It’s All About EnergySolar TIMESSecond Quarter, 2008Published by West Marin Independent Press

Quarterly Newspaperwww.solartimes.org

Solar Times now on the Worldwide web at:

www.solartimes.org

Chevron’s Richmond Refinery Accused of Fueling Iraq War

Chevron in RichmondBuilt in 1902, the Chevron Richmond Refinery is one of the oldest and largest refineries operating in the US. An estimated twenty percent (around 17,000) of the people in Richmond’s mostly working class community live within 3 miles of the refinery, including in two public housing projects, populated primarily by low income people of color. “To refine its capacity of 87.6 million barrels of crude oil per year—240,000 barrels a day—the refinery produces over two million pounds of climate-poisoning, smog-forming and toxic air and water pollutants each year,” notes a Fact Sheet published by Bay Area Direct Action, a group opposed to the refinery and its planned expansion. The EPA reported just under 300 pollutant spills from the Richmond refinery from 2001 to 2003. Those spills are described by the Fact Sheet as, “highly toxic, often cancerous chemicals spilling directly into residential communities.” The EPA further lists the refinery in “significant noncompliance” for air pollution standards and, notes the Fact Sheet, “toxic flaring is a regular occurrence ...” The Fact Sheet continues: “Deadly accidents are a far too common occurrence, including massive explosions and fires. Richmond’s cancer and child-asthma rates exceed area, state and national averages.

Chevron’s Big, Dirty PlansEarly this year, Chevron Corporation sent out a press release announcing its plans to modernize its Richmond, California-based oil refinery plant. By March 20, Chevron officials found themselves defending their nearly $1 billion Energy & Hydrogen Renewal Project in front of an overflow crowd of angry citizens at Richmond’s City Hall. During the five-hour hearing, some residents accused company officials of deceiving the public about the true nature of the upgrade, claiming it actually amounts to a ‘huge expansion’ of the

In Richmond, California, citizen activists have joined with local community members to protest not only Chevron Oil Refinery’s expansion plans, but its connection with the ongoing war in Iraq...

In This Issue:Page 3: Local Solar Updates

Page 5: What You Need to Know about CHEVRONPage 7: CARB Kills the Electric Car - Again

Page 9: California’s Accelerated Warming TrendPage 10-11: Short Circuits

Page 13: US Power Plant Emissions Hit Record HighPage 15: Planet Unprepared for Climate-

related Upheaval, Hunger, Conflict Page 19: Take Action!

refinery. Others argued that the dangers from pollution connected with the project are far more serious than Chevron admits, and that officials need to provide the public with more and better information. Still others observed that Chevron can barely manage its existing facility - much less an expanded version. According to the Bay Area Direct Action Fact Sheet, “Rather than clean-up its Richmond refinery, Chevron is seeking to retool the refining so it can process heavier grades of crude oil that require more heat and pressure and result in more pollution.” “The ‘dirty crude’ will increase [Chevron’s] dangerous emissions from the refinery by an estimated 800 tons a year, according to the project’s draft environmental report, while increasing gasoline production by at most a mere 6%...”

David v Goliath: The Approval Process Despite Chevron officials’ attempts to characterize citizen concerns as ‘misperceptions,’ the Richmond Planning Commission, after hearing testimony on the environmental impact report, agreed that more citizen input was needed, and called another meeting for that purpose. The meeting is only a preliminary step in what is likely to be a contentious and lengthy approval process. The timeline goes something like this:The final environmental impact report (FEIR) must still be considered by the Planning Commission at a noticed public hearing. If the FEIR is certified and after the planning commission takes final action on the proposed project, it will file a Notice of Determination. Once the notice is filed, a 30-day statute of limitations for court challenges begins to run. At that point, a conditional use permit could be granted for Chevron to go ahead with the upgrade.

“The health risks are insignificant,” Bob Chamberlin, permit manager for the [Chevron] refinery, told the [Richmond

Planning] commission. “We are the most tightly controlled refinery in the country, if not the world.”

Matthai Kuruvila, in the San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, 2008

Continued on Page 5 ...

Photo by Cynthia DelFavero

Solar ChroniclesWarning: In the interest of full disclosure, I think it only fair to warn prospective readers that this (SecondQuarter, 2008) edition of SolarTimes, is not for the faint of heart. In truth, some of the stories in the pages that follow could reasonably be interpreted as downright depressing. I won’t lie to you. I saw it coming-. As I was researching, writing and compiling copy for this edition, it became clear that I had an important editorial decision to make: I could make it my mission to seek out, to the point of exclusion, every positive story I could find, or I could trust myself - and my best editorial instincts - and write the story that I know needs to be told, however ‘depressing.’ Oddly enough, It was not a difficult choice to make. In fact, there really was no choice. However painful, the truth is that we have entered a very dark time in history - and it is my job to record that history as I see it. As the 21st century unfolds, the world is becoming an increasingly hostile place for a majority of its inhabitants - and not just because it’s getting hotter. The devastating changes in the environment that we are seeing today are the result of decades of poor leadership, shortsighted land, water and food management, pig-headed energy policies and unmitigated growth, fueled by an economic system that works only for the few at the top of the food chain. Extreme climate change is a ‘clear and present danger’ to every man, woman and child living on the planet today, but it is only a symptom of a much larger problem. That problem is deeply systemic, and has to do with consumerism as a way of life and, dare I say it, an obsolete economic system that operates on the theory that we can kill and consume our way out of crisis. But that won’t work now. In fact, it never did work, which is why we find ourselves here today. It will take truly bold and visionary leadership - of a kind we have rarely (if ever) seen in this country, to summon the political courage to initiate, implement and enforce the kinds of radical solutions that will be required NOW, if we are to look forward to a future worth living, for ourselves, and especially our children and their children.

Editor’s dEsk

SolarTimesSecondQuarter, 2008

Publisher, Managing Editor: Sandy LeonVestDesign, Layout: Sandy LeonVestBusiness Manager: James C. Vest Advertising, Distribution Manager: James C. Vest Staff Photographers: Whitney C. Vest, James C. Vest Contributing Photographer: Cynthia DelFaveroResearch Assistance: Juliette Anthony, James C. VestDistribution: Pamela Lichtenwalner, G. Peter Tangermann, James Vest, Whitney C. VestWebmaster: Jack Salvador

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sustainable living practices. SolarTimes supports government transparency and facilitates public participation in the process

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SecondQuarter 20082 SolarTimes

PG&E Worker Remembers Better Days

Dear SolarTimes Editor:I worked for PG&E in their energy conservation department from 1979 to 1993, and was laid off in 1993 during their first massive layoff of 2,500 people. After fourteen years, I was more than ready to move on, as by then it had become clear that energy conservation was low on PG&E’s totem pole of important things to be doing by ‘93. This initial ‘restructuring’ was the first of their efforts to put money in the execs and shareholders pockets at the expense of the rate payers. Let me tell you what it was like before the re-structuring happened when there was a storm. First, all management employees were required to report in for telephone duty in the LOCAL offices (unless they were having an emergency at home). My assignment was the local MILL VALLEY office because it was closest to my home (there were LOCAL offices and substations all over Marin then...including Olema substation). At the office, we answered the phones for all callers who dialed a LOCAL Mill Valley number if they were in southern Marin and get a real local person on the phone. We had real info to give them about how long it would be, what was wrong and what we were working on. We answered the phone all night long, for the storm duration (we got set up on rotating shifts). We had local information because the LOCAL crews were required to report in what the hell was going on so we could give the LOCAL customers information. If a situation called for it we could radio a crew to get details . West Marin people often called Mill Valley if the substation in Olema couldn’t answer since there was a field crew there and they would be out working to restore power. I could give West Marin callers real information ---where the problem was located and what was being done to get it fixed. Crews were local and we had enough people to work LOCALLY. Second, at certain points during the outage we management employees got in PGandE trucks and DROVE to see outages and problems..we couldn’t be used to fix things, but we could be used to spot problems and get out there and be a presence for people.

Third, LOCAL top management fully understood that for most people, power was an essential--as important as air and water to all of us. There was a sense of duty for most of us employees to provide what’s called SERVICE in an emergency. Customer service was considered a top priority and we had enough crews most of the time and very rarely had to call them in from outside states. Many times we just comforted old people calling in, sick people, scared people. Let’s face it cold people in darkness are not happy people-the stoneage ended long ago! And, guess what? Outages at the most outrageous lasted for a day, not days--even in the worst storms.. West Marin was always a bit longer because of the distances, hills, trees, terrain..but never more than 2 days..even 2 days was considered way over the top and not reasonable! Fourth, we paid claims. I know because I was in charge of paying them. Even if it was a storm -”act of God”--if a customer filled out a form and sent in a list of what had spoiled in their refrigerators--we paid for it..no questions asked and no receipts required. Sure, some people claimed to have Dom Perignon and caviar in their refers, but my managers’ attitude was make the customer happy because that’s good business. With the big downsizings starting in ‘93, local offices closed, substations closed and crews were whittled down to bare bones. Maintenance was put off so that transformers now blow all the time--even without storms instead of being on rotating replacement schedules. There’s nowhere to call now except an 800 number that’s been farmed out to a phone bank company to answer the calls by people they pay minimum wage and have no training at all in power or the issues. --or callers get a recording like in January, 2008 that basically said..we have no clue. They bring in crews from out of state..I remember some of my old lineman friends who said these people would arrive from places like Nevada and Utah where they had no clue about our roads, our terrain or how we did things--they’d get lost, freak out when they had to climb a tree or buzz saw in the rough terrain etc.

Julie BeachSan Rafael, CA

What we need above all is a new model of balanced growth

based on reciprocity and symbiotic relationships to replace the

dominant model of unlimited growth based on rampant competitionand the survival of the fittest.

From the 2006 energy report by the Institute of Science and Society (ISIS)

www.i-sis.org.uk/ISIS_energy_review_exec_sum.pdf

As a new report delivered to the European Union in April, 2008 reveals, (See story, page 15) what we are now seeing is just the tip of the iceberg, especially in places inhabited by people who already don’t have enough and are barely eeking out a subsistence living. Europe is now bracing for an unprecedented - and potentially disastrous - migration of (mostly very poor) people, brought on by massive displacement of those living near or at sea level. Its leaders understand, much more clearly than those in the US, that we are well past the eleventh hour. They understand that they are already being impacted, not just by the unprecedented flooding and extreme weather at home, but by the influx of people from other countries who have lost their homes and farmlands, because of crop failure, primarily brought on by drought and/or rising sea levels. Water and food shortages have been triggered not only by climate change itself, but by the ruthless mining, plundering and polluting by corporate interests, including Big Oil, Coal, Uranium and others. Poisoning of land and water by those same entities has brought us to this point in history.

Don’t get depressed, get involved... For anyone still doubting that climate change and environmental destruction are the issues of the 21st century, this issue of SolarTimes is definitely for you. For those who already ‘get it,’ or think they do, let me urge you to read this issue with even more attention than usual. Then, turn to page 19, and see how easy SolarTimes has made

it for you to begin to change the world, one email, one phone call, one letter at a time. Keep in mind that, not only is legislative action important, but it makes it possible for people like you and me, who perhaps aren’t wealthy enough to afford the latest, greatest solar array or hybrid car, to participate in what is still a democracy, at least for now. You can start by doing something as simple as sending a pre-written letter. It’s as easy as a click of the mouse!Probably the simplest way to utilize the Legislative Action

section is to go to www.solartimes.org and open the PDF of the most recent issue. Then just copy the links provided and paste them in your web browser.

TAKE ACTION!See Legislative Action, Page 19...

Local Section

SolarTimes 3

1906 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.Fairfax, CA 94930 415.453.9167

www.fatkatsurfshop.com

Tune in to theMorning Blunders Show

for Sandy LeonVest’s Local Energy Updateson KWMR Radio at 8:45 AM

(89.7 in Stinson/Bolinas or 90.5 in Point Reyes Station/Inverness), alternating Thursdays

SecondQuarter 2008

Bolinas Bay LumberHardware & Landscape Supply1 Olema-Bolinas Road, Bolinas, CA.

415 868-2900Open Weekdays 8AM - 5PM

Sat: 9AM - 5PM & Sun: 9AM - 1PM

Hardware, Lumber, Paint, Housewares, Electrical, Plumbing, Concrete, Roofing, Fencing, Toys, Ornamental & Road Gravel, Organic Soils & Mulch, Office Supplies, Fishing Supplies, Keys Made and much much more...

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Think Globally,

Eat Locally

BOLINAS PEOPLE’S STOREOffering Organic and Natural Foods since 1976

14 Wharf Rd., Bolinas868-1433

Behind the Community CenterOpen Daily 8:30 to 6:30

contact877-228-8700 toll-freeor 415-457-0215

Policies are needed to minimize food import/export, to promote instead, national/

regional food-sufficiency, and to reverse the concentration of food supply chains in favor of local shops and cooperatives run directly

by farmers and consumers. In addition, there should be government subsidies and

incentives for reducingcarbon dioxide emissions on farms, and for

farms and localcommunities to become energy self-sufficient

in low or zero-emission renewables.

From the 2006 energy report by the Institute of Science and Society (ISIS)

www.i-sis.org.uk/ISIS_energy_review_exec_sum.pdf

Bolinas School, Community Center Move Forward on Solar The Bolinas Community Center (BCC) solar project has become a great inspiration for the small town of Bolinas, says local installer Darren Malvin, “with the BCC now projecting an increase in size to just over 20 kW in order to partly power the Bolinas People’s Store as well.” Malvin says that the new system “will incorporate 108 solar panels at an approximate cost of $130,000 after the California rebate.” He notes that more than half of the funds raised have been through events at the community center and from donations from community members. “We are truly appreciative of the generous donations made so far, and are continuing to seek help to reach our goal,” said Malvin, founder and owner of Pacific Green Energy. “We are asking the community to make tax deductible donations by purchasing “a panel” for the solar system. Other Bolinas solar projects in the works include the Bolinas Public Utilities District (BPUD), the Bolinas Firehouse and the Bolinas School. The BPUD is working through the planning process and expects to have the two systems for the water treatment and sewage treatment plants installed by the end of this summer. The Bolinas Firehouse has just closed it’s Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and is currently reviewing bids. The Bolinas School is curently looking into an RFP process to proceed.

