Obama’s “pivot” towards East Asia is, by most accounts, a strategy meant to reassure American allies in the region and to warily contain China. However, in choosing to focus on the Pacific, the administration is perhaps overlooking the importance of energy security to achieving its strategic aims. China has been moving aggressively in this regard, … Continue reading
News that Sempra Energy became the second company to secure all the permits necessary for building the facilities to export natural gas has pushed the debate over energy exports into the fore once again. Geopolitical risk in Europe and Asia, growing economies in the developing world, and worries about climate change ensure that the energy … Continue reading
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted on the bill that will approve the Keystone XL pipeline this past Wednesday, June 18th, 2014. The bill was approved in the panel, but it is unclear whether or not it will pass in the entire Senate. The Keystone Pipeline bill is a proposed bill that would … Continue reading
President Obama has made reducing income inequality a common theme in his second-term speeches and policy proposals, and has cited inequality as “the defining challenge of our time.” His administration’s recently proposed carbon regulations, however, will increase prices for consumers and lay off thousands of workers, disproportionately hurting low-income and middle-class Americans. This month, the … Continue reading
It’d hardly be a stretch to say that the Obama administration is on the wrong side of most energy issues. But when they get something right, we should give them credit. The US Department of Energy’s recent decision to require FERC approval before being awarded liquefied natural gas export licenses is a case in point. … Continue reading
The Climate Change threat doesn’t leave us much choice but to transform our current economy into a “low carbon economy”. While it is well acknowledged that renewable energy (RE) sources like solar, wind or even biomass could lead us towards that goal, conventional energy sources like coal, natural gas or oil will still play a … Continue reading
Many are those that believe that coal is an obsolete technology that is not or should not be used in this advanced 21st century world. Let’s be honest, at first sight coal doesn’t really look like anything attractive. It is a black-brownish sedimentary rock that causes many miners to develop black lung disease due to … Continue reading
The Marcellus Shale is the name given to a geologic formation of sedimentary rocks, located in the North East of the United State of America. It is yet unclear on how much Natural Gas is contained in these rocks, however in 2012, the Environmental International Agency (EIA) estimated the unproved technically recoverable reserves to be … Continue reading
The current crisis in Crimea symbolizes a world where energy security became, more than ever, a key aspect of a nation’s economy. Here in the USA, the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline is currently the most animated debate related to the energy issues. Most Americans are in favor of its construction, as they see … Continue reading
President Barack Obama, in his State of the Union address, mentioned the administrations efforts to reduce America’s energy dependence on foreign nations. The president’s energy section in the State of the Union was small, lackluster and dodgy. The president avoided any mention of one of the best ways for the U.S. to increase our import … Continue reading
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