2019 | Energy Equality For All

22Feb 2019 by Energy Equality No Comments

How Google, Microsoft, and Big Tech Are Automating the Climate Crisis

Big Tech, Climate Change, Global Warming, Oil and Gas

In a deal that made few ripples outside the energy industry, two very large but relatively obscure companies, Rockwell Automation and Schlumberger Limited, announced a joint venture called Sensia. The new company will “sell equipment and services to advance digital technology and automation in the oilfield,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Yet the partnership has ramifications far beyond Houston’s energy corridor: It’s part of a growing trend that sees major tech companies teaming with oil giants to use automation, AI, and big data services to enhance oil exploration, extraction, and production. Rockwell is the world’s largest company that is dedicated to industrial automation, and Schlumberger, a competitor of Halliburton, is the world’s largest oilfield services firm. Sensia will be, according to the press release, “the first fully integrated digital…

22Feb 2019 by Energy Equality No Comments

3 clean energy myths that can lead to a productive climate conversation

Uncategorized

Renewable energy innovations symbolize what's great about America. Discussing them provides opportunities for climate dialogue. Energy use is the biggest cause of climate change, and it’s the first place we should look for solutions. It’s also a smart angle for talking about climate change, because it’s easy to find agreement on issues like improving energy efficiency, reducing pollution, cleaning up our energy supply, and reducing reliance on unstable foreign supplies. But energy can be a bit of a double-edged sword. The very reason that some people reject climate change is that they fear some of its solutions, such as regulations on carbon, or government subsidies for clean energy, pose risks to established fossil-fuel based ways of life. The good news is that it’s not hard to have positive conversations about…

13Feb 2019 by Energy Equality No Comments

By the End of the Century, San Francisco’s Climate Could Feel Like LA

Climate Change, Global Warming

When your grandchildren plan a trip to Denver later this century, they’ll need to leave the winter hat at home and instead plan like they’re going to the Texas Panhandle. That’s according to a new study published on Tuesday in Nature Communications, which looked at the future climate of 540 cities in North America and drew comparisons with cities of today. The results show that cities’ climates will, at the end of the century, look more like cities 528 miles south do today if emissions continue rising in line with current trends. That will rearrange more than vacation plans as city residents will be forced to cope with more intense heat and the dangerous impacts that came with it. The study also shows that if we begin to cut emissions,…

04Jan 2019 by Energy Equality No Comments

A Surge of Climate Lawsuits Targets Human Rights, Damage from Fossil Fuels

Climate Change, Global Warming

[caption id="attachment_599" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Rhode Island in 2018 became the first state to sue the fossil fuel industry over climate change, citing the growing risks from sea level rise and extreme weather. Credit: John Greim/LightRocket via Getty Images[/caption] Cities, states and the fishing industry want courts to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for global warming. Others argue government inaction violates rights. A climate denier is in the White House, pushing policies that will boost emissions. Congress is doing nothing to stop him. So citizens and local governments who are facing the impacts of rising seas, worsening heat waves and extreme weather are increasingly looking to the courts for help. The past year saw a surge in new lawsuits filed against fossil fuel companies, and major developments in cases pressing governments…