Today in Cleantech
The death toll and devastation from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan this morning is a somber reminder of how unexpected events can wreak havoc with our best-laid plans. It’s far too early to say how Japan’s disaster will affect the global economic and energy picture, although the closure of four Japanese nuclear power plants could force the country to import more liquefied natural gas, increasing the cost of that key energy resource. Japan’s disaster certainly adds yet another destabilizing event to what’s already been a week of unrest for energy markets. With violence between rebels and government forces in Libya keeping that country’s oil from reaching markets, petroleum prices are spiking — and it’s unclear whether or not swing oil producer Saudi Arabia will be able to cover the shortfall. That’s led to some Democratic politicians to call for President Barack Obama to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. In the meantime, Republican lawmakers have pointed to the Middle East’s turmoil as a reason to push through laws to increase domestic oil and gas drilling in places including the Gulf of Mexico. Obama is set to hold a press conference shortly detailing his administration’s plans to deal with high energy prices and the disaster in Japan — stay tuned.
