HOUSTON — Canada has warned the US government that a narrow interpretation of new energy legislation would prohibit its neighbour buying fuel from Alberta’s vast oil sands, with ‘unintended consequences for both countries’. In a letter to Robert Gates, US defence secretary, Canada said that it ‘would not want to see an expansive interpretation’ of the Energy Independence and Security Act 2007. A copy of the letter, from Michael Wilson, Canadian ambassador, and copied to Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, and Samuel Bodman, US energy secretary, has been obtained by the Financial Times. Section 526 of the law limits US government procurement of alternative fuels to those from which the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions are equal to or less than those from conventional fuel from conventional petroleum sources. Canada’s oil sands are considered unconventional fuels, and producing them emits more greenhouse gas than conventional production. The Bush administration has, nonetheless, encouraged developing oil sands, given the US’s favourable relationship with Canada and that it would reduce reliance on Middle East imports. Amy Myers Jaffe, energy expert at Rice University, said cutting out the oil sands as a source of fuel would also limit global supplies […]
It’s been a rough week for Sen. Barack Obama, and an even rougher week for his supporters. He took his eye off the ball for a minute to attack Sen. John McCain – and Sen. Hillary Clinton pounced, throwing the kitchen sink at him. Meanwhile, the thin-skinned media, falling prey to her campaign’s whining about how much ‘tougher’ they’ve been on her than on him, allowed her to set the tone for the entire news cycle during the last week before the elections in Ohio and Texas. (You can fill my in-box all you want, Clinton fans, but the media has been sweeter to Clinton than you know. There’s been scant mention of Monica, Whitewater, Marc Rich, cattle futures … oh, did I just say all that?) Those of us who admire the senator, meanwhile, are feeling wrung out and exhausted. Obama’s got to bounce back. I think that he will – but he’ll have to do it smartly, because for him, the race has entered its most precarious phase. If he attacks the Clintons using gutter politics, he’ll lose – those are the tactics that they excel at, and he can’t beat them at their own game. More […]
NEW YORK — In a major shift, a group of Southern Baptist leaders said their denomination has been ‘too timid’ on environmental issues and has a biblical duty to stop global warming. The declaration, signed by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention among others and released Monday, shows a growing urgency about climate change even within groups that once dismissed claims of an overheating planet as a liberal ruse. The conservative denomination has 16.3 million members and is the largest Protestant group in the U.S. The signers of ‘A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change’ acknowledged that not all Christians accept the science behind global warming. They said they do not expect fellow believers to back any proposed solutions that would violate Scripture, such as advocating population control through abortion. However, the leaders said that current evidence of global warming is ‘substantial,’ and that the threat is too grave to wait for perfect knowledge about whether, or how much, people contribute to the trend. ‘We believe our current denominational resolutions and engagement with these issues have often been too timid,’ according to the statement. ‘Our cautious response to these issues in […]
CANTON, Mississippi — Fresh from her victories in three out of four states last week and surging back in the national polls, Hillary Clinton has crafted a new strategy for winning the Democratic nomination which she believes will legitimise her claim to be president. Clinton thinks she can win a majority of the popular vote in primaries and caucuses, even if she cannot overtake Barack Obama, her rival, in the number of ‘pledged’ delegates who will vote to choose the candidate at the Democratic national convention in August. The New York senator has unnerved Obama, who has been left reeling by a series of errors from senior policy advisers. The two opponents face an ugly six-week battle in the run-up to a potentially pivotal primary in Pennsylvania next month. Democrats boosted Obama in Wyoming last night in state caucuses that gave the Illinois senator a comfortable victory. With almost all votes tallied he beat Clinton by 59% to 40%. Not how many delegates, but how good Democratic ‘superdelegates’ could hand Hillary Clinton the nomination even if she is still trailing in August, says Tim Hames * Hillary Clinton hints at a […]
I am writing this looking at a smart colour graph that has been sent to the BBC bureau in Baghdad by the US Department of State. It is part of what they call the Weekly Essential Indicators report. The graph shows the demand for electricity across the country compared with the supply. Over the past year, supply has never even got near meeting the demand. Energy gap Seventy per cent was the very best, but that was exceptional and coincided with the autumn, when the weather is warm and pleasant here and people use their air conditioners and fans less than they do in the searing heat of the summer. And, they have not yet switched on their heaters for the cold desert nights of winter. On the graph, the supply line mostly hovers around 55% and dips below 50 several times. That is for the whole country and supply to Baghdad is pitiful. Hours and hours go by without mains electricity, then it suddenly will be available for a short time and go dead again. If they can afford to, Iraqis buy generators and the fuel for them. Home […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
