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2007 Energy Archive:

20071229

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Oil - Drug - Money - Foreign - Government - United States - Iowa - 2008 Election - "Edwards Pledges Ban on Lobbyists." ... "[2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards vowed Saturday that corporate lobbyists would not be allowed to work in his administration, if elected." ... "“When I am president of the United States, no corporate lobbyists or anyone who has lobbied for a foreign government will work in my White House,” Mr. Edwards said, speaking at a public library." ... "He followed it up with an implicit attack on [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama] Mr. Obama." ... "[John Edwards said,] “I hear people argue that the way you can get things done is you sit at a table with drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies and negotiate with them, and somehow they will voluntarily give away their power,” he said. “I think it is a complete fantasy.”" ... "In a November speech to Iowa Democrats, Mr. Obama promised that lobbyists would not work in his White House." ... "But he [Obama] later amended his position, saying that lobbyists would not “dominate” his White House.”" ... "When campaigning, Mr. Edwards frequently reminds voters that he has never taken campaign contributions from lobbyists." -By Julie Bosman -NYTimes

20071225

Bill Richardson - John Edwards - Iowa - Energy - - New Mexico - North Carolina - 2008 Election - "Iowa caucus can elevate second choice." ... "Bill Grove is a [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Bill Richardson man. He thinks the New Mexico governor, with his background as a United Nations ambassador and secretary of the U.S. [United States] Department of Energy, is well seasoned for the White House." ... "But Grove has a backup plan." ... "If Richardson fails to qualify under Iowa's complicated system of counting Democratic caucus votes, Grove says he will switch his vote to former North Carolina Sen. [Senator and 2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards." ... "Second choices usually don't fare well in politics. In Iowa, though, being second could be critical to success." ... "When Iowa Democrats caucus on Jan. 3, candidates who receive less than 15 percent of the vote are considered nonviable. Their backers have the choice of either going home or casting their ballots for their second choice." ... "Grove picked Edwards as his second choice because he likes Edwards' emphasis on helping restore rural America and his populist message about the declining middle class." ... ""I like his fighting spirit," he said." ... ""His message really resonates with you. I just personally like him."" -By Rob Christensen -McClatchy via -KansasCity.com

20071222

Families - Poverty - Agriculture - Christmas-Holidays - Thanksgiving - Gasoline - Households - Money - People - "Food Bank Shelves Going Bare At Holidays: High Living Costs Hurting Donations, While Increasing Demand By Needy Families." ... "The reports from across the country are dismaying: Food pantries are running short and cannot meet the needs of all those seeking help." ... "In the Department of Agriculture's most recent study of hunger in America, released in November, more than 35.5 million Americans, including 12.6 million children, were found to have "low" or "very low food security" (defined as households where hunger was prevalent, where there was not enough money to buy adequate food supplies, where food purchased did not last, or where family members had to cut down or skip meals - sometimes not eating for a day or longer)." ... "That's roughly 1 in 9 households. And the numbers are rising from last year." ... "Everywhere, people are feeling the crunch of rising gasoline and grocery prices, as well as utility bills, rent and mortgage payments." ... "Those factors also are cutting into people's ability to donate to food banks for others in need." ... "At Thanksgiving, the [America's Second Harvest] organization estimated that food banks nationally were short a total of 15 million pounds of food, or roughly 11.7 million meals. " -AP via -CBSNews

