparency in political spending.

Now it’s time for the 2016 candidates to follow the lead of our current president by proposing real solutions to our broken, but fixable, democracy.

Send a letter today asking all the candidates to take the #fixdemocracy pledge.

Citizens United certainly damaged our democracy, but by working together and challenging our lawmakers across the country, we can fix it.   

http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/25/citizens-united-money-out-of-politics/

Agelbert Comment: Cancel all fossil fuel subsidies and cheap leases on government lands and outlaw flaring at both land and sea based oil rigs and fracking rigs. Then they will ALL go bankrupt. Then they will have NO MONEY to corrupt politicians with. It's really quite simple. They are welfare queens. Their "business model" cannot survive without their hand out gravy train and their externalized pollution piggery.

Then the ZIP CODE in Texas that is responsible for the MOST "campaign contributions" (percentage wise) on behalf of the fossil fuel industry (for the past several DECADES) will not be able to BUY our democracy on behalf of oligarchic profit over planet FASCISM.

2013 money - but that is the routine and continues to this day:


Quote
More oil and gas-related federal political donations have originated in Fort Worth 76102 this election cycle than in any other U.S. ZIP code.

But consider that there are about 43,000 ZIP codes in the United States, meaning this tiny plot of Texas turf packs some awfully concentrated political power. And that roughly quarter-million dollars from the 76102 ZIP code is an impressive slice of the overall $15.7 million in oil and gas-related money to so far this cycle pour into the coffers of federal-level politicians and political committees.

Epicenter of Oil & Gas Industry’s Political Influence Lies Deep in the Heart of Fort Worth, Texas 

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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Polarcus Sets Record With Largest Man-Made Moving Object On Earth  :P

January 25, 2016 by gCaptain


Polarcus Amani doing its seismic thing. They, OF COURSE, claim it is "environmentally sound" (and painted it GREEN for good measure!  ).


Dubai-based  ;) Polarcus is in the process of acquiring an ultra-wide 3D marine seismic project offshore Myanmar, and is breaking acquisition performance records with the largest man-made moving object on earth.

The company’s vessel, Polarcus Amani, is towing an in-sea configuration that measures 1.8km wide across the front ends. With each of the 10 streamers separated by 200m, the total area covered by the spread is 17.6 sq.km.

This is the largest in-sea configuration ever towed by a single seismic vessel as well as the largest man-made moving object on earth, according to Polarcus.

The company is delivering up to 190 sq.km per day, a production rate that is currently unrivalled in the seismic industry.

“Such industry leading operational efficiency in Myanmar by one of our right-sized 3D seismic vessels exemplifies Polarcus’ strategy to deliver fit-for-purpose geophysical solutions to our clients. We work closely with all clients to ensure both their efficiency and data quality objectives are met and exceeded,” Polarcus COO, Duncan Eley stated.

Writing by Nadeem (c) gCaptain

http://gcaptain.com/2016/01/25/polarcus-sets-records-with-largest-man-made-moving-object-on-earth/#.Vqg3Iv9gnm4



Agelbert NOTE: WHAT do these "environmentally sound" seismic vessels DO?        You will never guess.     

To be filed under breathtakingly ORWELLIAN claims.

Quote
Polarcus Limited OSE: PLCS is an offshore geophysical company operating a fleet of seismic research vessels worldwide. The company describes itself as having a strong environmental focus that aims to decrease emissions to both sea and air.[1]  Polarcus vessels have received high energy efficiency and environmental performance ratings.[2][3] 

Polarcus provides worldwide seismic data acquisition services and Multi-Client library data as well as seismic data imaging to help energy companies find oil and gas reserves offshore.      

The company was founded in 2008 in Dubai, UAE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarcus

 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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Quote
Polarcus Sets Record With Largest Man-Made Moving Object On Earth  :P

January 25, 2016 by gCaptain


Polarcus Amani doing its seismic thing. They, OF COURSE, claim it is "environmentally sound" (and painted it GREEN for good measure!  ).

http://gcaptain.com/2016/01/25/polarcus-sets-records-with-largest-man-made-moving-object-on-earth/#.Vqg3Iv9gnm4

Agelbert NOTE: WHAT do these "environmentally sound" seismic vessels DO?    You will never guess.   

