VIGIL: PICKET THE CZARS OF FOSSIL FUEL AND RADIOACTIVE NUCLEAR ENERGY TYRANNY IN ONTARIO
Categories:
Burning Dinosaur
has no future
VIGIL: KEEP ONTARIO ENERGY SYSTEM PUBLIC - REBUILD IT 100 % RENEWABLE & ENERGY EFFICIENT
October 27, 2008
VIGIL: PICKET THE CZARS OF FOSSIL FUEL AND RADIOACTIVE NUCLEAR ENERGY TYRANNY IN ONTARIO
WEDNESDAY NOV 19, ‘08
12Noon - 1PM…- ALL WELCOME!
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
255 Front Street West
TORONTO, ONTARIO
ENERGY CZARS HOME PAGE
Association of (Privatizing, Fossil Fuels and Radioactive Nuclear) Power Producers in Ontario - APPrO
20/20 Vision - Maximizing shareholders’ profits tomorrow by privatizing “Ontarians’ Hydro Birthright” today
The 20th Anniversary Canadian Power Conference and Networking Centre
George Smitherman, Ontario Minister for Energy and Infrastructure - a keynote speaker
November 18 and 19, 2008
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Toronto, Ontario
http://conference.appro.org/conference2008/
ENERGY CZARS’ AGENDA
http://conference.appro.org/conference2008/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=11
Dwight Duncan, Finance Minister of Ontario, previously Energy Minister declared on August 9, 2004 that “‘all new generation will be private.’” According to Ontario Electricity Coalition’s Paul Kahnert, “Duncan’s declaration is significant because most of the public generating system has to be replaced over the next 20 years. That means creeping privatiztion as public generation is replaced by private.” [Kahnert, Paul. (September 27 2008) "Parties unplug debate on privatized power system" Opinion. Toronto Star] http://www.thestar.com/OntarioElection/article/260940
In late 2007, just a month after the McGuinty government issued a legally binding regulation to phase out coal-fired plants by 2014, Mr. Duncan said that … “demand has outstripped supply, so WE NEED COAL and nuclear in our system.” (capitalization added) [Macaluso, Grace. (September 21, 2007) "Grits accused of privatizing power supply." The Windsor Star] http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=cab25af6-8347-411f-ae96-1d61da582de8
“Demand has outstripped supply“ (Ibid: Dwight Duncan, 9/21/2007 Windsor Star) in our province where according to the “Independent Electricity System Operator, which manages electricity supply and demand in the province, … consumption fell 1.7per cent in 2006 … and dropped an additional 0.5 per cent in 2007,” and is predicted to slide another 1per cent in 2009. “So far, domestic demand for the first eight months of this year is down 2.2 per cent. ‘And that was before Wall Street imploded…’” According to the president of the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario, “…in the past two years alone we needed 700 megawatts less than initially predicted… ‘If we don’t need it, for God’s sake let’s not build it.’” (italics, bold added) [Hamilton, Tyler. (October 8, 2008) "Ontario urged to turn down electricity expansion." Toronto Star] http://www.thestar.com/article/513660
The need to produce more energy called “demand“ has increased not because Ontarians need more energy, but because Ontario energy customer base expanded into the United States. “…[E]lectricity exports to the U.S. are up 75 per cent this year compared with 2007.” [Ibid Toronto Star10/8/08]
“Canadian electricity exports hit record levels this summer and are expected to be strong heading into the winter…The National Energy Board said … that exports in July [2008] were particularly high… Between September 2007 and August 2008 net revenue from electricity exports totalled $2.4 billion, the highest 12-month amount since the California energy crisis in 2000.” [Hamilton, Tyler. (October 31, 2008). "Revenue spikes as hydro export at record level." Toronto Star] http://santaclausfund.ca/Business/article/527823
“With each new electricity contract the McGuinty government signs, we are losing more and more control over the electricity we produce, the air we breathe and the greenhouse gases we emit. … Unless we change direction, … [multinational corporations]… will soon control our electricity, air and climate… Soon we won’t know if we are producing enough electricity to keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer because we won’t know how much of our electricity” will be exported to the U.S. “We need to know if we are spending the money to build power plants for Ontarians or” for exports to the U.S . “We need to know if Ontarians or trade panels will decide how we make our air breathable…” [Wilson, John. (July 10, 2007). "Deep integration: hitching Ontario's electricity wagon to the U.S. market." Power Matters 2007] Power Matters articles for January to September 2007
