Greenpeace has many publications about climate change and our energy future. Here we discuss four such news releases specifically about energy – fossil fuels versus clean energy sources – and discuss specifically carbon sequestration and so-called clean coal, on which a major press release and .pdf report has been released today. Here we start by discussing the Gulf Oil Spill and offshore drilling; the United States energy future, and two .pdf informational releases, which we will make available for immediate download here on Evans Liberal Politics. The two .pdf documents are the product of extensive research and concern two matters which are crucial to the United States’ future, not just in energy, but in terms of the well-being of all our citizens. That is because our future in terms of energy production will impact us strongly in terms of climate, sustainability and our entire populations’ quality of life. Also, if we embrace the clean energy technologies available at the present time, we can avert the inevitable global conflicts over fossil fuel resources, which threaten global conflict and endless war in the middle east and perhaps Africa or South America. In other words our energy future is inseparably linked to the kind of future life we want our children to have and what sort of quality of life might be possible for us for the future.

BP Deepwater Disaster and Gulf Oil Spill

Press Release of May 28th, 2010 from Greenpeace:

United States — The Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a disaster unfolding before our eyes. Eleven lives were lost in the initial explosion, and that incalculable loss is compounded daily as oil continues to flow.

Greenpeace welcomed President Obama’s sensible and encouraging first step in ensuring that the BP oil spill disaster can never happen again – but the “never” will only last for the next six months while his commission reaches a conclusion.

The President’s six month suspension of new drilling (is) a welcome reprieve for the communities and animals that rely on those pristine waters, but we need a permanent ban on all new offshore drilling, not just in the Arctic but in all US waters. A ban on all new oil drilling is the only way to avoid another spill disaster.

Comment by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: The only path to a sustainable future for our children lies in massive investments in solar and wind power, modernizing the energy grid, and energy conservation measures. Without this, we will continue our reliance on fossil fuels and head towards a future of huge CO2 driven global warming, rising energy costs, and a global competition for energy resources which is likely to spiral out of control.

From the Press Release of May 27, Industry out of US Energy Future:

"As long as we continue to let oil companies like BP and Shell bully politicians, write our energy laws and bribe regulators, we will remain addicted to their dirty and dangerous fossil fuels. President Obama should cut the polluter lobbyists out of the debate so we can finally move toward a clean energy revolution that is good for the country, not just for corporations,” said John Hocevar, Greenpeace oceans campaign director."

New Report – Just Released
An Energy [R]evolution

The Greenpeace .pdf "’Energy [R]evolution – a Sustainable Energy Outlook,’ June, 9, 2010, has just been released today and details how to cut global CO2 emissions in half by 2050, using existing technology and still providing affordable energy and economic growth. In short – a revolution in energy policy and an evolution in how we use energy." We let Greenpeace’s own summary speak for itself. Please download and read this important contribution, hosted on Evans Liberal Politics.

Every day, millions of people whose stories you won’t hear are suffering the direct effects of our addiction to fossil fuels. Asthma, cancer, mutilated ecosystems, devastated communities — these are the hidden costs of our backward energy system, and we’re paying those costs right now, whether we know it or not.

Unfortunately, the worst is yet to come. According to the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we must peak global warming pollution by 2015 and nearly eliminate it by mid-century.

The threat of climate change demands nothing short of an Energy Revolution — a transformation that has already started, as renewable energy markets exhibit huge and steady growth. At the core of this revolution will be a change in the way that energy is produced, distributed and consumed. The five key principles behind this shift will be to:

• Implement renewable solutions, especially through decentralized energy systems
• Respect the natural limits of the environment
• Phase out dirty, unsustainable energy sources
• Create greater equity in the use of resources
• Decouple economic growth from the consumption of fossil fuels

Download PDF

"’Energy [R]evolution,’ details how to cut global CO2 emissions in half by 2050, using existing technology and still providing affordable energy and economic growth. In short – a revolution in energy policy and an evolution in how we use energy."

