"Romney's Dirtier, Deadlier Energy Future: Is There Another Way?"

[applegrove]

Romney's Dirtier, Deadlier Energy Future: Is There Another Way?

By Sarah van Gelder, Yes! Magazine, reposted at TruthOut

http://truth-out.org/news/item/11120-romneys-dirtier-deadlier-energy-future-is-there-another-way

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But there’s a more systemic reason why fossil fuel dependence is bad for the economy and bad for jobs. A recent analysis by research firm Oxford Economics, commissioned by Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change, shows that moving away from reliance on fossil fuels could cut in half the economic damage that occurs when fossil fuel prices spike.

Some analysts believe the 2008 oil price spike that raised prices to over $140 a barrel helped trigger the global economic collapse. Global oil extraction is no longer growing faster than population, and demand in China and India is growing especially fast. Here’s why that matters: When the world’s big economies begin to recover and begin growing, oil consumption also grows, but the global oil supply is constrained. Now that the easiest and cheapest oil extraction has been done, new extraction is in deeper water, deeper wells, and includes such energy-intensive efforts as the Alberta tar sands. So prices spike. Consumers who fill their cars with high-priced gas and see winter heating costs increase cut back on other shopping. Businesses cut back, too, and we return to economic malaise. If this analysis holds up, it means that economic stagnation is inevitable as long as we rely on an unstable global fossil-fuel market.

And then, of course, there's the instability that comes from military disputes over regions of the world rich in fossil fuels.

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Germany has chosen a different way forward. Its economy, which is one of the strongest in Europe, is on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, mainly through turning to renewable energy and energy efficiency. And at the same time, it is closing down its nuclear power plants. Estimates by researchers indicate 278,000 additional jobs will be created as a result of the transition to renewables and energy efficiency.

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[qwlauren35]

1. Fascinating.

A must read, and something worth discussing with those on the fence.