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ARABS KEEP OUT! ISRAEL LAYS CLAIM TO ALL THE RESOURCES

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 20-01-2011

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New offshore gas and oil fields.


by Manlio Dinucci Voltairenet.org

For years, various companies have been exploring the hydrocarbon deposits in the Levantine Basin, but only a handful of political and economic leaders were privy to the size of the prize. On 29 December 2010, the Israeli authorities gave Noble Energy Inc. the green light to release the news. The communication, announcing that exploitation was taking off after a political freeze, has been coupled with a diplomatic campaign to allow Tel Aviv to siphon off all the reserves to the detriment of the other coastline states.

U.S.-based Noble Energy Inc. recently announced a massive natural gas field discovery, located 130 kilometers offshore of Haifa [1] and consisting of an estimated 450 billion cubic meters. Resources in the surrounding area should total some 700 billion cubic meters. Exploration and exploitation are overseen by an international consortium composed by U.S. company Noble Energy Inc., currently the largest shareholder with a 40% stake, plus Israeli enterprises Delek, Avner and Ratio Oil Exploration [2]

This accounts for only a small part of the energy reserves abounding in the Levantine basin, which comprises Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and their territorial waters. According to U.S. Geological Survey, a U.S. Government agency which has been prospecting in the region for several years, the natural gas deposits in the basin consist of approximately 3 500 billion cubic meters, while the oil reserves have been assessed at 1,7 billion barrels.

The Israeli government, with Washington’s backing, considers it is entitled to all the energy reserves. Israeli national infrastructure minister Uzi Landau declared that the large natural gas fields would not only bring economic benefits to Israeli citizens but could also transform Israel into a gas supplier in the Mediterranean region. However, objected Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri, Israel is disregarding the fact that according to the maps the fields stretch into Lebanese territorial waters. The United Nations Convention stipulates that a coastal state may exploit offshore gas and oil reserves within a zone extending 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the shore.

According to the sample principle, the reserves belong in great measure also to the Palestinian Authority. From the map drawn up by the U.S. Geological Survey itself, it emerges that the major portion of the gas deposits (around 60%) lie in the waters and territory belonging to Gaza. Exploitation rights were granted by the Palestinian Authority to a consortium formed by British Gas and its partner Consolidated Contractors (based in Athens and owned by two Lebanese families), of which 10% is held by the Palestinian Authority.

Two wells, Gaza Marine-1 and Gaza Marine-2 are ready but not operational. In fact, Tel Aviv has systematically rebuffed all the proposals from the Palestinian Authority and the consortium to export gas to Israel and Egypt. Therefore, the Palestinians possess vast riches which they are unable to exploit.

To seize the totality of the energy reserves – both Palestinian and Lebanese – bathing in the Levantine Basin, Israel has chosen the military option. The Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Ali al-Shami recently urged the UN Secretary General to prevent Israel from exploiting the offshore energy reserves located in Lebanese territorial waters. Minister Uzi Landau claimed instead that the reserves are in Israeli waters and warned that his country will not think twice about employing force to protect them. Israel has therefore threatened to attack Lebanon again, like it did in 2006, with the intention this time of impeding it from exploiting its offshore deposits [3].

It is for the same reason that Israel does not accept a Palestinian state. To do so would imply the recognition of Palestinian sovereignty over a large portion of the energy reserves, which Israel wants to grab. It was to this end that the 2008-2009 “Cast Lead Operation” was launched and Gaza caught in the clutches of the blockade. Meanwhile, Israeli war ships control the whole of the Levantine Basin – and hence the offshore oil and gas reserves – within the framework of the NATO-sponsored “Mediterranean Dialogue” to “contribute to the security and stability of the regi

Manlio Dinucci is geographer and geopolitical scientist. His latest books are Geograficamente. Per la Scuola media (3 vol.), Zanichelli (2008) ; Escalation. Anatomia della guerra infinita, DeriveApprodi (2005).

