In an article on The Conversation website, Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law Emeritus, Vermont Law & Graduate School, questions who should pay the mounting costs of climate damage—the public or the companies being sued over their alleged role in causing and misleading the public about that damage? Question of whether taxpayers or fossil fuel … Continue reading Who should pay for climate damage — taxpayers or fossil fuel companies?
Category: fossil fuels
Germany’s answer to energy insecurity: phase out fossil fuels
In an article on the Deutsche Welle website, Rana Taha explains that Germany has said it plans to phase out the use of coal, oil and gas by 2045, reaffirming a climate strategy focused on electrification. The Iran war and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz turn what might otherwise sound like a purely climate-policy … Continue reading Germany’s answer to energy insecurity: phase out fossil fuels
China shows how to defuse an oil crisis: use less oil
In an article on The Conversation website, Lurion De Mello, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Macquarie University, discusses the contrast between vulnerability to disrupted oil supplies and the resilience that comes from reducing oil demand. China becomes the unexpected illustration of how electrification can also be an energy-security strategy. Energy security is usually discussed in terms … Continue reading China shows how to defuse an oil crisis: use less oil
Energy in Demand News, September 20-21, 2026
Multilateral development banks are under pressure from the United States to scrap climate finance targets. “The UN agreement to provide $1.3tn in climate finance is under threat, as multilateral lenders are expected to follow the World Bank in dumping green targets after intense US pressure,” the Financial Times reports. “At least two multilateral development banks, … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, September 20-21, 2026
Energy in Demand News, September 13-14, 2026
For once there was some truly encouraging news this week. Matthew Pearce writes in the Guardian about a new study that shows that a global shift towards clean electricity could trigger a ‘cascade’ of progress, helping reduce air pollution, cut waste and revive oceans. “The analysis focuses on “positive tipping points” – thresholds beyond which … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, September 13-14, 2026
Are climate plans betting too much on carbon capture?
Josh Axelrod writes on the Deutsche Welle website about the enormous role climate scenarios assign to carbon capture and the very small scale at which it actually operates today. It is not arguing that CCS is useless, but that expectations may be running far ahead of what has been demonstrated commercially. Europe just opened a … Continue reading Are climate plans betting too much on carbon capture?
When national security undermines climate security
In an article on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists website, Neta C. Crawford, Professor of International Relations at University of St. Andrews, writes that the US military treats climate change as a threat to national security while largely overlooking the military’s own contribution to the climate problem. The US military’s fatal stance on … Continue reading When national security undermines climate security
Beyond 1.5°C: a reason to act, not give up
The energy mix website continues following another post on the UNEP report published this week that reflects tension between accepting that 1.5°C will be exceeded and rejecting the idea that this means giving up. We simply can’t give up. ‘Call to Apathy, Not to Arms’ as UN Warns Climate Overshoot Is Inevitable, Downplays Fossil … Continue reading Beyond 1.5°C: a reason to act, not give up
Energy in Demand News, August 23-24, 2026
The Trump administration is doing everything possible to crush California’s environmental policies that have been respected world-wide, New York Times reports. “Mr. Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have blocked California from setting its own limits on automobile pollution, which federal law has permitted since the 1970s. The Energy Department has announced $75 million … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 23-24, 2026
Energy in Demand News, August 16-17, 2026
The Financial Times, a newspaper of record for business and politics, has become almost passionate about climate change. “Even now, when weather records are being broken, when climate change is demonstrably here, not in the future, we seem frozen. We still go about our carbon-greedy lives: snapping up the last air-conditioning unit, booking another flight, … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, August 16-17, 2026
