Fracking Follies
The US Energy Information Administration, or EIA, regularly updates its estimates for how much oil and gas might be recovered in the future, and at what rate. With the application of new technology from year to year, those...
Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, and Mary Berry at the 36th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures
The 36th Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures featured Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson in a conversation moderated by Mary Berry, Wendell’s daughter and the founding Executive Director of The Berry Center. The conversation took place on Saturday, October 22nd,...
2016 Shale Reality Check: Web Presentation
In this recording, David Hughes, author of a series of groundbreaking reports analyzing the long-term prospects of the so-called “shale revolution” shares some of the key findings from his latest reports: The 2016 Shale Gas Reality Check and 2016...
In Conversation: Our Economy After Fossil Fuels
All economic activity entails energy usage. As our energy sources change, our economy will likely evolve and adapt—perhaps in surprising ways. The transition to 100% renewable energy raises profound questions for the future of our economy, including: Can capitalism as...
Is Being “Punk as F*ck” really Where it’s At?
Sam Bliss (author of the wonderfully-named blog ‘The Bliss Point‘) and Aaron Vansintjan recently wrote blog called Degrowth is Punk as F*ck which defended the term “degrowth” as “a little middle finger to the establishment” and urged the reader...
2016 Shale Gas Reality Check
In 2014, Earth Scientist David Hughes took a hard look at the EIA’s existing Annual Energy Outlook shale gas and tight oil forecasts and conducted his own play-by-play, in-depth analysis to create the groundbreaking report, Drilling Deeper. In Drilling Deeper,...
2016 Tight Oil Reality Check
Every year, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA), publishes its Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) in which U.S. energy supply is forecast through 2040. The EIA’s yearly AEO has enormous influence with policymakers, the media, and through...
Meet the Guy Corralling Billionaires to Fight Inequality
Interview by Fran Korten In 1986, at the age of 26, Chuck Collins, the great-grandson of meatpacking giant Oscar Mayer, gave away his trust fund. He was working on forming community land trusts for affordable housing and helping mobile-home...
Localism in the Age of Trump
2016 will be remembered as the year Donald Trump—a wealthy, narcissistic political novice with a strong authoritarian bent—was elected president of the United States after campaigning against economic globalization. The events are fresh enough in many people’s minds that...
Howling at the USGS’s Wolfcamp Announcement
In a November 15 press release, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) announced that there might be a lot more oil in Texas than previously estimated: The Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin portion of Texas’ Permian Basin province...