Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Oil and Water Part 2

Be grateful that you don't live in Australia. Regardless of what you believe about climate change, and the Aussies are as divided on the subject as anyone else, the country is in the grip of a 1,000 year drought and facing stark choices. While old-timers talk about past droughts being worse, the reality is that it is different this time. This article from The Observer talks about the drought and its impact. Believe it or not, efforts to manage CO2 by planting trees may exacerbate the situation.

Over at The Oil Drum there is a fascinating picture of Arctic sea ice on 8/7/07 that switches with a picture of Arctic sea ice from a year ago. Something is up, and you can hardly blame the Russians for racing to the pole to claim the seabed for exploration.

Speaking of Arctic oil exploration, guess who isn't a player, and the Republicans will keep it that way if they can due to incredible shortsightedness. CNN has fairly decent blurb about the issue. It's possible the Repubs will be embarrassed by the Russian push and change their posture.

Finally, Dave Cohen provides a lucid explanation about the economic costs of oil development and the impact on current and future projects. Chevron's Jack 2 well has slipped to the wayside due to the expense of development. And you thought all that potential oil was going into the American gas tank! Think again!

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