SDG7: The Impossible Energy Transformation

Friday, 6 January 2023 — Unlimited Hangout

The alleged purpose of the United Nation’s (UN’s) Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) is to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.” The real impacts of its implementation couldn’t be more different. Renewable energy is neither renewable nor sustainable and the SDG7 energy transition is only making the problem of energy poverty worse.

by Iain Davis

Continue reading

Revealed: UK household energy debt hit record high even before price hikes

Thursday, 4 August 2022 — Open Democracy

Official Ofgem data shows millions of electricity and gas users in arrears for the first quarter of 2022

caroline m.jpg

Caroline Molloy 

New official figures show nearly 3.5 million gas and electricity accounts are in arrears

A record 3.4 million gas and electricity accounts were in debt even before the April price hike, new figures quietly released by Ofgem reveal.

Continue reading

Ukraine peace talks in the cards?

Saturday, 16 July 2022 — Indian Punchline

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR

A goods yard in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave that has become increasingly isolated since the start of Ukraine war

Finance ministers are the pangolins in the world of international diplomacy, solitary animals and predatory, unlike foreign ministers who are like glowworms, mesmerising and gorgeous animals that create light through their tail. While the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attending G20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali a week ago staged a dramatic walkout when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rose to speak, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen simply sat through the speech by Russian minister Anton Siluanov at the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs that began in Bali on Friday.

Continue reading

Energy: the recession trigger?

Wednesday, 13 July 2022 — Michael Roberts Blog

There is confusion among mainstream economists and policy-makers on whether the major economies are heading for a recession, or are already in a recession; or will avoid one altogether.  The majority view, at least in the US, is the latter.  This optimistic view argues that, while inflation rates are high, they will start to fall over the next year, enabling the Federal Reserve to avoid hiking its policy interest rates too much to the point where it could restrict investment and spending.  At the same time, the US unemployment rate is very low and the ‘labour market’ remains strong.  Such a scenario hardly suggests a recession.  Who ever heard of a slump where there is full employment?, the argument goes.

Continue reading

Europe’s gas alliance with Russia is a match made in heaven By M.K. Bhadrakumar

2 November 2019 — Indian Punchline

The vessel “Audacia”  laying pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea off the island of Rügen. File photo

Amidst the excitement over the killing of the ISIS chief Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, a development of much impact on international security passed by when Denmark made the innocuous announcement on October 30 that it would permit the proposed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to pass through its exclusive economic zone.

Continue reading

The European Union in Crisis. The Geopolitics of Russia-EU Pipeline Corridors By Tony Cartalucci

14 July 2014 — Global Research

When the special interests who created and direct the agenda of the European Union disagree with member states, the true nature of this supranational enterprise becomes painfully apparent – one of dictatorial special interests pursing regional policy that benefits none of its individual member states. No example of this can be clearer than the dispute that has emerged over the construction of Russia’s South Stream natural gas pipeline set to run through Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Italy.

Continue reading

Pushing Ukraine to the Brink By Mike Whitney

11 July 2014 — Counterpunch

“The unipolar world model has failed. People everywhere have shown their desire to choose their own destiny, preserve their own cultural identity, and oppose the West’s attempts at military, financial, political and ideological domination.” – Vladimir Putin

“While the human politics of the crisis in Ukraine garner all the headlines, it is the gas politics that in many ways lies at the heart of the conflict.” – Eric Draitser, Waging war against Russia, one pipeline at a time, RT

Continue reading

The US is attempting to organize a redistribution of the European energy market By Petr Lvov

6 June 2014 — New Eastern Outlook

67567Once the current and illegitimate authorities in Kiev, in their most insolent manner, ceased hiding the fact that they were being backed by the United States, they immediately began reneging on their payment obligations for Russian gas supplies. It became obvious that the motivation behind Washington’s provocation in the Ukrainian crisis, along with their EU satellites, was to weaken Moscow and pursue their global military and political objectives with an even more ambitious goal – the redistribution of the global gas market; a market where Russia still holds a leading position. The option to use Saudi Arabia and plummeting oil prices, as President Reagan and the Saudi King did 30 years ago with the USSR , failed during Obama’s recent visit to Riyadh. For this reason Washington has now begun a large-scale offensive on the gas front. However, the American arsenal of features for these purposes is very limited.

