Red, Green, and Blue

The Republican vice presidential nominee’s Alaskan administration has not only supported the aerial hunting of adult wolves, but also the slaughter of their pups.

Sarah Palin’s record is not very favorable for wildlife. She’s put efforts into undoing federal wildlife protections for polar bears and beluga whales in order to protect oil and gas drilling operations, for example. But her position on wolf hunting is perhaps the most controversial.

One of Palin’s first acts in office was to put a $150 bounty on the heads of her state’s wolves, allegedly with the goal of increasing the moose and caribou population. But this was no ordinary hunt - it was meant to incentivize the aerial killing of wolves, in which private hunters take a small plane and chase down wolf packs until they’re exhausted and can’t move any more, when they either shoot them from the air or land and execute them at point blank range. A Defenders of Wildlife ad illustrating this process is available at ClimateProgress.

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Ever since the announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin would be joining John McCain on the Republican ticket, much of the media focus (or should that be furore?) has concentrated on her personal life and beliefs. In terms of energy policy, the general ‘knee jerk’ view seems to have been that she’s a staunch supporter of the ‘drill, baby drill’ school of thought, with little real analysis beyond that.

However, now that the dust is (sort of) starting to settle, some more sober analysis of the Vice Presidential candidate’s record on renewable energy is starting to emerge.

For starters, as Alaskan Governor, there are signs that she may have paid more than lip service to her supposed support for alternatives to oil. She promised green campaigners that she would put together a comprehensive plan on renewables, and even appointed someone to head up the mission. Beyond this though, there has been little genuine conviction or leadership in support of the sector. In fact, as the summary below reveals, her record on the issue is decidedly shaky: Read the rest of this entry »

In a high profile campaign, West Virginia citizens have asked for a last minute ’stay of execution’ against the imminent destruction of the site of a proposed wind farm on the state’s Coal River Mountain. Handing in a petition, signed by more than 8,000 residents, campaigners today called on State Governor Minchin to make good on his commitment to support the development of renewable energy in the state, and order a halt to the destruction of an area with enough wind power potential to supply 150,000 homes.

Richmond, Va. based coal company Massey Energy has announced plans to commence blasting at the site tomorrow (10th September), in an operation that will reduce the height of the mountain by 500 feet and free up ten square miles for coal mining activities.

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India, long isolated from the world’s nuclear power industry, got one more important nod on Saturday September 6, 2008 in its quest to become a more respected member of the nuclear club. The Nuclear Suppliers Group, after three intense days of deliberation, approved a waiver to its normal rules to allow sales of nuclear goods and services to India without requiring the country to formally join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Read the rest of this entry »

Two major global energy companies are supporting and promoting Iran by sponsoring a conference being held in Tehran. The goal of the conference is to promote “gas export opportunities and potentials of the Islamic Republic of Iran“. The conference is being held under the backing of The National Iranian Gas Export Company and is scheduled for October 4th through 5th.

Multi-National company Shell Oil, and Austrian based OMV, are sponsoring the event. Stop the Bomb, an Austrian non-partisan activist coalition and the U.S. Anti-Defamation League are gaining international coverage for their strong stance against these major energy companies participating in this event.

There has been a world wide effort to “isolate Iran” due to their being the “leading state-sponsor of terrorism and human rights violations”. The EU and UN have both planned to cut back business ties with Iran. The Austrian government owns 31.5 percent of the OMV company and Stop the Bomb is furious about OMV’s involvment in this Iranian event. As an EU member state and a UN member nation, Austria is undermining the effort of the EU and UN in regards to Iran.

Both OMV and Shell have corporate human rights pledges (OMV, Shell). Neither company will comment when asked if supporting Iran through this event violates their prospective human rights pledges. Haaretz reports the OMV deal was signed in April 2007, and was met with criticism from Austria.

But Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, asked by the Austrian daily Die Presse how the deal squares with his Social Democratic Party’s tradition of “human rights before business,” responded: “The tradition never held true.”

The Iranian company that is holding the event is state owned making this event and participation in it direct support of the the state of Iran, not merely an economic or energy event.