20071219

Stephen Johnson - Mary E Peters - Dick Cheney - Government - Political - Gas - Auto - Makers - Fuel - Economy - Laws - Environmental - Health - Safety - American - People - Transportation - California - History - Global - Climate - Clean Air Act - "EPA blocks California bid to limit greenhouse gases from cars." ... "The [Republican President] Bush administration blocked efforts by California and 16 other states Wednesday to limit greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks, setting up a political and legal fight over whether states can take a lead role in combatting global warming." ... "[Republican President Bush's] Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected California's request for a waiver from the federal government to impose its tough tailpipe emissions standards. The other states were poised to adopt similar rules if California's request was granted." ... "The states represent nearly half the U.S. [United States] population, and their laws would effectively require automakers to cut greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, despite [Republican] President Bush's rejection of mandatory national standards." ... "Johnson said Congress' passage of an energy bill this week that raises fuel economy standards for all cars and trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020 made the state laws unnecessary." ... "California officials said they believed Johnson had long ago decided to oppose the state's waiver, and said he was using the newly passed energy bill as an excuse. Nothing in the new law prevents states from taking stronger action, they said." ... ""I find this disgraceful," said [California Democratic Senator] Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.[Democratic-California], who helped write the fuel-economy law. "The passage of the energy bill does not give the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] a green light to shirk its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people from air pollution."" ... "It was the first time the EPA has flat-out denied a waiver request by California under the Clean Air Act. The law gives California special authority to set stronger standards because the state has a long history of smog and other air-quality problems." ... "California officials complained that EPA's decision-making process for the waiver was tainted months ago when documents revealed that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters led a lobbying campaign to urge lawmakers to call the EPA and oppose the waiver request." ... "Automakers have been meeting regularly at the White House to discuss the new fuel-economy standards. The Detroit News reported that [Republican] Vice President Dick Cheney met with the CEOs [Chief Executive Officers] of Chrysler and Ford this fall to try to influence the policy." -By Zachary Coile -SFGate.com

20071218

Wave - Technology - Company - Canada - San Francisco - California - Oregon - US - Global - Climate - "PG&E agrees to buy power from Canadian firm's proposed 'wave park'." ... "The dream of generating electricity from the ocean's waves will take a major step forward today when Pacific Gas and Electric Co. announces its support for plans to build the nation's first commercial wave power plant off the coast of Northern California, the latest step in the state's efforts to combat global warming." ... "The plant will consist of eight buoys bobbing in the water 2 1/2 miles offshore, each buoy generating electricity as it rises and falls with the waves. If all goes as planned, the "wave park" will begin operating in 2012." ... "The power it generates won't be much - enough to light 1,500 homes at most. But it represents another potential front in the fight against climate change. California has ordered utilities such as PG&E to buy more power from renewable sources that don't spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and heat the planet. The utilities are turning to the sun, the wind and now the ocean as a result." ... "San Francisco's [California] PG&E won't build or own the proposed wave park, near Eureka [California], which will be designed and built by Canadian company Finavera. Instead, PG&E has agreed to buy the plant's power." ... "That promise will help Finavera get financing for the project by showing potential investors that it already has a customer. It's an unusual step for a technology that, until now, has existed more in the lab than in the water." ... "There's no guarantee that the project will work. Finavera's prototype buoy sank off the Oregon coast earlier this year, for reasons the company hasn't completely nailed down." -By David R. Baker -SFGate.com
Iran - Russia - Fuel - Business - Construction - US - International - Military - Politics - "Russia starts nuclear fuel deliveries to Iran." ... "Iran passed a significant milestone in its quest for nuclear power status yesterday when it received a first delivery of enriched uranium from Russia, allowing for the completion of a long-delayed reactor at Bushehr [Iran]." ... "The head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, announced that 80 tonnes of fuel had been received, with further consignments expected in the next two months." ... "The delivery appeared to signal a weakening of the international coalition opposing Iranian nuclear ambitions which the US and its allies suspect are aimed at building an atomic bomb." ... "It also means Iran is just months away from having its first nuclear power station, after years of delays. The Russian contractors building the Bushehr plant, which will be used to generate electricity, say it could be operational within six months." -By Robert Tait -Guardian.co.uk