Other West Marin projects In Stinson Beach, the firehouse and community center are close to realizing their own solar plans. According to Malvin, after receiving several local and non-local bids, the Stinson Beach Community Center decided to go with a non-local larger corporation to install it’s solar system. In Muir Beach, the community center went solar a few years back and San Geronimo Valley, including Lagunitas School, is also making plans to go solar. But, says renewable energy activist Peter Asmus, “The community that clearly sports the largest installed capacity of solar PV systems is Point Reyes Station.” Asmus points to the West Marin School, Livery Stable building, Cowgirl Creamery, Toby’s Feed Barn and the local Post Office as evidence, noting that all of these buildings are now powered, at least in part, by the sun. “The Point Reyes National Seashore and Green/Red Barn is also relying upon solar energy. Yet the most cutting-edge solar PV system in all of West Marin is also in Point Reyes Station, but still in the planning stages at the Dance Palace.”

Editor’s Note: Now that’s what we call community action!Remember, the Dance Palace in Point Reyes Station is holding a public workshop where residents can learn about solar, and it’s hands-on! For more information, phone 663-1075 or email dance@horizoncable.com

Larry Wall, owner of the Stinson Beach Health Club reads SolarTimes for its independent point of view ...

Maitreya Silver pictured here in front of the Bolinas Surf Shop, reading SolarTimes. Maitreya initiated the fundraiser that raised over $4,000 for the Bolinas Community Center’s Solar Fund.

Photo by James Vest, staff photographer

Photo by James Vest, staff photographer

Bay Area/California

4 SolarTimes SecondQuarter 2008

Information on the California Solar Initiative (CSI) can be found online at:

www.gosolarcalifornia.ca.gov, The website is a joint effort of the California Energy Commision and the California Public Utilities Commission, and contains links to information

regarding solar for new and existing homes, businesses, schools and public buildings

ORfor further information, try:

www.sdenergy.org/ContentPage.asp?ContentID=483

For a complete list of energy-related State and Federal legislation, visit:

www.energycenter.org

For a complete list of AB 32 workshops and meetings, visit:

www.arb.ca.gov/app/calendar/cc_cur_evnt.php

Initiated out of Assembly Bill (AB) 32, this will design and implement a greenhouse gas (GHG) cap for the regulated electric utilities, including

consideration of a GHG performance standard.

Local Opposition to San Onofre Nuclear Re-licensing Gains Steam

Anti-nuclear groups say they are determined to oppose Southern California Edison’s (SCE) request that ratepayers be required to pay for funding an in-house feasibility study to determine whether SCE can profit from another 20 years of operating its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Rochelle Becker, Executive Director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility believes the most compelling reason to deny SCE’s request is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) process itself. In September 2007, the Inspector General (IG) of the NRC issued a report expressing concerns that in the 13 re-licensing cases examined by the IG, “the office found little evidence that NRC staff had confirmed the integrity of the aging safety systems they approved. For example: 98 percent of 458 passages in audit, inspection, and safety evaluation reports failed to adequately document or support NRC conclusions.” Moreover, Becker points out that in several cases, the report found that NRC safety evaluation language was “identical or nearly identical” to the information that the companies had provided in the license renewal application. Even more serious, according to the IG, in 35 percent of “red” cases there was “no mention of review methodology or no specific support” for NRC staff findings that the 13 plants had

successfully met safety requirements.” As of mid-February 2008, eight organizations and three states have petitioned the NRC to stay any license approvals that have been granted and freeze any application proceedings until resolution of this issue. Becker further points out that “it is premature for ratepayers to fund SCE’s study of license renewal until the California Energy Commission has completed, adopted and implemented the results of its cradle-to-grave cost, benefit and risk analysis of the economic impacts of continuing to operate nuclear reactors. These reactors were designed in the 1960’s and there is no permanent repository for safely storing hundreds of tons of highly radioactive waste that have already been produced and are being stored on California’s fragile and seismically active coast.

A copy of this article in letter format to the CPUC can be copied and sent to President Michael Peevey at the CPUC,

505 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94102 or emailed from:

www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/aboutus/Commissioners/01Peevey/contact.htm

February 08,2008 edition:www.csmonitor.com/2008/0208/p02s01-

usgn.htmlContact: Rochelle Becker,

http://a4nr.org/articles/02.20.2008-rochelleoped

To read Marin County’s updated CCA plan:www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/main/comdev/advance/sustainability/Energy/cca/pdf/CCA_

Presentation_BOS_1-15-07.pdf

Marin County’s Community Choice Moves Forward

Advocates for Marin County’s Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) believe that, properly managed, a Marin CCA would enable citizens not only to purchase clean, renewable energy for cheaper than they can now, but that it would promote and expand the use of renewable energy throughout the county. CCA, as described by the County of Marin, is “all about giving Marin residents and businesses the power to choose cost-effective renewable resources over fossil fuel resources and more control over the generation sources of electricity vital to sustaining our local economy. “A CCA can help create long-term price stability, promote locally-owned clean distributed generation, increase jobs and keep our energy dollars in the community. It can also help us reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and take responsible pragmatic actions toward becoming sustainable communities.” County officials promoting the program point out that under the current (PG&E-run) system, rates are determined through a CPUC process where the people of Marin have “effectively no input.” Moreover, they cite this current inability to control rates as the “primary risk under the status quo.” PG&E rates have increased by 43% since 2000 and are scheduled to increase again in 2008. Under a CCA, the county’s website notes, “the program governing board comprised of elected leaders with support from an appointed energy commission would exercise local control over CCA program rates.”

County officials believe CCA rates can be stabilized by shifting responsibility for managing commodity price volatility to the program’s third party electric suppler. Concerns remain among some energy activists that ratepayers could be liable for costs associated with returning to PG&E in the event the CCA doesn’t work as envisaged and the program terminates. But proponents insist that this is an issue that is evolving and currently under consideration by the CPUC. “The San Joaquin Valley Power Authority [has been] in discussions withthe CPUC and PG&E staff to clarify the bonding/insurance requirements that must be met by a CCA,” the county says in a response to a letter from PG&E regarding Draft Marin CCA Business Plan. Marin County’s CCA Program Manager Dawn Weisz and other program officials contend that PG&E is wrong in dismissing CCA’s ability to effectively design and implement energy efficiency programs. “Energy efficiency is now a major profit generator for PG&E, and it is not surprising that PG&E would defend its market share in that sector, the county responds in a PDF posted online (see URLs below). “However,” the county continues, “third party administration of energy efficiency programs has been successful, and the CCA would have a right to apply for program funding. The plan calls for initially developing new programs to supplement the existing energy efficiency programs. Over time it may make sense for the CCA to administer all energy efficiency programs within its jurisdiction.”

Marin County’s Response to PG&E on CCA: www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/main/comdev/advance/sustainability/Energy/cca/pdf/

NCI_Response_to_PG_2_.pdf

What is Community Choice Aggregation?Learn more:

www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/Main/comdev/advance/Sustainability/Energy/cca/pdf/MarinCCA_Definition.pdf

For an updated (March, 2008) CCA Timeline and to learn what Marin has accomplished to date, please visit:

www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/Main/comdev/advance/Sustainability/Energy/cca/pdf/Thankyouandnextstepsfor3-6-08.pdf

For details and extended updates, please visit:www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/CD/Main/comdev/advance/Sustainability/Energy/

cca/CCA.cfm?print=yes&

How would you like to see 100 percent of Marin County’s power

supply come from renewable sources (solar, wind and biomass)?

For more information, visit: www.marincleanenergy.info

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) estimate that California could lose as much as 90 percent of the Sierra snopack (the state’s largest source of water) by the end of the

century if global warming emissions are not significantly reduced.

www.ucsusa.org/publications/catalyst/fa04-catalyst-a-tale-of-two-futures.html

Southern California Edison (SCE) will install 250 megawatts (MW) of solar - enough to cover two square miles of rooftop - on more than 100 large commercial buildings across Southern California. That many megawatts of power, notes the New York Times, is roughly equal to the entire quantity manufactured in the US last year, and will supply enough electricity to power 162,000 homes. SCE plans to cluster the panels in hot, fast-growing areas of its service territory already connected to the grid such as Riverside and San Bernardino counties. SCE says it will install the panels, which it will own, on leased rooftops at a rate of 1 to 2 MW each week over the next five years. The $875 million project must still be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission.

www.fypower.org/news/index.php?page_id=448&edition=617#post-2471

SCE to Install 250 MW of Solar

In the world of good news-bad news scenarios, the bad news (See page 7) is that California’s Air Resources Board continues to put the interests of the auto industry over those of public health and the environment. The upshot being that most Californians won’t be driving Zero Emissions Vehicles anytime soon. The good news is that there are other ways to bring down greenhouse gases, and at least two California Senators are trying to do just that. Senator Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) has proposed legislation that would allow, with local voter approval, regional transportation agencies to impose a “greenhouse gas mitigation and funding fee” on motor vehicle registrations. And Assemblyman Mike Feuer, (D-Los Angeles), has proposed a gas tax increase of up to 9 cents a gallon, or a $90 registration fee hike, to fund transportation improvements and fight global warming in Los Angeles, also pending voter approval. It may be a hopeful sign as well that, according to a recent San Jose State poll, Californians are warming to the idea of such incentives and taxes. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed said they would support raising vehicle registration fees to reward drivers of cleaner cars compared with 40 percent support for a flat-rate increase. A tax and rebate system for vehicle purchases, depending on their emissions, was backed by 65 percent of those surveyed. A vehicle mileage fee of 1 cent per mile driven was backed by 28 percent of those surveyed, and support increased to 50 percent when the amount of the per-mile charge was varied to penalize more-polluting vehicles.

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/03/MNIMVUPFF.DTL

CA not ready for Zero Emisisons Vehicles?How About a Gas Tax?

SolarTimes 5

Bay Area/California

SecondQuarter 2008

CHEVRON FACTS:Star Oil Works founded in California in 1876, was purchased by Standard

Oil in 1906 and became Standard Oil of California. In 1984, Standard Oil purchased Gulf Oil and became Chevron. Chevron merged with Texaco in 2001 and bought Unocal in 2005. World Corporate Headquarters is located at 6001 Bollinger Canyon Road, San Ramon, CA.

Chevron is the 2nd largest American oil company, the 4th largest company in the US and the 7th largest company in the world. Chevron owns 7.8 billion barrels of oil reserves and produces oil across the globe.

Chevron’s 2007 profits = $18.7 billion - almost $2 billion more than 2006, and the highest ever in the company’s more than 130-year history.

David J. O’Reilly, Chairman and CEO, received $8.8 million in total compensation in 2006; over the last 5 years he’s received almost $40 million.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice served on Chevron’s Board of Directors from 1991-2001 and chaired its Public Policy Committee. A Chevron supertanker was named in her honor, the SS Condoleezza Rice.

George W. Bush is Chevron’s number two all-time recipient of campaign contributions, after former Republican Congressman Richard Pombo.

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Chevron Under Fire: Continued from Front Page...Communities Coalesce to Oppose Chevron ExpansionCommunities for a Better Environment (CBE), the West County Toxics Coalition (WCTC), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) all oppose Chevron’s Energy & Hydrogen Renewal Project on the grounds that the refinery, which they note already has a dismal safety record and poor community relations, will be emitting unacceptable levels of greenhouse gases. In the FEIR, the city disclosed that the refinery’s five main project components would generate total new greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) of 898,000 metric tons per year. But, it said, Chevron would mitigate its GHGs “to net zero.” Greg Karras, staff scientist with CBE, said he asked Richmond’s planning commission to place an enforceable limit on the types of crude oil the refinery can process. Karas says that CBE is concerned about the sulfur and pollutant content of that oil, and wants Chevron to provide more specific data about the types of crude oils it currently processes “so the planning commission can make a better-informed decision about the ultimate and cumulative effects of the project.” But thus far, he says, “Chevron has not given us the most fundamental, basic information to determine how much pollution would increase.”

Protesters Make the War Connection: Chevron in IraqThe US Department of Energy has documented that Chevron has been refining oil from Iraq at the Richmond refinery since the war began - and continues to do so today. Most of the protesters who gathered in front of the Chevron Oil Refinery in Richmond on March 15, 2008 were there to make that exact point. One they say is not being adequately addressed by the mainstream press. They wanted not only to oppose Chevron’s planned expansion, but to expose its connection to the ongoing war in Iraq. They wanted to shed light on the important role they say Chevron plays in fueling that war. To drive the point home, organizers of the March 15 protest joined with other Bay Area peace and environmental groups in San Francisco on March 19 to mark the 5-year anniversary of the US’ initial attack on Iraq - what the Bush administration dubbed, ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’ The protesters maintain that the public has a right to know about Chevron’s long and profitable involvement in Iraq - which, they say, the company wants to significantly expand, as well as its ongoing relationship and support of the Bush administration.

An Unsavory HistoryThe year 2007 was a good one for Chevron and its chief executives. It was, in fact, the most lucrative ever for the company, with its impressive $18.7 billion profit. “No small part of these megaprofits comes directly from Iraq,” wrote Antonia Juhasz, author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time. “The key to the company’s future success,” she notes in an article posted

at AlterNet last March, “lies in passage of a new national oil law in Iraq and the continuation of the US occupation.” The law to which Juhasz refers is actually a set of provisions known as the Hydrocarbon Act, drafted in February, 2006 by BearingPoint, a management consulting provider listed by the Center for Corporate Policy as the number 2 top war profiteer of 2004. Chevron has been a prime supporter of the Bush administration’s attempts to force the Iraqi government to pass the Hydrocarbon Act, a scheme that seeks to transform Iraq’s oil industry from a nationalized model – now all but closed to US oil companies – into a privatized model, with at least two-thirds of Iraq’s oil open to foreign investment. If and when the Iraqi Parliament ever signs it, the Hydrocarbon Act would allow Chevron

and other multinational corporations to share in whatever ‘spoils of war’ are left once US troops have finished the job. While they rarely speak of it these days, the Hydrocarbon Act was - and presumably still is - one of the Bush administration’s oft-touted ‘benchmarks’ for success in Iraq.

