The owner of Heathrow airport, BAA, has said that a tax on the aviation industry would not have the desired effect on the environment but would cause inconvenience to many people by pricing them out of aeroplanes. Instead, Stephen Nelson, chief executive of Britain’s largest airport operator, said that a carbon emissions trading scheme was … Read More
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Toxic Sludge Is Good For You
An horrific story in today’s New York Times about how a global oil company dumped up to 400 tons of toxic waste on the doorstep of some of the world’s poorest people in the Ivory Coast in order to save costs. So far eight people have died, dozens have been hospitalized and 85,000 have sought … Read More
Follow The Money
Someone just forwarded a great newswire by Dow Jones that ran late last month, examining the issue of tax havens. For example did you know that the registered offices of the Shell Qatar multibillion-dollar gas-to-liquids venture is not in Qatar at all, but Bermuda?
EU Wants Energy Giants Split Up
The European Competition Commissioner has sent shock-waves through the region’s energy industries by proposing that integrated French and German gas and electricity giants might be broken up.The Commissioner, Neelie Kroes said there were too many conflicts of interest for companies that own distribution networks as well as supplying customers. She promised a more wide-ranging regulatory … Read More
Virgin Launches Space-Flights
Just days after promising billions to fight climate change, Sir Richard Branson has unveiled the latest designs of his rocket-powered vehicle that will carry clients into space through his Virgin Galactic business. The Virgin “spaceships” are designed to carry six passengers and two pilots to an altitude of about 140km on a sub-orbital space flight. … Read More
Bush Blocks Critical Climate Report
The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests climate change is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature has reported. Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – part of the Commerce Department – in February set up a seven-member panel to prepare a consensus report on … Read More
UK Government: “You Should be Scared” About Climate Change
People “should be scared” about climate change and be willing to take action to help tackle the problem. That is the message from Britain’s young Environment Secretary, David Miliband. He said he had thought he had been well-informed about climate change but had quickly been shocked by what he had learned since taking on the … Read More
Arnie Sets the Pace on Climate
California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has certainly got the bit between his teeth. He has just signed a new law that sets targets to reduce the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 – the first US state to set such an ambitious target. Although details on how the emission cuts will be achieved are … Read More
Why is the Oil Price Falling?
Something strange is happening. Have you noticed it? The gas price is falling. The news that the price of crude oil dipped below $60 dollars has sparked a furious response as to why it is happening. Some are arguing that the price of oil has dipped due to political pressure from the Bush Administration before … Read More
Earth’s Temperature is “Dangerously High”
The Earth’s temperature could be reaching its highest level in a million years, according to Nasa scientists. Comparison of current temperature with historical estimates showed the current temperature was now within 1C of the maximum temperature of the past million years. The scientists said that in the 30 years to the end of 2005, temperatures … Read More