20071217

John Edwards - Working - Families - Energy - Corporate - Government - 2008 Election - Iowa - "Edwards Offers Middle-Class Pitch: [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards Sharpens Pitch Aimed At Working Families." ... "Edwards, on the seventh day of an eight-day bus tour of the state [of Iowa], spelled out the components of what he calls his "middle class rising agenda," including tax breaks for working families, tougher trade policies and investment in alternative energy." ... ""Corporate greed and political calculation have taken over our government and sold out the middle class," Edwards said. "That is wrong. It doesn't say 'life, liberty and the pursuit of endless corporate profits' in the Declaration of Independence."" ... ""We have a fight in front of us, we have a fight for the future of this country," he said. "We need someone who is going to step into that arena on your behalf, someone who is ready for that fight, somebody who has got it inside, somebody who has the toughness and strength and fight." ... ""Brothers and sisters, I was born for this fight," he told the more than 500 people jammed into a high school gym [in Iowa] to hear him." ... "Edwards also is making the case that he's best positioned to win the White House in November [2008's Election], pointing to polls that show him ahead of all the leading Republican presidential contenders." ... ""I was the only Democrat who beat every Republican in head-to-head matchups," Edwards said, telling backers to use that argument with wavering voters. "Make sure they know that the data is powerful, that I'm a winner. Say it that way."" -AP via -CBSNews

20071216

John Edwards - Barack Obama - Hillary Clinton - North Carolina - Illinois - New York - 2008 Election - Government - Oil - Drug - Companies - Health-Care - US - Iraq - Military - Iowa - Fields - "Edwards cuts sharper edge in Iowa trail speeches." ... ""The few, the powerful, the well-financed, they now control the government," [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Edwards told a tight crowd of about 350 last week. "They've taken over your democracy. And it affects everything that happens in this country."" ... ""Everything," he emphasized." ... "During an 18-minute span, the former North Carolina senator took aim and fired freely at insurance, oil and drug companies and failed chief executives rewarded with golden parachutes. He described the Republican field as [Republican President] "George Bush on steroids" and said his Democratic competitors are talkers, not fighters." ... "In what has often been portrayed as a two-Democrat battle between [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York Senator] Hillary Clinton of New York the populist Edwards is making an eight-day blitz across the frozen fields of Iowa, a sort of red-meat express to convince the middle class that he is the one who will wrest the country from the clutches of "corporate power and greed."" ... ""I know some people suggest we'll be able to sit at the table with drug companies and oil companies and think they can get their power away. Right," Edwards said dismissively, indirectly referring to the approaches he says Obama and Clinton would take." ... ""I'll tell you when they'll [corporations] lose their power: when we take it away from them," he told a cheering crowd at the [Iowa] Grinnell Eagles Club." ... ""There's been a change in America. We have greater concentration of wealth and power in a few. We have an increasingly dysfunctional health-care system. We have this war in Iraq that has gotten much worse," he said. "I think we need a president who's willing to be tough and to go after these things."" -By Tim Jones -ChicagoTribune

20071211

John Edwards - US - Iraq - Military - Corporate - Government - Energy - Drug - Health - Family - Farmers - 2008 Election - "AP Interview: Edwards on Iraq and Dems." ... "While [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John] Edwards continues to invoke ending the [Iraq] war as one of the major challenges facing the nation, the thrust of his message is that entrenched corporate power has prevented the government from tackling long-standing domestic problems." ... ""You hear a lot more questions about corporate power, health care, energy, family farmers," he said. "Those are the things people ask about."" ... ""My focus for these last few weeks is on a positive agenda," he said. "That's what America rising is all about."" ... "That's not to say Edwards' message doesn't have an edge." ... "His culprits are "powerful, well-entrenched, well-financed interests that are distorting the democracy in their favor and against the interests of most Americans."" ... ""The specific examples are oil companies, drug companies, insurance companies, power companies, there are lots more examples," he said. "They've used money and power to spread their influence and have kept the democracy from working for most people."" (1, 2) -By Jim Kuhnhenn -AP via -NOLA.com

