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Peek Oil

We get glimpses of before-during-after all the time now; ‘news’ exists in a meta-only form, wherein we have to read many things at once to understand any one thing. Many lines are required to have enough to read between, natch.

One current example: There’s too much oil: winners and losers.

Okay, sure.

This year is set to culminate in the first major glut since 2020. The International Energy Agency forecast in November that global supply will outweigh demand by 2.4 million barrels a day, and expects the gap to expand to a record 4 million barrels a day next year.
Sustained lower prices will put pressure on governments and businesses that are dependent on oil revenue, while others stand to benefit.
Not sure what the N is on gluts since we launched this fine establishment, but many there have been. And winners and losers, sure. Quick story, but put this at the bottom:
Road transport is the biggest source of oil demand. Consumers are used to a certain amount of volatility in fuel prices, but a prolonged reduction could make them less inclined to switch to an electric vehicle. That said, in areas where there are high taxes on diesel and gasoline, such as Europe and California, there could be limited relief at the pump from lower oil prices.
The buildout of clean power sources is less likely to be impacted by a crude surplus. In most regions, other than places such as the Middle East, renewables are usually competing against coal and natural gas for utility-scale electricity generation rather than oil.
Just so. Now, couple that with the new Cop30 deal, like each prior deal always a crowd-displeaser. Big, air-tight solutions remain just out of reach to stave off the ravages of climate breakdown. Yes, but. Hints and allegations find their way into the language of the most earnest until they are just sitting right there:

Teresa Anderson, the global lead on climate justice at ActionAid International, said: “A lack of climate finance is throwing a spanner in the works of climate progress. Global south countries, [which] are already carrying the costs of the climate crisis they have not caused, desperately need support from rich countries if they are to take on any more commitments. Nowhere was this more stark than on the issue of fossil fuels, where specific text once again ended up unfunded and on the cutting-room floor.”

Nikki Reisch, from the Center for International Environmental Law, said: “This is an empty deal. Cop30 provides a stark reminder that the answers to the climate crisis do not lie inside the climate talks – they lie with the people and movements leading the way toward a just, equitable, fossil-free future.”

Okay, part the last, for now. What has been going on for a year now in the Republic of Georgia:

Some footage from today’s protest march. Georgian citizens are demanding that the parliamentary elections, allegedly rigged in 2024, be rerun and that all political prisoners be released.

#GeorgiaProtests
Day 369

[image or embed]

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) December 1, 2025 at 1:36 PM

Bottom up. People and movements. There is no they.

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Squaring the War Circle

Hippies:

With insurgents increasingly attacking the American fuel supply convoys that lumber across the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuel.

Last week, a Marine company from California arrived in the rugged outback of Helmand Province bearing novel equipment: portable solar panels that fold up into boxes; energy-conserving lights; solar tent shields that provide shade and electricity; solar chargers for computers and communications equipment.

What’s next, less wars? I guess there are worse things – the Defense department did build the internet, even if it was just for Al Gore at first. So now they’ll scale up a renewable energy package in record time for the greatest fighting machine the world has ever known. Maybe, in the land hopeful unintended consequences, they’ll realize they/we don’t need to spend that much on armaments after all. That dropping bombs on people continually is not the path to their hearts and minds – well, not in a good way. But will we make the connection of our ways to our means through a transformation of our might?

Reminds me of that Churchill quote.

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Winding Us UP

How much does this have to do with the misdirection plays of the fossil fuel industry? In a way, it doesn’t matter. When we get down to studies involving just how much energy we need and how much we might supply with conventional renewable sources (in other words not urine-powered hydrogen engines or other exotica), we break into the clear about just what could be accomplished with prudent investment. But I guess this is exactly what puts the fossil fuel propaganda network on high alert.

Speaking of which, I did a similar piece on the potential for solar energy in this country some time last year. Complete with this short video.