Enron … was one of the major players in the design of Ontario’s electricity market. Why do we have an electricity market that was designed by Enron still open? [Kahnert, Paul. Return power to the people, letter to editor Jan 18, '07 Toronto Star, “New mandate for hydro utilities”] Return power to the people
Aleck Dadson - “Chief Operating Officer joined Ontario Energy Board in December 2007″. In the past … “Aleck … led government affairs in Canada for Enron Corp. and was involved in the initial restructuring of Ontario’s electricity market.” [Ontario Energy Board website] http://www.oeb.gov.on.ca/OEB/About+the+OEB/Executive+Management+Team
... Enron, a huge corporation involved in energy trading and distribution … had thousands of offshore partnerships, and accounting mess and hid over $1 billion in debt. Enron’s subsequent bankruptcy was the largest collapse in corporate history. Top management walked off with hundreds of millions of dollars, thousands of employees lost their jobs, investors lost millions and customers were left with rolling blackouts.
Enron… represent(ed) one of the most powerful companies pushing for new global trade rules through the World Trade Organization (WTO), especially the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The current GATS negotiations are all about expanding the rules to include virtually all services, ranging from health care and education to energy, water, financial, accounting and transportation services. ["Deregulation, privatization and the ontario power failure" – CUPE Research Branch September 2003] [PDF] Deregulation, Privatization and the Ontario Power Failure
“In the United States, the aftermath of the Enron fiasco saw 25 states abandoning deregulation.” Coalition fears Liberals, Tories plan to privatize electricity - Niagra Press (Posted By JOHN LAW)
“… deregulated electricity market proved to be a fraud all around the world. … The Ontario Electricity Coalition asks[s]: ‘How can private, deregulated electricity system be cheaper when you add in profits to generators, profits to distributors, profits to retailers, dividends to investors and commissions to commodities brokers?’ (italics added) … Electricity markets tripled rates in Alberta; in Montana they went up five times; in California 10 times, and here in Ontario the retail market had to be closed by Ernie Eves in just six months because of outrage over skyrocketing rates. … Tucked inside the 4,000-page ($60 billion) Integrated Power System Plan unveiled Aug. 30 2007 are proposals that will increase private electricity generation…” [Kahnert, Paul. (September 27 2008) "Parties unplug debate on privatized power system" Opinion. Toronto Star] http://www.thestar.com/OntarioElection/article/260940
“‘In 2003 election, Dalton McGuinty PROMISED public power and PROMISED to stop deregulation, and he’s done everything but…He’s privatized by stealth… We have public power in Quebec and Manitoba. Why don’t we in Ontario, especially since Dalton McGuinty PROMISED it?’” (capital letter added) [Macaluso, Grace. (September 21, 2007) "Grits accused of privatizing power supply." The Windsor Star] http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=cab25af6-8347-411f-ae96-1d61da582de8
“‘… Liberals are privatizing by stealth… They never use the word privatization … They talk about requests for proposals, they talk about competition, they talk about electricity market.’” Brown, E. Sarah. (October 1, 2007). “Public power preferred.” The Chronicle Journal - Thunder Bay, Ontario http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stories.php?id=67650
“Why are windmills and other forms of green generation not being built by publicly owned Ontario Power Generation?” Selling the public interest Re: “Hampton fears monopoly is blowing in the wind.” Toronto Star (March 3, 2008)