Carbon Sequestration

Finally, the Obama administration seems committed to an energy future which includes so-called "clean coal" as a major energy source, with the expansion of new coal plants and retrofitting of old ones. We also seem committed to a new technology for making that coal cleaner, by capturing the resultant CO2 in a process called "carbon sequestration" or "carbon capture and storage". Greenpeace has made a major study on "CCS" called "False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won’t Save the Climate," which we summarize here:

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) aims to reduce the climate impact of burning fossil fuels by capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from power station smokestacks and disposing of it underground. Its future development has been widely promoted by the coal industry as a justification for the construction of new coal-fired power plants. However, the technology is largely unproven and will not be ready in time to save the climate.

This report, based on peer-reviewed independent scientific research shows that: CCS cannot deliver in time to avoid dangerous climate change. The earliest possibility for deployment of CCS at utility scale is not expected before 2030.1 To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, global greenhouse gas emissions have to start falling after 2015, just seven years away.

CCS wastes energy. The technology uses between 10 and 40% of the energy produced by a power station. Wide scale adoption of CCS is expected to erase the efficiency gains of the last 50 years, and increase resource consumption by one third.

Storing carbon underground is risky. Safe and permanent storage of CO2 cannot be guaranteed. Even very low leakage rates could undermine any climate mitigation efforts.

CCS is expensive. It could lead to a doubling of plant costs, and an electricity price increase of 21-91%. Money spent on CCS will divert investments away from sustainable solutions to climate change.

CCS carries significant liability risks. It poses a threat to health, ecosystems and the climate. It is unclear how severe these risks will be.

The climate crisis requires urgent action. Climate scientists warn that to avoid the worst effects, global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2015 and then start falling by at least 50% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. Coal is the most polluting of all fossil fuels, and the single greatest threat to the climate. If current plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in coal plants are realised, CO2 emissions from coal could increase 60% by 2030. Concerns about the feasibility, costs, safety, and liability of CCS make it a dangerous gamble. A survey of 1000 “climate decision-makers and influencers” around the world reveals substantial doubt in the ability of CCS to deliver. Just 34% were confident that retrofitting ‘clean coal technology’ to existing power plants could reduce CO2 emissions over the next 25 years without unacceptable side effects, and only 36% were confident in its ability to deliver low-carbon energy from new power
stations.

The real solutions to stopping dangerous climate change lie in renewable energy and energy efficiency that can start protecting the climate today. Huge reductions in energy demand are possible with efficiency measures that save more money than they cost to implement. Technically accessible renewable energy sources – such as wind, wave and solar- are capable of providing six times more energy than the world currently consumes – forever.

See the Press Release: New Report: Greenpeace Energy Blueprint Shows How Existing Alternatives to Fossil Fuels Will Revolutionize a Broken Energy Economy, Greenpeace, June 9, 2010:

Washington — In the midst of the intractable crisis caused by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it is time to stop investing in a broken energy economy and seize the opportunity to invest in a sustainable energy future, according to the environmental group Greenpeace. The way forward is illustrated in “Energy [R]evolution: A Sustainable USA Energy Outlook,” one of the most comprehensive plans for future production and distribution of sustainable energy systems launched today by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC).

If you are new to the question of global warming and climate change, please feel encouraged to read the Wikipedia article on global warming.

See the White House Issues page on Energy and Environment.

Watch the video at and read the White House page A New Foundation for Energy and the Environment.

Go to the United States Global Change Research Program page on Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States.

Go to the National Science Foundation’s page on Climate Change. Read their .pdf report, SOLVING THE PUZZLE: Researching the Impacts of Climate Change Around the World, hosted here at Evans Liberal Politics.

Read Time’s Special Climate-Change Report: From Bad to Worse, June 17, 2009, by Bryan Walsh.

Download and read Greenpeace: "Energy [R]evolution – a Sustainable Energy Outlook," hosted here.

Download and read Greenpeace: "False Hope: Why Carbon Capture and Storage Won’t Save the Climate," hosted here.

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