In the words of the late US Senator Everett Dirksen, “the oil can is mightier than the sword.” Whether it is mightier than the COVID-19 virus remains to be seen, however. This week on Sea Change Radio, we welcome back energy expert Dan Dicker to talk his new book, Turning Oil Green. Dicker views oil companies and oil-rich countries like Saudi Arabia through an unexpectedly nuanced and sanguine lens as we discuss the role they may play in our energy future.
by Lydia Miller, Senior Vice President at Dana Investment Advisors
The last decade was quite a remarkable period for renewable energy growth. In 2019, estimates indicate new capacity additions were slightly more than 70 percent renewables and over half of newly commissioned utility-scale renewable power generation provided electricity at a lower cost than the cheapest new fossil fuel powered source.
On the heels of being impeached by the House of Representatives, Donald Trump unsurprisingly created a diversion, having a key Iranian General assassinated by US drones. But as tensions in the Middle East mounted, the price of oil somehow remained relatively steady. Why was this the case? This week on Sea Change Radio, we talk oil with energy expert Daniel Dicker. We discuss the current state of global oil markets, learn the important differences between sweet and sour crude, and examine Dicker’s contention that the best thing for the environment would be much higher oil prices.
What is the American dollar based on? It was based on the gold standard until 1971 when it transitioned to a floating monetary system. This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio believes US currency now rests unofficially on the price of oil. What will a successful Green New Deal will look like if the underlying currency upon which the US economy rests is based on fossil fuels? We speak to James Quilligan, the Managing Director of Economic Democracy Advocates and longtime policy analyst in the international development space.
by Carl R. Tannenbaum, Ryan James Boyle, and Vaibhav Tandon
Blog
I was born too early to benefit much from Sesame Street, but I still loved The Muppets. Kermit the Frog was my favorite character; alternatively in full control and overwhelmed, Kermit struggled to make sense of the nonsensical. To this day, there are times that I feel confronted with the same challenge.
Kermit produced numerous pearls of wisdom, such as:
“Beware of advice from experts, pigs, and members of Parliament.”
“It’s nice to be important. But it’s important to be nice.”
If you're someone who's curious about the geopolitical implications of carbon fuel and the ecological havoc it wreaks, you've probably come across some of Richard Heinberg's work. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with this senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute who has authored over 13 books and regularly ponders the past and future of humanity and the earth in his Museletter. We discuss the global debt crunch, the search for tight oil, and the concomitant acceleration of climate change.