The Spoils of War: Chevron’s War Profiteering Today, it is a matter of public record that Chevron not only helped put George W. Bush

and Dick Cheney in office back in 2000, but that its top executives were present at vice-president Cheney’s now-infamous ‘energy task force’ meetings in 2001. Further, it is now known that the Bush administration disclosed its agenda in Iraq to Chevron and other key energy players well before taking office. Chevron’s business in Iraq has been so public that even the mainstream press has done a reasonably decent job of covering it. The company’s vigilance when it comes to Iraqi oil fields has, in fact, become legendary, and its representatives notorious for their tireless efforts to ensure that the invasion of Iraq yields the greatest possible access to - and control over - Iraq’s oil. Chevron began marketing Iraqi oil under contracts with the regime of Saddam Husseinand continues marketing Iraqi oil today. According to news reports, Chevron recently paid $30 million to settle charges that it had

paid illegal kickbacks to the Hussein regime to win contracts during the 1990s sanctions period. After a brief interlude during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Chevron was one of the first companies to begin marketing Iraqi oil. In the lead-up to the 2003 invasion, Chevron representatives took part in theCheney Energy Task Force meetings that included the close investigation of Iraq’s oilfields and oil productive capacity. That summer, Chevron was one of six oilcompanies to found a special project at the International Tax and Investment Centreresulting in the ITIC’s report, ‘Petroleum in Iraq’s Future.’ “The report recommended all butfully privatizing Iraq’s oil industry and opening it to foreign oil companies, a modelfully embraced in the Iraq Oil Law,” notes Bay Area Direct Action. “In October 2003, Chevron Vice President Norm Szydlowski was assigned by the Bushadministration to be a formal liaison on the ground in Iraq between the US occupationgovernment of Iraq and the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Chevron continued to work its connections by sponsoring conferences, such as “Iraq Procurement 2004—Meet the Buyers,” at which Iraqi ministers met with corporate executives in Amman, Jordan, to “further their business relations...” Chevron has been flying Iraqi oil engineers to the US free of charge for four-week training courses since early 2004 and most recently, Chevron has teamed-up with Total to bid on Iraq’s fourth largest oil field, the Majnoon field. Chevron hopes to produce oil in the field under the terms of the Iraq Oil Law. It has continued regular negotiations with Iraq’s leading government officials in pursuit of the best contract deals possible, while the Bush administration pressures the Iraqis to pass the Iraq Oil Law [Hydrocarbon Act].

The Struggle Continues Back in 2006, John Hopkins University researchers estimated that 600,000 Iraqi civilians had died as a direct result of the war. Today, some 4000 US soldiers are also dead, and well over $500 billion in taxpayer money is gone. “We want San Franciscans to stop and think about the damage that our government has done to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. Five years of war and destruction is far more than any people should have to bear, and we need to hold accountable the government leaders and corporations that have let this go on for way too long – or even want it to continue because they’re making a killing off the war,” said protester Michael B Reagan. “Chevron is driving the war and occupation in Iraq by refining over a million barrels of stolen Iraqi oil in Richmond a month.”

“Oil remains at the heart of the game and, if anything, it is even more important than before. With their complex logistics and heavy reliance on air power, high-tech armies are extremely energy-intensive. According to a

Pentagon report, the amount of petroleum needed for each soldier each day increased four times between the Second World War and the Gulf War and quadrupled again when the US invaded Iraq. Recent estimates suggest the

amount used per soldier has jumped again in the five years since the invasion...”

From an article by John Gray, posted at:www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/30/7979/

Sources for this article included but were not limited to:

http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/othercities/sacramento/stories/2008/03/17/

daily56.html, http://bayareadirectaction.wordpress.com/for-the-media/,

http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2008/03/17/chevrons-richmond-

refinery-shut-down-by-people-power/, www.dissidentvoice.org/2007/07/the-

iraqis%E2%80%99-failure-to-pass-the-us-authored-oil-law/,

www.alternet.org/waroniraq/79611/ and www.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/chevron/

index.html (CEC website).

Sign the‘Stop the

Iraq Oil Law’ Petition:

www.petitiononline.com/iraqoil/petition.html

California

6 SolarTimes SecondQuarter 2008

mpimagnetic power inc.,

301 ‘a’ north main StreetBox 880

Sebastopol, ca 94573707 829-9391

www.magneticpowerinc.com

“Our mission is to supply the world with clean, abundant, inexpensive electricity.”

mark goldes, Founder & ceo, mpi

genie™ Generating Electricity by Nondestructive Interference of Energy

GILLYFLOWER Solar-Powered

Nursery440 Overlook Drive

Bolinas, CA

415 868-2531Open to the Public

Saturdays & Sundays, 10AM - 5PM

Featuring California Natives, Succulents, Hummingbird & Pollinator Species, Bonsai &

Trough Gardens and more...

CEC’s Estimated Schedule for AB 1632 (California) Nuclear Power Plant Assessment:

Provide preliminary assessments to California Energy Commission (CEC) ... through early May, 2008;

Optional public input opportunity Mid-May;Release draft Consultant Report End JunePublic workshop and written comments on draft Consultant

Report Mid-July;Release Final Consultant Report End August;Release Energy Commission AB 1632 Committee Report

End September;Optional public workshop and/or written comments on

Committee Report early October;Commission adoption of AB 1632 Committee Report

October 22, 2008;2008 IEPR Update Report 4th quarter 2008

View full PDF Report on AB1632 (California) Nuclear Power Plan Assessment:www.energy.ca.gov/ab1632/documents/2008-01-30_STUDY_PLAN.PDF

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As of February 14, 2008, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is offering new ‘feed-in tariffs’ for the purchase of up to 480 MW of renewable generating capacity from small facilities throughout California. The tariffs present a simple mechanism for small renewable generators to sell power to the utility at predefined terms and conditions, without contract negotiations. The hope is that participating small facilities will sell their renewable power to utilities, thereby helping contribute to California’s ambitious renewable energy goals. The power sold to the utilities under the feed-in tariffs will contribute to the utilities’ ability to meet their Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) goals. The end result, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) is “an effective feed-in tariff to encourage small, customer-owned renewables. “ The California feed-in tariff allows eligible customer-generators to enter into contracts with their utilities to sell their renewable electricity at time-differentiated market-based prices. Time-of-use adjustments will be applied by each utility, a special, higher-level rate provided for solar electricity generated between 8 AM and 6 PM. The feed-in tariff is meant to help the utilities meet California’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS). “Up until now, only large renewable projects were able to effectively participate in the Renewables Portfolio Standard program,” said CPUC President Michael R. Peevey. “Now small facilities can easily contribute to this program and be compensated for their renewable generation by signing up for these tariffs.”

For more information, visit:www.dsireusa.org/ OR

www.cpuc.ca.gov/PUC/energy/electric/RenewableEnergy/feedintariffs.htm

CPUC Approves Feed-in Tariffs to Boost Renewables

state movescloser to

energy goalsThe CPUC’s ‘feed-in tariff’ ruling (See adjacent article) represents a significant step toward a clean energy future for California. Three other recent actions that further California’s clean energy agenda are:

On March 27, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Southern California Edison officials in Fontana to announce the nation’s largest rooftop solar installation project ever proposed by a utility company. It will place 250 megawatts of advanced photovoltaic generating technology on 65 million square feet of unused commercial buildings’ rooftops in Southern California - enough clean power to serve 162,000 average Southern California homes.

The release of the CPUC’s updated Energy Action Plan which examines the state’s actions in the context of global climate change. The report discusses advanced metering infrastructure; dynamic pricing rate design reform for all consumers; Combined Heat & Power (CHP) policies; and utility-scale solar facilities.

California’s investor-owned utilities (IOUs) have developed a draft version of the nation’s first single, statewide Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan which lays the foundation for energy efficiency, demand-side management and renewables to become “business as usual” in California.

Editor’s Note: The last paragraph of the report, if sincere, would seem to represent a significant (positive) attitude change on the part of the state’s IOUs. It reads as follows: “The (planned) deep penetration of energy efficiency, demand response (and) distributed generation will result in less dependence on utility-provided resources and more reliance on customer-owned sources of generation.”

Let’s hope so...SLV

1.

2.

3.

“Builders come to us because they sense homeowners and home shoppers are demanding it, are asking for it. It’s

become a marketing advantage.”

Wade Hughes, manager of SMUD’s solar home program

“We have had a steady stream of folks coming to our office asking, ‘Are you solar?’ says Brian Cuttings, project manager at Woodside’s Sacramento division. “We see there’s a definite segment of the market that says you’ve got to have solar.” That’s more than likely the reason why Utah-based builder Woodside Homes has struck a deal with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) to build 1,487 solar-powered homes in Rancho Cordova and Rancho Murieta by 2012. Only a year ago, SMUD announced a similar deal with the Lennar Corporation for 1,254 new homes in Sacramento County. That project was, at the time, called the largest partnership in the country. Lennar last year also reached agreement with Roseville Electric to build 650 solar homes there. The agreement is SMUD’s 10th with builders since early 2007. The deals, in which SMUD helps builders pay for the systems, will equip more than 4,153 new homes in

Sacramento promises nation’s ‘largest solar-home project so far’

by 2012Sacramento County with solar power in coming years. To qualify for the program, builders must install energy-efficient extras, such as tighter ducts for air-conditioning units, better insulation and

windows, and more efficient heating and air-conditioning units. SMUD funds its subsidies – $5,955 per home in Woodside’s case – with a solar surcharge on all customer electric bills. Builders receive

a $2,000 federal tax credit for adding solar systems to a house, while homebuyers are eligible for a $2,000 federal tax credit for buying a solar-powered home, said Wade Hughes, manager of SMUD’s solar home program. With ten deals for 4,153 homes in place, 30 percent or more of new homes built next year in Sacramento County will have solar systems, he said, putting Sacramento at the solar forefront.

www.sacbee.com/103/story/838528.html

Feed-in tariffs are long-term, non-negotiable purchase power contracts between utilities and small distributed generators. They are offered as optional alternatives to net metering. The steady, long-term revenue

stream created by feed-in tariffs gives distributed generation owners a viable way to improve the cost-benefit outlook of their investment and

ease the acquisition of debt financing.

www.dsireusa.org/

California

SolarTimes 7 SecondQuarter 2008

CA: climate change and water info:http://calwatercrisis.org/pdf/ACWA.

WS.ClimateChange%202007.pdf

A Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) analysis concludes that California would need to have 379,000 “pure” zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road in the next 12 years to meet the state’s long-term global warming pollution reduction target... Deploying that many zero emission vehicles would, notes UCS, “be consistent with the California’s State Alternative Fuel Plan 2050 Vision,” crafted by California’s Air Resource Board (CARB) and the California Energy Commission (CEC) to reduce global warming emissions from the state’s transportation sector. Currently there are approximately 31 million cars on California roads. “The ZEV program needs to keep up with the times,” UCS Senior Vehicles Analyst Spencer Quong said. “Since the state created it, California passed a landmark global warming law and is developing regulations and policies to clean up its entire transportation sector. The ZEV program should be an integral part of the cleanup plan.” Automakers comply with the ZEV program through a complicated system which allows them to earn credits for vehicles that do not contribute to the program’s overall goal, which is to put more zero emission vehicles on the road, Quong said. In 2001, CARB significantly weakened ZEV regulations to permit the auto companies to meet their requirements more easily. Moreover, the public cannot keep automakers accountable because auto companies refuse to let CARB release information documenting their compliance with the ZEV program. “The way the ZEV program is set up, automakers can game the system instead of delivering on their promises at auto shows to move electric and fuel-cell prototypes to showroom floors,” Quong said. “CARB should reform the ZEV program so that it puts ultra-clean technology to work in meeting California’s long term environmental goals.”

www.commondreams.org/news2008/0325-15.htm

www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california-must-reinvent-not-0103.html

Read a great commentary on why

California needs ZEVs at:

www.californiaprogressreport.com/2008/03/on_reducing_zer.html

Read California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine’s (D-CA))

commentary on why California should never turn the clock back on

nuclear power:http://democrats.assembly.

ca.gov/members/a40/press/20080317AD40PR01.htm

AUTO INDUSTRY WINS - YOU LOSE

CARB Kills the Electric Car - AgainMarch 27, 2008 was a good day for automakers. On that day, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted to cut the number of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) that automakers will need to sell in the state by 70 percent - a massive reduction in pressure on the big auto companies to produce clean rides. The industry is no doubt breathing easier since CARB ‘revised’ what would have been the first serious attempt since 2003 to put Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) on California roads - in this case, at least 25,000 of them by 2014. CARB’s program initially called for a full ten percent of all vehicles sold in California to be zero emission. Now major automakers will only be required to put some 7,500 clean cars on California’s roads between 2012 and 2014 (instead of the 25,000 envisaged by the 2003 revision), effectively decimating what would have been an extraordinary program. The proposal only requires (each of) America’s major automakers to produce about 150 ZEVs per year through 2015. This is fewer than the number required under the mandate when the electric car was killed the first time in 2003, according to Plug In America Executive Director Chelsea Sexton. CARB staff recently released a report proposing several changes to the ZEV program. The report called for 90 percent fewer “pure” zero emission vehicles, such as hydrogen fuel cell or battery electric vehicles, than what the initial ZEV program required. The CARB report says the state could make up for that reduction with more “enhanced advanced-technology, partial-zero-emission vehicles,” such as hydrogen internal combustion vehicles and plug-in hybrids.” The air board further defended its March 27 decision, saying that it had called for a wholesale restructuring of its vehicle emission laws to position the state to cut automobile greenhouse gas emissions in coming decades. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), on receiving the news, warned CARB that their decision would “make it more difficult for California to meet its goal of cutting global warming pollution 80 percent by 2050.”The more things change... Automakers began releasing electric vehicles (EVs) in the late 1990s in response to California’s original emission standards adopted at the start of the decade. But EVs have not been available on the market since 2003, when the air board

dramatically reduced the number automakers were required to produce. Instead, CARB allowed manufacturers to make a far smaller number of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, contending that it was a better long-term strategy. CARB’s recent ruling was eerily reminiscent of 2003, when CARB acquiesced to automakers’ demands, allowing thousands of perfectly functional EVs to be crushed by GM. During the 2003 hearings, CARB chairman Alan Lloyd, according to attendees, stated several times that it would be best “to allow the automobile industry to decide what technology it would like to use to meet the Zero Emissions

