Geopolitics and War

March 5, 2022 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has done more to unite Europe and reinvigorate NATO than I could have imagined. Between getting the Swiss to abandon their financial neutrality in support of financial sanctions, Germany rapidly scaling its military spending, and now even rumblings about Finland joining the fold, NATO seems to have a … Read more

Nuclear Energy for Net Zero Carbon?

03/12/2021 Lately I’ve been having a lot of discussions with colleagues about various pathways to net zero carbon as we undertake the arduous task of preparing the US’s nationally-determined contributions to greenhouse gas emission reductions under the Paris Agreement. One topic which keeps bubbling to the surface is the role of nuclear energy. There is … Read more

Addressing Climate Change: A Big Job

02/15/2021 I’m not going to write a long post today, because taking a dive into how our society can effectively respond to climate change would take a treatise or two. It would require a discussion of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change — the agreement struck in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit — … Read more

End of the Oil Age

02/07/2021 Our economic shift away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources has been underway for some time. For me, one key tipping point was when Jim Cramer, the host of CNBC’s Mad Money, a stock market infotainment program, referred to the oil industry as uninvestable. He’s since backtracked a bit, making an exception for … Read more

China and the Clean Energy Economy

01/29/2021 Xi Jinping gave an interesting speech at the Davos World Economic Forum. Foreign Policy magazine published a good synopsis that’s worth the time to read, as it highlights the inconsistencies between Xi’s portrayal of China versus his government’s actions. Political posturing aside, Xi’s speech is worth understanding because he signals his country’s policy objectives. … Read more

Energy: China – Solar – Investment

10/10/2015 The World Economic Forum blog has an interesting post that graphs the level of investment in renewable energy, comparing countries around the world. China tops the list by a long shot. I find it interesting that direct experience with choked, polluted cities was a factor in deciding how to allocate resources and investment. So … Read more