In a Moscow meeting between President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia and President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela this week, news broke that the two oil-rich nations would be working together more closely than ever before. Their new partnership would involve coordinated action that would potentially impact global gas and oil markets, and would include foreign policy considerations as well.
During these talks, there has also been the undercurrent of news that Chavez is expected to purchase more than one billion dollars in Russian arms. Aside from this, the two leaders discussed a strategic partnership to counter American strength in the global oil market in general, and in the region with Venezuela, specifically.
President Chávez and President Medvedev Stress Different Aspects
In a report from Washington yesterday, President George W. Bush spoke disparagingly of a bill set to combat climate change. The bill is currently the subject of Senatorial debate this week. Comments from the President are below.
President Bush: “Today, the Senate is debating a bill called the Warner-Lieberman bill which would impose roughly $6 trillion of new costs on the American economy. There’s a much better way to address the environment than imposing these costs on the job creators which will ultimately have to be borne by American consumers.
“I urge the Congress to be very careful about running up enormous costs for future generations of Americans. We’ll work with the Congress, but the idea of a huge spending bill fueled by taxes (sic) increases isn’t the right way to proceed.”
Comments on Climate Change Bill From Other Government Members
Alaskan Drilling in ANWR Back On The Table
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens reintroduced legislation to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if oil prices increased to $125 per barrel for more than five consecutive days.
The Arctic Refuge contains 10.4 billion barrels of oil, estimated the Energy Department in a recent report. It also has the potential to unveil more oil drilling prospects. Read the rest…
Southern Baptist Leaders Now Environmentalists
The Southern Baptist Convention released a statement on Monday that advocated action against global warming. Forty-six members criticized the church, claiming that they had been “too timid” and that more needed to be done.
The new declaration states, “Our cautious response to these issues in the face of mounting evidence may be seen by the world as uncaring, reckless, and ill-informed. We can do better.”
This is a noticeable change from a statement released in 2007 questioning whether Read the rest…
Republican Convention Goes Green
As contradictory as it may seem, this year’s Republican convention will be going green. While the delegates will be debating environmental issues such as global warming, the convention hall in Minneapolis is transforming into a center of eco-friendliness.
How the GOP Is Getting Eco-Friendly
Some of the new changes include recycled-fiber carpet around the stages and booth made from sustainably harvested wood, energy efficient lighting, banners printed with soy-based inks, biodegradable plates, water made from petroleum-free containers and composted food. There is even an option to Read the rest…
Further Investigating Ethanol as an Alternative Fuel Source
post by Jim Bashkin at Chemistry for a Sustainable World
I’m a very serious environmentalist, but some of the “solutions” to problems have become so politicized that people are losing track of the facts.
One flaw in ethanol is that it is already partially oxidized (which is a chemical term for partially burned, and in this case already containing an oxygen atom). That is one of the reasons why burning ethanol the rest of the way doesn’t release as much energy as burning gasoline does, requiring about twice as many gallons of ethanol per mile to be used to power a car versus the mileage per gallon from gasoline / petrol.
The huge amount of gas that we use in the US simply overwhelms what can be produced from farming. Further, we can do a lot of damage to the environment producing all that ethanol without helping the “oil problem.”
One of the biggest problems with ethanol production Read the rest…
