Thursday 28th of November 2024
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gazillions of resources in petrostralia.....

The first step in fixing any problem is acknowledging it. And for Australia on climate change, that means admitting we are a petrostate.

The paradox is glaring: while the UAE and Saudi Arabia are readily acknowledged and seemingly proud to be petrostates, Australia’s similar status is unspoken. It’s time to confront this uncomfortable truth – we are the third-largest fossil fuel exporter globally and the single largest exporter of coal and gas.

 

Time for Australia to admit it’s a petrostate    By Gregory Andrews

 

Petrostates are nations whose economies rely heavily on fossil fuel exports, often with a resulting and disproportionate influence by the fossil fuel industry on their economic, political, and social structures. This is certainly the case for Australia. The fossil fuel industry has transformed us into a major player in the global energy market. And our political, social and cultural institutions have been clearly captured by it.

Australia’s substantial role in the global fossil fuel trade not only rivals, but indeed surpasses, traditional heavyweights. Australia is the third-largest exporter of fossil fuels globally. Our annual coal exports are around 400 million metric tons per annum. In comparison, the UAE, exports around 114 million metric tons of oil per annum. Our gas industry is equally noteworthy. In 2021, we were the world’s largest gas exporter, surpassing Qatar and the United States.

Compounding the issue is blatant messaging from the Australian government about expanding our coal and gas industries. Resources Minister Madeline King has boldly proclaimed that “gas and coal in Australia will be needed for decades.” Earlier this year, Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen made a trip to Japan and Korea where he assured them Australia would be “a reliable supplier of gas far into the future”. And Environment Minister Plibersek has based her continued approval of coal mines on an argument that other countries need Australia’s fossil fuels – the so-called ‘drug dealer defence’. This overt promotion of the fossil fuel sector undermines our credibility on the global stage, especially in the midst of escalating efforts to combat climate change and phase out fossil fuels as its major cause. Australia risks isolation, condemnation and economic stagnation if we continue down this path.

As we vie to host COP31, it’s essential to reflect on the UAE’s hosting of COP28 as a cautionary tale. The event showcased the hypocrisy and challenges of a nation deeply entrenched in the fossil fuel industry leading climate discussions. Australia’s bid to host COP31, raises concerns about the sincerity of our commitment to addressing climate change. There are significant risks to our national interests, especially in the Pacific where we aim to be the so-called ‘partner of choice’. Pacific and other small island states were clearly betrayed by the process at COP28.

As the UN Secretary General said at the end of COP28, a “fossil fuel phase out is inevitable”. If Australia fails to deal with its petrostate reality, COP31 will tarnish our reputation and national interests further.

We stand at a crossroads – we can either acknowledge our role as a petrostate and take bold steps towards a safe future free from fossil fuels, or we can continue down a path that prioritises coal and gas over the well-being of the planet and our national interests. Admitting the truth is the first step in catalysing change. As the world shifts rapidly to a cleaner, greener future, we cannot afford to be left behind, shackled by chains of our own making.

https://johnmenadue.com/time-for-australia-to-admit-its-a-petrostate/

 

GUSNOTE: FOR MY FIFTY THREE YEARS IN AUSTRALIA (FROM POOR AND UNLUCKY EUROPISTAN) AUSTRALIA HAS ALWAYS BEEN "AT A CROSSROAD" OF SOME SORT. THE FUTURE OF THE PLANET HANGS IN THE PROCESS CALLED "GLOBAL WARMING" WHICH DEMANDS THAT ALL THE PETROSTATES OF THE WORLD PUT A TIGHT BOW ON THEIR SUPPLIES TO A MERE TRICKLE... WE HAVEN'T STARTED YET, EXCEPT MARCHING ONCE MORE TOWARDS ANOTHER GLORIOUS WAR(S) WITH SUBMARINES AND STICKS...

 

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mad gas cash....

Dominic Geiger tours the north to check out the damage so far and protest at a court case involving American-backed gas fracker Tamboran Resources.

The bush on either side of the highway is black and smouldering as we begin our three-day, 1500 km journey from Mparntwe Alice Springs to Garramilla/Gulmerrogin Darwin. Fires, some that have been burning for months, create huge plumes of smoke on the horizon that, at a distance, look like storm clouds. We’re headed north for a court case and a protest to mark the event. 

The Central Australian Frack Free Alliance (CAFFA) is challenging the NT Government’s approval of Tamboran Resources’ 12 exploratory fracking gas wells, arguing the Environment Minister should have considered the climate impacts of not just this project, but the many thousands of fracking wells that would likely spread across the Barkly-Roper region like a rash, should Tamboran proceed to full-scale production. 

CAFFA member Hannah Ekin says, “There is clearly no justification for opening new oil and gas basins at this time, and I think it’s absolutely insane that the NT Government and the Federal Government are considering doing so. Going to court, particularly when the NT Government is doubling down behind fracking, is an important way to hold the government to account, to raise the community’s concerns, and to bring the conversation back to the bigger issue at hand which is full-scale fracking and all of the impacts it will cause.”

Reputex analysis shows how, under a high development scenario – that is, petroleum companies ripping out as much gas from the Beetaloo Basin as they can get – many thousands of wells would be drilled, leading to the release of 1.3 billion tonnes of greenhouse pollution over a 20-year period. 

It’s a cruel irony that governments are eager to let fracking companies exploit an entirely new shale gas basin in a region that is already among the worst hit by climate change. In 2019, Katherine, at the northern edge of the Beetaloo, recorded 54 days above 40 degrees. The long-term average is nine.