Continue reading

Video: The Geopolitics of the Russia-China Energy Deal By Eric Draitser

27 May 2014 — Stop Imperialism

Eric Draitser of StopImperialism.org provides his analysis of the impact of the recent energy deal signed between Russia and China.  He notes that the deal can, at least in part, be seen as a counter-measure to US attempts to isolate Russia following the incorporation of Crimea into the Russian Federation.  However, he also points the fact that the talking points coming from the US regarding increasing gas exports to Europe to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian energy are repeated mostly for demagogic reasons.  Draitser explains that the global shift to a multi-polar world is happening more rapidly than anyone imagined, precisely due to the arrogance and hubris of Washington and the West. Continue reading

Enron 2.0: Wall Street Manipulates Energy Prices … and Every Other Market

3 May 2014 — WashingtonsBlog

Energy Prices Manipulated

The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission says that JP Morgan has massively manipulated energy markets in  California and the Midwest, obtaining tens of millions of dollars in overpayments from grid operators between September 2010 and June 2011.

Continue reading

Video: Anti-Russian sentiment a resource play diversion By Michael Hudson

12 April 2014 — Michael Hudson

Hundreds of pro-Russian protesters have seized public buildings in Eastern Ukrainian cities. They’re demanding referendums to secede from Ukraine in order to become a part of Russia. Ukrainian officials have blamed Putin for this continued unrest, but it should be noted that Ukraine is a major transit route for natural gas exports to Europe from Russia, and now Russia is warning Ukrainian officials that they need to pay back the $2.2 billion debt owed to the Russian natural gas company Gazprom. German and French officials are also working towards a quick implementation of a $14-18 billion International Monetary Fund loan package to the Ukraine.

Continue reading

Sanctions on Russia’s Energy Sector: Shale Gas ‘Fracking’ Will Invade Europe? By Timothy Alexander Guzman

29 March 2014 — Global Research

Fracking will be “good for our country,” was a statement made by British Prime Minister David Cameron at a recent Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague according to the UK based news agency The Guardian. Cameron believes that the fracking industry will have the public’s support since reliance on Russia’s energy sources will be halted if sanctions are imposed due to the political crisis in the Ukraine. The Obama administration is also proposing a joint US-EU trade deal with its European partners that would reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s energy resources. The Guardian reported Cameron’s statement regarding shale gas fracking in Europe:

Continue reading

Russia, Europe, and the Geopolitics of Energy By Eric Draitser

28 February 2014 — New Eastern Outlook

Oil backgroundFrom Syria to Sochi, Poland to Pussy Riot, diplomatic and geopolitical conflicts between Russia and the West have come to dominate the headlines. However, behind these issues lies the fundamental economic competition that must frame any analysis of the politics and interaction between the two. Continue reading

#BurnAusterity: Join a ‘Bonfire of Austerity’ action near you

4 November 2013 — Change:How?

[How indeed? I’m not sure what to make of this stuff frankly. The major sponsor is the Observer newspaper! They seem to come out once a year, talk a lot and then disappear until the next crisis comes along. It’s all slick PR stuff, no doubt pro bono work from a mind-fucker but what does it all mean and does it lead anywhere?  I mean really, “pin the blame on Cameron”? But not on capitalism? Burn your energy bill? I despair WB]

Tomorrow’s ‘Bonfire of Austerity’ looks set to be one of the biggest days of action for many years. Actions are taking place up and down the country as people are forced into poverty, forced to choose whether to heat the home or put food on the table and forced into the hands of legal loan sharks.

Continue reading

Was it a Psyop? Nairobi Mall Deceit Abets Israeli-Western Pipeline Wars to Oust Asian Rivals By Yoichi Shimatsu

1 October 2013 — Global Research

The gratuitous violence and spectacular overkill by a mysterious gang of supposed “terrorists” does nothing to further the aims of either Somali nationalism or sharia law, as espoused by the original Al-Shabaab movement, which seeks the withdrawal of Kenya forces from Somalia .

Fracking – Britain’s Next Revolution? By Lesley Docksey

21 August 2013 — Global Research

frack off

‘Water, water everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.’ — Samuel Taylor Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

At long last Britain is discussing and objecting to fracking – or we would be if the general public had access to accurate information. As it is, Prime Minister David Cameron is going all out to promote a country-wide embrace of shale gas.

Continue reading