Energy – by the time you read about it… |

Energy – by the time you read about it…

When the BP spill occurred, I wasn’t able to blink without energy being mentioned. Every article, every economist, and every politician wanted a piece of the PR feeding frenzy. The problem was that the focus was completely misplaced; I said it then and I’ll say it now – a spill was not surprising!

Given our energy dependence, the fact that oil is getting harder to find and extract, and the lax government regulations, it was only a matter of time before some major spill happened somewhere. So it happened to be BP and it happened to be in the gulf. Immediately, everyone wanted a piece of BP’s massive cash hoard. I get it and I’m happy to fine them, but there are bigger issues at stake. No effort has been made to analyze the underlying issues of energy – but a bigger issue is looming and the rest of the world is aware of it more than the US.

Iran is going nuclear, and whether we like it or not, energy dependence will once again take a front row seat, with no one to pay any fines, as we face a massive squeeze in oil prices.The front page of The Atlantic Monthly brings to light one (of numerous) scenarios that might drive this squeeze:

The rest of the world is more aware of it that the US, and is taking the appropriate actions – investing in domestic energy supply through alternatives and nuclear. By far, nuclear energy offers the best option to gain long term energy independence. Even Finland, with its strong environmental and bureaucratic structure has found a way of burying nuclear waste, so how come we can’t?

The geopolitics of energy are about to trump the global slowdown.

Last 5 posts by Yaron Sadan

Portugal, and Yields, and Iran . . . - January 30th, 2012
The Hunt for Yield - January 26th, 2012
All eyes should be on Iran - January 23rd, 2012
Quick note - January 19th, 2012
Our monkey mind - January 17th, 2012