John Cornyn Up In Arms Over All The Earmarks Not Requested By John Cornyn

Recarbonization of the UK Economy
If you want to focus on a single metric that tells you how fast an Economy is decarbonizing (that is, reducing its ratio of Carbon Dioxide emissions to GDP) then you should focus on changes in the proportion of Energy Consumption from Carbon neutral sources.  For any nation to hit emissions reductions targets, and the world to hit low stabilization targets the simple mathematics indicate that annual decarbonization rates will have to exceed 5% in most national economies . By the metric...

EU climate chief insists coal aid to end 2014
BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Union's Executive Commission is determined to stick to its new target of ending State Subsidies for Coal Mines by October 2014, Environment Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said on Friday. "European Taxpayers cannot continue to pay a lot of State aid to unprofitable Mines," she told Reuters in Berlin. State aid for loss-making Mines was due to be phased out this year but the Commission in July allowed the industry an additional four years. Hedegaard's defense of the...

Greece seeks Chinese investment as PM visits
Cash-strapped Greece plays host to China's Premier Wen Jiabao on Saturday, hoping to drum up sorely needed investment as Athens battles to emerge from an unprecedented Debt crisis. Greece is hoping to build on the success of existing Chinese investment in the country where shipping giant Cosco is already upgrading and expanding the main port. "Business ties are extensive, especially in the area of shipping and maritime affairs," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying said in Beijing ahead of the...

Race organizers say missing US balloonists plunged at 50 mph into Adriatic and likely died, EU
BARI, Italy -   Race organizers say missing US balloonists plunged at 50 mph into Adriatic and likely died.

EU doubles Pakistan flood aid to 150 million euros
Brussels (AFP) – The European Commission has decided to more than double its Pakistan flood aid to 150 million Euros (205 million dollars), the European Union's Humanitarian Aid chief said Friday. The EU's executive arm has already provided 70 million Euros in aid and will now distribute another 80 million Euros to its partner organisations, European Humanitarian Aid commissioner Kristalina Georgieva told a News Conference. "Our own staff in Pakistan confirms that more...

China's Wen calls on EU to help it reform financial system
China and the European Union should work together to reform and regulate the world's Financial System, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday during a visit to Greece. "I think we can, in a joint effort with the EU, reform the Financial System and reinforce controls on this System," Wen said following talks with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Athens. "With this joint effort, we can overcome our current difficulties and reinforce Sino-European relations," he added. "Hand in hand,...

Will China Save the Eurozone?
Via Pension Pulse. Nathalie Weeks and Tom Stoukas of Bloomberg report, China Will Buy Greek Bonds, Support Shipping Industry, Wen Says in Athens : China plans to buy Greek Bonds to support Greece’s shipping industry and strengthen relations with the European Union, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said following a meeting with Prime Minister George Papandreou in Athens today.   “China has already bought and holds its Greek Bonds,” Wen said in joint comments with...

Foresight Finances 2.6 MW PV Plant in Italy
London,UK Construction is under way and connection is planned before the year-end to qualify for Italy's current 20-year feed-in tariff. juwi Energie Rinnovabili, a subsidiary of juwi Holdings, and the thin-film module manufacturer First Solar are also participating in the project. This transaction continues to demonstrate banks' appetite for Lending to solar projects sponsored by equity providers with a relevant track record -- Jamie Richards, solar fund manager, Foresight Debt financing...

The Waning Wind
The Department of Energy and Climate Change said this week that lower than expected wind speeds and rainfall had led to a 12% fall in Renewable Electricity generated between April and June compared to the same period in 2009.  This is the second fall in Renewable Energy production this year and follows a smaller but still notable decline between January and March, again compared to last year. With a sharp drop in output from Nuclear Power stations as well, Greenhouse gas emissions from each...

A Question for BP's New Chief
So, I asked him about his commitment to Renewable Energy. After all, Mr. Dudley was once briefly Vice President for Renewable and Alternative Energy activities at BP, with responsibility over the companys solar business and wind and hydrogen initiatives about a decade ago. Those were the days when BP trumpeted itself as Beyond Petroleum. John Browne was chief executive at the time, and Renewable Energy was a hot place to be at the company. But then there was that disastrous explosion at...

Green setback for UK as British power supplied by renewable sources falls
Power derived from wind turbines and other 'clean' sources fell by 7.5% in the first three months of 2010. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/Guardian Britain's Renewable Energy revolution suffered an abrupt setback this winter when the power supplied from wind, hydro and other "clean" sources fell, despite years of promises and policies to end the nation's dependence on Fossil Fuels and slash Global Warming Pollution, the Guardian can reveal. The news comes as the government will tomorrow unveil...

Presidential Proclamation--National Energy Awareness Month
    America's Energy resources are inextricably linked to our continued prosperity, Security, and environmental health.  When it comes to our Nation's Energy future, we face fundamental choices between action and inaction, between embracing the possibilities of a new Clean Energy Economy and settling for the status quo, and between leading the world in Clean Energy and lagging behind.  We must choose wisely and invest in Clean Energy technologies to position our...

Chevron gets permission to drill off UK coast
L ONDON — The British Government has granted the first consent for new Deepwater Drilling in U.K. waters since the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, brushing aside calls for a U.S.-style Moratorium to give Chevron Corp. permission to begin work on an exploratory well. The decision, confirmed on Friday, means that Chevron can begin Drilling immediately in its Lagavulin prospect in waters north of the Shetland isles off the Scottish coast. Greenpeace, which ended a three-day Blockade of the...