20071210

Rudy Giuliani - Federal - Energy - Legislation - Politics - Wind - Technology - Environment - 2008 Election - Massachusetts - Georgia - Ohio - "Giuliani Firm, Utilities Team Up to Fight Renewable-Energy Plan." ... "A lobbying blitz by some of the U.S.'s biggest utility companies is likely to strangle the most potent provision in energy legislation that's making its way through Congress." ... "[Atlanta, Georgia-based] Southern Co., [Ohio based] American Electric Power Co. and other producers hired top Washington lobbyists, including [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's firm, to help defeat a measure that would force them to boost electricity generated by wind, solar and other forms of renewable energy to 15 percent of the U.S. total by 2020. That's up from less than 2 percent today, and is a move the industry says would cost at least $67 billion." ... "The Senate failed on Dec. 7 to get the 60 votes needed to move the legislation, a day after the House of Representatives approved it. To get the bill to [Republican] President George W. Bush's desk this year and steer clear of a White House veto threat, the Senate will probably have to pass a weakened measure." ... "``The lobbying effort led by Southern Co. is the principal obstacle to America unleashing a renewable-electricity revolution,'' says Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat[ic Representative] who has led the fight for a federal standard on the new energy sources." ... "The legislation pits the utilities and oil companies against wind and solar-electricity producers, as well as venture-capital firms such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where former [Democratic] Vice President Al Gore is a partner. Those firms have made billions of dollars in clean-energy-technology investments, which would pay off if the bill becomes law." -By Daniel Whitten and Tina Seeley -Bloomberg

20071203

United States - Debt - Government - Fiscal - Politics - People - Parents - Accounting - History - Homeowners - Japan - China - Britain - Saudi Arabia - Oil - Countries - "National Debt Grows $1 Million a Minute." ... "Like a ticking time bomb, the national debt is an explosion waiting to happen. It's expanding by about $1.4 billion a day -- or nearly $1 million a minute." ... "What's that mean to you?" ... "It means almost $30,000 in debt for each man, woman, child and infant in the United States." ... "Even if you've escaped the recent housing and credit crunches and are coping with rising fuel prices, you may still be headed for economic misery, along with the rest of the country. That's because the government is fast straining resources needed to meet interest payments on the national debt, which stands at a mind-numbing $9.13 trillion." ... "And like homeowners who took out adjustable-rate mortgages, the government faces the prospect of seeing this debt -- now at relatively low interest rates -- rolling over to higher rates, multiplying the financial pain." ... "The national debt -- the total accumulation of annual budget deficits -- is up from $5.7 trillion when [Republican] President Bush took office in January 2001 and it will top $10 trillion [$10,000,000,000,000.00] sometime right before or right after he leaves in January 2009." ... "Foreign governments and investors now hold some $2.23 trillion -- or about 44 percent -- of all publicly held U.S. debt. That's up 9.5 percent from a year earlier." ... "Japan is first with $586 billion, followed by China ($400 billion) and Britain ($244 billion). Saudi Arabia and other oil-exporting countries account for $123 billion, according to the Treasury." ... "Democrats are blaming the runup in deficit spending on [Republican President] Bush and his Republican allies who controlled Congress for the first six years of his presidency." (1, 2, 3) -By Tom Raum -APvia -ChicagoTribune

20071201

Secret - Rudy Giuliani - Cops - Car - Family - Travel - Gas - Account - New York - Pennsylvania - Christmas - 2008 Election - "City taxpayers picked up tab for Judith Giuliani's visit to kin in Pennsylvania." ... "In the fall of 2001, [New York City, New York] city cops chauffeured [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] Rudy Giuliani's then-mistress, Judith Nathan, to her parents' Pennsylvania home 130 miles away on the taxpayers' dime." ... "Records show that city cops refueled at an ExxonMobil station down the road from Nathan's childhood home in Hazleton on Oct. 20, 2001, while Giuliani stayed behind in New York attending 9/11 funerals." ... "A similar receipt pops up at a different Hazleton gas station two months later, when Nathan apparently went home for a pre-Christmas visit with her parents." ... "The records show that - in addition to using [New York] City Hall funds to take Giuliani and Nathan to 11 secret trysts in the Hamptons, as has been previously reported - taxpayers were paying to ferry Nathan on long-distance trips without Giuliani, now a Republican contender for President." ... "The expenses were all paid with a City Hall American Express card funded with money from mayoral office units that had nothing to do with travel or security." -By Michael Saul and David Saltonstall -NYDailyNews.com

