News archives
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
The Guardian
Shell committed to tar sands despite $42m losses
Shell has pledged to continue with its controversial tar sands projects but has been forced to consider far-reaching cost cuts to keep the operations going after they lost $42m (£28m) in the last three months.
Peter Voser, the company's chief executive, said the success of its investment at Athab... Continued...
Voa News
Food Crisis Triggers Land Grab in Developing Countries
While much attention is being paid to the global economic crisis, the food crisis continues. However, the high food prices and shortages have now prompted a land grab in many developing countries.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says countries such as China, Korea and the... Continued...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
CommonDreams
Washington Climate Meeting Asked to Resist Special Treatment for Tar Sands
TORONTO, Ontario - April 27 - Environmental groups called on nations attending the meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, starting today in Washington, DC, to resist Canada's lobbying for special treatment for Tar Sands emissions. A poster (at left) and cover letter [pdf] were m... Continued...
Monday, April 27, 2009
New York Times
Clinton Says U.S. Is Ready to Lead on Climate
WASHINGTON — After eight years largely on the sidelines of the international policy debate on climate change, the United States is prepared to lead negotiations toward a new global warming treaty, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton add... Continued...
Reuters
Flu outbreak to loom over U.S.-Mexico truck dispute
The prompt resolution of a 15-year old dispute over access to U.S. roads by Mexican trucks could be another casualty of the deadly swine flu outbreak, international trade experts said on Monday.
Increased health checks to control the virus, which has killed 103 people in Mexico and infected at le... Continued...
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Guardian
Reveal carbon risks, oil firms told
Oil giants involved in the exploitation of tar sand fields face calls this week to disclose future carbon liabilities. Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) and environmental charity WWF-UK are launching a campaign for a legal requirement for companies including Shell and BP to include this informat... Continued...
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Bemidji Pioneer
Commentary: Leech Lake, prepare for invasion of Tar Sands oil
Keep your children close, your inhalers in hand and don’t forget to stock up on drinking water, as a new pipeline is proposed for northern Minnesota.
A set of corporations has offered $10 million to the Leech Lake tribe in exchange for a 20-year lease of tribal lands. The proposed Enbridge Albert... Continued...
Friday, April 24, 2009
AllAfrica
Africa: The Second Scramble for Africa Starts
Berlin - Sub-Saharan African countries have of late become the target of a new form of investment that is strongly reminiscent of colonialism: investors from both industrialised and emerging economies buy or lease large tracts of farm land across the continent, either to guarantee their own food pro... Continued...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Extension of Fair Trade Centre’s missions (FTC)
For more than fifty years, fair trade has been working primarily with the most disadvantaged populations of Southern countries, buying their products under conditions allowing an economic, social and environmental development. It contributes to the movement of social responsibility of their companie... Continued...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Canada.com
Harper delighted Obama won't open NAFTA
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday he is "delighted" the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama has closed the door to reopening the North American Free Trade Agreement.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told reporters in a conference call on Monday that it is not necessary to ren... Continued...
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Politico
Hill gears up for big climate week
Congress is launching the “mother of all climate weeks” on Tuesday, with a monster hearing designed to push forward global warming legislation.
Fifty-four witnesses will testify on climate change legislation in three full days before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, topped off with an app... Continued...
AFP
Indigenous groups hold Alaska climate change talks
WASHINGTON (AFP) — Indigenous peoples, who have been hard hit by the ravages of global warming, were gathering in Alaska Monday for talks on the impact of climate change on native communities.
"Indigenous peoples are on the front lines of this global problem, at a time when their cultures and liv... Continued...
New York Times
Boehner: Calling Carbon Dioxide Dangerous Is ‘Almost Comical’
Congressman John Boehner, the Ohio Republican who leads his party in the House, is no fan of the Environmental Protection Agency. Last week, the agency declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases posed a danger to public health, paving the way for regulation of their emission.
As note... Continued...
Reuters
Africa says poor need $267 bln/yr in climate fight
OSLO, April 20 (Reuters) - Developing nations will need at least $267 billion a year by 2020 to fight climate change and adapt to droughts, heat waves and rising seas, according to African nations.
The figure, part of a new African text for negotiations on a U.N. climate treaty, is more than doub... Continued...
Reuters
Africa says poor need $267 bln/yr in climate fight
OSLO, April 20 (Reuters) - Developing nations will need at least $267 billion a year by 2020 to fight climate change and adapt to droughts, heat waves and rising seas, according to African nations.