A Far News Agency report states that China, Italy, France and Spain are all involved with Iran and the exploration for oil and gas. Shell and OMV are currently in the spotlight however there are many other countries and companies making plans to work with Iran regarding oil and gas exploration. How far will this go? Empowering Iran for the purposes of obtaining oil.

As we prepare to elect a new president here in the U.S., an important issue is our own dependence on foreign oil and our pursuit for energy independence. As we watch countries and companies defy their own agreements regarding human rights and pursue relationship with Iran, we can turn our thoughts to our own situation. Will we remain at a stand still arguing over oil or will we embrace a balanced approach to pursue our own resources in combination with alternative energy options? I believe we have the ingenuity and competence as a country to responsibly pursue energy independence.

Related Posts:

• Alternative Energy, the Solution to Terrorism-Peres
• A U.S. Blockade of Iran Would Cause and Energy Crisis
• Oil’s Use in Electrical Power in the US Largely Replaced by Nuclear

Photo Credit: Hamed Saber via Flickr Creative Commons License

Speaking on National Public Radio during the Republican National Convention last week, former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator from early in the George W. Bush administration, Christine Todd Whitman said she would like to see the EPA become its own department within the U.S. government (with all of the rights and privileges bestowed upon them).

The idea of edifying the EPA into a department that has a seat in the President’s cabinet may not sit well with some of her Republican colleagues who fear that such a move would only increase the size of the government. However, the EPA has hardly been the model of efficiency and effectiveness since its inception in the early 1970s. A restructuring of the EPA that created a cabinet seat might offer the type of coordinating capacity that our federal government currently lacks, in terms of creating coherent environmental policy set in the context of climate change. Read the rest of this entry »

While most of the big events at the Republican National Convention were shelved Monday in deference to hurricane Gustav, there was still plenty of work to be done putting the final touches on the party’s platform, which they did. While there were few bold new propositions in the platform, the Platform Committee did attempt to narrow some of the gaps between traditional Republican positions and some of John McCain’s positions. One of the most notable differences is McCain’s position on climate change viz. the Republican Party’s traditional position (McCain is in the minority amongst his peers in terms of even believing in anthropogenic causes of climate change). What struck me as I was reading through the platform (pdf), was when issues of climate change and renewable energy were approached, they were done so with great trepidation; you could almost hear the Platform Committee gritting their collective teeth as they formulated these paragraphs.

>>More convention coverage at RG&B>>

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Normally, when you think of an energy subsidy, specifically a fuel subsidy, it’s all good news. With the ever increasing price of fuel, and the world’s economy going to hell in a handbasket, any help we can get is a good thing.

But a new report from the UN Environment Program (UNEP) has turned that idea on its head, and for good measure. Because once you get right down to it, would you rather the government put their moneys in to helping out sustainable and renewable energies, or propping up the old ones?

Subsequently, the UNEP has recommended that fossil fuel subsidies should be scrapped, and that in doing so could not only decrease the amount of greenhouse gases, but also give a “not insignificant boost to the global economy.”

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Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman has announced his support for a plan to increase oil drilling as a means of paying for increased investment in alternative energy. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Coleman announced his intention to join the “gang of 16,” a group of bipartisan senators seeking a compromise energy bill that would approve $20 billion over ten years towards the plan. The New Energy Reform Act of 2008 focuses on three overarching principles:

• Increased domestic production of energy resources, including oil and nuclear. This would include a go-ahead to open new areas for oil drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf off America’s Atlantic and Pacific Coasts;
• Transitioning vehicles to non-petroleum based fuels;
• A robust federal commitment to conservation and energy efficiency.

Speaking about the plan on Monday, Coleman said, “Nothing is more urgent, or of greater significance to the American people, than solving our energy crisis. The good news is this bipartisan group truly understands that folks around this country are suffering under high gas prices and are bringing forth real, common-sense solutions.”

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PBMR (Pty) Ltd. has taken one more step in its careful journey to build a new type of nuclear power plant - one whose heat will be produced in a continuously refreshed bed of high temperature spheres made of heavy metal and graphite.

On August 22, 2008, the company announced that it had signed a contract for engineering, procurement, project and construction management (EPCM) services to build a 165 MWe commercial scale, emission free, demonstration plant near Cape Town, South Africa. The approximate value of the contract is a quarter of a billion US dollars.
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