Vehicle Mandate.” Back then, EV proponents who attended the 2003 CARB meeting with Big Oil and automakers complained that they were cut off, while automakers and oil company reps were allowed their say. The result: CARB killed the EV mandate in

April 2003. GM recalled the EV1, and threatened drivers who had already leased them with arrest (for theft) if they didn’t turn in their cars. On the heels of the EV1’s untimely demise, automakers sold US consumers the SUV and the Hummer, which Governer Schwarzenegger was one of the first to buy. Incentives included federal tax rebates of up to $100,000 During the 1990s, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, and General Motors were, to varying degrees, tinkering with the concept of electric vehicles, but when California stopped requiring automakers to offer zero-emissions vehicles in 2003, they effectively lost interest and went back to business as usual. In a recent letter to Governor Schwarzenegger, Plug In America warned the governor that CARB’s revisions “will profoundly weaken the program again instead of propelling our country toward a pollution-free future.” Today California faces a palette of dwindling choices, and it is looking less and less likely that the state will meet its own ambitious clean energy goals codified in AB32, the landmark legislation that established the Global Warming Solutions Act in late 2006. The statewide goal is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020.www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/

mar/30/ventura-harnesses-land-use-planning-to-fight/

“Sustainable communities are recognized as ones that put less reliance on the auto, promote public transportation, maximize open space, encourage walking and biking through an integrated system of parks, greenbelts and hiking trails and conserve energy and water. Reducing dependence on autos through better land use represents an important component of the type of integrated effort needed from state and local governments in order for California to achieve the goals of Assembly Bill 32. Cities and county governments have the opportunity to help California achieve these goals by developing planning-related policies that address climate-change issues and lead to sustainable communities.”

Carl E. Morehousewww.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/

mar/30/ventura-harnesses-land-use-planning-to-fight/

Scientists Slam State’s

Air Resources Board for

Serious SlackingCalifornia has a future-altering choice to make:“Either our state legislature was serious when they passed the Warren-Alquist Act and declared no more nuclear plants until there is a PERMANENT solution to the safe storage of high-level radioactive waste or, it meant only until the nuclear industry fills enough coffers to get its way,” writes Rochelle Becker, vice-executive director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility. Becker says the idea that only by leaving nuclear power ‘on the table’ can we meet our energy needs or solve climate change (never mind the radioactive waste that remains on our seismically active coastline) is fraudulent. California does not need new nuclear plants.

Here’s why: Californians do not know what nuclear

plants will cost;Californians do not know when or where

the federal government will remove or take the stockpiles of high-level radioactive waste already sitting on our coast;

Californians do not know how the federal government will transport the waste from our coast;

Californians do not know who will be reaping the profits from new nukes (but we have an idea, now don’t we?);

Californians do not know who would regulate nuclear plants not built by Investor Owned Utilities;

Californians do not know who will manufacture components for new nukes;

Californians do not know the future cost of Uranium. What Californians do know, says Becker, “is that if responsible legislators in California do not say NO MORE NUKES UNTIL THERE IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION TO THE DEADLY PROBLEM OF HUNDREDS OF TONS OF HIGHLY RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL ON OUR COAST, then they will be complicit in undermining California law to protect its citizens from the Bush energy agenda, and our power sources will remain dependent on a national policy (or nuclear PR campaigns) with potentially devastating consequences.” The California Energy Commission has begun to analyze the costs, benefits and risks of relying on aging nuclear plants and this study is scheduled for completion in November, 2008. California is being watched by the rest of the nation - and the world. For that reason, Becker emphasizes, the state has a responsibility to continue leading in the right direction.

The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility needs your help: Please join:

www.a4nr.org (805)704-1810

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As goes California ...

NEW NUKESfor the

GOLDEN STATE?

Nation

8 SolarTimes

Read SolarTimes online:

www.solartimes.org

SecondQuarter 2008

US Corporation Claims Arctic Petro Resources

On January 29, 2008, the Arctic Oil & Gas Corp. (OTCBB: AOAG), a Nevada-based company, made the following announcement: “Arctic Oil and Gas Corp. is pleased to provide an update outlining its claims. Arctic Oil and Gas Corp., and its partners, including the private company United Oil and Gas Consortium Management Corp., made an international Arctic Commons hydrocarbons claim on May 9th, 2006 with the United Nations and the five Arctic countries. This claim is for the exclusive exploitation, development, marketing and extraction rights to the oil and gas resources of the seafloor and subsurface contained within the ‘Arctic Claims.’ “Under international law, no country owns the North Pole or the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it. The five surrounding Arctic states, Russia, the United States, Canada, Norway and Denmark (via Greenland), are limited to a 370 kilometer (200 nautical mile) exclusive economic zone around their coasts. The ‘Arctic Claims’ is the area of the Arctic Ocean that has no country’s claims to it; or simply, the open area in between all of the Arctic-bordering countries. “There are very strong legal precedents for the Arctic Consortium’s Arctic Commons Hydrocarbons Resource Rights Title Rights Claim under International Maritime Law and customary international laws.” Peter Sterling, CEO of the Company, stated, “Our claim is solid and we intend to vigorously assert the Arctic Hydrocarbons Claim made by Arctic Oil & Gas and its partners. Given that a preliminary assessment by the US Geological Survey (USGS) suggests the Arctic seabed may hold as much as 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and natural gas reserves, competition to claim parts of the Arctic seabed is likely to intensify as Arctic energy reserves become more accessible and the price for oil rises. Since we have already

The first month of 2008 saw rare winter tornadoes in the Midwest, powerful Pacific storms with hurricane force winds and more than 1,000 daily high temperature records, according to government figures. “We’re seeing an increasing trend in the frequency of extremes,” meteorologist Karin Gleason, who also compiles the US Climate Extremes Index at the National Climatic Data Center, told Larry Wheeler of Gannet News Service. The index is a nationwide composite of indicators that includes extreme temperatures, drought, one-day precipitation events and number of days with or without precipitation. “When you combine all the individual indicators, we’re seeing a steady increase from the early 1970s to present,” said Gleason. In 2007, nearly 42% of the contiguous US experienced extreme weather events, the second highest for the index, which incorporates records dating back to 1910. Last year was one of the 10 warmest on record. It was marked by deadly and costly wildfires that led to the largest evacuation in California history, spring storms that unleashed 600 tornadoes across the Great Plains and South, severe flooding in Texas and Oklahoma, and extreme drought across much of the Southeast, according to a preliminary report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s climate center. On Jan. 7, Gregory Berg, a professor at Carthage College in Wisconsin, photographed a tornado as it formed less than two miles from campus. His snapshot appears on the National Weather Service website as part of the agency’s report on the event. “It certainly seems like something ominous is going on when you experience these extremes,” Berg told USA Today. Tornadoes raked northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin in early January, a rare event there in midwinter. Early January was unusually warm, breaking or tying daily maximum temperature records in more than 1,000 locations during the first days of the month. By the end of the month, extreme weather had returned to the nation’s midsection. On Jan. 28, daytime temperatures in Wisconsin, for example, plummeted in a matter of hours from the mid-40s to near zero, with overnight wind chill temperatures at 25 degrees below zero. Globally, extreme weather patterns are causing even more concern, not only among meteorologists and climatologists, but politicians as well. As the world population grows and consumption rises, extreme temperatures together with poor energy and resource planning threaten to bring unprecedented levels of disaster, including destruction of property, displacement of people and the mass migration of entire populaces.

www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2008-01-31-wild-january-weather_N.htm

Whacked Out Weather Worries US

Climate Experts

EPA Defies Supreme Court on Climate Change

On April 2, 2008, twelve states, California among them, and eleven non-profit organizations filed suit to require the US Environmental Protection Agency to comply with a Supreme Court ruling on the regulation of global warming pollution. The suit comes a year after the Court ruled that the EPA has the authority under existing law to regulate greenhouse gases and a week after the head of the EPA recanted his commitment to respond to the decision on a prompt time table. The action asks a federal court in Washington, DC to direct the EPA to issue within 60 days its determination whether global warming pollution endangers public health or welfare. “The EPA is defying the Supreme Court and endangering our economy, our environment, and our health,” said Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) Deputy General Counsel Vickie Patton. “The law and the science are clear: The EPA must act now.” EDF is a party to the lawsuit. Petitioning states are Massachusetts, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Maryland and Minnesota, with three cities also joining the suit.

Back on April 2, 2007, the US Supreme Court rejected the EPA’s refusal to address global warming pollution under the Clean Air Act, finding that the statute clearly empowered EPA to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). In an opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the High Court instructed EPA to determine whether global warming pollution endangers human health or welfare and, if so, to establish GHG emission standards for motor vehicles. On March 12th, 2008, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) released the results of interviews with senior EPA staff on the status of EPA’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision. The interviews revealed that dozens of EPA officials were working on the endangerment determination and proposed greenhouse gas motor vehicle regulations. Work was completed on both. EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson had approved an affirmative endangerment determination and the documents were transmitted to the White House in December, 2007. Suddenly, on March 27th, the EPA Administrator effectively recanted his public statements, and informed Congressional leaders that EPA would take no meaningful regulatory action in response to the High Court. Nearly a year ago, the Supreme Court wrote: “EPA has refused to comply with this clear statutory command. Instead, it has offered a laundry list of reasons not to regulate.”

For more information, visit www.edf.org

filed our claim with the United Nations and the five Arctic countries, we believe that we have the right to manage this vast area of natural resources.” The Company intends to operate as the “lead manager” “tasked to create a multinational joint venture consortium of

major oil companies, whose technology and managerial expertise will be vital to recovering the oil and gas from beneath the harsh, deep waters of the Arctic in an environmentally safe manner.”

More information on Arctic Oil & Gas can be found at:

www.arcticoag.comhttp://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/

marketwire/0354269.htm

“The scramble for energy is shaping many of the conflicts we can expect in the present century. The danger is not just another oil shock that impacts on industrial

production, but a threat of famine. Without a drip feed of petroleum to highly mechanized farms, many of the food shelves in the supermarkets would be empty.

Far from the world weaning itself off oil, it is more addicted to the stuff than ever. It is hardly surprising that powerful states are gearing up to seize their share...”

From an article by John Gray, published at:www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/30/7979/

“...We believe that we have the right to manage this vast area of

natural resources...”Peter Sterling, CEO of Arctic Oil & Gas Corp.

Nation

SolarTimes 9SecondQuarter 2008

Corporate-Controlled Water Under Fire

The United Nations estimates that in the not so distant future, two out of three people will not have access to enough drinking water. The question, says Think Outside the Bottle Campaign Director Gigi Kellett. “is not about whether there is enough water to meet the basic needs of every person on earth – it’s about who controls water and to what end.” Kellet believes that it is important for the public to understand that, “when Coke, Nestlé and Suez control water, instead of the communities that rely on it for their basic needs – it threatens universal access to water.” In the US, Think Outside the Bottle is asking people and communities to make a commitment to opt for tap over bottled water as a show of support for public water systems. The campaign comes at a somewhat inopportune time, with tap water increasingly under fire for containing everything from sex hormones to pesticides. But water activists point out that public water is still more highly regulated than bottled water, which they argue, is equally - if not more - polluted. At the same time, cities face a significant funding gap between what resources they have and what they need to maintain water infrastructure. Think Outside the Bottle says it is working with cities like Minneapolis and Salt Lake to build the political will to reinvest in public water systems. “Elected officials and communities are focused on a solution here in the states that protects water as a common resource,” said Kellett on March 22, which is World Water Day.

On World Water Day, activists called on the United Nations to oppose corporate control of water resources ...

“Today, on the United Nations’ own World Water Day, it is time that the UN made the same commitment.” To mark World Water Day, Corporate Accountability International, and 125 of its allies from across the globe, called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to withdraw his support

from what’s known as the ‘CEO Water Mandate.’ The mandate has been called “a prime example of environmental stewardship” by the corporations that endorse it. Water activists say they are concerned “that the real agenda of the water mandate is to facilitate greater control over water sources and services by for-profit corporations.” In their view, the mandate is a prime example of ‘green-washing’ by major companies that seek to control water supplies worldwide. They believe, as stated in a March 20 letter to the UN Secretary General, that

the United Nations should not be involved in “legitimizing this process.” The letter was delivered to UN Headquarters in New York City on March 21, 2008.

Corporate Accountability International is dedicated to challenging irresponsible and

dangerous corporate actions around the world. For more information visit:

www.stopcorporateabuse.orgor contact: Nick Guroff,

Corporate Accountability International, (617) 784-4753

Accelerated Warming in California & Other Western States

The western United States is heating up faster than any other region of the country - and more than the planet as a whole, according to a new analysis of 50 scientific studies, published by Margot Roosevelt in the Los Angeles Times. “From 2003 through 2007, the global climate averaged 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer than its 20th century average. During the same period, 11 Western states averaged 1.7 degrees warmer,” the analysis reported. Globally, warming varies according to region - with more heating over land than over oceans. In California, with its coastal location, writes Roosevelt, “the study showed an increase of 1.1 degrees above the global average over the last five years. Arid interior states, including Utah, Wyoming, Arizona and Montana, experienced rises more than 2 degrees higher than in the world overall.” “Temperature rises have been much larger and more noticeable in the Western states,” Kelly T. Redmond, regional climatologist at Nevada’s Desert Research Institute, told the LA Times. “The past 10 years have been particularly warm, unlike any similar 10-year period we have seen over the past 115 years.” The report, entitled, “Hotter and Drier: The West’s Changed Climate” was released on March 27 by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization - a coalition of local governments, businesses and nonprofits, and was largely based on calculations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It reveals a growing consensus among scientists who study the West that climate change “is no longer an abstraction.”