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Related post:

Noble Energy, Inc. – Noble Energy Announces Significant Discovery

(29 Dec 2010 … Noble Energy operates Leviathan, offshore Israel , with a 39.66 percent … energy company engaged in worldwide oil and gas exploration)


Intifada Palestine

HRW in 2010: Less Credibility, More BDS-Organization Again Devotes More Resources to Israel than Other MidEast Countries

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 12-01-2011

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Press Release

For Immediate Release
January 12, 2011
Contact: Jason Edelstein, +972-52-861-2129

HRW in 2010: Less Credibility, More BDS
Organization Again Devotes More Resources
to Israel than Other MidEast Countries

JERUSALEM – As part of its annual analysis of Human Rights Watch (HRW), NGO Monitor today released the 2010 report on the activities of HRW’s Middle East and North Africa (MENA) division. In 2010, HRW demonstrated a lack of credibility in allegations involving Israel, extended its support of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS), ignored the criticism of its founder Robert Bernstein, saw a significant drop in donor funding, and replaced the chairman of its board.

“Our analysis proves that in 2010 HRW continued to be driven by anti-Israel bias and a lack of focus on real human rights issues in the Middle East,” says Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research institution that tracks NGOs in the region. “In examining the number of reports issued, the types of documents published for each country, the weak statements on totalitarian regimes, and a lack of credible sources in their reports, the conclusion is clear – the MENA division has an obsessive focus on Israel.”

NGO Monitor’s analysis shows that MENA issued 51 total documents related to “Israel and the Occupied Territories” in 2010, the highest for any country in the region. The December 166-page report on Israel, Separate and Unequal, was the longest one issued by the division in the past two years. In 2010, HRW’s three reports Israel total 344 pages – far more than any other country in the region.

In addition, using NGO Monitor’s weighted methodology for different types of activities, Israel accounted for 14 percent of HRW’s regional involvement. Iran was only 12 percent, despite the daily assault on human rights, followed by closed societies such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, at around 9 percent, which is one-third less than Israel. [See Tables 1 and 2]

“Of all the countries in the region, Israel, a democratic society, received the most attention,” Steinberg adds. “This is indicative of what HRW founder Robert Bernstein repeatedly condemned – HRW has abandoned its mission to pry open closed societies, to help individuals in those societies who lack the infrastructure to fight for their rights. Instead, HRW is a central player in exploiting human rights to isolate Israel.”

MENA’s bias against Israel was also reflected in publications on the Middle East that continue to be based on sources without credibility.

“The publication headlined Separate and Unequal demonstrates HRW’s severe lack of credibility and proper methodology,” says Steinberg. “The allegations were based on secondary sources that HRW did not independently verify. Instead of conducting its own research, HRW relied on politicized advocacy groups such as Who Profits (Coalition of Women for Peace), Al Haq, Badil, B’Tselem, Yesh Din, and Ir Amin. These organizations pursue their own agendas; they do not provide reliable information.”

In preparing the report, HRW also relied on anecdotal interviews with 66 Palestinians and eight Israelis.

“This is not just counting pages,” says Steinberg. “These methodology problems reflect major biases at HRW that impact their reporting.”

As these failures are recognized, HRW continues to lose impact and support – funding from traditional donors decreased by $ 6 million (15%) from 2009, after a similar decline the previous year. (This was offset by the 10-year, $ 100 million donation from George Soros.)

Along with its questionable credibility, HRW promotes the BDS campaign based on the 2001 Durban conference, in which the organization was a major participant. In May, MENA director Sarah Leah Whitson renewed calls for a boycott of Caterpillar because of the use of its bulldozers in Israel. Separate and Unequal repeated calls on the US to withhold security cooperation, and called on corporations to sever ties with projects or companies in Israeli settlements. HRW MENA researcher Bill Van Esveld acknowledged HRW’s role in the campaign to delegitimize Israel: “It would be disingenuous for us to say it [“Separate and Unequal” report] has no similarities to BDS. This is kind of an S report” (referring to the S in BDS).

“The BDS movement – which calls for the end of Israel as a Jewish state, and is led by individuals that compare the IDF to Nazis – represents the antithesis of human rights,” Steinberg notes.