20071130

Business - Government - Politics - 2008 Election - Family - Health - Safety - Environment - Air - Water - Soil - Labor - Animal - Farmers - Energy - Transportation - Automakers - Consumer - History - "Business Lobby Presses Agenda Before ’08 Vote." ... "Business lobbyists, nervously anticipating Democratic gains in next year’s elections, are racing to secure final approval for a wide range of health, safety, labor and economic rules, in the belief that they can get better deals from the [Republican President] Bush administration than from its successor." ... "Hoping to lock in policies backed by a pro-business administration, poultry farmers are seeking an exemption for the smelly fumes produced by tons of chicken manure. Businesses are lobbying the Bush administration to roll back rules that let employees take time off for family needs and medical problems. And electric power companies are pushing the government to relax pollution-control requirements." ... "The Federal Register typically grows fat with regulations churned out in the final weeks of any administration. But the push for such rules has become unusually intense because of the possibility that Democrats in 2009 may consolidate control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives for the first time in 14 years." ... "At the Transportation Department, trucking companies are trying to get final approval for a rule increasing the maximum number of hours commercial truck drivers can work. And automakers are trying to persuade officials to set new standards for the strength of car roofs — standards far less stringent than what consumer advocates say is needed to protect riders in a rollover." ... "At the Interior Department, coal companies are lobbying for a regulation that would allow them to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys." ... "Some of the biggest battles now involve rules affecting the quality of air, water and soil." (1, 2) -By Robert Pear -NYTimes

20071127

Secret - US - Iraq - Texas - Oil - Money - Criminal - UN - Food - "Texas oilman Wyatt sentenced to year in prison." ... "Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on Tuesday for conspiracy in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, becoming the most prominent figure jailed over corruption in the program to buy oil from Saddam Hussein's Iraq." ... "Under his plea agreement, prosecutors dropped four other counts against him, cutting short a trial in which they made a case that he paid secret kickbacks to Saddam's government to win oil contracts from Iraq." ... "U.S. criminal investigations into the corrupted U.N. program has so far produced the convictions of seven individuals and two companies, including Chevron Corp. which agreed to pay $30 million to resolve criminal and civil liabilities." (1, 2) -By Christine Kearney with contributions by David Wiessler -Reuters

20071126

US - Iraq - Military - Oil - Money - UN - "Iraqis may offer US deal to stay longer." ... "Iraq's government, seeking protection against foreign threats and internal coups, will offer the U.S. a long-term troop presence in Iraq in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership, two Iraqi officials said Monday." ... "In Washington, [Republican] President Bush's adviser on the Iraqi war, [Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, confirmed the proposal, calling it "a set of principles from which to begin formal negotiations."" ... "As part of the package, the Iraqis want an end to the current U.N.-mandated multinational forces mission, and also an end to all U.N.-ordered restrictions on Iraq's sovereignty." ... "The Americans appeared generally favorable subject to negotiations on the details, which include preferential treatment for American investments, according to the Iraqi officials involved in the discussions." ... "Preferential treatment for U.S. investors could provide a huge windfall if Iraq can achieve enough stability to exploit its vast oil resources." -By Qassim Abdul-Zahra -AP via -Yahoo