The figure, part of a new African text for negotiations on a U.N. climate treaty, is more than doub... Continued...
Business Line
MACROSCAN FOOD CRISES IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD
Around the middle of 2008, when international recognition of the global food crisis was its height and had not yet been displaced from the public radar by the financial crisis, there were actually visible signs of the crisis that went beyond the silent hunger of the poor that generally characterises... Continued...
Globe and Mail
Albertans are in need of a climate-change reality check
A strange and alarming disconnect has opened between what the Alberta government sees and believes about climate-change policy, and what is actually emerging in the United States.
Alberta, which accounts for about 32 per cent of Canada's emissions and is home to the "dirty" oil from the tar sands... Continued...
Globe and Mail
Albertans are in need of a climate-change reality check
A strange and alarming disconnect has opened between what the Alberta government sees and believes about climate-change policy, and what is actually emerging in the United States.
Alberta, which accounts for about 32 per cent of Canada's emissions and is home to the "dirty" oil from the tar sands... Continued...
Monday, April 20, 2009
The New York Times
In Shift, Obama Doesn’t Plan to Reopen Nafta Talks
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said on Monday that it had no plans to reopen negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement to revise its labor and environmental provisions, as then-Senator Barack Obama promised to do during his presidential campaign.
“The president has said we wi... Continued...
Friday, April 17, 2009
Northern News Services
Council approves call to halt tar sands
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A motion to stop new tar sands approvals in Alberta until certain measures are put in place was passed on Tuesday.
The city council meeting included an appeal from Ecology North's Doug Ritchie to pass the resolution. The motion passed with five councillors voting in favour... Continued...
The Guardian
We must protect communities who face climate change displacement
In Alaska, climate change is creating an unforeseen humanitarian crisis. Arctic sea ice – which had protected communities from coastal erosion and flooding – is rapidly disappearing and signalling a radical transformation of this northern ecosystem. Scientific observations during the summer of 2007 ... Continued...
MinnPost
Displaced workers share stories, urge change toward fair-trade policies
The Economic Policy Institute reports that Minnesota is one of the hardest-hit states by offshoring and outsourcing, with more than 58,000 jobs displaced since 2001. As the Obama administration and Congress consider whether to push forward with the Panama Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Minnesota's cong... Continued...
Washington Post
EPA Proposes Regulating Greenhouse Gas Emissions
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a proposal today finding greenhouse gas emissions pose a danger to the public's health and welfare, a determination that could trigger a series of sweeping regulations affecting everything from vehicles to coal-fired power plants.
In a statement issued a... Continued...
Thursday, April 16, 2009
U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis Urges G8 to Reject Failed Green Revolution Policies for Africa
The U.S. Working Group on the Food Crisis, a group representing anti-hunger, family farm, community food security, environmental, international aid, labor, food justice, consumers and other food system actors, urges the G8 at the upcoming Agricultural Ministerial in Treviso, Italy to reject the fail... Continued...
Bloomberg
Canada Should Adopt Carbon Cap-And-Trade, Group Says
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Canada should adopt a cap-and-trade system for carbon to meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions over the next several decades, a government advisory group said.
The system is the cheapest way to reduce emissions if it covers all industries, the National Round T... Continued...
Reuters
U.S., Mexico agree new partnership on climate change
MEXICO CITY, April 16 (Reuters) - The United States and Mexico agreed on Thursday on a new partnership to fight climate change and promote environmentally-friendly forms of energy production, they said in a joint statement.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, meetin... Continued...
MinnPost
Do you know where your oil comes from?
TORONTO — When President Barack Obama vowed this week to reverse U.S. dependence on "foreign oil," did he also mean Canada's? It's a question Americans might want to consider.
They could start by noting an important fact: Canada is the single-largest exporter of oil to the United States. Indeed, ... Continued...
MinnPost
Do you know where your oil comes from?
TORONTO — When President Barack Obama vowed this week to reverse U.S. dependence on "foreign oil," did he also mean Canada's? It's a question Americans might want to consider.
They could start by noting an important fact: Canada is the single-largest exporter of oil to the United States. Indeed, ... Continued...
The Miami Herald
Stopping climate change — and starvation
Few foods are more associated with home and hearth than bread. For centuries farmers have labored to master the elements and produce the crops that literally would put bread - whether in the form of corn tortillas, wheat chapattis or a loaf of rye - on the table for their families.