HRW’s continuing decline was highlighted by Bernstein during his November Goldstein Lecture on Human Rights at the University of Nebraska, which expanded on themes included in his October 2009 New York Times op-ed. Bernstein decried the trend of HRW and others, such as the UN Human Rights Council, in focusing on democracies, and falsely painting Israel as one of the “principal offenders” of human rights.

In the media, Ben Birnbaum in The New Republic (April 27, 2010) published a detailed report on HRW that highlighted the deeply-rooted bias among senior officials, in contradistinction to human rights principles. Similarly, Jonathan Foreman’s “Nazi Scandal engulfs Human Rights Watch” in the Sunday Times [UK], (March 28, 2010) illustrated how the revelation of HRW “senior military analyst” Marc Garlasco’s Nazi memorabilia obsession was indicative of far deeper problems at the organization.

Steinberg adds: “Hopefully the public scrutiny and pressure from Mr. Bernstein and others will lead to changes among the HRW officials that lead the exploitation of human rights. The new chairman, James Hoge, Jr., has the opportunity to implement the much delayed revamping of the MENA division in order to end the inherent bias and lack of credibility.”

Read NGO Monitor’s full report on HRW: http://www.ngo-monitor.org/article/hrw_in_more_bias_even_less_credibility

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Daled Amos

Preventing development of domestic oil resources

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 30-12-2010

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Bypassing Congress, governing by fiat
American Thinker Blog

Because there’s such a shortage of “human resources” in China

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 23-12-2010

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Robot waiters in China:

“They have a better service attitude than humans,” said Li Xiaomei, 35, who was visiting the restaurant for the first time.

“Humans can be temperamental or impatient, but they don’t feel tired, they just keep working and moving round and round the restaurant all night,” Li said.

Indeed.

Recent quick hits

Affordability: Resources, Not Money

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 24-11-2010

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Probably the biggest thing that trips people up when thinking about countercyclical public policy is a misleading over-emphasis on accounting ledger books as the right measure of what can and can’t be afforded. Making sums add up is important, of course, but it’s more helpful to start by thinking about real resources. People’s time, capital goods, raw materials, etc.

Think about the mayor of a mid-sized city presiding over good economic times. Tax revenues are going up, and demands on social services are relatively low. Suddenly the budgetary picture looks very bright and it seems easy to “afford” longer library hours, more frequent bus service, and tax cuts. This, however, is close to backwards. You can’t manufacture librarians or bus drivers. It’s when times are good that it’s most costly to pull human beings out of whatever else they’re doing and have them drive buses. Similarly, it’s when people are flush that extra money in their pockets is going to go to enterprises with low marginal utility.

Then along comes the crash and suddenly the budget looks bleak. Now we “can’t afford” those extra social services and we need higher taxes. But with household budgets tight, the taxes are much more burdensome than they would have been in good times. And the real social cost of having someone work in a library rather than sit at home unemployed is probably below zero.

What you actually ought to be doing is setting the quantity of social services at some level that makes sense across the business cycle. Then during periods of economic growth, taxes should raise more money than you spend. That way thanks to your stockpile you never need to cut services in the face of a recession and in fact can shower your city with tax cuts during a downturn to families can get by. But of course almost no jurisdiction in America actually does engage in this sort of responsible budgeting, and the Reagan and W Bush administrations took the federal government on a wildly different course. This has bad economic consequences on its own terms, and I also think tends to distort the political dialogue. Since budget deficits are “bad,” it’s unintuitive to say that bigger deficits will help in a recession. By contrast I think it’d be easy for people to see why a surplus-accumulating government shouldn’t try to horde even more money at a time when people are struggling. The reality is that nothing magical happens at zero, and what we “can afford” is ultimately determined by how many resources are available not by accountants.