20071116

Saudi Arabia - Oil - Industry - Terrorism - Osama bin Laden - US - Politics - "Saudi builds security force of 35,000 to guard oil." ... "Saudi Arabia is building up a special 35,000-strong rapid reaction force to protect its energy installations from attacks by militants targeting the world's largest oil exporter." ... "The kingdom started recruiting and training the industrial security force a year ago, after a failed al Qaeda attack on the world's largest oil processing plant at Abqaiq in February 2006." ... "The network's Saudi branch vowed more strikes on oil facilities after the attack, the first to directly target the kingdom's oil sector since militants began a campaign against the U.S.-allied Saudi royals in May 2003." ... "Al Qaeda's Saudi-born leader, Osama bin Laden, has called for it to take aim specifically at oil." ... "The new force already has around 9,000 personnel either in training or already active, and will reach full strength of up to 35,000 in three to four years, Mansour said." (1, 2, 3) -By Simon Webb with contributions by Samira Kawar -Reuters

20071113

US - Iraq - Afghanistan - Military - Jobs - Oil - Medical - Politics - "'Hidden Costs' Double Price Of Two Wars, Democrats Say." ... "The economic costs to the United States of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so far total approximately $1.5 trillion, according to a new study by congressional Democrats that estimates the conflicts' "hidden costs"-- including higher oil prices, the expense of treating wounded veterans and interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars." ... "That amount is nearly double the $804 billion the White House has spent or requested to wage these wars through 2008, according to the Democratic staff of Congress's Joint Economic Committee. Its report, titled "The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War," estimates that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have thus far cost the average U.S. family of four more than $20,000." ... "The report argues that war funding is diverting billions of dollars away from "productive investment" by American businesses in the United States. It also says that the conflicts are pulling reservists and National Guardsmen away from their jobs, resulting in economic disruptions for U.S. employers that the report estimates at $1 billion to $2 billion." ... "Oil prices have more than tripled since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the report notes, to a peak of more than $90 per barrel. "The war in Iraq is certainly not responsible for all of this increase," the report states, but it estimates that declining Iraqi production "has likely raised oil prices in the U.S. by between $4 and $5 a barrel." The report added that "because of the many factors affecting oil markets, this should be seen as a highly approximate estimate."" ... "The committee's Democrats estimated that injuries due to the wars could add more than $30 billion in future disability and medical care costs, including billions in lost earnings for veterans who cannot work because of post-traumatic stress disorder." (1, 2) -By Josh White with contributions by Julie Tate -WashingtonPost

20071112

Al Gore - US - Global - Climate - Planet - Environment - Energy - Technology - Politics - Lawmakers - "Al Gore's next act: Planet-saving VC: The recovering politician is teaming with a legendary venture capitalist and bigtime moneyman to make over the $6 trillion global energy business. A Fortune exclusive." ... "[Former Democratic Vice President Al] Gore appears utterly comfortable with this drill, but in fact he's engaging in some on-the-job training. The recovering politician, environmental activist, and Nobel laureate is adding another title to his résumé: venture capitalist. After "a conversation that's gone on for a year and a half," according to Gore, he has decided to join his old pal John Doerr as an active, hands-on partner at Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley's preeminent venture firm." ... "According to Doerr, by 2009 more than a third of Kleiner's latest fund, which was raised in 2006 and totals $600 million, will be invested in technologies that aim to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide. Already Kleiner has invested more than $270 million from various funds in 26 companies that make everything from microbes that scrub old oil wells to electric cars to noncorn ethanol. Twelve of Kleiner's 22 partners now spend some or all of their time on green investments." ... "In turn, Doerr, the master networker whose greatest hits include initial investments in Netscape, Amazon (Charts, Fortune 500), and Google(Charts, Fortune 500), will join the exclusive advisory board of Generation Investment Management. That's the $1 billion investment company Gore started three years ago in London with David Blood, the former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, to analyze and invest in publicly traded "sustainable" companies. Over the past five weeks Gore, Doerr, and Blood agreed to give Fortune an exclusive look at their new alliance." ... "Already they've begun to pool information. Generation came across a small company engaged in carbon trading that Kleiner is analyzing, and Kleiner has shared intelligence about which startups could threaten the established companies in Generation's portfolio. In the long term, though, they want to help drive something much larger, "bigger than the Industrial Revolution and significantly faster," as Gore puts it." ... "They argue that to halt global warming, nothing less will be required than a makeover of the $6 trillion global energy business. Coal plants, gas stations, the internal-combustion engine, petrochemicals, plastic bags, even bottled water will have to give way to clean, green, sustainable technologies. "What we are going to have to put in place is a combination of the Manhattan Project, the Apollo project, and the Marshall Plan, and scale it globally," Gore continues. "It'd be promising too much to say we can do it on our own, but we intend to do our part."" (1, 2, 3) -By Marc Gunther and Adam Lashinsky -Fortune via -CNN

