The Trinational Information Repository- The Trinational Information Repository was created with support of the State of New Mexico under a contract to The North American Institute (NAMI). The goal of the project is to develop an electronic technology data base for use by New Mexico and other entities to aid in the strengthening of social, cultural and economic ties with Canada, Mexico and the United States. To that end the site is intended to provide information on critical issues to the three countries as well as explore other issues, questions and solutions of interest to North America. It is anticipated that the data and information in the Repository will continue to grow and develop with continuing input from NAMI, NAMI supporters and public interested in North American affairs.
Latest Additions
NAMI is aggregating a collection of podcasts/vodcasts on the subject of Water Security, as part of a larger project gathering Climate Change and Water information for Canada, Mexico and the United States.You can find out more in those sections of the TIR that deal with those subjects:
Upcoming Water Symposium
Media [podcasts, videos]
Our array of podcasts will be complete June 2008.
TRINATIONAL NEWS
Monday, December 08, 2008
Wildbirds Impacted by Extraction of Tar-Sands Petroleum.
Blogger News Network, December 8, 2008 - “A newly released report details how extraction of tar-sands petroleum is directly impacting populations of wild birds in the boreal forest area of northern Alberta, Canada. “Danger in the Nursery: Impact on Birds of Tar Sands Oil Development in Canada’s Boreal Forest” was released in early December by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Boreal Songbird Initiative and Pembina Institute. The 39-page report identifies several ways in which tar-sand development is affecting populations of a myriad of species ...” Read more.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Canada’s Dollar Falls on Oil’s Drop to Lowest in Almost 4 Years.
Bloomberg, December 4, 2008 - “Canada’s dollar fell the most in two weeks as oil plummeted and Parliament was suspended at the request of Prime Minister Stephen Harper in an attempt to save his minority government. The currency has weakened 22 percent this year as crude, which accounts for about a tenth of Canada’s export revenue, fell 70 percent since its July 11 peak. The government’s first order of business will be a budget scheduled for Jan. 27, and Harper called on the opposition to work with his administration to help the country’s ailing economy.” Read more.
Environment: Millions of birds at risk from tar sands: report.
Vue Weekly Edmonton, December 4, 2008 - “Millions of birds that depend on the Boreal forest could be lost over the next half-century due to planned tar sands development in northern Alberta, according to a new report. “The Boreal forest tar sands area is incredibly important for birds as a breeding habitat and as a globally important flyway for a great adundance and diversity of wetland-dependent birds,” reads the report. “Unfortunately the rapidly expanding industrial tar sands oil extraction operations increasingly put these birds at risk.” The report, entitled Danger in the Nursery, estimates that between six million and 166 million birds could be lost over the next 30 to 50 years due to a combination of surface mining, landings on toxic tailings ponds and habitat destruction and fragmentation from infrastructure related to in-situ operations.” Read more.
Energy Goals a Moving Target for States.
NY Times Business, December 4, 2008 - “In hopes of slowing global warming and creating “green jobs,” Congress and the incoming administration may soon impose a mandate that the nation get 10 or 15 percent of its electricity from renewable sources within a few years. Yet the experience of states that have adopted similar goals suggests that passing that requirement could be a lot easier than achieving it. The record so far is decidedly mixed: some states appear to be on track to meet energy targets, but others have fallen behind on the aggressive goals they set several years ago.” Read more.
Hospitals Now a Theater in Mexico’s Drug War.
NY Times, December 4, 2008 - “The sedated patient, his bullet wounds still fresh from a shootout the night before, was lying on a gurney in the intensive care unit of a prestigious private hospital here late last month with intravenous fluids dripping into his arm. Suddenly, steel-faced gunmen barged in and filled him with even more bullets. This time, he was dead for sure.” Read more.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Canadian Ministers Get Cold Shoulder in Washington.
Embassy Magazine [CA], December 3, 2008 - “Between financial and auto bail-out fever and the intense interest in Obama cabinet appointments, it was not altogether surprising that the first forays of senior Canadian officials to “transitional” Washington were duds. Fortunately, the President-elect’s early cabinet selections give hope that Canada-U.S. relations will improve. It was perfectly understandable that Obama chose not to hold parallel meetings with Prime Minister Harper or other heads of state during the Washington G20 summit on November 15, but the poor reception for Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement and Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Michael Bryant a week later was bewildering.” Read more.
Oil, gas companies say credit, not falling prices, worries them most.
DFW Star-Telegram, December 3, 2008 - “Oil and gas companies say the credit crunch is a bigger worry than falling petroleum prices, even though few say they have canceled or significantly delayed exploration projects and even fewer expect to cut field staff, according to a new survey by consultant BDO Seidman. The survey’s findings, collected from 100 chief financial officers at U.S. energy companies, showed that 57 percent of the CFOs ranked tighter access to credit as their biggest financial challenge in 2009, compared with 21 percent who named lower prices and 12 percent who cited the retention of skilled workers. The survey of big multinationals as well as independent producers was taken in October and November, Chicago-based BDO Seidman said.” Read more.
Proposal Ties Economic Stimulus to Energy Plan.
NY Times Politics, December 3, 2008 - “President-elect Barack Obama and leaders in Congress are fashioning a plan to pour billions of dollars into a jobs program to jolt the economy and lay the groundwork for a more energy-efficient one. The details and cost of the so-called green-jobs program are still unclear, but a senior Obama aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a work in progress, said it would probably include the weatherizing of hundreds of thousands of homes, the installation of “smart meters” to monitor and reduce home energy use, and billions of dollars in grants to state and local governments for mass transit and infrastructure projects.” Read more.
