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Hundreds of scientists to Canada PM: Pipeline report 'deeply flawed'

Hundreds of scientists have signed a letter sent to Canada’s prime minister blasting a federal review recommending the approval of the Northern Gateway  tar sands  pipeline as biased, Canadian media reported. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to decide whether to approve the $7 billion pipeline, which will extend from Alberta to British Columbia, this month. “We urge you in the strongest possible terms to reject this report,”  the letter  said, adding that the study was based on a “flawed analysis of the risks and benefits to [British Columbia’s] environment and society.” Enbridge Energy’s 730-mile pipeline  would pump  525,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil every day on to 220 tankers annually in Kitimat on British Columbia’s northwest coast.  Many  indigenous groups  in Canada oppose the pipeline, as well as  environmentalists  concerned about the transport of tar sands oil to the pristine wilderness of British Columbia’s coast. They said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Hundreds of scientists to Canada PM: Pipeline report ‘deeply flawed’

Hundreds of scientists have signed a letter sent to Canada’s prime minister blasting a federal review recommending the approval of the Northern Gateway  tar sands  pipeline as biased, Canadian media reported. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to decide whether to approve the $7 billion pipeline, which will extend from Alberta to British Columbia, this month. “We urge you in the strongest possible terms to reject this report,”  the letter  said, adding that the study was based on a “flawed analysis of the risks and benefits to [British Columbia’s] environment and society.” Enbridge Energy’s 730-mile pipeline  would pump  525,000 barrels of Alberta tar sands oil every day on to 220 tankers annually in Kitimat on British Columbia’s northwest coast.  Many  indigenous groups  in Canada oppose the pipeline, as well as  environmentalists  concerned about the transport of tar sands oil to the pristine wilderness of British Columbia’s coast. They said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Norway must ‘prepare for life after oil’

The IMF has called on Norway to cut back on spending its oil income, saying the economy needs no further stimulus and the government should focus on fostering private sector growth instead as it begins the long transition to life after oil. The budget has provided the economy with repeated stimulus even though it is running near capacity. The government needs to cut back, both to save the oil income and maintain a more neutral fiscal stance, the fund said. “The upward trend in government consumption and investment, together with the increasing labor demand from the oil and gas sector … has crowded out and increased labor cost pressure in other exposed industries,” the IMF said after ending its annual consultation with Norway. Norway has saved up its oil money in a fund now worth $870 billion, or $170,000 per man, woman and child, and will spend less than […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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G7 leaders warn Russia of fresh sanctions over Ukraine

Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Trade, climate change and development are high on Thursday’s G7 agenda Continue reading the main story Leaders of the G7 industrial nations meeting in Brussels say they are prepared to impose further sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine. A joint statement condemned Moscow for its "continuing violation" of Ukraine’s sovereignty. The G7 summit is the first since Russia was expelled from the group following its annexation of Crimea in March. On Thursday, leaders are set to discuss the global economic outlook, climate change and development issues. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin is not at the Brussels summit, he will hold face-to-face talks with some G7 leaders – not including US President Barack Obama – in Paris afterwards. However, both Mr Putin and Mr Obama will attend a ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Border Guards in Ukraine Abandon Posts

Border guards here, near the Russian border in eastern Ukraine, fled their posts for fear of attacks by separatist militias on Wednesday, helping open a strategic corridor for the transport of goods, contraband and war material from Russia that could lead to a widening of the conflict in eastern Ukraine. As evening fell in this small frontier town, a convoy of about 20 trucks, minivans and cars containing border guards and their families, including children, bumped over the rutted roads here along Ukraine’s eastern frontier with Russia. Their commander, who gave his name only as Sergei, said they had received confused orders but that they decided to leave, fearing for their lives and their families’ safety. Earlier on Wednesday, rebels overran the border guards’ central command headquarters in Luhansk, unplugging a large stretch of Ukraine’s southeastern border from central government oversight. A number of border guards […]

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A Separatist Militia in Ukraine With Russian Fighters Holds a Key

Surface-to-air missiles pilfered from army bases. Defectors from Ukraine’s elite special forces. Russian fighters who slipped across a porous border. These are some of the biggest problems facing Ukraine’s military in the rebellious east, and they were all on prominent display here in the unlikely setting of the Donetsk Botanical Garden , where the Vostok Battalion, the largest separatist militia in this city of one million people, has established a training camp. “We are an international battalion,” said Aleksandr Khodakovsky, the rebel commander, who led the government’s Alfa special forces unit in the Donetsk region until he resigned after the February revolution in Kiev. Mr. Khodakovsky said that Russian citizens were among his fighters, but that the “overwhelming majority” of his force of more than 500 came from eastern Ukraine. He denied any link to Russia. As the threat of a Russian invasion into eastern Ukraine […]

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A Gas Cache, Now Under Shaky Ground

Deep below the cow pastures and farming villages in this picturesque northeastern corner of the Netherlands lies an extraordinary resource: Europe’s largest source of natural gas, known as the Groningen gas field. Since its discovery in Groningen Province in 1959, the field has powered the economy of the Netherlands and has been a reliable supply of gas for Northern Europe. Five decades and counting is a remarkable run of productivity for a field of fossil fuel. But as it enters old age, Groningen has grown cranky. A half-century of extraction has reduced the field’s natural pressure in recent years, and seismic shifts from geological settling have set off increasingly frequent earthquakes — more than 120 last year, and at least 40 this year. Though most of the tremors have been small, and resulted in no reported deaths or serious injuries, they have caused widespread damage […]

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IEA Says the Party’s Over

The International Energy Agency has just released a new special report called “ World Energy Investment Outlook ” that should send policy makers screaming and running for the exits—if they are willing to read between the lines and view the report in the context of current financial and geopolitical trends. This is how the press agency UPI begins its summary :  It will require $48 trillion in investments through 2035 to meet the world’s growing energy needs, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday from Paris. IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven said in a statement the reliability and sustainability of future energy supplies depends on a high level of investment. “But this won’t materialize unless there are credible policy frameworks in place as well as stable access to long-term sources of finance,” she said. “Neither of these conditions should be taken for granted.” Here’s a bit of context […]

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Peak Oil Is Not Coming…

It’s here. This IEA report spells out peak oil as being in the past . “Days of cheap energy over, IEA figures show” The IEA’s annual outlook on investment, released today, shows annual investment in new fuel and electricity supply has more than doubled in real terms since 2000. Costs to the oil and gas industry also have doubled in that period and the IEA warns of “gradual depletion of the most accessible reserves.” Canada is already seeing projects cancelled because of the high costs of developing the oilsands. And its contradictory stance on climate change  with rules for the oil and gas industry repeatedly delayed may contribute to future uncertainty. .@ vschmo @ traikman @ CBCNews Indeed, that report does describe the world as being past #PeakOil . No longer "in the future". #climatechange — John Klein (@JohnKleinRegina) June 03, 2014 There would be no “gradual depletion” if […]

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Oil Ticks Up Ahead of U.S. Inventory Data

Oil futures are supported by an expected decline in weekly U.S. oil inventory levels, as markets keep an eye on fuel demand at the start of the summer driving season. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at $102.83 a barrel at 0556 GMT, up $0.17 in the Globex electronic session. July Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose $0.14 to $108.96 a barrel. Late Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said its data showed a 1.4 million-barrel decrease in crude-oil supplies for the week ended May 30. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will publish its own inventory data later today. Estimates from 13 analysts surveyed showed that U.S. oil inventories are projected to have fallen by 100,000 barrels, on average, last week. "Inventories at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery point for Nymex WTI futures may still be tight […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple