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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (9675)	11/5/2009 11:13:16 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 24213

Peak oil? Don't worry -- Obama's on the job Energy efficiency gains could slake the world's oil thirst. Thanks, in no small part, to the current administration By Andrew Leonard What if, as a result of efforts to fight climate change and boost energy efficiency, global oil demand peaked in the foreseeable future? You could argue that such an achievement would be one of the most historic accomplishments of human civilization to date, proof, indeed, that we are civilized. It's a task that will require lots of hard work all over the globe, but based just on the actions taken by President Obama in his first year of office, in the United States, we have made real progress toward that goal. The International Energy Agency, reports Spencer Swartz in the Wall Street Journal, is predicting that even if China and India continue to consume ever more oil, overall, the world's appetite for crude is slowing down. The IEA, which advises rich nations, such as the U.S., on energy matters, is set to use its closely watched annual World Energy Outlook report to forecast that improved energy-efficiency measures in developed nations, as well as climate-change legislation, will help to slow the rate of global oil consumption. Swartz reports that Deutsche Bank is bold enough to predict that "global demand will peak by 2016 ... due to efficiency gains and technology improvements in electric vehicles." This kind of thing doesn't happen by accident. Yesterday Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced $38 million worth of grants to Alaska, Kansas, Utah and West Virginia to "support energy efficiency and conservation activities." Hardly a week goes by when the DOE isn't making a similar announcement. On Sept. 14, Chu announced $354 million in grants to 22 other states. On Oct 1, $72 million. All the grants are part of the DOE's Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, created in 2007 under the auspices of the Energy Independence and Security Act, but funded for the first time, to the tune of $2.7 billion, by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (aka the stimulus bill). So far, $1.6 billion in grants have been disbursed. salon.com