1-16-04, 2000 hrs (FTW) – For
almost two years FTW has been following an imminent
natural gas crisis connected to Peak Oil. Last summer
at a conference in Mexico, I predicted the August 14th
blackout more than a month before it happened. In previous
stories and in one which we will publish for our subscribers
in a few days, we have reported that going into this
winter, the US had just barely met the absolute minimum
storage requirements of three trillion cubic feet (Tcf)
of gas which might have been enough if the weather stayed
mild. We warned repeatedly that seriously cold weather
might trigger gas shortages and events such as those
reported by CNN today.
Here are some quotes from the CNN story which is reposted
in its entirety below:
“Temperatures remained below zero Friday morning
across New England after plunging to near-record lows,
straining power grids and bringing life to a near standstill
in some places. Officials asked residents
to conserve energy voluntarily or face rolling blackouts.”
“…A spokeswoman for ISO New England Inc.,
the company responsible for maintaining the region's
power grid, said it would launch rolling blackouts only ‘under
extreme circumstances’…”
“The weather has created high demand for electricity,
and as a result some power generating plants ran out
of natural gas Thursday and increased the burden on other
plants, according to ISO New England.”
What our readers must understand is that this crisis
is not one that can be solved by more drilling. A reading
of FTW’s previous extensive reporting on Peak Oil
and Gas reveals that there are no more significant gas
fields left and that no amount of drilling for oil and
gas is going to prevent a darker and colder future. Any
appreciable supplies of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from
overseas are decades of construction and billions of
dollars of investment away and even that is at best only
a short-term supply which will be taken away from others
who will have to do without.
What is happening today is just the beginning.
For all of the Pollyanna advocates of alternative
energy who assure us that there is nothing to worry
about, that the world, and especially the United States
can go on consuming at current levels and that the
fatally flawed fallacy of a hydrogen economy will somehow
solve our problems with regard to oil and gas, I suggest
that they go and live in the northeast today and see
how warm their windmills, solar panels, biomass and
hydrogen myths keep them. Where is the infrastructure
to employ even the pitiful solutions that solar, wind
and biomass might provide? Mother Earth is laughing
at Dick Cheney’s
arrogant position that “the American way of life
is not negotiable”.
Now is the time when the presidential candidates
and every leader in the world must come to acknowledge
Peak Oil and tell the world the truth. It is here.
It is now. And sadly, as we have consistently said
since 9/11, people are dying. Whether from hypothermia
and frostbite, or from bombs and “terror” attacks,
the cause is the same: the world is running out of
hydrocarbon energy.
FTW would like to express its deepest gratitude to our
Energy Editor Dale Allen Pfeiffer for his dedicated and
breathtakingly accurate work on this subject. Dale, the
good news is that you were right. And the bad news is
that you were right.
Mike Ruppert
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section
107, this material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
included information for research and educational purposes.)
'Extremely
dangerous' cold grips
Northeast
Friday, January 16, 2004 Posted: 1:23 AM EST (0623 GMT)
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- The northeastern United
States faced more bitter cold and high winds Thursday,
with forecasters warning of "extremely dangerous" wind
chills as low as 45 degrees below zero in eastern Massachusetts.
In Vermont , Gov. James Douglas appeared live on the
state's largest television network to urge New England
residents to conserve energy and help prevent rolling
blackouts, which may be needed in an extreme circumstance.
Douglas said ISO New England, the company responsible
for maintaining the region's power grid, is preparing
to shut off power to some customers on Friday, if necessary,
in order to keep the grid working.
The weather has created high demand for electricity
and as a result some power generating plants ran out
of natural gas Thursday and increased the burden on other
plants, according to ISO New England.
Steve Costello, a spokesman for the Central Vermont
Public Service Corp., said if the rolling blackouts are
needed it would be a first for the region.
"We've never had to resort to that to maintain
the stability of the system," Costello said. "But
there has been very, very high demand in New England
today."
Galen Crader, CNN weather forecaster, predicts the sub-freezing
temperatures will remain through the middle of next week.
Sub-zero temperatures, however, could begin to fade away
as early as Friday afternoon.
"These values can produce frostbite in just 10
or 15 minutes," a National Weather Service advisory
said. "If you don't have to travel or be outside
late tonight or early tomorrow, then stay indoors."
In Maine , where wind chills could dip to 50 below zero
Friday morning, Gov. John Baldacci declared a state of
emergency in hopes of convincing federal highway regulators
to allow longer driving hours for truckers carrying fuel
oil.
"These conditions threaten public health and safety
and endanger public property if fuel oil cannot be delivered
to Maine homes and businesses," Baldacci's declaration
said.
About 20 coffee-drinkers were crammed into a coffee
shop in Portland , Maine , on Thursday morning, according
to server Jamie Deering. "It's really cold, I mean,
it's going down to 15 below at night," Deering said. "I
didn't even take my trash out last night and my car is
frozen."
In Boston the temperature reached a high of negative
2 degrees Thursday. The city's largest homeless shelter,
which provides 700 beds, has been packed.
But one woman on a Boston street said area residents
know how to deal with that type of weather:
"Dress in layers, keep moving and just try to have
that old, good New England character," she said.
Business was off Thursday at a Waffle House restaurant
in Tewkesbury , Massachusetts , said cook Sandra Starke. "It's
awful, very cold," she said. "We just got a
dusting [of snow] but it's so cold nobody wants to come
out."
New Hampshire's Mount Washington Observatory, which
boasts of having "The world's worst weather," recorded
temperatures of 28 degrees below zero Fahrenheit on Thursday
morning with a wind chill of 71 degrees below zero.
"It's actually very wonderful to be up here, to
just be able to experience the weather extremes here
that Mother Nature throws at you," said meteorologist
Tim Markle from a weather station on the mountain. "A
lot of people don't like the cold, but we're loving it
up here."
-- CNN's Adaora Udoji, Laura Bernardini and CNN.com
writer Thom Patterson contributed to this report.
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