There Goes the Data: Major Cuts at EIA Washington

[jk]

There Goes the Data: Major Cuts at EIA Washington
by Gregor Macdonald

One of my greatest concerns coming out of the financial crisis of 2008 was that, eventually, free services like government data would be reduced or lost altogether. This afternoon I learned from EIA Washington that one of the cornerstones of my own work, and also the work of others globally, is about to be suspended: the gathering of International Energy Statistics. For me professionally, this is among the most important gateways to monthly data on global oil production. As I said, after 2008 I came to recognize my own professional dependency on this free data. But, I never actually expected to lose my access. Well, that’s always the way, isn’t it? Below is a portion of today’s EIA Press Release:



While I’ve not had time to look through the entire list of cuts, I did place a phone call to EIA Washington before publishing this post. I confirmed with an EIA spokesperson, Paul, that the cuts are immediate. While I may post again on this issue, the loss of such a large array of data is going to make work difficult for professionals across the energy, energy policy, environmental policy, and industrial and financial sectors. While we will still have IEA Paris data on a monthly basis—and BP Statistical Review data that comes once a year—EIA Washington produced alot of unique data of their own. This is big news. And, it’s bad news.

http://gregor.us/eia/there-goes-the-...ia-washington/



jk- i guess what we don't know can't hurt us.

[dcarrigg]

Re: There Goes the Data: Major Cuts at EIA Washington

jk- i guess what we don't know can't hurt us.

The EIA took a $34M haircut compared to the budget request. That's a third of their 2010 budget. It's not free to track all of that data.

Wait until the small-towners with one or few police see what happens when the state and local law enforcement grants get cut. Austerity will not be so popular when there's no one to call...

[don]

Re: There Goes the Data: Major Cuts at EIA Washington

There Goes the Data: Major Cuts at EIA Washington
by Gregor Macdonald

One of my greatest concerns coming out of the financial crisis of 2008 was that, eventually, free services like government data would be reduced or lost altogether. This afternoon I learned from EIA Washington that one of the cornerstones of my own work, and also the work of others globally, is about to be suspended: the gathering of International Energy Statistics. For me professionally, this is among the most important gateways to monthly data on global oil production. As I said, after 2008 I came to recognize my own professional dependency on this free data. But, I never actually expected to lose my access. Well, that’s always the way, isn’t it?

While I’ve not had time to look through the entire list of cuts, I did place a phone call to EIA Washington before publishing this post. I confirmed with an EIA spokesperson, Paul, that the cuts are immediate. While I may post again on this issue, the loss of such a large array of data is going to make work difficult for professionals across the energy, energy policy, environmental policy, and industrial and financial sectors. While we will still have IEA Paris data on a monthly basis—and BP Statistical Review data that comes once a year—EIA Washington produced alot of unique data of their own. This is big news. And, it’s bad news.

Can't help but wonder if your good work contributed to its demise. You have my condolences.