G-8 Energy Ministers Discuss Supplies: Think Firmly Inside The Box

[phantom power]

Fossil fuels, blah blah blah... supply-side, blah blah blah... Business-friendly blah blah blah...
:boring:

Conspicuously absent was any discussion of GHG impacts on earth's climate. Which, in other news, is coming off the rails.

March 16,2006 | MOSCOW -- Energy ministers from the world's richest countries called Thursday for market-oriented approaches to increasing supplies and said significant investments would be needed in production, transportation and processing of resources.

(...)

"Despite the increased presence of alternative sources in the energy mix, the fossil fuels will remain the basis of the world energy industry for at least the first half of the 21st century."

(...)

After the G-8 finance ministers warned earlier this year about the effect of "high and volatile" energy prices on the world economy, Russian Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said Thursday that US$17 trillion (euro14 trillion) needed to be invested by 2030 "to create an effective global energy system that is resilient to shocks."

(...)

Stable legislation, a clear tax regime and flexible administration are key to realizing this goal, Khristenko said.

That list echoes the concerns on Western oil companies. Legislation clarifying the rules for tapping Russia's vast hydrocarbon reserves is still pending, at a time when the country is under huge pressure to increase its plateauing production by forging partnerships with foreign energy companies to rush new, hard to access reserves to market.

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8GCM51G4.html

[hatrack]

1. "Crackpot Realists" is a phrase that works wel for these clowns

And for Dick Cheney and Rummy and all the rest - hard-eyed, clear-eyed "realists" who "know how the world works."

Except that they don't.

[phantom power]

2. Yeah. Inflexibility isn't the same as level-headedness.