“The signs are everywhere,” said Bradley H. Udall of the University of Colorado, whose work was cited in the study. The consequences of Western temperature increases, the report said, are evident in a rash of heat waves. Montana, Idaho and Wyoming had their hottest Julys on record last summer, while Phoenix suffered 31 days above 110 degrees. The scientists emphasized in their report that this trend is not likely to end anytime in the near future. In fact, they say, “it is likely to accelerate.” The data suggest that the West is warming about 1 1/2 times faster than the global average and Martin Hoerling, a NOAA meteorologist, told the LA Times that the western US “could heat up as much as 5 degrees by mid-century.” In Alaska, the annual mean air temperature has already risen 4 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit over the last three decades. “If we don’t want this problem to get really bad, we need to pass a climate bill with teeth,” said Theo Spencer, a project manager with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Legislation in the WorksA bill to slash greenhouse gases nationwide has been sponsored by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John Warner (R-Va.), and is expected to reach the Senate floor this summer. Media reports indicate that there may be as many as 10 Republican senators from western states leaning against the bill. California’s two Democratic senators Boxer and Feinstein,support the legislation.

To access the full article by Margot Roosevelt, visit:www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/

“Overused in industry and agriculture, and under threat from the retreat of the Himalayan glaciers, water is becoming a non-renewable resource. Two-thirds of China’s cities face shortages, while

deserts are eating up arable land. Breakneck industrialisation is worsening

this environmental breakdown, as many more power plants are being built and run on high-polluting coal

that accelerates global warming. There is a vicious circle at work here and not

only in China. Because ongoing growth requires massive inputs of energy

and minerals, Chinese companies are scouring the world for supplies. The

result is unstoppable rising demand for resources that are unalterably finite.”

www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/30/7979/

On April Fools’ Day, 2008, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming held hearings with executives from the nation’s five biggest oil companies. At the hearing, the top five defended their eye-popping profits, side-stepped the idea of investing more in renewable energy and showed little interest in today’s high gas prices. They also told Congress that they would be needing more subsidies. “Exxon, for instance, invested a good portion of its record $40.6 billion 2007 profits in neither renewable energy, new refining capacity or exploration of new oil reserves,” wrote Dan Shapley at www.thedailygreen.com. Instead, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, the company bought back stock to give a high rate of return to its investors. Exxon execs even refused a congressional challenge to invest 10% of their corporate earnings in renewable energy research. Oil company executives also took the opportunity to whine once again that if only Congress would open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and offshore areas to oil and gas drilling, the US wouldn’t be so dependent on other countries for its energy. This despite the fact that a majority of energy analysts have long argued that drilling in ANWR would not significantly affect supply or price. “Even the most hard-hitting questioners,” notes Kelpie Wilson in her article posted at www.truthout.org, “failed to pin the execs down on the real issue, which is how to convince an oil industry that is running up against absolute supply limits to invest in ... clean energy.”

Predictably, the oil execs “reconfirmed their commitment to the relentless pursuit of hydrocarbons in any form, no matter how dirty or expensive to extract,” writes Wilson. In opening the April 1 hearing, Committee Chair Ed Markey observed that today the poorest 20 percent of Americans are spending 10 percent of their income on gasoline, while oil company profits have quadrupled in the past six years. Markey said that much of this profit was wasted last year and alleged that the five companies spent $50 billion on what he called “financial engineering” to prop up the price of their stock. He called on the companies to consider the plight of the poorest Americans and pledge 10 percent of their profits to renewable energy investments. Markey also asked them to stop opposing the renewable energy legislation passed by the House (but not yet by the Senate) that would shift $18 billion in tax breaks for oil over to support renewable energy. As is generally the case at congressional hearings broadcast on CSPAN, the April 1 hearing was meant for public consumption. Still, witnesses’ remarks were often painfully revealing of the corporate mindset that has, at least so far, kept the US from making meaningful advances on the energy front.

www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/oil-hearings-47040203

To read Kelpie Wilson’s article, including testimony from renewable energy experts on the sad state of US renewables

today and quotes from oil executives at the April 1 hearing, visit:www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040208R.shtml

Oil Execs Show No Shame at April Fools Hearings

The Department of Energy (DOE) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and failed to comply with Section 1221 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPA) when it designated National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors (NIETC) across huge swaths of land in the nation’s Southwestern and Mid-Atlantic states, according to a lawsuit filed this March in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. “Places like California’s Joshua Tree National Park and the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona are being put at risk through the DOE’s failure to look at the likely damage these places will suffer in its rush to designate transmission corridors and give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) unheralded authority to approve projects in them,” Nada Culver, Senior Counsel for The Wilderness Society, said. “Consideration should be given to avoiding these significant habitats entirely.” In the Southwest, twelve National Wildlife Refuges, four National Park service units, and dozens of other areas set aside for conservation purposes in southern California

Lawsuit Seeks to Correct Errors In DOE’s Transmission Corridor Designations

and Arizona could potentially be crisscrossed by high-voltage power lines. The Mid-Atlantic NIETC includes hundreds of square miles across the US, impacting so many natural and historic wonders that this ‘corridor’ area was named one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “The DOE also ignored Congress’s intent by failing to comply with the Energy Policy Act’s mandates to fully consider public comments and alternatives in designating these corridors,” Culver added. “As a result, large swaths of lands, not corridors, are prime targets for development and DOE’s actions will enable projects to go forward even over the objections of state and federal agencies, as well as private citizens.”

www.poweronline.com/content/news/article.asp?docid=%7BA94DEF3D-B19D-

421A-B5E1-9407D4B1D677%7D For a fact sheet on the NIETC process, visit:

http://www.wilderness.org/Library/Documents/upload/EnergyCorridors-

FactSheet-52.pdf

ShortCircuits

10 SolarTimes

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Sign the‘Stop the Iraq Oil Law’ Petition:

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SecondQuarter 2008

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will join an investigation into the Florida blackout in February that left some 2.5 million people without power. FERC, which has the ability to fine violators up to $1 million a day, said it would investigate whether any mandatory federal reliability standards were violated during the event. The Feb. 25 outage started with a fire at a transmission substation operated by Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL). The problem tripped a series of transmission and substation outages, which then forced two major power plants, including FPL’s Turkey Point nuclear station, to shut down. That capacity loss created frequency modulations that tripped another series of transmission lines into Tampa, Orlando, Miami and other cities. “The Florida blackout was a significant event that affected millions of Florida residents. One localized event affected multiple transmission lines and generators,” FERC Chairman Joseph Kelliher said.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/a6661294fcff9a8794b84de

f5d0d71fd.htm

FERC Probes Florida Blackout

In February, the House of Representatives passed HR 5351, the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act of 2008. In doing so, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the US House took a principled stand against Big Oil, and a significant step toward a clean energy future. If the Senate votes to pass it this summer, the bill will roll back around $18 billion in tax breaks to big oil companies and reinvest that money into tax credits for wind, solar and other clean, renewable energy sources. Such an investment will not only help reduce carbon emissions, but will create thousands of American jobs. The three year extension on wind energy tax credits alone will create a solid market for wind power that will allow companies across the US to expand their operations.” Editor’s Note: See page 19 (Legislative Action) to make your voice heard on the Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Act of 2008 and other issues pending in Congress. Remember, it’s only your democracy if you participate in it.

An ice shelf in western Antarctica described as ‘seven times the size of Manhattan’ (5,000 square miles) is collapsing, according to the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The report said the ice shelf was “hanging by a thread,” while satellite images from the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre showed an iceberg measuring 25.5 miles by 1.5 miles had broken off in February, 2008. A large section of the sheet, a broad plate of permanent floating ice around 1,000 miles south of South America, is now held together by a four-mile strip of ice. The collapse of the shelf had been predicted, but is happening more quickly than expected, scientists said. It is thought the warming of the atmosphere, which has been happening several times faster on the Antarctic Peninsula than the global average, has melted more surface ice, which is weakening the shelf. Professor David Vaughan, of the BAS, said: “I didn’t expect to see things happen this quickly. The ice shelf is hanging by a thread.” Such occurrences are “more indicative of a tipping point or trigger in the climate system,” said Sarah Das, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

Global Warming Blamed for Ice Shelf Collapse

Sources include:www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.

jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/03/26/eaice126.xmland

http://ap.google.com/article/AnaPQ4YWKA6WpWdm2X8yAD8VKKT60F

www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2008/2008-03-25-01.asp

In March, Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor commissioners approved a plan that they hope will improve air quality by reducing toxic ship emissions. The goal of the incentive program, which subsidizes low-sulfur fuel to ships traveling near the two ports or while docked, is to accelerate cargo vessel operators’ use of the cleaner-burning fuel. Cargo ships now use highly polluting bunker fuel, which generates the majority of sulfur oxide emissions in Southern California and makes ocean-going vessels the single largest source of air pollution at the two ports.

California Ports to Buy Cleaner Fuel

Legislative Victory for Renewables:

Speaker Pelosi, US Congress Get Tough with Big Oil

Plastic: The Sickening Truth‘The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,’ writes Frosty Wooldridge in the American Prospect, “features three million tons of plastic debris floating in an area larger than Texas. An eye-popping 46,000 pieces of plastic float on every square mile of ocean! Humans toss another 2.5 million pieces into our oceans hourly.” In the article, Frosty Wooldridge liberally quotes from Captain Paul Watson’s essay, The Plastic Sea, which Wooldridge describes as “a penetrating piece on humanity s desecration of our oceans.” “If you ever see this plastic monster as I have,” writes Watson, “it will sicken you to the core of your soul ... Every human being on this planet uses plastic materials directly and indirectly every single day,” he continues. “Our babies begin life on Earth by using some 210 million pounds of plastic diaper liners each year; we give them plastic milk bottles, plastic toys, and buy their food in plastic jars. “Every year we eat and drink from some thirty-four billion newly manufactured bottles and containers. We patronize fast food restaurants and buy products that consume another fourteen billion pounds of plastic. In total, our societies produce an estimated sixty billion tons of plastic material every year ... Each of us on average uses 190 pounds of plastic annually: bottled water, fast food packaging, furniture, syringes, computers and computer diskettes, packing materials, garbage bags and so much more. “When you consider that this plastic does not biodegrade and remains in our ecosystems permanently, we are looking at an incredibly high volume of accumulated plastic trash that has been built up since the mid-twentieth century.” To access Frosty Wooldbridge’s full article, visit:

www.americanchronicle.com/articles/56398

New analysis by Purdue researchers of greenhouse gases shows that CO2 emissions are greater in the southeastern US than previously thought. The Northeast pumps out a lot of carbon dioxide, but the Southeast, Midwest and Southern California are also responsible for voluminous pollution that billows out each day. The precise sources of carbon dioxide have been mapped, with scrupulous detail by Vulcan project researchers at Purdue University.

www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/carbon-sources-47040802?kw=ist

Research Pinpoints US CO2

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Photo by James Vest, staff photographer

SolarTimes 11

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ShortCircuits

SecondQuarter 2008

Nestle’s Switzerland CEO Peter Brabeck is warning that planned subsidies for the production of biofuels will have devastating effects on food production. ‘If we want to derive 20 percent of rising oil demands from biofuels there will be no food left,” Brabeck told a reporter from Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag . Brabeck called the practice of turning food into biofuel, “irresponsible” and “morally unacceptable.” “This is political insanity,” he said. Swiss news reports say that thus far Nestle has been successful in passing on a strong hike in raw materials prices, including milk, cacao and corn, to its clients.

Turning Food into Biofuel ‘morally unacceptable,’

‘political insanity’

www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/03/25/afx4809444.html

In September, 2007, NRG, the second-largest power producer in Texas filed the first full federal application to build a new US nuclear reactor in 30 years. In March, 2008, NRG announced that it had joined with Toshiba Corp. to develop, among other projects, a pair of reactors at NRG’s South Texas Project plant near Houston. The nuclear industry is counting on a renaissance of nuclear power in the US, which it is marketing as a necessary energy source in an age of rapid global warming. The US last licensed a nuclear plant in 1978, amid concern that coal-and natural gas-fired plants accelerate climate change. Nuclear Innovation, writes Greg Chang in the San Francisco Chronicle, “plans to ally with other utilities that want to expand nuclear capacity ... “The venture will seek alliances with electricity companies in California, the Northeast and Texas and expects to make preliminary regulatory filings for at least one new project by year-end.” Still, at least one analyst noted in a March, 2008 report that, “rising costs and concerns about federal government incentives for nuclear power have raised doubts about the ability of NRG and others to build new plants. “Nuclear projects are lengthy,” the report says. “There is some concern in the industry that a new administration and a more strongly Democratic Congress may not be as favorable to new nuclear development.’

www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aIWyovNx14Rs&refer=japan

Still Time to Stop US Nuclear Revival - just barely

Accelerated Warming Could Change Lake Tahoe ForeverA UC Davis study released this Spring predicts that accelerated climate change will irreversibly alter water circulation in Lake Tahoe, radically changing the conditions for plants, fish - and humans. The change, say scientists could take place in as little as ten years. One likely consequence would be a warmer lake overall, with fewer cold-water native fish, and more invasive species, such as large-mouth bass, bluegill and carp. It is not yet known how the changes would affect the lake’s phenomenal clarity and cobalt-blue color, which have helped to make the Tahoe Basin an international vacation destination. The findings were announced March 18 at a Tahoe scientific conference by three lake experts from the Tahoe Environmental Research Center at UC Davis.

