UK Primary Energy Use in 2018 was the Lowest in Half a Century
Falling energy use and surging offshore wind are among the trends revealed in the latest round of government figures on the energy flowing through the UK.
Energy featured
Review: Downwind by Sarah Alisabeth Fox
Downwind manages the triple feat of being at once a rigorous piece of scholarship, a moving account of a dark and ongoing period in human history and an exquisitely accomplished first book.
‘Bomb Trains,’ a New Book on the Deadly, Ongoing Threat of Oil by Rail
I lay out the whole damning history in this book. When the next oil train disaster strikes, we can’t say we weren’t warned.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (20)
Millions of people, led by students, are signing up to walk out of their schools and jobs on September 20 and 27 to demand the world stop using fossil fuels—according to organizers.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (19)
The dilemma in these cases is really about the impracticality of making oil companies pay the trillions of dollars in damages caused by an act that the federal government essentially sanctions—the refinement, sale, and use oil and gas. You can also lump in coal.
Why German Coal Power is Falling Fast in 2019
Germany generated significantly less electricity from coal-fired power stations in the first half of 2019, with output down by more than a fifth compared to a year earlier.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (18)
The latest addition to President Trump’s reelection campaign’s online store is a 10-pack of plastic straws each emblazoned with “Trump.” The listing features a photo of an unwrapped, solitary red straw, which Trump supporters might want to purchase, it suggests, because “liberal paper straws don’t work.”
Progress and Amnesia
There are certainly things that can be done to deal with the realities of stagnation and decline; some of them even involve adopting renewable energy technologies, on the one hand, or making sensible preparations for a range of non-apocalyptic but still serious troubles on the other.
Blue Collar Workers: Let’s Support the Green New Deal
To win the GND, it’s going to take a broad, deep and diverse political alliance. Workers need a strong voice in this alliance, and by being a part of that, we can speak up for our issues.
Vast Subsidies Keeping the Fossil Fuel Industry Afloat Should be Put to Better Use
Instead of free market capitalism versus the climate, we have fossil fuel welfare versus the climate. And if we reinvested that fossil fuel welfare into social and ecological welfare, we could create a much more socially and ecologically prosperous future.
Climate Politics/Capitol Light (15)
In touting nonregulatory solutions to pollution while promoting the benefits of domestic energy production, the Caucus is telling that they will continue to support the oil, gas and coal industries—perhaps with a little solar and wind thrown into the mix.
Climate Change and Capitalism: A Political Marxist View.
If we want to stand a chance of building socialism in the near future, we must become eco-socialists and stop catastrophic climate change now.