Tapped Out (Egypt)

In the 1960s, Egypt was 85 percent self-sufficient in agriculture, and had a surplus balance of payment. Now, we import 70 percent of our wheat, 65 percent of corn, lentils, oil, beans, fish, and butter, with the deficit exceeding $10 billion annually. The Ministry of Agriculture instituted a reclamation program roughly three years ago to […]

The Peak Oil Crisis: A Bible for Oil Deception

Some 30 years ago, amidst the oil crises of the 1970Falls Church News-Press

Study Predicts Spending Surge for Offshore Wind Energy

Offshore wind energy installations, mainly off Europe, will attract $13.6 billion in investment during the next 5 years, predicted analysts Douglas-Westwood Ltd. in a market study published in mid-July. The report says the offshore wind energy industry is set for strong, government-backed growth. It forecasts installations totaling 7,700 MwOil & Gas Journal

Environmental Lapses in Oil and Gas Drilling

The Interior Department is spending so much time approving oil and gas drilling permits on public lands that it often fails to do an adequate job policing the environment, congressional investigators say.

Nationwide, oil and gas drilling permits from the department’s Bureau of Land Management more than tripled from 1999 to 2004. But as those rose, from 1,803 to 6,399, BLM officials in five Western field offices complained staffers had less time for field inspections.

“A dramatic increase in oil and gas development on federal lands over the past six years has lessened BLM’s ability to meet its environmental protection responsibilities,” officials with the Government Accountability Office, Congress’ investigative arm, said in a report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. The report had not yet been publicly released.

ENN

GEM Car

Many people own more than one car, and often a family’s second car is used just for short around-town trips. That car is a perfect candidate to be an electric car, like one that is already produced today.

The GEM car costs about 35 cents per days to recharge, with a range of about 35 miles. Most people drive about 30 to 35 miles daily. GEM cars are street legal in all 50 states for use on roads with speeds of 35 mph or under.

ENN

Scientist Testifies on Global Warming

Global warming is caused primarily by humans and “nearly all climate scientists today” agree with that viewpoint, the new head of the National Academy of Sciences — a climate scientist himself — said Wednesday.

Ralph Cicerone’s views contrasted with Bush administration officials’ emphasis on uncertainty about how much carbon dioxide and other industrial gases warm the atmosphere like a greenhouse.

“Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is now at its highest level in 400,000 years and it continues to rise,” said Cicerone, an atmospheric scientist who left as chancellor of University of California-Irvine to become academy president this month. “Nearly all climate scientists today believe that much of Earth’s current warming has been caused by increases in the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, mostly from the burning of fuels.”

Cicerone, testifying before a Senate Commerce subcommittee on global climate change, cited data from weather stations and ships indicating the surface of the Earth is generally hotter by about seven-tenths of 1 degree Fahrenheit just since the early 1970s.

ENN

Let the Real Climate Debate Begin

Last month, Phil Cooney, the oil company lobbyist turned White House science “expert,” was promptly hired by Exxon-Mobil after resigning under fire for changing the scientific conclusions in national climate reports. Texas Republican Joe Barton, who has reportedly received more money from the oil, gas, coal, nuclear, electricity, and chemical industry than any other member of the House of Representatives, sent letters to three climate scientists demanding their raw data showing the rising temperature of the Earth. The work of these scientists has been intensively peer-reviewed already, but their findings are so disturbing to climate deniers that they are pushing for political intimidation. Barton is being advised by the small community of climate skeptics funded by — surprise — Exxon-Mobil.

Stop playing politics with climate science. It is time for the real climate debate to begin. If politicians want to get involved in the debate – as they should – they should be asking: How bad are global climate changes going to be, what should be done about them, who should do it, and who should pay? Lots of science needs to be done, but the difficult challenges are social, economic, and political, are not scientific.

ENN

Denial: No, It Really Isn’t Just a River in Egypt, Part 2

In his book, States of Denial, Knowing About Atrocities and Suffering, Stanley Cohen argues that the capacity to deny a level of awareness is the normal state of affairs for people in an information-saturated society.

Cohen argues that

What happens if oil output ‘peaks’?

With oil prices breaking $60 a barrel, our story last week on a new book questioning OPEC

Global warming big concern for Californians

 strong majority of Californians believe global warming will have a serious impact on their lives, are convinced human activity is to blame and want the state to address the problem independently of the federal government, according to a poll released Thursday.The survey by the nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California found 86 percent of residents […]

Bizarre season of heat, hail and floods

FLOODS sweep Romania, hailstones the size of walnuts batter Switzerland, drought-stricken France dreads a plague of locusts, while Spain and Portugal are burning up.A vision of the start of the Apocalypse? No, just Europe’s bizarre weather pattern over the past couple of days. Closer to home, the south of England has had its hosepipe ban […]

Odds Raised That Bush Could Get Energy Bill By August Recess

Christmas might be coming early for President Bush this year as the U.S. Congress might actually make good on his request to have an agreed-upon energy bill on his desk by Aug. 1. Speaking at the Natural Gas Roundtable luncheon on Wednesday, Marnie Funk, a spokeswoman for Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), classified the mood surrounding […]

CAPP: Oil sands boosting Canadian production

Canada’s oil sands production, currently exceeding 1 million b/d, is forecast to reach nearly 2.7 million b/d by 2015, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP). Total Canadian production is projected to increase by 1.3 million b/d to 3.9 million b/d by that time, CAPP said. OGJ