The struggle a... Continued...
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Reuters
Obama wants climate bill mindful of WTO rules: Kirk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration wants to ensure that legislation being crafted by Congress to fight global climate change does not violate international trade rules and backfire on U.S. exports, the top U.S. trade official said in a letter to a Republican lawmaker.
The letter from... Continued...
Reuters
China warns of slower income growth in rural areas
BEIJING (Reuters) - Income growth in rural China will slow this year as farms struggle to absorb millions of workers laid off from factories hit by the global financial crisis, officials said on Wednesday.
Despite government efforts to narrow the gap between urban and rural incomes, farmers' inco... Continued...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Guardian
To stop a climate catastrophe we must first believe we can make a difference
Climate scientists are hyping the global warming crisis in order to keep themselves in jobs, conferences and research grants to exotic locations. Their snouts are wedged deep in a lucrative trough.
So goes the familiar chant from the climate naysayers – those who are convinced climate change is n... Continued...
Reuters
LaHood sends Obama advice on ending trucking dispute
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has sent the White House recommendations for ending a NAFTA trucking dispute, which is expected to be high on the agenda when President Barack Obama visits Mexico later this week, an administration aide said on Monday.
The White House dec... Continued...
Mother Jones
The Bailout We Owe to the Developing World
One outcome of the G-20 meeting (as I wrote yesterday) was an agreement to earmark as much as $1 trillion for developing countries, where the economic crisis is having a life-threatening impact. This figure is in line with what the United Nations estimates is needed to “buffer the blows of the globa... Continued...
Monday, April 13, 2009
Agweek
Minnesota native will oversee foreign trade and food aid policies
WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was expected to announce April 10 that he has appointed Burnham John “Bud” Philbrook, a Minnesota volunteer group founder and executive, to be an agriculture deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services in charge of international aff... Continued...
Washington Post
India Rejects Calls For Emission Cuts
NEW DELHI -- Days after the Obama administration unveiled a push to combat climate change, Indian officials said it was unlikely to prompt them to agree to binding emission cuts, a position among emerging economies that many say derails effective action.
"If the question is whether India will tak... Continued...
Wall Street Journal
White House Seeks Bill on Climate by December
BOSTON -- Climate czar Carol Browner said she wants Congress to establish a broad U.S. greenhouse-gas policy before global climate-change talks near the end of the year.
Speaking at a conference Monday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ms. Browner said she is confident Congress can mo... Continued...
Friday, April 10, 2009
The New York Times
Obama, Who Vowed Rapid Action on Climate Change, Turns More Cautious
WASHINGTON — President Obama came to office promising swift and comprehensive action to combat global climate change, and the topic remains a surefire applause line in his speeches here and abroad.
Yet the administration has taken a cautious and rather passive role on the issue, proclaiming broad... Continued...
Mother Jones
Tar Sands Bad for Caribou
If health problems and polluted rivers weren't enough reason to worry aboout Canada's energy boom, here's another red flag: Declining caribou. According to a report scheduled to be released today by the Canadian government, herds of woodland caribou are struggling to survive in the boreal forests of... Continued...
The Oregonian
Author: U.S. gobbles dirty oil from Canada
Calgary-based author Andrew Nikiforuk grew interested in Canada's tar sands when, as he says, 700,000 people poured into Alberta Province to make a killing.
Nikiforuk, a veteran investigative reporter, visited Portland this week to discuss his new book on the costs of wresting oil from vast depos... Continued...
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Ottawa Citizen
Former oilsands exec named head of climate working group
OTTAWA — The Harper government has named a former oil and gas industry executive who led a company active in the Alberta oilsands as a representative on a U.S.-Canada working group on clean energy.
Charlie Fischer, who until recently served as president and chief executive officer of Calgary-base... Continued...
Reuters
WTO top court attracts strong nominations
GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization (WTO) has attracted nominations of six high-caliber trade law experts to fill two forthcoming vacancies in its top court, the appellate body, trade sources said on Thursday.
Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico have each nominated a candidate, a... Continued...
Reuters
Canada takes WTO action on South Korean beef ban
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada will request World Trade Organization consultations on South Korea's ban on Canadian beef imports, a formal step which could lead to stronger action, Trade Minister Stockwell Day said Thursday.
South Korea banned Canadian beef in May 2003 after bovine spongiform encephal... Continued...