20071019

Oil - History - World - US - EU - "Crude Oil Breaches $90 a Barrel on Dollar Drop Against Euro." ... "Crude oil breached $90 a barrel in New York for the first time as the dollar traded near a record low against the euro, enhancing the appeal of commodities as an investment." ... "Investors purchased oil on speculation the Federal Reserve will cut borrowing costs to bolster the U.S. economy when policy makers meet on Oct. 31. Interest-rate futures show a 70 percent likelihood the Fed will lower its target rate for overnight loans a quarter-percentage point to 4.5 percent. The euro reached a record $1.4310 yesterday. " -By Bill Murray and Nesa Subrahmaniyan -Bloomberg

20071018

Iraq - Iran - China - US - Construction - Power - Politics - Military - "Iraqi Contracts With Iran and China Concern U.S.." ... "Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants, the Iraqi electricity minister said Tuesday. Word of the project prompted serious concerns among American military officials, who fear that Iranian commercial investments can mask military activities at a time of heightened tension with Iran." ... "The Iraqi electricity minister, Karim Wahid, said that the Iranian project would be built in Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in Baghdad that is controlled by followers of the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr. He added that Iran had also agreed to provide cheap electricity from its own grid to southern Iraq, and to build a large power plant essentially free of charge in an area between the two southern Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf." ... "The expansion of ties between Iraq and Iran comes as the United States and Iran clash on nuclear issues and about what American officials have repeatedly said is Iranian support for armed groups in Iraq. American officials have charged that Iranians, through the international military wing known as the Quds Force, are particularly active in support of elite elements of the Mahdi Army, a militia largely controlled by Mr. Sadr." ... "At the same time, it is possible to view Iranian and Chinese investment as giving those countries a stake in Iraqi stability. The power plants could also boost a troubled reconstruction effort in Iraq." ... "The agreements between Iraq and Iran come after the American-led reconstruction effort, which relied heavily on large American contractors, has spent nearly $5 billion of United States taxpayer money on Iraq’s electricity grid. Aside from a few isolated bright spots, there was little clear impact in a nation where in many places electricity is still available only for a few hours each day." (1, 2) -By James Glanz with contributions by Alissa J. Rubin and Ahmad Fadam -NYTimes

20071009

British - Iraq - Kuwait - US - Oil - Sea - Transportation - Politics - "British pullout in Iraq leaves Basra in chaos." ... "The British troop pullout from Iraq announced yesterday leaves Basra, Iraq's second largest and most strategically important city, in near total chaos both politically and militarily." ... "It comes at a time when at least four Shia militias are fighting over the city, which is surrounded by most of the nation's tremendous oil reserves and provides Iraq's only gateway to the sea." ... "Equally vital for U.S. strategists, the city also controls the southern portion of the road from Kuwait to Baghdad [Iraq's capital], along which mostly all U.S. supplies are brought in." ... "[British] Prime Minister Gordon Brown said yesterday Britain will cut its forces in Iraq by half in the spring, shrinking the commitment of America's leading coalition partner to just 2,500 troops engaged mainly in "training and mentoring" of Iraqi forces. UK troops have been based solely in and around Basra." -By Timothy M. Phelps -Newsday.com

20070925

Nuclear - Energy - Construction - Industry - Government - Environmental - Law - Language - Politics - History - Land - Maryland - New Jersey - "Nuclear Utilities Redefine One W