Yglesias

Energy and Global Warming News for November 12th: GE to purchase 25,000 electric cars by 2015; Markey makes bid for Resources panel; World bank says act now or pay much more later for climate disasters

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 12-11-2010

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GE to Purchase 25,000 Electric Cars by 2015

GE, the ginormous multinational conglomerate (according to Forbes, they have about $ 780 billion in assets and $ 115 billion of yearly sales), has decided to switch 25,000 vehicles from its fleet to electric vehicles, starting with 12,000 Chevrolet Volts starting in 2011. No doubt, this commitment is a milestone for the electrification of transportation, all the more significant because this is private money going into the industry.

This should help GM and other EV makers (and their suppliers) to make enough cash with their early products to keep going and keep improving them and reduce costs via economies of scale so that the general public will soon have better and more affordable electric cars.

GE will convert at least half of its 30,000 global fleet and will partner with fleet customers to deploy a total of 25,000 electric vehicles by 2015. GE will initially purchase 12,000 GM vehicles, beginning with the Chevrolet Volt in 2011, and will add other vehicles as manufacturers expand their electric vehicle portfolios. GE and its partners will use a mix of electric vehicle technologies to meet their respective needs. Chevrolet Volts will roll off production lines this month and other automakers are bringing electric vehicles to market [this probably means Nissan, Ford, Toyota…]. As this occurs, GE is in a strong position to help deploy the supporting infrastructure to help its 65,000 global fleet customers convert and manage their fleets. (source)

Of course, helping to kick-start the EV transition can be good business for GE. They sell all kinds of technologies that would be in demand if more vehicles are running on electrons. But whatever the motivations, this is a good move for people who want to see electric cars progress faster and a good vote of confidence by an extremely tech-savvy company (which could influence other big players).

Race for resources panel on as Markey makes bid official

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) came out swinging last night as he made official his bid to become ranking member of next session’s House Natural Resources Committee.

In a letter to his Democratic colleagues, Markey said energy and environment issues would be the “paramount” discussion of the 112th Congress and that the resources panel would be a key battleground.

As ranking member, Markey pledged he would be a “cop on the beat policing the oil industry” in the wake of the BP PLC oil spill and would continue to advance a renewable energy agenda in the face of Republican opposition.

“Now is not the time to capitulate to an agenda that will allow China and the rest of the world to win the clean energy jobs race, all at the expense of the planet,” he said.

Markey’s announcement makes official a race to lead Democrats on the panel, as Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) announced yesterday he would challenge Markey for the seat.

Grijalva, a four-term incumbent and chairman of the committee’s public lands panel, told Greenwire yesterday he could provide the continuity needed to push back on the Republicans’ attempts to strip environmental safeguards from fossil fuel development.

“I don’t see the majority on this committee wanting to compromise,” Grijalva said of the Republicans. “I know how to fight back.”

Several environmental groups declined to comment on the race today, saying privately that they had supported both men in the past but preferred to stay out of the fray.

Whoever leads the Democrats next session will most likely be at the head of a defensive struggle. Incoming Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) is pledging to roll back restrictions on energy development and has promised to hammer the Interior Department if it gets in the way.

Both Democrats are unapologetic defenders of environmental regulations, but they have prioritized different issues during their tenures.

Grijalva, who was elected in 2002, has pushed for wilderness designations, safeguards against mining and drilling on public lands and tight regulations on offshore oil and gas exploration. He crowed last month after The Washington Post reported that he had been considered to be the Obama administration’s Interior secretary but was passed over because of his opposition to offshore drilling.

Markey is among the most vocal and visible advocates of Democrats’ efforts to address global warming. He, along with Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), co-authored the cap-and-trade bill the House passed last year….

In his letter to colleagues, Markey also touted his conservation credentials, saying he had led the charge against the Bush administration’s effort to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration. He also pledged to “preserve the integrity” of the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act, the primary statute for resource protection on public lands….

Markey remains the favorite for the seat, and outgoing committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) predicted Tuesday that Markey would take his place at the head of Democrats on the panel.

But Grijalva has been more active in recent terms and said his close work with current staff would build a stronger caucus next session.

“I think I’m at least qualified to be considered,” he said.

