Energy Literacy Advocates Newsroom

Energy Literacy Advocates (ELA) is a non-partisan, non-profit, public education and advocacy group dedicated to improving the energy literacy of all sectors of our democracy in order to empower a comprehensive national energy policy that is responsible and sustainable. Stay tuned for updated energy news!

Friday, May 30, 2008

Searching for Precedence in Today's Energy Crisis

Fears of an energy crisis, according to columnist Gerald Seib, mean 2008 Presidential candidates must grapple with answers neither easy or cost-free. Yet Seib notes that America is not without historical examples in overcoming energy issues, and contends that the oil shock of the mid-1970s, and the Arab oil embargo of 1973 offer valuable lessons to today's policymakers.

Then, as now, a weakening U.S. dollar placed upward pressure on oil prices, eventually leading to a quadrupling in cost. While attempts at government price controls on oil proved, historically, to be a particularly bad idea, Sieb cites two government steps which were effective: first, an increase in energy supplies, and secondly, policies aimed at reducing consumer demand. The 1970's saw the creation of Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards, which required auto makers to produce fleets that got better gas mileage. The standards required that new-car gas mileage, on average, double over the following decade. When combined with a national speed limit set at 55 miles-per-hour, CAFE standards helped lower demand for oil by 2 million barrels per day.

While energy transition is not simple or quick, improvements in America's energy portfolio combined with increased efficiency have proven historically useful in lessening a crisis. To read more about the policy precedents of the 1970's and potential contemporary applications, click here.

Labels: election 2008, energy policy, oil supply/demand, u.s. energy policy

posted by Amanda Voss at 9:06 AM 0 comments

Tipping Point for Consciousness is Economic

Is sheer market economics dictating the recent surge in hybrid and compact flourescent light bulb purchases? The U.S. is at a "tipping point," with people beginning to factor energy use into everyday decisions, says Lee Schipper in The Wall Street Journal. Schipper, who has studied energy consumption for decades, declares the driver isn't ecology, bur rather "Sadly, it's economics. No pain, no gain."

Columnist Jeffrey Ball attributes Europe's energy consumption patterns - where the average resident consumes less than half as much oil each year as the average American - to high energy taxes, rather than environmental awareness. These economic penalties make conservation rational and not just virtuous.

For the full text of this article, click here.

Labels: economy, energy sources, environment, oil price, oil supply/demand

posted by Amanda Voss at 8:51 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Oil Industry Itself Facing Short Supplies

Wednesday, May 28 - There are two sides to every coin. While consumers struggle to assimilate $4 per gallon for gasoline, the oil industry itself faces a maelstrom of hurdles in supply-side economics. Not only have costs more than doubled for developing a new oil or gas field, the backbone of the oil industry is within 10 years of retirement. Competition over equipment and personnel have effectively delayed new projects while driving up operating costs.

Daniel Yergin highlights the woes facing the oil industry - points typically neglected in media coverage - while uncovering supply-side factors forcing oil to its breaking point. For the full text of this article, click here.

Labels: economy, oil companies, oil supply, oil supply/demand

posted by Amanda Voss at 10:55 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Goldman Sachs Forecasts Continued Rise in Oil Prices

Tuesday, May 20 - On Wall Street the price of oil hit $130 per barrel amidst market fears of inflation and supply concerns.

Amidst these concerns, Goldman Sachs issued a forecast that crude will reach $135 a barrel in the third quarter of 2008 and rise to $145 in the fourth quarter. While Saudi Arabia announced that they would increase production by 300,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 9.45 million b/d during June in order meet demand from US customers and President Bush, under pressure from a vote in Congress, halted additions to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, these measures are widely dismissed as too little to affect prices.

For the full article, click here.

Labels: economy, oil price, oil supply/demand

posted by Amanda Voss at 1:19 PM 0 comments

Monday, May 19, 2008

Michael Klare's New Energy Order

"Oil at $110 a barrel. Gasoline at $3.35 (or more) per gallon. Diesel fuel at $4 per gallon. Independent truckers forced off the road. Home heating oil rising to unconscionable price levels. Jet fuel so expensive that three low-cost airlines stopped flying in the past few weeks. This is just a taste of the latest energy news, signaling a profound change in how all of us, in this country and around the world, are going to live - trends that, so far as anyone can predict, will only become more pronounced as energy supplies dwindle and the global struggle over their allocation intensifies."

So begins Michael Klare's article chronicling the end of the energy world as we know it. Klare identifies intense competition over energy sources among economic powers, insufficiency of existing energy supplies, the delay in developing alternative energy sources, migration of wealth and power to energy-rich nations and a growing risk of conflict as factors shaping our new energy reality.

For the full text of this article, click here.

Labels: energy, energy policy, energy sources, oil price

posted by Amanda Voss at 4:10 PM 0 comments

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