United States News
The latest news from and about U.S. issues.Monday, September 08, 2008
Canada’s Tar Lobby.
The Dominion, September 8, 2008 - “As the US election campaign kicks into overdrive, Canadian politicians and oil executives are stepping up lobbying efforts to make sure whoever controls the White House keeps purchasing notoriously dirty oil from the Alberta tar sands. Executives from energy company Nexen Inc., which has major investments in northern Alberta’s heavy oil industry, and Tony Clement, chair of a Canadian cabinet committee on energy security, met with Democratic candidate Barack Obama’s top energy advisor Jason Grumet in late August to cement the ‘energy partnership’ during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.” Read more.
Thaw of polar regions may need new U.N. laws.
ENN, September 8, 2008 - “A new set of United Nations laws may be needed to regulate new Arctic industries such as shipping and oil exploration as climate change melts the ice around the North Pole, legal experts said on Sunday. They said existing laws governing everything from fish stocks to bio-prospecting by pharmaceutical companies were inadequate for the polar regions, especially the Arctic, where the area of summer sea ice is now close to a 2007 record low.” Read more.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Devon Energy obtains regulatory OK for Jackfish 2 oilsands project.
The Canadian Press, September 5, 2008 - “U.S. oil and gas company Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE:DVN) has begun building its Jackfish 2 oilsands project in northeastern Alberta after receiving regulatory approval for the development. Devon said Monday it has immediately begun construction on the underground project, the second oilsands development for the Oklahoma-based global energy producer. Once fully operational in 2012, Jackfish 2 is expected to produce about 35,000 barrels of oil per day, doubling oilsands crude output for the company.” Read more.
U.S.-Mexico Environmental Partnership Bringing Cleaner Water and Air To Border Communities.
EPA, September 5, 2008 - “At a ceremony concluding this year’s Border 2012 National Coordinators meeting held in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, the U.S. and Mexico pledged to continue removing millions of abandoned tires, provide additional water and sanitation, promote biodiesel, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from diesel trucks operating along the border.” Read more.
California revives program to buy water from farmers.
LA Times, September 5, 2008 - “Saying California’s water reserves are all but gone, state officials on Thursday announced the revival of a dormant 17-year-old program to buy water from Sacramento Valley farmers and sell it to the thirstiest Southern California agencies in case this winter brings a third year of skimpy precipitation.” Read more.
NAFTA Renegotiation Has Ag, Energy Implications.
FarmWeek, September 5, 2008 - “Renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could put U.S. producers in a detrimental position, from a farm cost as well as an export standpoint. So says American Farm Bureau Federation trade economist Allison Specht, who is concerned about a request from a group of Mexican senators that their government renegotiate the agreement purportedly to guarantee sustainable rural development south of the border. If the U.S. refuses to review the nearly 15-year-old agreement, the group warns Mexico may file a World Trade Organization complaint against U.S. ag subsidies.” Read more.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Both vice presidential nominees understand Canada, senator says.
Oilweek, September 3, 2008 - “No matter whether Barack Obama or John McCain wins, it´s their running mate who will likely help the next U.S. president better understand Canada, says a Canadian politician familiar with both vice-presidential nominees. It may be a point worth noting among Canadians who have indicated in a new Canadian Press-Harris Decima poll that Obama is by far their favourite choice in the coming U.S. presidential election. While eyes may be fixed on the race between McCain and Obama for the White House, Senator Jerry Grafstein is urging Canadians to take a good look at their running mates.” Read more.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Mexico: The next emerging-market trouble spot?
LA Times, Money & Co., September 2, 2008 - “Mexican revolutions: 1810, 1910 . . . and 2010? Catching up on some reading over the weekend, I came across a provocative opinion piece on Mexico by economist Walter Molano of investment bank BCP Securities in Greenwich, Conn. It won’t give any comfort to U.S. investors who are having second thoughts about emerging markets in the wake of the deep declines in share prices in China, India and other developing nations this year, or because of newly rich Russia’s increasingly combative approach toward the West.” Read more.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Over river, through woods, nabbed at the border.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune, September 1, 2008 - “The Middle Falls trail near the Canadian border in Grand Portage State Park is an ankle-twisting web of roots, boulders and fallen trees that winds downward for 300 feet over two miles. So it was no surprise that Jan Matoniak and Milosz Osika took their first chance to exit the trail, a half-mile shy of their rendezvous with Marek Struzik, the guide they paid to slip them into the United States.” Read more.
Beyond Carbon: Scientists Worry About Nitrogen’s Effects.
NY Times, September 1, 2008 - “Public discussion of complicated climate change is largely reduced to carbon: carbon emissions, carbon footprints, carbon trading. But other chemicals have large roles in the planet’s health, and the one Dr. Giblin is looking for in Arctic mud, one that a growing number of other researchers are also concentrating on, is nitrogen. In addition to having a role in climate change, nitrogen has a huge, probably more important biological impact through its presence in fertilizer.” Read more.
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