In The News

A Black Mark in the Waiting

Nayan Chanda May 21, 2014
Coal provides about a third of the globe’s primary energy needs, according to the World Coal Association, and India ranks third in coal production and consumption, after China and the United States. China produced six times as much coal than India in 2012, but is acting to reduce its reliance and develop alternatives. “It is ironic that while global public discussion is increasingly about ways to...

Restrained by Economic Mesh

Nayan Chanda May 12, 2014
Many international observers had hoped that an era of territorial annexation ended in 1991 when the Gulf War forced Iraq to backtrack on Kuwait. But a decade later, Russia quickly disrupted and invaded Crimea and China installed an oil drilling rig in disputed waters close to Vietnam. “The muted response to Russia and China's aggressive actions seem to underscore that in an increasingly...

Coal Politics in an Unequal World

Sunita Narain April 22, 2014
Energy is big business, and coal is behind about 40 percent of the global electricity production and 65 percent of Indian power. Developed nations like the United States and Australia are among major coal producers and exporters. Yet political leaders and NGOs in those nations harangue emerging economies like India to reduce emissions. Efforts to stigmatize coal have been successful, argues...

Sovereign Debts in a Fossil-Fueled World

Will Hickey April 8, 2014
Transition away from fossil fuels toward new alternatives is not going smoothly. Proponents of alternatives confront a powerful industry with longstanding incentives and favorable tax policies, suggests analyst Will Hickey. Around the globe, economic struggles and immediate profits take priority over development of alternative energies. Emerging economies are in a race to catch up with the living...

Shale Industry Faces Global Reality Check

Richard Anderson April 8, 2014
New technologies in shale oil and gas recovery have reduced energy costs in the United States, and governments around the globe consider fracking for energy security. Richard Anderson of BBC News questions if the US trends can be replicated in Europe and elsewhere. Companies tried drilling in Poland with little luck because of geology challenges. Also in Poland, “A punitive tax regime and an...

Shale Gas Helps Fracture US-Saudi Ties

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller April 1, 2014
President Barack Obama traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah, and both men “recognize that the geopolitical ground shaped by their common interest in stable oil prices has shifted, creating a new imbalance that could spill over into Mideast security policy,” suggests researcher Joergen Oerstroem Moeller. The so-called shale-gas revolution and eventual self-sufficiency in the United...

Obama Seeks to Repair Frayed Ties With Saudi Arabia

Ellen Knickmeyer, Maria Abi-Habib and Ahmed Al Omran March 31, 2014
US President Barack Obama visited Saudi Arabia, its key Arab ally in the region, reinforcing relations, but with no policy changes announced. Saudi Arabia had hoped to convince the United States to supply Syrian rebels with more weapons and move cautiously on renewing ties or lifting sanctions for Iran, a strong ally to the Assad regime. “The Obama administration's reluctance to authorize...