Bingaman, Snowe Introduce Energy Tax Incentives Package
Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have introduced an Energy tax incentives Bill that they are urging the Senate to pass before the end of the year. The Bill includes tax incentives for homes and businesses that invest in Energy Efficiency, manufacturers of Clean Energy technology and developers of Energy storage technology, which is essential to prove the viability of intermittent Renewable Energy sources like wind and solar. In a statement, Bingaman said: We must...

"Progressive": China Offers To Buy Greek Debt
Athens, Oct 2 (Reuters) - China offered on Saturday to buy Greek Government bonds when Athens resumes issuing, in a show of support for the country whose Debt burden pushed the Euro zone into Crisis and required an international Bailout. Premier Wen Jiabao made the offer at the start of a two-day visit to Greece, his first stop on a tour of Europe, and also said he wanted to boost shipping and trade ties with Athens, underscoring Beijing’s use of economic strength to win...

UPDATE 1-S&P warning deepens Irish political, fiscal crisis
By Andras Gergely DUBLIN, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's warned on Tuesday it may cut Ireland's Credit Rating again due to the rising cost of recapitalising nationalised Anglo Irish Bank , pushing Dublin's borrowing costs to fresh peaks. Ireland is battling to convince investors it can afford to prop up its ailing banking sector and cut the biggest Budget Deficit in the European Union in the face of a faltering economy and growing risks of a Political Crisis. So far it appears to...

E.U. Ministers Agree on Proposal to Overhaul I.M.F. Board
Source: New York Times The European Union is ready to cede two of its seats on the board of the International Monetary Fund to emerging economies as part of a new Power-Sharing arrangement, ministers agreed Friday. The United States, frustrated at Europes refusal to share more I.M.F. power with emerging economies , moved in August to block plans that would have kept Europes long-running dominance over the board, which could end in the board being cut to 20 members. The current Europe-U.S....

The EU is an antidote to democratic governments, argues President Barroso
"Democratic institutions get things wrong" The President of the European Commission, Jos Manuel Durro Barroso, has offered one of the few utterly honest arguments for European integration. The reason we need the EU, he suggests, is precisely because its not democratic. Left to themselves, elected governments might do all sorts of things simply to humour their voters: Governments are not always right. If governments were always right we would not have the situation that we...

What I don't understand about Ireland
What does anyone keep his or her money, in any sizable amount, in an Irish bank when you can have a euro-denominated account in a German or English bank?  Admittedly the Interest Rate on Irish deposits may be higher, but that has to be matched by a comparable Rate of return on bank assets, which right now doesn't seem possible for Ireland.  (One fear I have is simply that it isn't and that Irish banks are falling more deeply under.)  No matter what Bailout is...

U.S. balloonists go missing during race
SANTA FE, N.M. - Searchers were hunting for a pair of American hot-air balloonists who went missing over the Adriatic Sea during a race over Europe, the race organizers said. Balloonists Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer-Davis were last heard from Wednesday morning near the East Coast of Italy, the Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett race said in a statement on its website. There were thunderstorms in the area when the last signal was heard from the balloon’s tracking device, which emits a...

Data shows balloon descended rapidly; survival 'unlikely'
Source: CNN Rome, Italy (CNN) -- Race organizers Friday said a balloon carrying two missing Americans over the Adriatic Sea off Italy made a rapid descent during rough weather, conditions which would make their survival "unlikely." "This is very pessimistic information," says the statement from the race organization -- Coupe Aeronautique Gordon Bennett. Race officials from the the international gas-balloon competition said they lost contact with the balloon of Richard Abruzzo of New Mexico...

Corbin Hiar: Will Scientists' Calls For Climate Action Fall on Negotiators' Deaf Ears?
With only days remaining until Diplomats are due to arrive in Tianjin for the final round of Climate negotiations before the Cancun summit, scientists have provided a grim reminder of how little progress Governments have made in addressing the threat of Climate Change and the consequences of continued inaction. Yet the statements being made by some world leaders suggest that Governments are still unwilling to acknowledge the scope of the problem. Stern Warning Research now suggests that the...

Europe's austerity anger grows
More than 100,000 marchers converged on Brussels from across the EU to Protest Austerity measures on Wednesday, while Spanish Unions took the extraordinary step of breaking ranks with Spain's Socialist Government by launching a general strike. © Associated Press Riot Police confront demonstrators during Riots in Barcelona on Wednesday Workers are on the streets today with a clear message to Europe's leaders," said John Monks, head of the European Trade Union Confederation. "There is a...

Beattie agrees: the Greens are Labor’s One Nation
As I said on August 25: MAULED Labor must belatedly do to the Greens what John Howard did to One Nation . ...  This will keep hurting Labor until it challenges the Greens’ moral standing and exposes the lunacy and hidden agendas under the koala suit. This would parallel what Howard did so well with One Nation , the Populist party of Pauline Hanson that snatched an astonishing 9 per cent of the vote in 1998, mostly from the Coalition. Howard defanged it by agreeing with as much as he...

EU's youngest PM waits as Latvia votes
AFP Latvia votes on Saturday in its first General Election since plunging into the world's deepest Recession two years ago. The ballot is a crucial test for Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis -- at 39, Europe's youngest head of Government -- who is at the helm of an Austerity drive which is part of an international Bailout for the Baltic state. "We took responsibility, we secured the nation's solvency, gradually restored Economic Growth," Dombrovskis said in a pre-election debate. As Latvia...