AP
Analysis: Climate talks to move to smaller forum
BONN, Germany (AP) — With a digital clock ticking in giant red numbers, U.N. climate negotiators ended another round of talks this week, nibbling at the edges of a new climate change treaty but frustrated — again — at failing to reach the heart of an accord.
After 16 months of talks by thousands ... Continued...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Rebel Reports/alternet.org
'Pirates' Strike a U.S. Ship Owned by a Pentagon Contractor, But Is the Media Telling the Whole Story?
UPDATE: At least one nuclear-powered U.S. warship is reportedly on its way to the scene of the hijacking off the coast of Somalia of a vessel owned by a major Pentagon contractor. A U.S. official told the Associated Press the destroyer USS Bainbridge is en route while another official said six or se... Continued...
New York Times
Oil Giants Loath to Follow Obama’s Green Lead
The Obama administration wants to reduce oil consumption, increase renewable energy supplies and cut carbon dioxide emissions in the most ambitious transformation of energy policy in a generation.
But the world’s oil giants are not convinced that it will work. Even as Washington goes into a frenz... Continued...
New York Times
Bonn climate talks create better atmosphere, but few results
BONN, Germany -- For the last 10 days, climate negotiators, diplomats and environmental activists have proved to be a hard-working lot, but their dedication does not seem to have been enough to produce tangible results for the climate discussions here, which are ending today.
These discussions a... Continued...
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Guardian
The G20's failing grade
The G20 came to historic agreements in London, some of which could have far-reaching implications for the governance of the global economy. Gone are the days when the rich countries make the rules and everyone else follows. The presence of some of the most economically important developing countries... Continued...
Monday, April 6, 2009
CTV.ca News
Will NAFTA exterminate Canadian pesticide bans?
A battle brewing over cosmetic pesticides between one of North America's biggest chemical companies and Canadian lawmakers may end up re-shaping the future of Canada's environmental policies in the years ahead.
Next month, Onatario is set to become the second province in the country (after Quebec... Continued...
The Hill Times
Canada still has no consensus on Alberta's tar sands GHGs
Canada still has no consensus on Alberta's tar sands GHGs
It's critical the government find an accurate way to measure GHG emissions from Alberta's tar sands, say experts.
The Alberta tar sands project is the largest energy project in the world, but Canada still has no actual consensus on how much... Continued...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
South Centre
Reality Behind The Hype Of The G20 Summit
The G20 Summit in London on 2 April last was projected by the organisers and the Western leaders as having agreed to a US$1,100 billion trillion package of measures to boost the sagging world economy, and especially to help developing countries.
The trillion figure was what caught the headlines. ... Continued...
Friday, April 3, 2009
Center for Media and Democracy PR Watch
Alberta Lobbies for Its Tar Baby
The Canadian province of Alberta, which promotes the development of its tar sands oil, "has hired a team of consultants to improve [its] image in Washington ahead of climate-change talks." The lobbyists, who Alberta is paying $40,000 a month, include former Michigan governor James Blanchard and form... Continued...
Bloomberg
Nexen, Opti Canada May Be Targeted in Oil-Sands Deals
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Nexen Inc. and Opti Canada Inc. may be among Canadian oil companies targeted for takeovers as a price collapse triggers a rush by larger producers to amass holdings in the biggest crude deposits outside Saudi Arabia.
Potential suitors like Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Exxon Mo... Continued...
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
New York Times
Climate bill takes aim at transportation emissions on land and at sea
Sweeping climate and energy legislation that Democratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee unveiled yesterday takes direct aim at greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles across the transportation spectrum, from passenger cars to oceangoing ships.
The bill from Reps. Henry Waxman (D... Continued...
GreenMuze
Alberta Tar Sands Victory
There’s been much focus – particularly since Barack Obama’s visit to Canada – about the Alberta Tar Sands. The project does tend to cast a large shadow over Western Canada in particular – and to every Canadian concerned about the environmental toll.
The Tar Sands is the world’s largest energy pro... Continued...
Bloomberg
China Erecting Barriers to American Goods, U.S. Says
China is using regulations and tax policies to discriminate against foreign competitors, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said in its annual report.
The trade estimate report, the first by the Obama administration, also includes complaints from companies about piracy in China of copyrighted... Continued...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Red Pepper
Climate crunch
The economic crisis is leading to falling carbon emissions - so why is it not good for the climate?
Production lines falling silent, a slump in global trade and lower demand for power: the economic crisis has already done more to reduce carbon emissions than the past 10 years of climate policy. B... Continued...
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