Oil declines as hurricane threat is lowered

Crude oil futures on Thursday extended their losses following another large build in US distillates and a weakening of Hurricane Emily, which lowered the threat of disruption to oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico. IPE Brent for September delivery fell 80 cents to $55.85 a barrel in early morning trade in London, extending the […]

”Breaking out of isolation to meet energy needs”

At the conclusion of his four-day visit to the United States, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the nuclear energy agreement with the U.S. was a way forward for India to break out of its present isolation and expand international cooperation to meet its energy needs. At the same time, it did not in any […]

Lower output increases UK Coal losses

UK COAL, the company that owns most of Britain’s remaining coal mines, said yesterday it expects to lose

LNG surges with demand

SOARING demand for liquid natural gas and record high oil prices have been a boon for Woodside Petroleum, with the company boosting production and posting record levels of revenue.Woodside shares surged $1.20 to a record close of $30.04 yesterday after the company increased its production target and said revenue for the six months to June […]

Diminishing returns

Matthew R Simmons is convinced that Saudi oil production is near its peak, or indeed may have passed it, a development with awesome implications. Simmons, a veteran oil finance insider who has been an important adviser to the Bush administration, has done a huge amount of research and bases his conclusions on carefully sifted evidence, […]

Power consumption declines on energy saving drive. (Indonesia)

The government said on Wednesday that peak-time power consumption had declined by more than half after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a presidential instruction on energy conservation last week. Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that power consumption in the Java-Bali network during peak hours between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m. had […]

Greenspan says Fed to keep raising interest rates

Alan Greenspan, in one of his last appearances before Congress as Federal Reserve chairman, told lawmakers on Wednesday the U.S. growth outlook was solid and the Fed will keep lifting interest rates. But he warned “significant uncertainties” confront this positive prospect, including high energy prices, labor costs, the future path of long-term interest rates and […]

China Building Up Its Military

China is building up its military for the long-term goal of projecting its power well beyond Taiwan, the self-governing island that draws most of the mainland’s attention today, a Pentagon report says. Durham Herald Sun –Improvements in Chinese intercontinental-range missiles “capable of striking targets across the globe, including the United States.”–Some air and naval force […]

Jihad without borders

The resistances in Iraq and Afghanistan have united to take their fight against foreign occupation forces to the home countries of the occupiers. The London bombings were the first salvo in this wider struggle. Meanwhile, a steady supply of recruits from around the world is arriving at Pakistani and Iraqi training camps.

Russia raises oil shipments by 28pc

Russia increased oil shipments to China by 28 per cent in the first half of 2005, Russia’s state-controlled railway said yesterday, as China continues to gobble up energy supplies from its giant neighbour.In a statement posted on its Web site, Russian Railways said the company shipped 3.75 million tonnes of oil to China between January […]

Work on Iran-India pipeline may commence in April

If the events that have taken place in the recent past are any indication, the polls outcome in Iran did not have any adverse impact on the Iran-India pipeline project. If things move as expected, work on the multi-billion dollar Iran-India-Pakistan gas pipeline project could begin as early as next April. According to Iranian oil minister […]

Feds cite lapses in oil, gas drilling

The Interior Department is spending so much time approving oil and gas drilling permits on public lands that it often fails to do an adequate job policing the environment, congressional investigators say. Nationwide, oil and gas drilling permits from the department’s Bureau of Land Management more than tripled from 1999 to 2004. But as those […]

Unocal Accepts Chevron’s Raised Bid

The board of Unocal Corp. accepted a sweetened takeover offer from Chevron Corp. early Wednesday, dealing a setback to the politically sensitive, unsolicited bid for Unocal from Chinese oil company Cnooc Ltd. In a bid anticipated by Unocal shareholders, Chevron offered $63.01 per share, or about $17 billion. Chevron initially offered about $16.5 billion.

More explosions on London Underground

Minor explosions using detonators only have sparked the evacuation of three Tube stations and the closure of three lines, a BBC correspondent has said. Police cordoned off large areas around Warren Street, Oval and Shepherd’s Bush Tube stations.

Yen jumps as China revalues yuan, stocks firm

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) – The yen surged and stocks jumped on Thursday after China said it was scrapping the yuan’s peg against the dollar in favour of a basket of currencies, the first step in a long anticipated move to float the currency.

 

Reuters

Oil hike shrinks Japan’s surplus

TOKYO, JapaN (AP) — Japan’s trade surplus contracted 23.5 percent in June from the same month a year ago, declining for the third straight month, the government said Thursday.

The nation’s merchandise trade surplus — the measure of all goods exported minus those imported — fell to 873.1 billion yen ($7.73 billion) in June, down from 1.14 trillion yen in June 2004, according to the Finance Ministry.

The decrease — due to higher prices for imported crude oil — was less than the 36 percent drop forecast by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei News.

CNN

Scientist Testifies on Global Warming

Cicerone also bolstered a 2004 Pentagon report that two private consultants prepared on potential global impacts of an abrupt and severe change in the world’s climate. When the report was issued, it was met with some skepticism and disbelief – even by the Pentagon official who commissioned the study. Among the dire consequences sketched out […]

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