Scientific Grand Challenges Identified To Address Global Sustainability

The international scientific community has identified five Grand Challenges that, if addressed in the next decade, will deliver knowledge to enable sustainable development, poverty eradication, and environmental protection in the face of global change. The Grand Challenges for Earth system science, published today, are the result of broad consultation as part of a visioning process spearheaded by the International Council for Science (ICSU) in cooperation with the International Social Science Council (ISSC).

The consultation highlighted the need for research that integrates our understanding of the functioning of the Earth system—and its critical thresholds—with global environmental change and socio-economic development.

The five Grand Challenges are: 1. Forecasting—Improve the usefulness of forecasts of future environmental conditions and their consequences for people. 2. Observing—Develop, enhance and integrate the observation systems needed to manage global and regional environmental change. 3. Confining—Determine how to anticipate, recognize, avoid and manage disruptive global environmental change. 4. Responding—Determine what institutional, economic and behavioural changes can enable effective steps toward global sustainability. 5. Innovating—Encourage innovation (coupled with sound mechanisms for evaluation) in developing technological, policy and social responses to achieve global sustainability.

‘The challenges are a consensus list of the highest priorities for Earth system research and provide an overarching research framework. If we, the scientific community, successfully address these in the next decade, we will remove critical barriers impeding progress toward sustainable development,’ said Dr Walt Reid, who chaired the Task Team overseeing the first step of the visioning process.

U.N. and World Bank Report Says Act Now or Pay Much More Later for Climate Disasters

Annual monetary losses for natural disasters are expected to rise to $ 185 billion worldwide by the end of the century, even without factoring in the anticipated negative impacts of climate change, a new joint U.N. and World Bank study concludes.

With climate change included, the global annual losses could increase by anywhere from $ 28 billion to $ 68 billion. But governments can drastically reduce these losses and rising mortality rates by implementing preventive systems and infrastructure changes that are much cheaper and simpler than the post-disaster cleanup that has been drawing so much public funds recently.

That’s the message the report’s authors are hoping to get out to policymakers in a year characterized by some of the largest natural disasters in recorded history. From the city-sized death toll stemming from Haiti’s January earthquake to the 20 million people hit from mass flooding in Pakistan over the summer, the primary lesson being transmitted by 70 experts researching natural disasters over the past year is that disasters are largely caused by a series of man-made mistakes that build up over time. They lead to massive failures when a natural triggering event occurs.

Climate change throws more uncertainty into the equation, but proper planning and prevention will likewise reduce the added losses that shifting climates and extreme weather are feared to bring, the organizations conclude.

Arctic Drilling Poses Untold Risks, Study Concludes

Now that the moratorium on deepwater oil and gas drilling has been lifted by the Obama administration, the battle for the Arctic is heating up again.

The suspension of deep-sea drilling was of course a reaction to the disastrous blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that gushed from April to July, producing the biggest offshore oil spill in the nation’s history. The moratorium was lifted last month, about six weeks before a Nov. 30 expiration date.

As soon as it was lifted, my colleague Cliff Krauss reported last week, Royal Dutch Shell began lobbying eagerly to get final approval for its long-delayed plans for exploratory drilling in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea. The petro-giant is paying for national advertising as part of a campaign to convince the public and the government that it is taking safety precautions that would prevent the kind of catastrophe that unfolded in the gulf from happening in the Arctic.

Yet the Arctic is well known to be more fragile ecologically than the gulf. And on Thursday, the Pew Environmental Group released a detailed report brimming with charts and maps that explores the question of how well the government and industry would be equipped to deal with a blowout and spill there. The report concludes, not so well. And here are some word-for-word highlights on why:

Beijing to melt snow to address water shortage

Beijing will collect and melt snow this winter in a bid to quench the water shortage that has plagued the Chinese capital for years, state media reported Friday.

Two vehicles with high-powered heaters capable of processing around 100 cubic metres (3,500 cubic feet) of snow and ice an hour will be sent to locations around Tiananmen Square, the Global Times said.

Clean snow will also be dumped into dammed sections in three rivers that drift through the city to be used for road cleaning, irrigation and to supplement the rivers’ water levels, it said.