“[Competitive electricity market] Legislation also forbids publicly owned Ontario Power Generation Corp. from generating green power such as wind and solar, which means that private green power will end up helping to dismantle the public power system.” [Kahnert, Paul. (September 27 2008) "Parties unplug debate on privatized power system" Opinion. Toronto Star] http://www.thestar.com/OntarioElection/article/260940
Smart meters and peaker gas plants go together. “Smart meters [will] allow electricity providers to charge different rates at different times of the day [while] … private natural gas plants…will sell the power they produce when electricity is at its highest price…” Dunick, Lalth. (October 5, 2007). “Ontario Electricity Coalition calls for public power policy.” Thunder Bay Source Gov’t Static, Ontario Electricity Coalition Calls for public power policy
“The lower cost to public isn’t the only reason that electricity generation and distribution should remain publicly owned. Climate [chaos] is society’s No. 1 challenge. A publicly owned electricity system is a [must have tool for curbing] global warming.” (bold added) Kahnert, Paul. (March3. 2008) Selling the public interest Re: “Hampton fears monopoly is blowing in the wind.” Toronto Star
KEEP OUR ENERGY SYSTEM PUBLIC - REBUILD IT 100% RENEWABLE & ENERGY EFFICIENT
IN A PRIVATIZED ENERGY SYSTEM THERE IS NO PLACE FOR CONSERVATION, EFFICIENCIES OR RENEWABLES
MAXIMIZING THE PROFIT OF SHAREHOLDERS IS ABOUT SELLING OUT OUR FUTURE - THE BANK AND WALL STREET EXPERTS DID A GREAT JOB WITH THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM - LET’S NOT LET THE CORPORATE ENERGY CZARS FINISH THE JOB
SAY NO TO KING COAL, GAS AND NUCLEAR DISEMPOWERMENT
SAY YES TO 100% PUBLICLY OWNED RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEM
Related Article: Laxer, James (May 13, 2002). “Selling Ontarians’ hydro birthright is no way for new Premier to start.” Globe and Mail
The Great Struggle Continues…
VIGIL / INFO PICKET:
WEDNESDAY NOV 26, ‘08
11AM - 12Noon - ALL WELCOME
200 FRONT STREET WEST (SITHE GLOBAL OFFICE IN TORONTO)
TORONTO, ONTARIO
http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/gp/Page.asp?PageID=122&ContentID=724&SiteNodeID=197&BL_ExpandID=
Stop Sithe Global Proposed Privatized Multi-billion Dollar Gas - Coal Plants in Ontario and Sithe’s Desert Rock Coal-Fired plants opposed in Navajo -Hopi region, New Mexico and Toquop Sithe’s Coal-Fired Plant in Nevada opposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid etc.
- Sithe Global, owned by the world’s largest private equity corporation Blackstone Group, whose CEO Stephen Schwarzman was proclaimed the “King of Wall Street”
****100% Renewable Energy Now!
A continuation of Vigil/Info-pickets initiated on Earth Day 2007at Queen’s Park and Ontario Power Generation headquarters against Ontario coal-fired plants, gas plants and no nukes!
Continued at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada September to August 31, 2008
Abolition King Coal, Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power and Weapons!
Abolition of King Coal, Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power and Weapons
October 27, 2008
July 13, 2008
THE END OF THE DINOSAUR CIVILIZATION (FOSSIL FUELS, NUCLEAR) AND THE EMERGING CONFLATION OF GLOBAL WARMING, GLOBAL CIVIL WAR, WORLD ECONOMIC DEPRESSION AND THE EXTINCTION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES…
(Thisdocument is sent to all global politicians, energy stakeholders, investment and banking houses etc., please post, link and circulate widely)
According to an old story, a lord of ancient China once asked his physician, a member of a family of healers, which of them was the most skilled in the art. The physician, whose reputation was such that his name became synonymous with medical science in China, replied, “My eldest sister sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape, so her name does not get out of the house. My elder brother cures sickness when it is still extremely minute, so his name does not get out of the neighborhood. As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe medicines, and massage skin, so from time to time my name gets out and is heard among the lords.”
(Dr. Thomas Cleary’s introduction to Sun Tzu’s Art of War translation – note: Sun Tzu was writing at a time when Chinese civilization was embroiled in civil wars.)
War, Global Warming, financial calamity, starvation and suffering has become pornographic fodder world-wide. “The best and brightest” participate and profit by it regardless of their being on the right, left or the middle.
Chaos and Disorder are imbued and dispersed in our Knowledge-, Economic-, Climate-, even Wisdom networks of knowing. Politicians run amuck and Corporations have their blinders on to everything except what legally they are obligated to do – that is to make profit above all else. (see The Corporation documentary - What is a corporation? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Y )
Too late is it now for long-term planning in the phase-out of King Coal and other Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power and Weapons.
All Tribes, Nations, Communities and Peoples must call and ACT for the Full Abolition of King Coal, Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power and Weapons immediately.
The Earth herself and all Species are our Allies
Abolition of King Coal, Fossil Fuels and Nuclear power and Weapons Everywhere!
Call for the Abolition in your community now-
Stop the Global Warming Machines!
Stop the Coming Genocides - Food/Water/Energy Chaos!
Divest from King coal
Weekly Vigil - presently July 13, 2008
Sunday Noon-1pm
Ottawa, Ontario - Canada
U.S. Embassy
490 Sussex Dr.
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
psea4earth@gmail.com
Please see the following links or google “abolition king coal”
http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/28427 (previous document)
http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com
http://burningdinosaur.wordpress.com/
President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran
The Sunday Times July 13, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4322508.ece
President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
Iran ‘to target Israel, US bases’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7399403.stm
Iran will target “the heart of Israel” and 32 US bases in the Gulf if they launch an attack on Iran, an Iranian official has warned.
Ayatollah Kashani Warns that Iran Must Be Accorded Proper Respect
Iranian Republic News, Islamic Republic of Iran
http://worldmeets.us/irna000021.shtml
“Iran is ready for talks. So don’t raise such a hue and cry against Iran. Oh! the world’s liars! Oh Israel the liar! Oh White House the liar! If you do attack Iran, we’ll give you a response that will make you regret it.”
“Iran and Europe are ready for talks. Overall, Iran accepts the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program is completely clear.”
(Here we have the crux of the globally critical situation: “Dual-use technology” in this case, nuclear can be for civilian and/or military purposes. Iran is technically correct in the global confines of Energy security and Nuclear power. Yet, Israel is the Realist – in that the spin on nuclear power will not wash with its own National Security endangered.
And should President Bush or the Israelis pull the trigger,it’s de facto effect would also be to create the presumptive next president-a war President John McCain-the candidate who also represents without waiver King coal, fossil fuels, Nuclear power and weapons.
Six Arab states join rush to go nuclear
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia seek atom technology
The London Times, November 4, 2006, By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article624855.ece
Total, Eni may offer nuclear for oil, gas - FT
Reuters UK - July 9, 2008
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUKL0914561020080709
MILAN, July 9 (Reuters) - European energy firms Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Eni (ENI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) plan to offer help to build nuclear power stations in the Middle East to have a stronger negotiating position for oil and gas projects, the Financial Times reported in its European edition and on its Web site.
Middle Eastern States Seeking Nuclear Power
May 2008
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_05/MiddleEastEnergy.asp
Peter Crail and Jessica Lasky-Fink
In recent years, more than a dozen states in the Middle East have expressed an interest in developing nuclear energy. These states have offered a number of official rationales for their interest, including powering water desalination plants, diversifying their energy industry in the face of increasing energy demands, and furthering economic and scientific development. The timing of this renewed interest, which coincides with suspicions regarding Iran’s nuclear aspirations, suggests that security interests also provide a motivating factor for at least some states in the region.
