For the first time in many decades, there is a sense of hope and optimism for economic growth and development in South Sudan. I want to tell you why. The landlocked country in East-Central Africa is one of the poorest in the world. Around 4 out of 5 of its people live in poverty, and 70 percent of children have no access to schooling. As with many other Sub-Saharan countries, South Sudan’s energy consumption (per capita) is low—indeed, the country is ranked … [Read more...]
Biden vs. Obama on Fracking
Fracking — a procedure to extract natural gas from earth — made headlines recently after Vice President Mike Pence and Democrat vice presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris brought it up during their debate. Leading up to the 2020 elections, both Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden and Senator Harris, on various occasions, have remarked that they will end fracking. But during the vice presidential debate, Harris denied Biden’s anti-fracking stance and instead remarked … [Read more...]
California loses thousands of jobs and crucial fuel as Marathon Martinez refinery goes idle
California just experienced a catastrophic loss from the COIVD-19 impact on the economy, as one of its major refineries, Marathon Martinez, has just announced it will be idled indefinitely. With airlines and cruise ships virtually shut down, and vehicle transportation at an all-time low, the demand for fuels and petroleum derivative products manufactured from petroleum, are at an all-time low. The Northern California refinery, one of the largest in the state has just become a COVID … [Read more...]
World owes thanks to American oil production in wake of attacks on Saudi Arabia
In the wake of drone attacks over the weekend on two of Saudi Arabia's top oil processing facilities, oil prices shot up worldwide, causing stock prices to fall. MarketWatch reported, "The attacks are believed to be part of a continuing conflict between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Saudi Arabia," but many experts think Iran is likely behind them. "Our markets are on a wild ride today after the Houthi Rebel attacks," Matador Economics's Tim Snyder, a specialist in the world oil markets, said … [Read more...]
Pope Francis Is Wrong. Climate Craziness, Not Climate Change, Threatens to ‘Destroy Civilization’
At a conference at the Vatican Saturday, Pope Francis told oil executives "climate change" could "destroy civilization." The Pope's warning ensues from his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si', in which he called climate change "a global problem with grave implications" and "one of the principal challenges facing humanity." He warned that it would most gravely impact the poor, many of whom "live in areas particularly affected by phenomena related to warming, and their means of subsistence are largely … [Read more...]
Fracking’s Safety
Ken Cohen at ExxonMobil has just published an article summarizing some of the basic things we know about the safety of "fracking" (hydraulic fracturing in drilling for oil and natural gas). The gist: It's not a significant source of either air or water pollution, and its record, good from the start, has been improving consistently. There will of course be those who write it off just because Cohen works for, and the article was published by, ExxonMobil. Sigh. Logical fallacies (genetic fallacy, … [Read more...]
Lord, We Thank You For Energy
Dear Lord, Thank you for giving us a planet that has such bountiful sources of energy within it. We thank you for the natural gas that keeps our homes warm, for the oil that brings food to our tables, and for the coal that gives us electricity. We pray that you would increase our wisdom in harnessing the sources of energy that you have provided for us. And we pray that the poorer nations of the earth would be blessed with the abundant supplies you have clearly provided for our use. Amen To … [Read more...]
Climate Change and Evangelicals: Thou Shalt Not Fear Fossil Fuels
The fossil fuel industry should be dismantled because it is as bad as human slavery." That's exactly what Kathleen Henry, president of a non-profit environmental law firm argued in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She went on: Continuing to use fossil fuels will, in fact, lead to economic collapse from the consequences of climate change. But people continue to listen to the harmful rhetoric of the fossil fuel industry... ...They must rise above this and actively support the dismantling of the … [Read more...]