There are six CAFFA members making the journey in a minibus, and three Traditional Owners from throughout the region will join us along the way to Darwin. We only have two CDs – a mix of old country songs and Bunna Lawrie’s Best of Coloured Stone – and with no reception for streaming and very few radio stations between Alice and Darwin, they’re put on heavy rotation.

Our first stop is to pick up Peltherre Chris Tomlins, an Arrernte and Warlpiri Elder who lives on an outstation about 50km north of Alice. Since there’s no reception, we agree to meet at a distinct round white letterbox on the other side of the Tropic of Capricorn. Like many who oppose fracking in the NT, Chris is worried about the impact it will have on the region’s scarce water resources. In the USA, completing a single hydraulic fracture can require between seven and 38 million litres of water.

 

https://michaelwest.com.au/beetaloo-basin-gas-fracking-protestors/

 

 

MAY AS WELL WAIT FOR A CYCLONE TO DESTROY THE FIELD.....

 

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customers....

Oil processing has intensified in Russia, jumping in the past week to reach close to the highest daily refining runs in more than eight months, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing sources.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the country’s refineries processed around 5.65 million barrels of crude a day from December 14 to 20. The figure is down by around 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the previous seven days, when average daily refinery runs hit the highest since early April.

Bloomberg calculations show that Russian daily crude refining in the first 20 days of December averaged around 5.57 million bpd, up almost 60,000 bpd on most of November.

Meanwhile, tanker-tracking data reportedly shows that Russia’s daily overseas crude supplies in the global market decreased to 3.18 million bpd in the week to December 17 as a result of a brief pause in shipments from the Baltic Port of Primorsk. “Still, the less volatile four-week average increased by 80,000 barrels a day,” Bloomberg wrote.

Russia has been diversifying its energy supplies in response to Western sanctions since the EU stopped accepting the country’s oil transported by sea. In February, Moscow pledged to voluntarily reduce oil production by 500,000 bpd starting from March. The move came in response to sanctions, while Russia also halted sales to buyers that comply with a Western-imposed price cap of $60 per barrel.

https://www.rt.com/business/589660-russia-oil-processing-record-highs/

 

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UNLESS WE STOP BUYING FOSSIL FUELS, WE CAN MAKE NO DINT IN THE CO2 EMISSIONS.... AND WE CANNOT STOP BURNING THESE EFFIN' FUELS.... 

 

 

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yankee gas...

In the wake of the COP28 climate summit, 170 scientists from the US and around the world sent a letter Tuesday calling for the Biden administration to reject a massive natural gas export facility proposed for Louisiana, as well as similar pending projects.

The facility, Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), would be the largest liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal in the Gulf, spanning about 546 acres and shipping up to 24 million tons of LNG to other countries each year.

CP2 would be the second LNG export terminal built in the Gulf region by the company Venture Global and would result in annual emissions equivalent to 42 million gas-powered cars – 20 times more than the recently approved Willow oil project in Alaska.

“You have often said that your policies will be guided by listening to the science,” the letter says, addressing President Biden. “As scientists we are telling you in clear and unambiguous terms that approving CP2 and other LNG projects will undermine your stated goals of meaningfully addressing the climate crisis and put us on a continued path toward escalating climate chaos.”

The letter to President Biden follows a Dec. 11 letter from over 230 organizations that also implored President Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm to halt the project.

“I think what we’re seeing is the logical response to continued and repeated inaction from the Biden administration to meaningfully address any platform to phase out fossil fuels,” said Jim Walsh, policy director for the environmental group Food & Water Watch.

While the US only began exporting LNG in 2106, today it is the largest exporter of the fossil fuel in the world, with the Biden administration largely supporting US LNG exports. Those exports are expected to double by 2035. In addition to the seven LNG export terminals already operating in the US, three are under construction, 10 have been approved, and five, including CP2, are under review.

Most new LNG export facilities are planned for the Gulf region, where existing terminals are already impacting quality of life for frontline communities. CP2 is planned for Cameron Parish, Louisiana, where current LNG operations are jeopardizing a generations-old fishing industry. Federally-funded LNG buildout also threatens communities in the US territory of Puerto Rico, where a move to gasify the island’s hurricane-rattled grid is underway that environmental justice advocates fear will worsen its reliance on fossil fuels while hindering efforts to switch to renewables.

While industry groups have called LNG “the cleanest of the fossil fuels,” new research from Cornell University suggests otherwise.

“While some proponents of LNG have argued it has a climate benefit by replacing coal, the analysis presented here disproves this,” writes study author Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell who signed the Dec. 19 letter. “Across all scenarios considered, total greenhouse gas emissions from LNG are larger than those from coal, ranging from 24% to 274% greater.” The study was published as a preprint in October and is undergoing peer review.

Investing in new fossil fuel infrastructure when climate change calls for dramatically reducing emissions is “misguided,” said Michael Mann, a Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania who also signed the letter.

“Despite what some claim, fossil gas is no bridge to a fossil fuel free future, and dollars that are being invested in the underlying infrastructure would better be spent on new clean energy infrastructure,” said Mann.

CP2 is still currently awaiting approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). After that, the Department of Energy (DoE) will make the final call on whether the project goes through.

“A lot of that is up to President Biden,” said Walsh. “He actually has some authority to direct DoE to take a broader look at what actually does constitute the national interest. In this determination, they could very well look at the climate impacts, the environmental justice impacts that the Biden administration claims to be concerned with.”

“You cannot build renewable energy and expect to address the climate crisis while you continue to dump tremendous amounts of fossil fuels, and the greenhouse gases with them, in international markets,” he added.

https://www.thenewlede.org/2023/12/170-scientists-urge-biden-to-reject-huge-proposed-gas-export-project/

 

 

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SEE ALSO: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/new-years-investment-resolution-bet-on-carbon/

 

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