Additional snow-melting areas have been assigned citywide, it added.
For years northern China has been battling a water shortage that experts say is caused by global warming, drought and rising demand from tens of millions of people who live in Beijing and the booming areas around it.

Water consumption in Beijing, with a population of nearly 20 million and growing, rose to 3.55 billion cubic metres last year, compared with its water supply of 2.18 billion cubic metres, the Global Times said.

Kenya to launch Africa’s first carbon exchange

Kenya is to launch a climate exchange platform to facilitate the trading of carbon credits and help tackle climate change.

The market will be the first of its kind in Africa, enabling all African countries to sell their carbon credits.

The exchange is expected to be open for business by the middle of next year.
Carbon dioxide is one of the main gases causing climate change, scientists say, and such exchanges are one way to offset carbon emissions.

Polluting industries in rich countries pay for clean development projects in poor countries.

Some forecasts warn that Africa will be badly affected by climate change, even though most of the greenhouse gases which cause it are produced in the West and Asia.

One carbon credit is equal to one tonne of carbon dioxide, or in some markets, carbon dioxide-equivalent gases.

The BBC’s Kevin Mwachiro in Nairobi says officials hope the trade in carbon credits will open up investment in the generation of renewable energy and forestry projects.

A survey of British householders by price comparison site GoCompare released on November 10 via the Energy Saving Trust revealed just how much energy is wasted by Christmas lighting.

Of those surveyed 52% of respondents intended to display decorative Christmas lighting outside the house. With this in mind GoCompare calculated that a display of 100 five-watt bulbs switched on for six hours a day over the festive period will consume 207 Kwh, the equivalent of 22.8 days of the average British household’s electricity consumption.

Aside from taking energy saving measures such as turning down the thermostat by 1 degree, switching off lights or only heating occupied rooms, consumers eager to get in the festive spirit could reduce their energy bills by purchase energy-saving Christmas decorations.

According to American organization Environmental Defense Fund one of the easiest ways to lower Christmas electricity bills is by buying energy-saving LED decorative lighting, suitable for both outdoor and indoor displays. Though LED Christmas lighting often costs more than traditional alternatives, in the long term it consumes far less energy, which leads to lower electricity bills and reduces the environmental impact of the festive season.

Italy Goes Solar With First Sun-Powered Road

Most people will be surprised, but Italy was the first country in the world to build motorways. In fact, the A8 “Milano-Laghi” motorway (“Milan-Lakes”, as it connects the city of Milan to Lake Como and Maggiore) was completed in 1926. Time has passed and all developed nations now boast wide motorway networks, a strategic infrastructure that helps interconnecting people, places and is ultimately essential to economic growth. But Italy will soon be able to claim a new “first”: the A18 Catania-Siracusa motorway, a 30km addition to Sicily’s 600km motorway network, will be a fully solar-powered motorway, the first in its kind.

Work is well underway to complete commissioning of this cutting edge infrastructure, which will be the most advanced motorway in Europe, including many outstanding features in terms of control systems, surveillance apparatus, tarmac quality, safety features (one of its new tunnels has also been awarded for its levels of safety). Construction activities are concluded, and a quarter of its solar photovoltaic (PV) panels were already operational by the end of September.

Pizzarotti & Co., the general contractor for this project, aims at having all of them online by early December (the panels are therefore feeding Sicily’s electricity grid with clean energy even before it’s used on site). Road testing is due in November, while on 1st January 2011 the Catania-Siracusa motorway will open to the public. By then, 100 percent of its electricity needs will be met by the PV panels installed along the road: 80 thousand of them. Lights, tunnel fans, road signs, emergency telephones, all the services and street furniture installed on the A18 will be run with solar power: distributed over a surface of 20 hectares, the photovoltaic array was obtained through the construction of 3 artificial tunnels on a 100m wide, 2.8km long stretch of road, a project with an overall cost of €60 million. Annual solar electricity production is estimated at about 12 million kWh, which will save – constructors claim – the equivalent of around 31 thousand tons of oil and 10 thousand tons worth of CO2 emissions every year.

