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  • The New ’Golden Age of Oil’ that Wasn’t

    http://www.globalpolicy.org/social-and-economic-policy/the-environment/environmental-degradation/51994-the-new-golden-age-of-oil-that-wasnt.html?itemid=id#1444

    By Michael Klare
    Al Jazeera
    October 11, 2012

    Following the Arab Spring and the US presidential campaign, the topic of US energy independence has sparked back to life. The article summarizes the most high profile environmental disasters brought about by oil giants, who were given the green light to find alternative oil sources, no matter the cost. On this risky path to achieve ambitious energy targets, extreme alternatives such as arctic drilling, hydro-fracking and tar sands production are all on the table. As Professor Michael Klare puts it, one thing remains certain: “extreme energy= extreme methods= extreme disasters= extreme opposition.”

    Last winter, fossil-fuel enthusiasts began trumpeting the dawn of a new “golden age of oil” that would kick-start the American economy, generate millions of new jobs, and free this country from its dependence on imported petroleum. Ed Morse, head commodities analyst at Citibank, was typical. In the Wall Street Journal he crowed, “The United States has become the fastest-growing oil and gas producer in the world, and is likely to remain so for the rest of this decade and into the 2020s.”

    #états-unis #énergie #pétrole #géopolitique #géostratégie

    Once this surge in US energy production was linked to a predicted boom in energy from Canada’s tar sands reserves, the results seemed obvious and uncontestable. “North America,” he announced, “is becoming the new Middle East.” Many other analysts have elaborated similarly on this rosy scenario, which now provides the foundation for Mitt Romney’s plan to achieve “energy independence” by 2020.