Month: October 2007

A Quiet Louisiana Success Story

Louisiana is not generally known for its success in economic development terms, and post-Katrina the nation’s view of Louisiana as corruption-ridden and inefficient has (justifiably) grown considerably worse. Update: I hope Bobby Jindal’s election represents a turning of the page in this regard!

I thought I’d highlight an area of economic development success for Louisiana government and for the current governor’s administration in particular. Kathleen Blanco appointed Johnny Bradberry, a former energy company executive, as head of the Louisiana Department of Transportation at the beginning of 2004. Bradberry has done an excellent job at the La. DOTD, and has specifically driven forward the TIMED program, which is responsible for widening key highways throughout Louisiana from two to four lanes.
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Arctic Sea Ice Gone by 2013?

Summertime Arctic sea ice is indeed vanishing faster than anyone previously predicted, as this graph makes clear. The National Snow and Ice Data Center at UC Boulder concurs, and there is no disputing that 2007 was a record year for Arctic sea ice melt. That doesn’t bode well for future temperature rises, since the ice acts as a giant sun reflector, and helps cool the oceans.

But hey, looking at the bright side, at least the fabled Northwest passage is now open in summertime!

Arctic Sea Ice Trends 1979-2007

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Peak Oil – I can’t wait!

What is Peak Oil, and why am I so excited about it? Peak Oil theory owes its start predominantly to the work of M. King Hubbert, who correctly predicted in 1956 that US oil production would peak in the early 70’s. Hubbert was a research geologist for Shell, and in his research noted a bell curve distribution in the rate of discoveries of new oil fields. He predicted that the later exploitation of these fields would follow a similar curve, wherein oil production would reach a peak rate at some point in time followed by a steady decline. While highly controversial, Hubbert’s theories proved correct in his own lifetime, and have spawned a generation of Peak Oil theorists who are predicting an imminent peak in world oil production.
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