Fracking industry executive says 90% of Americans are ‘nuts’

Monday, January 30, 2012

From a column by Lyle Hopkins in The Capital Times:

Wall Street and CEO culture in America is out of touch, arrogant, condescending, and those are probably their good qualities. Recent examples run the gamut, from snooty finance employees sipping champagne while mocking Wall Street protesters to a sign posted in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange proudly stating “we are the 1%.” It’s clear that our titans of industry are in dire need of an attitude adjustment.

One of the worst offenders is the energy industry. Case in point, the CEO for the Colorado Oil & Gas Association reportedly said of fracking opponents: “These nuts make up about 90 percent of our population, so we can’t really call them nuts any more. They’re the mainstream.”

Lyle Hopkins is an energy and security analyst at the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute. He is also a former intelligence officer for the U.S. Air Force and led a 150-person watch center providing threat warning information to national leadership. He has a masters degree in Environmental Management and Sustainability from Harvard. This column was provided by the American Forum, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, educational organization.

Only 20, not 200, years of coal; we have to move "so fast" to get to 100% renewables

Thursday, January 05, 2012



Leslie Glustrom is the featured speaker at RENEW's Energy Policy Summit, January 13, Madison. Read the report that she mentions about 11 minutes into the interview. Get details and register for the Summit at the Summit Web page.

See who and what companies are coming to RENEW's Energy Policy Summit, Jan. 13, Madison

It's 2012 and the world of energy is shifting fast. Will you be part of the conversation around the shape that will take in Wisconsin?

If you or your business plan to BUILD, BUY, or BE part of Wisconsin's renewable energy future, register NOW for RENEW's Energy Policy SUMMIT on Friday JANUARY 13th in Madison.

There are a LIMITED number of SPACES available for the RENEW Energy Policy Summit. REGISTER TODAY to make sure you have a seat in the room. Click here to register for the Summit.

Want to know who else will be at the Summit table? You can see which people and what companies are registered to participate in the RENEW Energy Policy Summit at the event home page Click here to see who's coming.

Set your clocks for 2012 and get to the table with RENEW Wisconsin.

RENEW Energy Policy Summit
Date: 1/13/2012 8:30 AM CST - 5:30 PM CST
Location: Pyle Center, UW-Madison Campus
702 Langdon Street
Madison, WI 53703

For more informations and questions email Ed Blume.

Coal’s liabilities to be a focus of RENEW’s Energy Policy Summit, Jan. 13, Madison

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

For immediate release:
January 4, 2012

More information
RENEW Wisconsin
Michael Vickerman
608.255.4044
mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org

Coal’s Liabilities to be a Focus of RENEW’s Energy Policy Summit

Long-considered an inexpensive and reliable fuel source, coal is rapidly becoming the Achilles’ heel of the national electric energy picture, according to Leslie Glustrom, Research Director for Clean Energy Action in Boulder, Colorado. Glustrom will be the featured speaker at the RENEW Energy Policy Summit on January 13, 2012, in Madison.

Clean Energy Action is spearheading a campaign to shut down Colorado’s coal-fired power plants and replace them with locally generated renewable electricity.

In a recent report, Glustrom wrote, “It appears that rather than having a ‘200 year supply of coal,’ the United States has a much shorter planning horizon for moving beyond coal-fired power plants. Depending on the resolution of geologic, economic, legal and transportation constraints facing future coal mine expansion, the planning horizon for moving beyond coal could be as short as 20-30 years.” (1)

“The expectation of less plentiful coal supplies and continued increases in coal prices reinforces the value of expanding our use of energy resources that we have in this state,” said Michael Vickerman, Executive Director of RENEW Wisconsin, a statewide, nonprofit renewable energy advocacy organization.

“People from businesses and households will meet at the RENEW Energy Summit, January 13, to forge an action plan for a renewable energy future that moves us away fuels with serious and well-documented liabilities,” said Vickerman.

The delivered price of coal for Wisconsin generation plants has increased by 17% over the last twelve months of available data, according to Vickerman. (2)

“This upward trajectory will continue this year when current supply contracts expired on December 31. The newer contracts that take effect January 1 of this year are certain to be more costly,” said Vickerman.

A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that coal consumption fell 2 percent this year and is likely to decline by an even larger 4 percent in 2012. Many observers predict that between 10 and 20 percent of coal-fired power in the United States will be shut down by 2016. (3)

More information on RENEW’s Energy Policy Summit can be found on the RENEW Wisconsin website: http://www.renewwisconsin.org.

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RENEW Wisconsin is an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that acts as a catalyst to advance a sustainable energy future through public policy and private sector initiatives. More information on RENEW’s Web site at www.renewwisconsin.org.

References and links

1. Coal: Cheap and Abundant…Or Is It? Why Americans Should Stop Assuming That The U.S. Has a 200-Year Supply of Coal by Leslie Glustrom

2. Energy Information Agency, Electric Power Monthly, Dec. 16, 2011, Table 4.10.A

3. The Coal Age Nears Its End, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 23, 2011

The Great Recession, Energy Depletion, and Political Turmoil, Jan. 3

Sunday, January 01, 2012

A presentation by Nicole Foss, futurist, international lecturer, and co-author of www.TheAutomaticEarth.blogspot.com

Free and open to the public

Date/Time: Tuesday, January 3rd, 7:00 PM

Location: The Goodman Center 149 Waubesa Street Madison, WI 53704 Map

Sponsors: WORT, Madison Peak Oil Group, UW Madison Energy Hub, RENEW Wisconsin

During the past year, tremendous political and economic turmoil has rocked the United States and the world. Wisconsin – the center of the storm last February – has witnessed an unprecedented resurgence of citizen interest and engagement. In this midst of this upheaval we find ourselves challenged to re-imagine politics, economics, and government itself.

Meanwhile the aftershocks of the Financial Meltdown of 2008 continue to shake the world. With the Great Recession showing no signs of abatement, and the Euro on the verge of collapse, events are unfolding very much as futurist Nicole Foss predicted several years ago. With 1000 postings and counting at the website www.TheAutomaticEarth.blogspot.com , Nicole and her writing partners have provided readers with many insights into the interplay between Peak Oil, finance, and monetary policy. Not only did Nicole warn that a Financial Meltdown was imminent well before it occurred (a prediction which eluded leading economists such as Nobel-prize-winning Paul Krugman and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke), she foresaw the NATURE of the violent oscillations in energy and commodity prices that would ensue.

Having lectured widely in North America and Europe during the past few years (including Madison appearances in September and October 2010), Nicole Foss is returning here for another presentation – one which is generating widespread interest and excitement.

How do these forces and trends intersect? What might be our vision for the future – one which combines a sober recognition of Earth’s biophysical limits…with a human-centric economic system…financial and government reforms…and an engaged, informed electorate? It is our hope that events like this will inspire Wisconsin citizens to engage in vigorous, civil, and open-minded debate

Pre-event Publicity: Nicole Foss will be interviewed live on WORT during an hour-long program starting at noon on Monday, January 2nd. Richard Heinberg, James Howard Kunstler, and Dmitry Orlov – leading luminaries in the Peak Oil/Post-Carbon world – will be calling in as guests.

Matt Rothschild of Progressive Radio will also be interviewing Nicole on Wednesday Jan 4th. It will be available here: https://www.progressive.org/radioweekly

For more information about this event please contact Hans Noeldner, hans_noeldner@charter.net, 608-444-6190