Urban sprawl contributes to extreme heat events.

Cities with high levels of urban sprawl have more than twice as many days with extreme heat when compared to cities with more compact growth patterns, contributing to heat-related health effects such as sickness and death.

Urban planners take note: the way a city grows and develops influences how often it has heat waves.

For a number of reasons, cities are always warmer than rural areas – a condition attributed to the urban heat island effect. But, according to a study that examined heat patterns over 50 years, the urban areas that sprawl have twice as many days with extreme heat when compared to cities that grow more compactly.

The higher temperatures, in turn, may contribute to increased illness and death in certain groups of people who are more vulnerable to hot weather.

Urban sprawl refers to a city and its suburbs that expand over large areas of land. It is often associated with a lower density of people and buildings; low mixed land use; a reliance on cars with subsequent increases in air pollution, accidents and injuries; and other related health and social effects.

Climate Progress

When your breast-cancer donation frees up resources for abortions

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 12-10-2010

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Daily Caller fairly presents both sides of this quandary:

According to Hammarley, about 20 of Komen’s 122 affiliates are responsible for the money that goes to Planned Parenthood and that those funds are used only for breast cancer treatment, education, or screening programs that happen to be affiliated with the abortion group.

“Those funds are audited twice a year to make sure that the money that is invested from the Komen affiliate is being used for screening, treatment or education of breast cancer only,” Hammarley said. “If they ever find that it is either intermingled with their general fund or used specifically for something else, it is shut down. Legal action is taken and the program is required to pay back the money.”

Hammarley went on to state that such action has never been taken.

In FY 2009 Komen affiliates contributed about $ 7.5 million to programs sponsored by Planned Parenthood. “That $ 7.5 million is less than one percent of the entire amount of community grant funding that affiliates around the country contribute,” Hammarley said.

But to people like Bordlee, the amount is insignificant. It is the principle of it. “No matter whether they are giving $ 500,000 a year to Planned Parenthood, or $ 5, people who respect the dignity of human life and are trying to save people with disease don’t want any part of their money going to an organization that is subsidizing an abortion provider,” she said.

I agree with Bordless, and here is why.

Presume that your 20-something son is a bit of watering hose when it comes to money:  Everything he makes gets spent, and a good portion of it funds a life style with which you disagree – dinners, drinking, and dancing five days a week, and more vacations in one summer than you’ve seen in 20 years.  He comes to you regularly with hat in hand asking for money to pay his rent.

Do you give it to him under the guise you are funding his lavish lifestyle?  You are, after all, just paying his rent.  He needs a place to live!

So goes the logic of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation when it hands over the millions of dollars that it does to Planned Parenthood.  Yet every dime Komen gives to PP allows a different dime to be freed for other services or overhead.

It is the beast of the abortion machine that is being fed  And no manner of accounting via Generally Accepted Accounting Principles can change that.

Liberty Pundits Blog

Open Thread: Big Labor to Pool Resources Against ‘Right-wing Group Labor Assault’

Posted by admin | Posted in The Capitol | Posted on 25-08-2010

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Apparently sensing that November could spell disaster for union-friendly candidates, some of the heaviest hitters have agreed to team up. 

The leaders of the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union have agreed to coordinate spending millions of dollars in the midterm elections to support pro-union candidates, most of them Democrats.

The two labor organizations say they have a combined $ 88 million or more to deploy in this year’s election cycle. It’s not clear how much of that money they will pool together.

The renewed alliance between the two big labor groups comes as Democrats are battling to retain control of both houses of Congress. The AFL-CIO and SEIU plan to target elections in 26 states, all but five of which they consider battleground territory, including California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio…

"It’s unclear to what extent you’re going to see the labor and other groups be able to match the right-wing group labor assault," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "I think labor’s main message will be that things have clearly begun to improve and the biggest mistake now would be to return to the failed Bush economic policies."

Putting aside for a moment Van Hollen’s ridiculous proclamations, do you think Big Labor’s cooperation will produce results?

NewsBusters.org – Exposing Liberal Media Bias