Gem of the day

New op-ed in the NY Times by Alan Riley gets the picture on energy and climate change awesomely wrong:

"The battle against runaway climate change is being lost. The green movement and the energy industry — while engaged in a furious debate on issues from nuclear power to oil sands — are missing the bigger picture...Broad development of shale gas resources — with proper ecological safeguards — could be the best way to achieve the quick cuts in carbon dioxide emissions that we need to maintain a habitable environment on Earth."

His proof points:

•  "Current" renewable energy supply can't deliver adequate carbon savings
•  Using shale gas in the interim will give us time to "develop" renewable energy globally

Aside from the obvious chicken-and-egg issue there - renewables will scale up to meet demand but we need investment now to seriously kick-start that - the biggest fault in this article is Riley's failure to understand shale gas is about propping up the fossil fuels narrative.

But that might be too much to expect from a piece written by an energy law professor.