To access full article, visit:http://www.sciencedaily.com/

releases/2008/03/080325141202.htm

Republican Senators Bank on Blind Consumerism to Drill in Wildlife Refuges

Hoping to capitalize on consumer panic over high gasoline prices, Alaska’s two Republican senators introduced legislation in March that would allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the price of oil hits $125 a barrel. With oil hovering near $110 a barrel and gasoline expected to reach $4 a gallon, Sensators Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens said that they hoped the continuing price spiral would spark consumer clamor and overcome opposition to opening the wildlife refuge to drilling. Efforts to open up the refuge for drilling have had a long and storied history in Congress, with Stevens or Murkowski (or her father) offering up some form of legislation annually. In 2005, when Congress rejected yet another bid to open the refuge to development, Stevens called it the “saddest day of my life.”

To access full story, visit:www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/14/7687/

“Although oil reserves may not have peaked in any literal sense, the

days when conventional oil was cheap have gone forever. Countries are reacting by trying to secure the remaining

reserves, not least those that are being opened up by climate change.

Canada is building bases to counter Russian claims

on the melting Arctic icecap, parts of which are also claimed by Norway,

Denmark and the US. Britain is staking out

claims on areas around the South Pole.”

Author John Gray, published at:www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/30/7979/

US Nuclear Waste Forgotten but not gone

The waste from more than 100 US nuclear reactors that the feds were supposed to begin burying 10 years ago still sits at the reactor sites - at least 20 years behind schedule. This, according to an article published April 2, 2008 in the New York Times. Government officials told the Times that “with court orders and settlements,” the feds have already paid the utilities $342 million, but are “virtually certain to pay a total of at least $7 billion in the next few years and probably over $11 billion.” The [nuclear] industry said the total could reach $35 billion.

To access this article, visit: http://tinyurl.com/2ocu9e

Nation

12 SolarTimes SecondQuarter 2008

“I’m Barack Obama, and I don’t take money from oil companies or lobbyists, and I won’t let them block change any more.” Those words, spoken by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are from an ad run by the Obama campaign earlier this year. What Senator Obama didn’t mention in the ad is that, as of February 29, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, he had taken $213,884 from the oil and gas industry. Two of Obama’s campaign bundlers are also CEOs for oil and gas companies, according to a list released on his campaign website. Senator Hillary Clinton took $306,813 during that same period and both candidates have taken thousands from Exxon Mobil. The two Democratic contenders have both framed their support for coal under the guise of Cap and Trade “low carbon” coal technologies, and coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuel, a dirty and dangerous technology once championed by Nazi Germany and South Africa’s apartheid regime. Obama caused a commotion last year by promoting CTL, a technology that many say could produce more global warming pollution. As Robert Kennedy, Jr. pointed out on Huffington Post last fall, “a fierce alliance of coal barons and energy companies have re-invented themselves as ‘America’s Power’ and quietly cosponsored presidential debates, aired an unprecedented number of ads in key primary states, and is the primary backer of a group of ‘volunteers,’ who drive around in their ‘Power Van,’ to attend presidential primary events across the country.” Obama has said, “we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix.” Clinton has said she doesn’t believe nuclear power is the answer to climate change. She voted against the controversial 2005 Energy Bill that was slammed by environmental groups as being a honey pot of funding for the energy sector in general, and the nuclear industry in particular. Obama voted for it. On the other hand, the Center for Responsive Politics’ database reveals that Senator Clinton has taken more money from coal, oil and gas companies than any other candidate. Her top donor in this sector is NRG Energy, from whom she has taken tens of thousands, $83,000 at last count. Moreover, she has consistently voted on bills that favor off-shore oil projects Obama is also a long-time supporter of southern Illinois’s coal industry. Yet Obama’s campaign website declares: “Obama will significantly increase the resources devoted to the commercialization and deployment of low-carbon coal technologies.” Senator Obama’s record since he’s been in the Senate has been strong, with a lifetime score at 96 percent. It’s been particularly strong as he’s been campaigning on global warming. As a state senator, Obama got a perfect score from Illinois environmental watchdogs. And in his first year in the US Senate, coal interests lobbied Obama hard to support the Bush administration’s ‘Clear Skies’ proposal. Despite the pressure from the coal industry, he became a champion in opposing Bush’s ‘Clear Skies Act.’ Obama did vote with Republicans on an energy bill in 2005 that gave massive subsidies to, among other energy sources, nuclear power, and he also co-sponsored a bill last year to make liquid fuel from coal.

www.opensecrets.org/; www.loe.org/;www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/the-coal-truth-on-candida_b_82269.html; www.alternet.org/; www.newmatilda.com/2008/02/01/obama-

powered-nukes; http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/28/834887.aspx

“Coal is emerging as a test for Obama: he can either give in to the powerful coal lobby in his home state or prove his mettle as a new breed of politician. For the sake of both

the climate and Obama’s chances to make it to the White House, I hope he has the courage to pass this test.”

Erin Kenzie25-year old blogger

http://baracktheyouthvote.wordpress.com/2007/06/03/obama-coal-and-politics-as-usual/

Business Groups Launch Major PR

Campaign Against Climate Change BillEnergy companies and other business interests have launched a nationwide campaign to undermine climate change legislation pending in Congress, saying it could cost millions of jobs, drive gasoline prices sharply higher and suck thousands of dollars from household incomes. In an article written by Matthew Brown and published by Associated Press (AP), Brown writes, “The effort comes as the Senate prepares to take up a bill that would cut greenhouse emissions by up to 65 percent by 2050. The bill would create a cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions, forcing companies to pay to pollute.” On a 17-state tour that began this Spring, industry-funded economists said the legislation threatens to sacrifice three to four million jobs over the next two decades, as higher energy prices dampen industrial production. Higher gas and electricity prices also would take a bite out of workers’ paychecks, to the tune of up to $6,700 a year by 2030, said Margo Thorning, chief economist with the American Council for Capital Formation, whose supporters include ExxonMobil. Supporters of greenhouse gas restrictions rejected Thorning’s claims as biased and exaggerated and an adviser to Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer - a Democrat who has pushed for federal action on the issue - called Thorning’s economic projections “nonsense.” “They’ve been denying climate change is happening for so long,” Eric Stern, senior counselor to Schweitzer, told AP. “Now they’re trying anything they can to scare people ... This is a petroleum industry front group that is literally like a cigarette company promoting a study that says smoking is good for you.” Thorning’s appearance was sponsored in part by the electric utility PPL Montana and MDU Resources, a North Dakota-based oil and gas company. Stern and other critics insist that the business community has failed to account for an emerging boom in ‘green’ energy, driven by investments in wind power and other clean energy sources that produce fewer greenhouse gases. The climate bill currently pending before Congress is sponsored by Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) and John Warner, (R-VA). It is the only major climate legislation so far to be approved at the committee level, passing out of the Environment and Public Works committee on Dec. 5 on a vote of 11-8. An Environmental Protection Agency analysis issued earlier this year said the bill’s cost to the nation’s economy over the next two decades could be as low as $238 billion - less than half the $631 billion figure forecast by industry. Warner said the EPA had shown a healthy economy and climate change action were not exclusive of one another. “You can control greenhouse gas emissions in a manner that leaves the economy whole and is not burdensome on consumers,” he said. Upcoming stops scheduled for the industry’s “Climate Change Dialogue” tour include locations in Alaska, Ohio, New Hampshire and Tennessee

www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2008/03/19/business_groups_campaign_

against_climate_change_bill/

Craig Morris, energy activist and author of “Energy Switch: Proven Solutions for a Renewable Future,”

has written an important analysis of Germany’s feed-in tarrifs - how they work and how corporate control in the US keeps solar power relatively ‘unaffordable’ to many Americans.

The article can be found at:www.truthout.org/issues_06/012908EB.shtml

ORVisit Morris’ website at:www.petiteplanete.org/

Solar Power Cheaper than

Coal?An MIT spinoff announced in March that it will make solar power cheaper than coal, not through any dramatic change in the technology but with already existing methods. Electricity produced by today’s solar cells costs the consumer about 25 cents per kilowatt-hour, Frank van Mierlo, president and CEO of the Massachusetts-based 1366 Technologies told reporter Neil Savage. By contrast, van Mierlo says he pays about 19 cents per kilowatt-hour in Lexington, with the electrical grid fed by coal-powered and nuclear plants. By the year 2012, van Mierlo’s company hopes to bring the cost of solar power down to 10 cents per kilowatt-hour. A combination of two manufacturing technologies will allow 1366 Technologies to make polycrystalline cells 25 percent more efficient at converting light to electricity. Rather than pursue the lengthy process of designing new materials in pursuit of a solar cell efficiency breakthrough (as some solar companies are currently doing), 1366 Technologies is focusing on manufacturing improvements around silicon cells already available. The technology was developed by a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who developed the “string ribbon” manufacturing process commercialized by Evergreen Solar. The goal, says the company, is to produce solar cells at one dollar per watt, or 10 cents per kilowatt-hour by 2012 - about half the manufacturing cost now. At that price, solar power is competitive with electricity from coal. 1366 Technologies chose to focus on silicon because it’s a well-understood material that is both nontoxic and reliable. Polycrystalline silicon is today the most commonly used solar cell material. One technology the company is commercializing is called “grooved ribbon,” an alternative method for wiring solar cells together. Small mirrors reflect light back onto solar cells that would otherwise be reflected away from the cell. That technique adds about a 3 percent improvement in cell production. The company is also using low-cost silicon wafers for cell production. Both processes, which the company has sought patents for, can be used in existing solar manufacturing sites.

To Access Full Article, Visit:

www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9903728-54.html

Al Gore Spends Personal Profits to Save Planet

On April 3, 2008, former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore launched one of the most ambitious - and costly - public advocacy campaigns in US history. Gore told reporters that his organization, The Alliance for Climate Protection, is waging the $300 million effort to push for aggressive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and that the ‘We’ campaign will employ online organizing and television advertisements. The campaign, Gore told reporter Juliet Eilperin in an interview, “highlights the extent to which Americans’ growing awareness of global warming has yet to translate into national policy changes.” Gore said the campaign, which he is helping fund with his own money, was undertaken in large part because of his fear that US lawmakers are unwilling to curb the human-generated emissions linked to climate change. “This climate crisis is so interwoven with habits and patterns that are so entrenched, the elected officials in both parties are going to be timid about enacting the bold changes that are needed until there is a change in the public’s sense of urgency in addressing this crisis,” Gore said. “I’ve tried everything else I know to try. The way to solve this crisis is to change the way the public thinks about it.”

Read Juliet Eilperin’s article at:

www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/31/7992/

Clinton, Obama Hard to Read on Energy

Nation

SolarTimes 13SecondQuarter 2008

2009 Energy Plan Includes Billions for Nuclear and

‘Clean Coal’In February, 2008, the Department of Energy (DOE) released its fiscal year 2009 budget request that seeks a 79 percent increase in funding for the Nuclear Power 2010 program. Specifically, the budget request includes $1.4 billion to promote the expansion of “safe, emissions-free nuclear power.” The request also extends the period during which companies that build new nuclear power plants can apply for federal loan guarantees to lower the debt-financing costs associated with the projects. “DOE continues to actively work with industry partners to promote the near-term licensing and deployment of America’s first new nuclear plants in more than 30 years,” reads the statement posted on its website. “This budget also requests $648 million, the largest budget request in over 25 years, for increased research in clean coal technology and demonstration of carbon capture and storage for coal-fired power plants, an important component of the Administration’s Climate Change Technology Program.” In a recent press release, the Nuclear Energy Industry (NEI) wrote, “The Nuclear Power 2010 program - a cost-sharing, industry-government partnership designed to reduce the technical, regulatory and institutional uncertainties associated with construction of new nuclear power plants - would receive $241.6 million in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The program receives $135 million in FY08. ”The budget request also seeks a 27 percent increase in funding for DOE’s used nuclear fuel management program,” the statement continues. “The program receives $390 million this year and would receive $494.7 million in FY09 ... “ The so-called American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) was pushed by more than 30 companies and associations from IBM, Intel and Google to the American Chemical Society and American Institute of Physics. The initiative called for doubling funding for basic research programs in physical sciences to encourage scientists into exploring areas such as nanotechnology, supercomputing, and ‘alternative’ energy sources - including nucelar and coal. “From transforming the weapons complex to maintain the utmost safety and reliability of our nuclear weapons stockpile, to issuing solicitations for loan guarantees to spur innovation in advanced energy technologies, this budget enables the Department to continue to lay the foundation for a clean, safe, secure and reliable energy future for all Americans,” states Secretary Samuel Bodman on the DOE website. In addition, the DOE requested “an extension

of its authorization to issue loan guarantees through FY 2010 and FY 2011, enabling commitments to guarantee loans (many to nuclear power companies) - totaling more than $38 billion from FY 2008 through FY 2011. In a press release from late December, 2007, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) declares, “The [loan guarantee] agreement will help encourage construction of new nuclear power plants and advanced coal-fired power plants capable of reliably generating large amounts of electricity to help meet the US economy’s baseload energy needs. It is projected that that electricity demand will increase at least 30 percent by 2030, even with conservation and efficiency measures that are under way and being considered.” The DOE further states: “These efforts, combined with plans to further expand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to an ultimate capacity of 1.5 billion barrels by 2029, will help achieve a more secure and reliable energy future for the nation.” The budget request “continues support for three bioenergy research centers in Tennessee, Wisconsin and California announced last year to accelerate the development and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels ($75 million) ...; $510 million for research in nuclear physics, including operations of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider; and $145.9 million for cutting-edge research through the Climate Change Science Program,” the DOE website says. “Energy companies already have begun submitting license applications for new, advanced-design nuclear power plants to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,” stated NEI president and CEO Skip Bowman, who added that “a number of additional applications are anticipated over the next two years.” The DOE’s FY 2009 “request for nonproliferation activities” includes $1.8 billion for “...the installation of radiation detection equipment at an additional 49 foreign sites in 14 countries and at 9 additional Megaports locations.” The budget also funds “implementation of an aggressive schedule to complete all shipments of Russian-originated highly-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel by the end of 2010 and maintains a schedule for completion of the construction of the second of two fossil-fueled power plants located in Zheleznogorsk, Russia in 2010.

“The nuclear energy industry commends Senators

Byron Dorgan and Pete Domenici and Congressmen Peter Visclosky

and David Hobson for their leadership in the implementation of an effective loan guarantee program

for the benefit of our nation.”

