December crude oil contracts plunged below $69 as the specter of collapsing demand weighs on markets, Bloomberg reports. It’s worrying OPEC: Iran is now talking of a 2.5 million barrel cut, though the cartel’s divisions often come to the fore when prices are falling, also in Bloomberg. OPEC can at least shoot for a price band again thanks to its newfound spare production capacity, notes the NYT. Spare capacity being what Russia wants, signalling it won’t join OPEC in any cuts, in Bloomberg.
Elsewhere the oil-production situation is gloomy. Africa provided 25% of new reserves in the last decade, but the perfect storm of violence, depleted fields, and financial turmoil threatens the continent’s output, in the WSJ (sub reqd.). Same for Mexico, where new oil-sector laws to goose production are politically viable but tecnically little help, also in the WSJ (sub reqd.). Meanwhile, a planned gas cartel between Iran, Russia, and Qatar will likely have little impact given natural gas’ different trading characteristics, in Voice of America.
Kirk Kerkorian’s frustration with Ford is the latest no-confidence vote in Detroit, notes the NYT. And the promised $25 billion federal bailout could take 6 to 18 months to materialize, in the WaPo. In comparison, alternative-fuel car markers like Tesla aren’t in such bad shape, notes Earth2Tech, though Tesla is also waiting on Washington for much-needed money.
Tom Friedman yearns for $4 gasoline and all the changes it wrought, renewing his calls for a green buildout to save the economy. He’s not alone. Van Jones, best-selling green-collar author, says the time has come for Green Keynesianism, in the Huffington Post. Google CEO Eric Schmidt renews his calls for federal investment in a smart grid at an Obama event, in Washington Wire. And now that regulation isn’t a dirty word, Washington can embrace sensible, cost-benefit analysis to revitalize environmental regulation, at TNR’s The Vine.
Chinese emissions could grow faster than expected in coming decades, in Reuters. But figuring out how to curb emissions around the world is tough, with the EU balking at proposals to include afforestation in any emissions-credit scheme, in Green Inc. The emissions market is still attractive, with Nasdaq the latest exchange jumping on the bandwagon, in the WSJ (sub reqd.).
General Electric hopes clean energy will help pull it through tough times, forecasting $17 billion in comagination sales this year, at Green Biz. The spate of clean-tech-is-battered stories are just the latest round of newspapers shooting the wounded after the battle, says Joe Romm at Climate Progress. And Grist dives into the GAO report on clean coal, and finds U.S. policy is on the wrong track to quickly develop cleaner ways to use the nation’s big coal reserves.
Wal Mart puts pressure on Chinese suppliers to clean up their act, with a new slate of environmental standards unveiled in Beijing, in the NYT. It couldn’t come at a worse time for many small suppliers, notes the WSJ (sub reqd.), wondering who will pay for it all. Perhaps that’s why Wal Mart sweetened the pill with a special appearance by Cameron Diaz, at the China Journal.
