According to the United Nations, people were responsible for more than 27 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2004. Figure 1 shows a breakdown of global emissions by country for the top 10 emitters in 2004 (and while the data has not been fully assembled, emissions in the developing world have risen substantially since [...]

In a prior post I gave a high-level sense of the economic impact of carbon pricing. But that’s just the starting point. Let’s take a look at a critical question: What will this really mean for companies and consumers? In particular, which industries (and, as a follow on, which products and services) will be most [...]

Tackling climate change is a global effort, but at its heart sits 195 individual national energy policies (assuming universal participation).  These policies operate against a set of variables and principles that include – in no particular order – the presence of natural resources and the ease and cost of their extraction, type and scope of [...]

In a speech yesterday (Tuesday, January 13) at the National Press Club, ConocoPhillips Chairman and CEO Jim Mulva made an interesting observation on the issue of reducing the environmental footprint of energy production. He said: We agree with the concept of reducing the environmental footprint of energy production and consumption. But we must be realistic [...]

In the midst of this economic upheaval, like in those that preceded it, there is a palpable tension amongst developed nations between innovation and risk aversion.  In a globalized economy, with energy security looming as one of the central concerns of the next many decades, risk aversion is particularly dangerous on at least two fronts: [...]

President-elect Obama has made it clear that he intends to tackle energy security and climate change. He’ll focus on investments in renewable energy, creation of millions of jobs aimed at improving infrastructure (including energy efficiency improvements) … and creation of “an economy-wide cap-and-trade program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050″. While there [...]