To be filed under breathtakingly ORWELLIAN claims.

Quote
Polarcus Limited OSE: PLCS is an offshore geophysical company operating a fleet of seismic research vessels worldwide. The company describes itself as having a strong environmental focus that aims to decrease emissions to both sea and air.[1]  Polarcus vessels have received high energy efficiency and environmental performance ratings.[2][3] 

Polarcus provides worldwide seismic data acquisition services and Multi-Client library data as well as seismic data imaging to help energy companies find oil and gas reserves offshore.   

The company was founded in 2008 in Dubai, UAE.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarcus



I laughed out loud (ruefully) when I read this.

But, as you point out, it IS painted green, so it MUST be "environmentally sound."

Yep. sneaky bastards, aren't they? They really do believe that PRoPI (profitable return on propaganda invested) trumps  ERoEI (which, when environmental costs and subsidy swag is figured in, is below 1:1 - i.e. they do NOT have viable business model or a competitive product). Unlike these profit over planet welfare queens, the reality based community of scientists have other views.

Here's some news from those reality based scientists that keep trying to point out the INSANITY of the BASTARDS in the M.i.C. (and their fossil fuel industry war profiteering, price shock engineering and massively polluting subsidiary  ).

I may be the king of beasts but Homo SAPS own the title of King of Stupidity.


Doomsday Clock Stays at Three Minutes to Midnight: At the ‘Brink’ of Man-Made Apocalypse

With “utter dismay,” the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced Tuesday that the symbolic Doomsday Clock will hold at three minutes to midnight—at the “brink” of man-made apocalypse—because world leaders have failed to take the necessary steps to protect citizens from the grave threats of   nuclear war and  runaway climate change.

View various charts at link:
http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/27/doomsday-clock-three-minutes-to-midnight/

“Three minutes (to midnight) is too close. Far too close,” reads the statement by the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board.

The decision not to move the hands of the Doomsday Clock “is not good news,” it continues, “but an expression of dismay that world leaders continue to fail to focus their efforts and the world’s attention on reducing the extreme danger posed by nuclear weapons and climate change. When we call these dangers existential, that is exactly what we mean: They threaten the very existence of civilization and therefore should be the first order of business for leaders who care about their constituents and their countries.”

The Bulletin’s Science and Security Board in consultation with its Board of Sponsors, which includes 17 Nobel Laureates, ruled last year to move the clock forward from five minutes to midnight to three in response to the competing threats of “unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals.”

The board acknowledged some bright spots over the past year, namely the Iran nuclear agreement and the Paris Climate Accord, but said that “they constitute only small bright spots in a darker world situation full of potential for catastrophe.”

The statement continues:


Even as the Iran agreement was hammered out, tensions between the U.S. and Russia rose to levels reminiscent of the worst periods of the Cold War. Conflict in Ukraine and Syria continued, accompanied by dangerous bluster and brinkmanship, with Turkey, a NATO member, shooting down a Russian warplane involved in Syria, the director of a state-run Russian news agency making statements about turning the U.S. to radioactive ash and NATO and Russia repositioning military assets and conducting significant exercises with them. Washington and Moscow continue to adhere to most existing nuclear arms control agreements, but the U.S., Russia and other nuclear weapons countries are engaged in programs to modernize their nuclear arsenals, suggesting that they plan to keep and maintain the readiness of their nuclear weapons for decades, at least—despite their pledges, codified in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to pursue nuclear disarmament.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, the presenters repeatedly called attention to U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to modernize    the country’s nuclear arsenal.

“What message does this send to non-nuclear nations about our intention to build smaller, more useable weapons?” asked Lawrence Krauss, chair of the Board of Sponsors and foundation professor at the School of Earth and Space Exploration and Physics departments at Arizona State University. “There is no sane strategic use of nuclear weapons. We need to reduce our nuclear arsenal, not make a new generation of weapons.”