Israel’s Nuclear Program and Middle East Peace
Council on Foreign Relations, Lionel Beehner
February 10, 2006
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9822/israels_nuclear_program_and_middle_east_peace.html
FutureGen Alliance dies on Sunday
The Southern June 13, 2008 - By Caleb Hale
The U.S. Department of Energy informed the group, set up to bring the billion-dollar clean coal power plant into reality, that is contract with the government ends Sunday
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/06/13/local/24788692.txt
http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/
BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, was the global co-ordinator for the FutureGen Alliance consisting of the largest coal and energy companies in the world including Rio Tinto, Peabody, BHP Billiton, Luminant, and China Huaneng Group…
Battelle Memorial Institute is also the global coordinator of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP.) It was also a critical part of the Manhattan Project to build the nuclear bomb specializing in uranium enrichment.
Battelle specializes in Biological, Chemical and Nuclear warfare. It is the go to “guy” for Big Oil etc., Exxon Mobil went to Battelle for an Environmental Assessment of the “Exxon Valdez’ oil spill., they are the go “guy” for Water safety etc.
Battelle is also now in charge of the Nation’s National Renewable Energy Strategy
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC Brings Together Key Partners Battelle and Midwest Research Institute to Manage National Renewable Energy Laboratory
http://www.indymedia.org/el/2006/03/834692.shtml
http://www.indymedia.org/el/2006/03/835385.shtml
http://www.indymedia.org/pt/2006/02/834073.shtml
On October 31, 2007, dozens of energy and nuclear experts wrote the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_security/Community-letter-GNEP-Congress_Final.pdf
“We write to oppose the Department of Energy (DOE), Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) plan for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel because it undermines U.S. nonproliferation policy, would cost taxpayers $100 billion dollars or more … We urge you to eliminate funding for the program… Proposed enrichment or reprocessing programs in other countries create similar dangers. Clearly GNEP is fostering the spread of reprocessing technology and dangerous nuclear weapons-usable materials, undermining U.S. nonproliferation goals.
Bush’s Nuclear Reprocessing Plan Under Fire
Miles A. Pomper July/August 2008
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_07-08/BushNuclear.asp
The Bush administration’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, already under siege, has been further imperiled after recent action by several congressional panels and an April report from the congressional watchdog agency.
A nuclear-free world
By Ivo Daalder and John Holum October 5, 2007 Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/05/a_nuclear_free_world/
Senator Barack Obama pledged that as president he would say: “America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.” Former senator John Edwards has also pledged to lead an international effort to eliminate nuclear weapons, as has New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
And it isn’t just presidential candidates who are talking about a nuclear-free world. So are former statesmen like Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Bill Perry, and Sam Nunn. Writing in The Wall Street Journal last January, they urged that the United States set the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, and proposed specific actions to that end.
British elders join ‘no more nukes’ call
-
Julia May, London
-
http://www.theage.com.au/world/british-elders-join-no-more-nukes-call-20080630-2zjv.html
- July 1, 2008
TWO decades after the Cold War ended, some of the most influential elder statesmen are calling for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Four political and defence heavyweights from Britain yesterday threw their support behind an initiative by a group of their US counterparts. The three former foreign secretaries, including Sir Malcolm Rifkind, and a former NATO secretary-general, Lord George Robertson, said that a combination of nuclear proliferation and extremism had brought the world to the brink of a “new and dangerous phase”.
They demanded a dramatic reduction of nuclear stockpiles and urged British and European governments to back the anti-nuclear campaign being led by former US secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former defence secretary William Perry and former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sam Nunn.
In a Nutshell: McCain vs. Obama on National Security
http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/policy/iraq/articles/070108_mccain_obama_national_security/
The G8 fiddles while petro-civilization burns
ALANNA MITCHELL July 12, 2008
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080712.BKAPOC12/TPStory/Entertainment
Today, world oil consumption is about 84 million barrels a day. Oil analysts expect demand to reach 104 million barrels a day by 2020 and then climb considerably higher. Oil production, however, is expected to stall at below 100 million barrels a day by 2012. Ergo, not enough to go around. What will happen, then, when demand outstrips supply, the reserves are even tougher to get at, and worth yet more than the $140 a barrel they fetch today? Fortunes, nations, coalitions, empires and regimes are at stake. ..
Big Oil Returns to Iraq
By Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK. Posted June 21, 2008.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/88933/
The return of the four major Western oil companies will be greeted with dismay by many Iraqis who fear losing control of their vast oil reserves.
