Hurtling Towards Climate Chaos: US Oil Production Set to Explode
Flying in face of dire climate figures, US continues to embrace fossil fuels
Projections released Tuesday that US oil production is set to surge to record levels shows the US continuing down the path of runaway climate change.
Reuters reports:
[...] the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday that the country's crude oil production will rise by the largest amount on record in 2013, and is set to soar by a quarter over two years.
Seth Kleinman, global head of energy strategy at Citigroup, told the BBC that the rise was due "entirely because of the application of fracking."
The EIA's figures came the same day as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2012 was by far the hottest year on record for the US.
Dr. Shaye Wolf, climate science director with the Center for Biological Diversity, warned that "the blazing temperatures that scorched America in 2012 are a bitter taste of the climate chaos ahead."
While Wolf says the NOAA data "puts the heat on President Obama to take immediate action against carbon pollution," the projections for surging oil production show the US has no plans for escaping what climate expert James Hansen has described as a "planetary emergency."
Daphne Wysham, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and founder and co-director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, stated Wednesday that Obama's 'all of the above' energy strategy
[...] dooms the U.S. and the world to higher temperatures, more nuclear accidents and higher energy prices. Meanwhile, poor countries likeUruguay are on track to 90 percent renewable energy by 2015 and rich countries like Germany and Denmark are on track to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 if not sooner. The U.S., with vastly more sun and wind resources, can and should do more to pull us from the brink of climate catastrophe.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just four days to go in our Spring Campaign, we are not even halfway to our goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Projections released Tuesday that US oil production is set to surge to record levels shows the US continuing down the path of runaway climate change.
Reuters reports:
[...] the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday that the country's crude oil production will rise by the largest amount on record in 2013, and is set to soar by a quarter over two years.
Seth Kleinman, global head of energy strategy at Citigroup, told the BBC that the rise was due "entirely because of the application of fracking."
The EIA's figures came the same day as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2012 was by far the hottest year on record for the US.
Dr. Shaye Wolf, climate science director with the Center for Biological Diversity, warned that "the blazing temperatures that scorched America in 2012 are a bitter taste of the climate chaos ahead."
While Wolf says the NOAA data "puts the heat on President Obama to take immediate action against carbon pollution," the projections for surging oil production show the US has no plans for escaping what climate expert James Hansen has described as a "planetary emergency."
Daphne Wysham, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and founder and co-director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, stated Wednesday that Obama's 'all of the above' energy strategy
[...] dooms the U.S. and the world to higher temperatures, more nuclear accidents and higher energy prices. Meanwhile, poor countries likeUruguay are on track to 90 percent renewable energy by 2015 and rich countries like Germany and Denmark are on track to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 if not sooner. The U.S., with vastly more sun and wind resources, can and should do more to pull us from the brink of climate catastrophe.
Projections released Tuesday that US oil production is set to surge to record levels shows the US continuing down the path of runaway climate change.
Reuters reports:
[...] the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Tuesday that the country's crude oil production will rise by the largest amount on record in 2013, and is set to soar by a quarter over two years.
Seth Kleinman, global head of energy strategy at Citigroup, told the BBC that the rise was due "entirely because of the application of fracking."
The EIA's figures came the same day as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that 2012 was by far the hottest year on record for the US.
Dr. Shaye Wolf, climate science director with the Center for Biological Diversity, warned that "the blazing temperatures that scorched America in 2012 are a bitter taste of the climate chaos ahead."
While Wolf says the NOAA data "puts the heat on President Obama to take immediate action against carbon pollution," the projections for surging oil production show the US has no plans for escaping what climate expert James Hansen has described as a "planetary emergency."
Daphne Wysham, fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and founder and co-director of the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network, stated Wednesday that Obama's 'all of the above' energy strategy
[...] dooms the U.S. and the world to higher temperatures, more nuclear accidents and higher energy prices. Meanwhile, poor countries likeUruguay are on track to 90 percent renewable energy by 2015 and rich countries like Germany and Denmark are on track to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050 if not sooner. The U.S., with vastly more sun and wind resources, can and should do more to pull us from the brink of climate catastrophe.

