The Oil Drum: Local

My growing (and worrying) conclusion is that we are headed back to the future with coal - either liquified for our cars or simply burning it for electricity. Perhaps somewhat cleaner coal, but even clean coal is more polluting in terms of global warming than most other forms of energy production.

For a city that gobbles energy like contestants at the Coney Island hot dog eating contest, it was surprising to learn recently, from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's energy task force, that New York won't be needing new power plants until at least 2012. That's a very different report than one issued just two years ago, which said the city would be needing 25 percent more energy generation by 2008. The turnaround is a result, in part, of the city's aggressive conservation and efficiency goals under Mr. Bloomberg. But the city is hardly out of the woods on energy.

Indeed, while NYC is very energy efficient compared to it's suburban and exurban counterparts, the sheer number of people does require an enormous amount of power.