Frank L. (Skip) Bowman Nuclear Energy Industry

CEO & President

www.nei.org/newsandevents/newsreleases/congressionalbudget/;

www.hpcwire.com/hpc/2102301.html;www.nei.org/newsandevents/

newsreleases/congressionalbudget/

US taxpayers have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars to get rid of nuclear waste from more than 100 reactors - that has yet to be disposed. To date, according to UPI, the New York Times and other news sources, the federal government has paid the utilities $342 million, a figure expected to balloon to $11 billion in the coming years. The fees were the result of an agreement hammered out between the government and utilities in which the Department of Energy (DOE) agreed in the early 1980s to dispose of the

nuclear waste for a fee of a 10th of a cent per kilowatt-hour. The director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, told

reporters that if the nuclear repository proposed for Yucca Mountain, in the Nevada desert is able to accept waste in 2017, taxpayers will have given about $7 billion to the utilities. If the Yucca Mountain site opens in 2020, the damages would come to about $11 billion, and for each year beyond

that, about $500 million more, he said.

http://a4nr.org/news-and-events/JAN.FEB.2008-fair/-www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3258See www.fair.org/index.php?page=3258

Karl Grossman is a professor of journalism at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury. Books he has written about nuclear technology include Cover Up: What

You ARE NOT Supposed to Know About Nuclear Power.

US Nuclear Waste Costs Taxpayers Millions

US Power Plant Emissions Hit Record High

The biggest single year increase in greenhouse gas emissions from US power plants in nine years occurred in 2007, finds a new analysis by the Environmental Integrity Project. The finding of a 2.9 percent rise in carbon dioxide emissions over 2006 is based on an analysis of data from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Now the largest factor in the US contribution to climate change, the electric power industry’s emissions of carbon dioxide, CO2, have risen 5.9 percent since 2002 and 11.7 percent since 1997, the analysis shows. Texas tops the list of the 10 states with the biggest one-year increases in CO2 emissions, with Georgia, Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Illinois, Virginia and North Carolina close behind. The top three states - Texas, Georgia and Arizona - had the greatest increases in CO2 emissions on a one, five and 10 year basis. “The current debate over global warming policy tends to focus on long-term goals, like how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent over the next 50 years. But while we debate, CO2 emissions from power plants keep rising, making an already dire situation worse,” Eric Scaeffer, Director of the Environmental Integrity Project told the Environmental News Service (ENS). “Because CO2 has an atmospheric lifetime of between 50 and 200 years, today’s emissions could cause global warming for up to two centuries to come,” he warned. Data from 2006 show that the 10 states with the least efficient power production relative to resulting greenhouse gas emissions were North Dakota, Wyoming, Kentucky, Indiana, Utah, West Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, and Iowa. “The eight planned coal-fired plants that TXU withdrew in the face of determined opposition in Texas would have added an estimated

64 million tons of CO2 to the atmosphere, increasing emissions from power plants in that state by 24 percent,” the report observes. Some of the rise in CO2 emissions comes from existing coal fired power plants, the analysis found, either because these plants are operating at increasingly higher capacities, or because these aging plants require more heat to generate electricity. “For example,” the report says, “all of the top 10 highest emitting plants in the nation either held steady or increased CO2 output from 2006 to 2007.” Georgia Power’s Scherer power plant near Macon, Georgia is the highest emitting plant in the nation. It pumped out 27.2 million tons of CO2 in 2007, up roughly two million tons from the year before. In view of these facts, the Environmental Integrity Project recommends that the nation’s oldest and dirtiest power plants be retired, and replaced with cleaner sources of energy. That will require accelerating the development of wind power and other renewable sources of energy along with smarter building codes, and funding low-cost conservation efforts, such as weatherization of low-income homes and the purchase and installation of more efficient home and business appliances. The consumption of electricity accounted for more than 2.3 billion tons of CO2 in 2006, or more than 39.5 percent of total emissions from human sources, according to the DOE. Coal-fired power plants alone released more than 1.9 billion tons, or nearly one third of the US total. The DOE projects that carbon dioxide emissions from power generation will increase 19 percent between 2007 and 2030, due to new or expanded coal plants. An additional 4,115 megawatts of new coal-fired generating capacity was added between 2000 and 2007, with another 5,000 megawatts expected by 2012.

www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2008/2008-03-18-04.asp

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World

14 SolarTimes SecondQuarter 2008

Plans by multinational energy companies to control Iraq’s oil reserves are increasingly garnering the attention of human rights organizations and citizen groups in Europe and the US. That attention, say activists, is making it more difficult for the multinationals to keep their private meetings out of the public spotlight. One such meeting, sponsored this winter by oil giants BP and Shell, along with ExxonMobil and StatoilHydro, prompted very public demonstrations in London, outside the building where Iraq’s oil minister and Britain’s energy minister addressed delegates. The event, which featured guest speakers Iraqi minister Hussain Al-Shahristani and UK minister Malcolm Wicks, came as BP announced its corporate earnings for 2007. The announcement came within days after Shell posted record UK and European company profits of $13 billion and ExxonMobil posted a US record $40.6 billion profit. Demonstrators warned that Iraq would lose billions of pounds in oil income under the so-called ‘Hydrocarbon Act,’ a proposed new law which the British and US governments are pressing the Baghdad administration to sign. Two in three Iraqis oppose the plans, according to a poll released earlier by the campaign groups. Iraqi trade unions say the law will allow oil companies power over new oil fields for 25 years, with the country’s economy run by overseas firms. Iraqi unions are still illegal almost five years since the “pro-democracy” invasion and occupation of Iraq. According to the unions, the proposed law would surrender Iraq’s economic sovereignty, undermine the development of Iraq’s workforce and increase unemployment. Ruth Tanner, senior campaigns officer at War on Want, told reporters it was a ‘scandal’ that BP and Shell intend to raid Iraq’s oil wealth for themselves. “Not content with record profits,” she added, “they would deny millions of people the money needed to rebuild their shattered land. The British government must stop trying to steamroller through this law against Iraqis’ best interests.” Jonathan Stevenson, from the group Iraq Occupation Focus, told reporters that the Iraq war has been “a disaster for Iraqis and the world. “But for big oil companies like Shell and BP,” Stevenson observed, “war and occupation have been a chance to take control of the country’s oil. Who should decide the future of Iraq’s economy and resources: the people of Iraq, or Shell and BP?”

‘Oil Grab’ in Iraq Provokes

Protests in UK

www.waronwant.org/Demonstrators%20in%20%91stop%20Iraq%20oil%20raid%92%20call+15517.twl

A weak dollar, growing demand from developing countries like China

and India and supply problems in other coal-producing countries are pushing a

resurgence in the US coal industry not seen for nearly a decade.

Peter Frost, at www.dailynews.com

“Of course it’s about oil, we can’t really deny that.”

General John Abizaid,retired head of US Central Command and military

operations in Iraq, on the Iraq War, 2007

“Although the final decision for inviting foreign investment ultimately rests with

a representative Iraqi government, I believe in due course the invitation will come.”

Peter J. Robertson, Chevron vice chairman, September 2003

A report published by Oil Change International this Spring, entitled A Climate of War, quantifies the costs of the Iraq war, both in greenhouse gas emissions and capital. Its researchers made the following findings:

Projected total US spending on the Iraq war could fund all of the global investments in renewable power generation needed to halt current warming trends between now and 2030;

The war is responsible for at least 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) since March 2003. To put this in perspective, CO2 released by the war to date equals the emissions from putting 25 million more cars on the road in the US this year;

Emissions from the Iraq War to date are nearly two and a half times greater than what would be avoided between 2009 and 2016 were California to implement the auto emission regulations it has proposed, but that the Bush Administration has struck down;

If the war was ranked as a country in terms of annual emissions, it would emit more CO2 each year than 139 of the world’s nations do. Falling between New Zealand and Cuba, the war each year emits more than 60% of all countries on the planet;

The $600 billion that Congress has allocated for military operations in Iraq to date could have built over 9000 wind farms (at 50 MW capacity each), with the overall capacity to meet a quarter of the country’s current electricity demand;

If 25% of our power came from wind, rather than coal, it would reduce US GHG emissions by over 1 billion metric tons of CO2 per year – equivalent to approximately 1/6 of the country’s total CO2 emissions in 2006; In 2006, the US spent more on the war in Iraq than the whole world spent on investment in renewable energy. US presidential candidate Barack Obama has committed to spending “$150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of ‘green energy technology’ and infrastructure.” The US spends nearly that much on the war in Iraq in just 10 months. The report’s authors further emphasize: “In presenting these calculations, we are not suggesting that greenhouse gas emissions are the most important impact of the war, nor the major reason to oppose it. We are not arguing that a more energy-efficient military would be more effective or justified in its actions, nor suggesting that there aren’t many things besides clean energy on which the US could choose to spend its money. Rather, in a process comparable to estimating the true cost of the war in dollar terms, we are simply examining an aspect of the war’s impact that has been ignored. The emissions associated with the war in Iraq are literally unreported. Military emissions abroad are not captured in the national greenhouse gas inventories that all industrialized nations, including the United States, report under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It’s a loophole big enough to drive a tank through. Estimates of emissions stem from fuel-intensive combat, oil well fires and increased gas flaring, the boom in cement consumption due to reconstruction efforts and security needs, and heavy use of explosives and chemicals that contribute to global warming. Throughout our research we have erred on the side of caution, and have simply omitted areas where reliable numbers were not readily available (e.g., military consumption of halons or other greenhouse gas intensive chemicals, and the use of bunker fuels for the transportation of troops and equipment to Iraq). We are confident that ongoing research will reveal more emissions (the full version of this report is forthcoming).”

For more information about the San Francisco action, visit: www.actagainstwar.net.

For a list of actions throughout the US, visit:www.5yearstoomany.org/.

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Iraq War Fuels Climate Change, Diverts Billions Chevron Corp. and other international oil companies are

negotiating with the Iraq Ministry of Oil to begin tapping into some of the country’s largest oil fields, according to published reports. For years, writes David R. Baker in the San Francisco Chronicle, “the companies have had their eyes on long-term contracts to find and develop new oil fields in Iraq, which is believed to hold the world’s third-largest oil reserves.” The contracts under discussion, says Baker, “... represent an important step in opening Iraq’s oil industry to foreign involvement after years of state control.” San Ramon’s Chevron has, according to reports in the Associated Press, Dow Jones, Reuters and United Press International news services, held discussions with the Iraqi Oil Ministry about one of the short-term contracts. BP, Exxon Mobil, Shell and Total are also pursuing the contracts.

“Generally, Chevron is interested in helping Iraq develop its industry, and we’d very much like to partner with them to help fulfill the government’s production objectives,” Chevron spokesman Kurt Glaubitz told Baker. The company is reportedly negotiating an agreement to help expand production at an oil field, near Basra in southern Iraq. But, as the conflict drags on, multinational corporations like Chevron face a growing problem in Iraq. Today there is burgeoning resistance to what many Iraqis see as outside interference in matters pertaining to its sovereignty. The longer the US occupation of their country continues, the more suspicious ordinary Iraqis have grown over the Bush administration’s motives. Resultantly, a growing number now oppose multinational corporations gaining access to their country’s oil wealth. Moreover, almost since the inception of the US-lead invasion, Iraq’s legislators have clashed over the conflicting interests of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds and the little publicized (US-authored) law, known as the Hydrocarbon Act. The law would not only divide oil revenue among the country’s regions, but would allow foreign oil companies to pursue lucrative contracts there. Exploring and developing new oil fields would require the Hydrocarbon Act to be passed by the Iraqi Parliament, a feat that has become progressively difficult as more Iraqis - including its labor unions - learn about its full implications. “My concern with these agreements is that they appear to be more than anything else a foot in the door, an opening for the oil companies while debate rages on over the long-term contracts,” Antonia Juhasz, author of The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time, told the Chronicle. “It’s for the Iraqis to decide the appropriate role of US oil corporations in Iraq,” she said. “The only time to be able to have this kind of negotiation is when there’s no longer an occupation.”

Chevron ‘In Talks’ to Tap Iraq’s Oil

www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/24/BU5PVPNP8.DTL

“The purpose of the military occupation [in Iraq] was to lay the foundations for

continued political and economic control of Iraq. The presence of the new US embassy in Baghdad - the world’s largest embassy,

costing $600 million and housing 4,000 staff, half of whom will be working in the areas of security and intelligence - is a message to the Iraqi people that the US intends long-term

political domination of their country.”

Liz DaviesAttorney, anti-occupation activist and journalist. She is a

member of Iraq Occupation Focus.www.morningstaronline.co.uk/

World

SolarTimes 15SecondQuarter 2008

As 2008 gets underway, an unprecedented millions of people worldwide are being impacted by the effects of extreme climate change. Across the planet this winter, huge ice caps continued to melt at an accelerated rate (the most recent reportedly ‘seven times the size if Manhattan’), freakish hurricanes hit areas previously untouched by high winds, rampant flooding was reported in parts of Europe, Asia and India and a growing number of scientists say people were colder, hungrier and generally a lot more miserable than in years past. In April, Nobel Prize-winning scientist Mario Molina, recognized for his groundbreaking work on the impact of chlorofluorocarbon gases on the Earth’s ozone layer, warned still again that humans could face “almost irreversible consequences” if the Earth warmed 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees F) above what it ought to be. He said “tipping points” would be reached if temperatures continue increasing, including unmanageable changes to the Earth’s environment. “Things are changing and there’s no doubt that it’s as a result of human activities,” said Molina. “Long before we run out of oil, we will run out of atmosphere,” he said. Molina told a panel on climate change in April that the increasing intensity of hurricanes was among the worrisome changes that scientists had linked to a rapid global warming trend over the past 30 years. He also told Reuters there was considerable uncertainty about how much further warming the planet can sustain before it reaches critical levels. “You keep changing the temperature gradually but then suddenly things change dramatically,” he said. According to the National Weather Service, among the hardest hit places by extreme weather events since the beginning of 2008, were China, Afghanistan and the American West.

