Climate Change and the Oil Patch

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Is it just me or is there something perverse about this?

Congressional proposals to limit carbon dioxide and encourage technology to capture greenhouse gases could be a boon for both the environment and domestic oil producers, energy analysts said Wednesday.

House-passed climate change legislation would put new limits on carbon dioxide emissions nationwide, making it financially attractive to capture the gas. Senators are considering adding proposals to promote the rapid deployment of carbon capture and storage technology.

Captured CO2 could then be used to glean residual oil from developed reservoirs nationwide and potentially boost U.S. oil production as much as 3.6 million barrels daily, according to a report released Wednesday by the energy research firm Advanced Resources International.

I’m not staking out a position for or against. But you gotta wonder: Can we really ratchet down greenhouse gas emissions by increasing fossil fuel production?

, a native of Wimberley, Texas, is the editor of the Observer. Forrest has appeared on Democracy Now!, The Rachel Maddow Show and numerous NPR stations. His work has been mentioned by The New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Time magazine and many other state and national publications. Other than filing voluminous open records requests, Forrest enjoys fishing, kayaking, gardening and beer-league softball. He holds a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.

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