Nearly four decades after the four biggest Western oil companies were expelled from Iraq by Saddam Hussein, they are negotiating their return. By the end of the month, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil and Total will sign agreements with the Baghdad government, Iraq’s first with big Western oil firms since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 ..
Posted AT 2:30 AM EDT on 19/06/08 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20080619.wafghanpipeline19%2FBNStory%2FAfghanistan%2Fhome&ord=24088956&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true
Pipeline opens new front in Afghan war
SHAWN MCCARTHY From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
OTTAWA — Afghanistan and three of its neighbouring countries have agreed to build a $7.6-billion (U.S.) pipeline that would deliver natural gas from Turkmenistan to energy-starved Pakistan and India – a project running right through the volatile Kandahar province – raising questions about what role Canadian Forces may play in defending the project.
G-8 Gamble: Pols Hope for Salvation in ‘Clean Coal’
Posted by Keith Johnson Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2008
Plenty of environmentalists—and not a few politicians—are disappointed with the G-8’s long-awaited plan to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and fight climate change. But one group should be thrilled: anybody with a stake in the future of “clean coal.”
Susan Estrich: Harry Reid Is Correct on Coal Issue
Wednesday, July 02, 2008, By Susan Estrich http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,375564,00.html
LOS ANGELES — Harry Reid is right.
Coal does make us sick.
It’s not even debatable. It’s just the truth. The fact that Republicans think they can use this fact against Democrats tells me just how out of touch they are with the new realities of American politics. The only question is whether the McCain campaign will turn out to be equally misguided.
Green protesters hijack train carrying 1,000 tonnes of coal
By Dave Higgens, Saturday, 14 June 2008
Riot police last night boarded a coal train which had been stopped by climate protesters as it headed for one of Europe’s biggest power stations. Dozens of officers surrounded the locomotive which was halted a few miles south of Drax power station, North Yorkshire. ..
Protesters oppose Somerset coal gasification plant
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2008/07/protesters_oppose_somerset_coa.html
Posted by David Beard, Boston.com Staff, July 11, 2008 08:33 AM
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
The state may be a leader in pushing green energy, but coal is undeniably in our future.
And yesterday, dozens of youth activists in the region delivered a pile of coal to the state’s Executive Office of Energy and the Environment to tell officials they don’t want it to be. ..
Russia power firms turn away from coal as cost surges
By Simon Shuster and Jackie Cowhig
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL0749460320080707
MOSCOW, July 7 (Reuters) - Russian power producers expect coal prices to follow the cost of gas sharply upward in the coming years, and are switching away from coal as much as possible, said the head of one of Russia’s largest power firms.
AG seeks to slow coal-fired plant’s approval process
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/214082-ag-seeks-to-slow-coal-fired-plants-approval-process
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Legal Newsline)—New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and supporters of the proposed Desert Rock power plant on Navajo Nation trust land in the Four Corners area of the state http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/
Desert Rock coal-fired plant is owned by Sithe Global who in turn are owned by the world’s, largest private equity corporation, Blackstone.
Brian Mulroney joins Blackstone board Firm takes on new directors as it prepares for blockbuster IPO
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=4cdcaad4-a282-48ec-9a0a-8c99b20b0d23
OTTAWA — Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been named to the board of directors at Blackstone Group PLC, just as the U.S. private equity firm prepares for a blockbuster IPO.
Blackstone said in a regulatory filing Monday it has also named Lord Jacob Rothschild as a director.
Energy Association worried about coal
Monday, 07/07/2008
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200807/s2296067.htm
The power industry has warned that Australia needs to look after its coal industry in the face of reduced greenhouse gas emissions targets…
The world’s largest Coal mining and Uranium corp etc., is RIO TINTO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Tinto_Group
History
Both the firm Rio Tinto and its name come from southern Spain, where the Río Tinto (Spanish ‘Red River’) was the site of an ancient mine [1] which supplied the Phoenicians, Ancient Greeks, Carthaginians and the Roman Empire. Its water is red-colored because of highly acidic pollution from acid mine drainage.
