Over the coming decades, we will be embroiled at a global level in a succeed-or-perish contest among the major forms of energy, the corporations which supply them, and the countries that run on them.
The Energy Landscape of 2041
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Energy
Pipeline Politics in Central Asia
From the end of the 19th century to the mid-1990s, Central Asia was almost the exclusive domain of Tsarist, Soviet, and post-Soviet Russia. A “Great Game” involving Tsarist Russia and the British Empire dominated the region’s history in the mid-19th century and what is now South Asia. The growing multi-polarity in global politics and a scramble to secure access to depleting natural resources, especially oil and gas, have led to the emergence of a “New Great Game’ that has the potential to fix the future structure of the global political and economic system. The battle over the construction of new pipelines and the routes they will take is at the heart of this “New Great Game,”which has been playing out in earnest since the mid-1990s.
Saving Uganda from Its Oil
In 2006, Uganda confirmed the presence of enormous commercial petroleum reserves around Lake Albert along the country’s western border. Since then, geologists have proven at least 2 billion barrels. With only about 25 percent of the region explored, some reports indicate that there could be as much as three times that amount – enough to make Uganda a major player in the African oil industry. The oil is set to begin flowing later this year, or perhaps in early 2012, with production targeted at around 200,000 barrels per day.
Sans Insurance, a Nuclear Meltdown Can Become a Financial Meltdown
Since insurance companies refuse to provide more than minimal coverage for nuclear-power plants, the state must absorb the bulk of the costs of a disaster such as Fukushima.
WikiLeaks: Canada’s Harper Embodies American Right’s Worst Tendencies
Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservative Party took a commanding majority in nationwide elections last week, has built his political success on a platform of his country’s supposed Arctic sovereignty, pro-business economics, and dodging action on climate change.
Tax Justice as Climate Justice
You don’t have to leave America to go to the Third World. I, for example, live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and here, as in all northern megacities, crushing poverty surrounds the comfortable precincts. I can’t call it “extreme” poverty, for of course it cannot compete with the despair endemic to, say, the North African drought zones. But when an organization like Remote Area Medical feels compelled to bring its traveling free clinic to The Oakland Coliseum (now, officially, the Oracle Arena), and when thousands stand for long hours to receive basic care they could not hope to afford, the problem is nonetheless clear. This last April, when the good folks at RAM pulled up stakes and left Oakland for their next stop, it was Haiti. The America they were leaving was not the “exceptional” America of the official dream.
Thanks to Fukushima Nuclear Terrorism Got a Whole Lot Easier
Japan’s nuclear disaster has thrown a few clues terrorists’ way on how to sabotage a nuclear power plant.
U.S. and Japan Equally Shameless in Shuttling Officials From Regulatory Agencies to Nuclear Energy Industry
Both the U.S. and Japan suffer at the hands of government officials looking forward to jobs in the private sector.
Nuclear Energy Needs Handouts, Can’t Cut It in Free Market
Conservative proponents of nuclear energy need to acknowledge that it wouldn’t exist were it not for government hand-outs.
The Future of South Sudan
On July 9, 2011 South Sudan is expected to become an independent state, Africa’s 54th. Prior to that date, much preparation must be done to establish a vigorous economy, stable government, and peaceful society. The name and capital of the country have yet to be officially declared. Issues of debt, oil, aid, and borders also remain undecided.