Further, the panel described the COP21 agreement as merely a “tentative success.”

Sivan Kartha, a member of the Board and senior scientist and climate change expert with the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), said national pledges to reduce carbon emissions are “manifestly, unequivocally inadequate.”

“The voluntary pledges made in Paris to limit greenhouse gas emissions are insufficient to the task of averting drastic climate change,” he continued. “These incremental steps must somehow evolve into the fundamental change in world energy systems needed if climate change is to ultimately be arrested.”

Since the clock was first introduced in 1947, the hands have moved 22 times. As Rachel Bronson, executive director and publisher of the Bulletin, explained, the clock represents a “summary view of leading experts deeply engaged in the existential issues of our time.”

It has become a “universally recognized indicator of the world’s vulnerability” and is a symbol of “how close we are to destroying our civilization with dangerous technologies of our own making,” the Bulletin states. Such dangers include nuclear weapons, “climate-changing technologies, emerging biotechnologies and cybertechnology that could inflict irrevocable harm, whether by intention, miscalculation or by accident, to our way of life and to the planet.”

The clock does not move every year. In fact, prior to 2015, the countdown hadn’t changed since 2012, when it ticked ahead one minute.

A broadcast of this year’s announcement can be viewed here.


Doomsday clock history video at the end of the above story.

http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/27/doomsday-clock-three-minutes-to-midnight/


The M.I.C. and their FASCIST Fossil Fuel industry pals weigh in on the above news. SEE BELOW:
 
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

AGelbert

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ExxonMobil: Global energy demand to grow by 25 percent by 2040 

Staff Writers  January 27, 2016

Global energy demand is expected to grow by about 25 percent by 2040 , according to a recently published report from ExxonMobil.

The report projects that energy demand in the coming decades will be driven by China, India and other non-OECD countries while demand and emissions in the United States, Europe and other OECD nations are expected to decline, even as economic output grows.

“This is a significant increase, but would have been far higher (exceeding 110 percent) if we did not foresee steep improvements in energy efficiency across all demand sectors,” the report said.

Exxon expects China and India to account for almost half of projected global demand growth to 2040 while Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Thailand and Indonesia will account for about 30 percent of projected demand growth.

The report forecasts that global liquids output will rise to 112 million barrels a day in 2040, up from 93 million barrels per day in 2014, enough output to meet projected demand growth.

Natural gas liquid production is expected to expand “significantly” through 2040, with deepwater natural gas liquid production forecast to grow by about 70 percent from 2014 to 2040.

Oil is expected to remain the top energy source in the world to 2040, but the report said that there will be a “marked shift toward cleaner fuels, particularly natural gas.”

Unconventional oil and gas are projected to meet about one-fifth of the world’s energy needs by 2040.

“We expect that oil, natural gas and coal – the three fuels that together built the modern economy – will continue to meet almost 80 percent of the world’s energy needs through 2040,” the report said.

Global demand for oil and other liquids is projected to grow by about 20 percent from 2014 to 2040 while demand for natural gas is poised to rise by 50 percent during the same period.

“We expect 40 percent of the projected growth in global energy demand from 2014 to 2040 will be met by natural gas,” the report said.

Nuclear and renewable energy sources are likely to account for nearly 40 percent of global energy demand growth 2014 to 2040.

The majority of oil and gas exports through 2040 will likely go to the Asia Pacific region, where demand will outstrip local production growth.

North America is now on track become a net exporter around 2020 and the United States is expected to become a net liquids exporter around 2025, the report said.

Flat production growth and growing demand in the Asia Pacific region will boost that region’s net imports by more than 50 percent between 2014 and 2040.

“Europe is likely to remain the second-largest oil importing region, with imports meeting 75 percent of demand by 2040,” the report said.

Oil exports from the Middle East should continue to grow as production outpaces demand in the region, allowing the Middle East to remain the largest exporting region in the world.


http://petroglobalnews.com/2016/01/exxonmobil-global-energy-demand-to-grow-by-25-percent-by-2040/



He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

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He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Matt 10:37

 

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