VW’s inaccurate emissions tests for 2009-15 TDI Diesel passenger cars was not an “accident”, according to the EPA. It’s not like VW’s engineers misconfigured some testing equipment and accidentally came up with bogus numbers. You might do that one year, like Hyundai/Kia did, but a company like Volkswagen would not…
It’s been a tumultuous weekend for the Volkswagen Group. Last weeks announcement that the EPA and CARB are investigating the company over allegations that VW had fabricated TDI Diesel car emissions results has thrown a monkey wrench into the credibility of not only the VW Group but the whole system of validating emissions…
Syria’s fossil fuel resources are dwindling fast, making that country an unattractive place to fight a war over crude oil supplies. Yet, a war is being fought over the future of Syria, and a side effect of that war is the huge refugee crisis in Europe. Earlier I’ve made the case…
Refugees from wars in Syria, Yemen, North Africa and elsewhere are suffering unimaginably. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, some making it as far as Europe, some drowning at sea, others stuck in war-torn areas for one reason or another, all of them bereft of home and livelihood. In…
Russia and Europe just signed a pair of deals that will bolster Russia’s presence in and influence over Europe. One deal is an asset swap with chemicals giant BASF that had earlier been delayed because of political pressure, and the other is an expansion of the NORD STREAM gas pipeline…
This week Pres. Obama is visiting Alaska ostensibly to push for Climate Change awareness as part of his Administration’s push on mitigating the threat with new policies like the recently announced Clean Energy Plan. While the Obama Administration has enacted a bunch of great ideas for renewable energy, increased fuel…
The current stock market turmoil – a major stock price collapse in China and other countries – may be (partly) caused by the glut of oil causing low crude oil prices. What’s happening is a market correction a.k.a. “global selloff” of stocks a.k.a. slumping stock prices in stock markets…
Today the Federal Railway Administration announced a Rule focused on trains that accidentally “roll away”. The Rule is meant to fix an issue which occurred on July 6, 2013, in Lac-Mégantic, Canada, when an unattended train “rolled away,” crashed into the town – and because the train was carrying Bakken…
From http://rutledge.caltech.edu/King%20Hubbert%20Techniques%20of%20Prediction%20as%20applied%20to%20the%20production%20of%20oil%20and%20gas.pdf
From http://energycrisis.biz/hubbert/
Another day another environmental disaster gifted to us by the fossil fuel industry. Maybe. In the wee hours of Monday morning, a pair of barges collided near the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel. One of the barges was carrying a million gallons of Naptha, which caught on fire and an undetermined…
Dangerous cargo’s, including crude oil, are being transported by rail around the U.S. This last week an oil train derailed in a remote part of Eastern Montana, and while it fortunately didn’t go boom it could have done so. A few months ago another oil train derailed near Galena Illinois, and…
According to the FBI “Environmental Extremists assert criminal actions are necessary to end perceived destruction or exploitation of our natural resources and ecosystems.” The warning goes on to list signs of extremist activity including posting information to social networks or making bombs. Retrieved from Chemical Facility Security News, DeSmogBlog Retrieved…
It appears there’s been two oil train derailments in Montana over the last couple days. Several of the rail cars tipped over, with a few in each train leaking crude oil, but fortunately no explosions this time. Maybe it means future oil train derailments won’t cause explosions and therefore the…
Last week “scores of concerned Baltimore residents” protested the dangers of exploding oil trains. Protesters note that oil trains follow a winding route through Baltimore that puts large swaths of Baltimore within the danger zone. In my neck of the woods the Phillips 66 refinery in San Luis Obispo is seeking to start…