In 1873 N M Rothschild & Sons of London and de Rothschild Frères of Paris joined with other investors to acquire the Spanish government’s money-losing Rio Tinto mines. The new owners restructured the company and turned it into a profitable business. From 1877 through 1891, the Rio Tinto mine was the world’s leading producer of copper.[3] By 1905, the Rothschild interest in Rio Tinto amounted to more than 30 percent. Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner served as chairmen for a period before World War One.
During the Spanish civil war (1936-39) Rio Tinto sold pyrites to the fascists on credit which allowed General Franco to trade with Hitler and finance the war against Republican Spain. British investment in Spain was also a major consideration for British non-intervention in Spain.[4]
Barrick Gold: Planned Environmental Catastrophe in the Andean Cordillera Pascua Lama Open-cast mine
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=2483
No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera
Halt the destruction of glaciers providing pure water
No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier. We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the whole population of the region.
Judge for yourself if you want to take action. In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers. Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be fought for it. Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no unemployment, and they provide the second largest source of income for the area. Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers - something never conceived of in the history of the orld - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine’s rubbish tip. The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold…
China chases ultra low quality, cheap coal
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINL1035414620080711
By Jackie Cowhig and Rujun Shen
LONDON/SHANGHAI, July 11 (Reuters) - Coal end-users in China and India have given up waiting for standard quality prices to fall — instead seeking extremely low quality coal which matches their target prices, traders and producers said.
U.N. Warming Program Draws Fire
By Jeffrey Ball
Wall Street journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121573736662544537.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
A United Nations program designed to combat global warming has started doing something no one expected: It is subsidizing fossil-fuel power plants that spew millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually.
World coal fired power plant capacity to increase by 60%
July 14, 2008 - According to latest forecasts in “Coal Fired Boilers: World Analysis and Forecast” published by the McIlvaine Company, World coal capacity is expected to reach approximately 2,500 GW by the end of 2020, an increase of nearly 60% from 2008.
Climate campaigners threaten to invade and shut down power plant
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Friday, 11 July 2008
Green activists are vowing to force their way into one of Britain’s biggest power stations next month in what will be the most serious clash yet between the burgeoning climate change protest movement and the authorities…
Vietnam to Produce More Coal in 2010
Posted on: Wednesday, 9 July 2008, 09:00 CDT
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1469571/vietnam_to_produce_more_coal_in_2010/
Vietnam to produce more coal in 2010
HANOI, July 8 (Xinhua) — Vietnam will, under a recent national coal development strategy, explore more coal mines, and exploit more coal using advanced and environmentally-friendly technologies in the coming years, according to local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT: COAL-BED EXPLORATION
Northern councils urge Shell to halt methane hunt
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080709.BCSHELL09/TPStory/National
Municipal councils in Smithers and Prince Rupert have passed a resolution calling for an immediate halt to coal-bed methane exploration in the region, throwing their weight behind native and environmental groups that have been lobbying against Shell Canada’s plans to hunt for coal-bed gas there.
“There are a lot of unanswered issues,” Smithers Mayor Jim Davidson said Monday. “And the biggest one is what impact it will have on rivers.”
Coal War: Georgia Court Halts Construction of New Coal-Fired Plant: First-ever thumbs-down by a court based on greenhouse gas as a pollutant
By David Biello Scientific American July 4 2008
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=coal-war
Tribes look to benefit from energy sources - Royalties rising as hope grows for more development
By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press
Sunday, July 13, 2008
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/13/tribes-look-to-benefit-from-energy-sources/
CROW AGENCY, Mont. - They tried casinos on the Crow Indian reservation. The one designed to bring in the biggest crowds, Res-a-Vegas, went bust within a year and is now a fireworks stand.
But now the Crow are convinced a really big jackpot lies below the surface: coal…(coal to liquids)…
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance (a homeless network of transborder activists, students, academics, Aboriginal etc.)
The Great Struggle Continues….
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