In China, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers were driven to near-riot conditions as they waited outside train stations during the worst winter storm in half a century. Wide swathes of the country were virtually paralyzed by January’s winter storms, which left over 30 million people without power and hundreds of millions stranded at train stations. Railways, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency, were reduced to delivering less than 25 percent of normal coal shipments because of bad weather, and many cities were entirely blacked out. Highways were closed due to “treacherous conditions,” wrote AP, “but not before a bus crash on an icy road in Guizhou province killed at least 25 people. Food prices skyrocketed. As many as 5 percent of China’s coal-fired power plants, which generate 78 percent of its electricity, were closed because snow hampered coal shipments, according to the National Development and Reform Commission and China’s largest zinc refiner said shortages forced it to cut production. The military was called in to repel any potential rioting or violence, as China’s leaders attempted to show the world that it was in control of the situation.

In Afghanistan, unknown hundreds of people reportedly died during the last half of January, 2008 from bitter cold and heavy snow across the country, according to its Ministry of Health. Officials said the dead included people living in tents and villagers cut off from food and medical aid by snow-blocked roads. Faryab province in northwest Afghanistan “was covered in a 20-inch-deep blanket of snow,” according to AP.

In the US, states most heavily impacted by extreme weather events included Colorado, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming and Arizona. The midday temperature in Glasgow, Montana hit 24 degrees below zero, according to the National Weather Service and in North Dakota, wind chills of 54 below zero were reported at Garrison, with an actual low of 24 below at Williston. In Wyoming and Washington states, sections of interstate highways were closed - sometimes for days - because of snow and generally non-navigable conditions. Across the nation, schools were closed for days at a time. And in Arizona, heavy rain flooded creeks and rivers at lower elevations. Some residents of the town of Carrizo fled because of fear that two dams might fail.

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Unprepared Planet Suffers Climate Extremes Accelerated Climate Change is already severely destabilizing the planet, and threatens to render ‘a full one-fifth of its population homeless,’ top climate officials warned in April...

Eur0pe Faces Multiple ThreatsAccording to the EU’s two senior foreign policy officials, Europe needs to brace itself for a new wave of migration triggered by global warming. The ravages already being inflicted on parts of the developing world by extreme climate change are engendering a new type of refugee, they warn, the “environmental migrant”. Within a decade “there will be millions of environmental migrants, with climate change as one of the major drivers of this phenomenon,” said Javier Solana and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the EU’s chief foreign policy coordinator and the

Areas Under Urgent Threat from Accelerated Climate Change

Include but are Not Limited to:

The ArcticThe speed of polar ice cap melting will have a large

geostrategic impact, with conflicts likely over the vast new mineral resources that will become accessible, as well as the opening of new sea routes for international trade.

Rival claims to the mineral wealth and shipping routes will challenge Europe’s ability to secure its interests in the region.

Latin AmericaThe Caribbean and central America are already badly

affected by major hurricanes and extreme weather linked with El Niño. This will get worse, while weak governments

will struggle to cope with social and political tension fuelled by climate change.

AfricaParticularly vulnerable because of its low ability to cope

with climate change, which is already a factor contributing to the Darfur catastrophe and conflict in the Horn of Africa. Three-quarters of arable rain-fed land in north

Africa and the Sahel could be lost. Some 5 million people in the Nile delta could be affected by land losses due to rising

sea levels and salinization by 2050.

Central AsiaTrouble ahead. The authoritarian regimes of the region will become increasingly important because of mineral wealth. But climate change means water shortages are

already being felt. Kyrgyzstan has lost 1,000 glaciers over the past 40 years, while Tajikistan’s glaciers have shrunk by one third. Farming and power generation are already

being hit by water shortages.

Middle EastWater systems are already under intense stress, with

around two-thirds of the Arab world dependent on water sources beyond their borders. Water supply might fall by 60% this century in Israel. Significant decreases expected

to hit Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Saudi Arabia, further destabilizing the “vitally strategic region”.

South AsiaAlmost two billion Asians live within 35 miles of a coast and many of them are likely to be threatened by rising

sea levels. Damage to farming will make it difficult to feed rapidly swelling populations. Another billion people will be affected by a drop in meltwater from the Himalayas. These vulnerable populations will also be exposed to an

increase in infectious diseases.

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/10/climatechange.eu

European commissioner for external relations. “Europe must expect substantially increased migratory pressure.” The officials point out that some countries already badly hit by global warming are demanding that the new phenomenon be recognized internationally as a valid reason for migration. The ‘immigration alert’ is but one of seven threats that the two officials emphasize, in pointing to the security implications and dangers to European interests driven by climate change. Their report, the first of its kind to be tabled to an EU summit amounts to a wake-up call to the governments of Europe, a demand that they start taking account of climate change and its impact in their security and foreign-policy decisions. The main message is that the immediate and devastating effects of global warming will be felt far away from Europe, with the poor suffering disproportionately in south Asia, the Middle East, central Asia, Africa and Latin America, but that Europe will ultimately bear the consequences. This could be in the form of mass migration, destabilization of parts of the world vital to European security, radicalization of politics and populations, north-south conflict because of the perceived injustice of the causes and effects of global warming, famines caused by arable land loss, wars over water, energy, and other natural resources. The UN officials paint a picture of a very bleak and very messy new world order which may undermine the UN system, noting that, “The multilateral system is at risk if the international community fails to address the threats. Climate change impacts will fuel the politics of resentment between those most responsible for climate change and those most affected by it ... and drive political tension nationally and internationally.” The document points out that last year the UN’s appeals for emergency humanitarian aid were all, bar one, connected to climate change. As far as international security is concerned, the report finds, global warming makes a bad situation worse. “Climate change is best viewed as a threat multiplier which exacerbates existing trends, tensions and instability,” Solana and Ferrero-Waldner say. “The core challenge is that climate change threatens to overburden states and regions which are already fragile and conflict-prone. Risks include political and security risks that directly affect European interests.” Their report highlights several forms of conflict that are likely to be driven by the planet heating up:· Reduction of arable land, widespread shortage of water, diminishing food and fish stocks, increased flooding and prolonged droughts are already happening in many parts of the world ... Fresh water availability could fall by up to 30% in some regions, causing farming losses, surging food prices and shortages, and civil unrest ... Climate change will fuel existing conflicts over depleting resources.· Around one-fifth of the planet’s population inhabits coastal zones which are threatened by rising sea levels and natural disasters. The Caribbean, central America and the east coasts of China and India are most exposed. An increase in disasters and humanitarian crises will lead to immense pressure on the resources of donor countries.· The report notes that major land mass changes are expected in the course of the century from receding coastlines, meaning countries will lose territory, while ‘desertification’ could have a similar effect. The result may be “a vicious circle of degradation, migration and conflicts over territory and borders that threatens the political stability of countries and regions.”· A similar result may be expected in failing states, where frustration and disenchantment breed ethnic and religious strife and political radicalization.· Competition for energy resources is already a cause of conflict. This may get worse, not least “because much of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves are in regions vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and because many oil and gas producing states already face significant social, economic and demographic challenges.”

Sources for this article included, but were not limited to:www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN05421527,

www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN0542152720080406,

www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2008/01/30/snow0130.html, http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/mar/10/climatechange.eu

Also see Weather Service warnings:www.weather.gov/view/nationalwarnings.php, http://

www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagid=1405&source=ggad&gclid=CM6j-symx5ICFQWkiQodbBjolw

16 SolarTimes SecondQuarter 2008

World

An article published in early February by Iranian newspaper Akhbar Alkhaleej alleges that a number of US companies have offered “a $5 million bribe” to members of the Iraqi Parliament, “if they agree to pass the oil and gas law,” (Hydrocarbon Act) stalled for nearly a year now in Iraq’s parliament. The Hydrocarbon Act, touted by the Bush administration as one that would share oil and gas resources among Shias, Sunnis, and Kurds, is one of the administrations’ ‘benchmarks for success’ in the region. But a growing number of Iraqi citizens, including members of its labor unions, argue that the law is little more than a giveaway of Iraq’s oilfields to multinational corporations. The law has been bogged down in Iraq’s Parliament, partially because of that growing perception, and also due to a dispute between the Kurds and the central government over whom has the final say in managing the country’s oil and gas fields. Akhbaqr Alkhalee reported in January, 2008, that the US is seeking to have the oil and gas law passed through “bribing or intimidating Iraqi lawmakers.” The paper’s source is, according to the Tehran Times, “an Iraqi MP who requested anonymity.” The Tehran Times also reported that the MP said bribing the lawmakers “could not guarantee” that the law will be passed as some parliamentarians “will not sell their votes under any circumstances.”

www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=162249

Coal prices at the beginning of 2008 rose to a record high in Asia as flooding in Australia, power cuts in South Africa and snow storms in China restricted output. The outages also contributed to electricity shortages in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Power station coal prices at the port in Newcastle, NSW, a benchmark for Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, jumped 3.9% to a record $93.35 a ton in January, according to the globalCOAL NEWC Index. The price soared 73% last year. European coal prices rose the most in three weeks earlier this year, after Anglo American, South Africa’s second-biggest producer, shut down five of nine mines because power supplies could not be guaranteed by state utility Eskom Holdings. The world’s biggest coal exporter, Macarthur Coal, and Wesfarmers said they would not be able to meet contract supplies from some mines in Queensland after heavy rain. “Even before these developments, spot prices for coal and coke were at record high levels,” Macquarie Group analysts said in a report. “Current price negotiations for annual contracts could be settled at much higher levels than previously thought.” China, which burns coal to generate 78% of its electricity, ordered domestic coal shippers to halt exports after heavy snow and rail congestion shut supplies to 5% of the country’s coal-fired generators. Power lines from the Three Gorges hydro-electric dam in central Hubei province were also damaged in the storms, according to the official Xinhua news agency. The power shortage reflects the tightness of the nation’s thermal coal market, where demand had been growing strongly and supply had remained constrained, the Macquarie report said. Relatively high international prices had sustained exports and reduced stockpiles, even as negotiations for contract increases started in December, the investment bank said. Bumi Resources, Indonesia’s biggest coal supplier, and Yanzhou Coal Mining, a unit of China’s fourth-biggest coal producer, both reached 10-day peaks on expectation the disruptions would boost prices and earnings. Bumi climbed 5.9% in Jakarta, its highest price since January 14. Yanzhou Coal Mining rose 4.3% in Hong Kong trading, its highest since January 18. European coal prices have increased 87% in the past year alone, as utilities sought an alternative to increasingly expensive oil and gas, and India stepped up imports from South Africa.

Excerpts from BLOOMBERG News Service

Edited by SLV

The World Bank is using millions of dollars in US taxpayers’ money to help Iran build up its industrial and natural gas sectors, according to news reports. The support comes even as the US and the United Nations are “actively working to discourage the international community from conducting commercial transactions with Iran and its energy sector, in particular,” writes FOX News’ James Rosen. “The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) offers financial guarantees to secure foreign investments in developing countries - and the US is one of the agency’s largest contributors, with contributions since 2000 totaling nearly $24 million. Documents and public filings show that MIGA issued $122.2 million in guarantee coverage for three companies from Thailand and Japan, that have in turn invested a total of $42.8 million in a state-owned Iranian petrochemical company. The guarantees insure investors against the risk of ‘war and civil disturbance,’ and any potential breach of contract by the government of Iran. MIGA’s paperwork for a separate project, writes Rosen, “shows a $5 million equity and loan guarantee provided to a Turkish company whose plants in Iran produce and export polypropylene containers.” Last October, the Bush administration designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its elite Quds Force as terror organizations — the IRGC for weapons proliferation, and the Quds Force for support of terrorism. At the time, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice standing by his side, told reporters “it is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran, you are doing business with the IRGC.” Assistant Secretary of State Sean McCormack disclosed last June that the State Department had been contacting multinational firms and state-owned companies around the world, counseling them against financial transactions with the Iranian regime and its subsidiaries. US Representatives Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill) told Rosen that the World Bank had “transferred at least $50 million in US and allied taxpayer funding to Iran” over the last six months. In a letter to Rice and Paulson dated January 30, Rothman and Kirk argued the World Bank is “undermining the Iran policies of the UN Security Council, the UK, France, Germany and the US by giving technical assistance, loans and investment guarantees directly to the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.” “The World Bank Group complies with UN sanctions on Iran,” the Bank’s website states, adding: “Arrangements have been put in place to ensure disbursements under project agreements are utilizing banking channels that are not subject to sanctions lists.”

Millions of US Dollars Going to

Iran’s Energy Sector

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,327726,00.html

GLOBAL COAL PRICES HIT

RECORD HIGHS US Tries to Bribe Iraqi MPs to Pass Oil and Gas Law

David F. Host, president of shipping agent T. Parker Host Inc., told the Daily News in February, 2008, that coal supply in Colombia is ‘sold out,’ Brazil is ‘using more of its own coal than ever’ and Venezuela is too unstable

to be a reliable supplier.“Add to the picture a severe flooding

incident in Australia that roiled its supply and power shortages in South Africa that shut down mines, and you’ve got all these

overseas buyers coming here asking us how many tons do we have to sell. It’s no longer

‘What’s your price?’ It’s ‘How much do you have?’” Host said.

www.dailypress.com/business/dp-biz_coal_0203feb03,0,6554662.story

“Nothing better captures the debilitating nature of America’s dependence on imported oil than President George W Bush’s humiliating recent performance in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He quite literally begged Saudi King Abdullah to

increase the kingdom’s output of crude oil in order to lower the domestic price of gasoline. “My point to His Majesty is going to be, when consumers have less purchasing power because of high prices of gasoline - in other words, when it

affects their families, it could cause this economy to slow down,” he told an interviewer before his royal audience. “If the economy slows down, there will be less barrels of [Saudi] oil purchased.”

Needless to say, the Saudi leadership dismissed this implied threat for the pathetic bathos it was. The Saudis indicated Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi would raise production only ‘when the market justifies it.’ With that, they made clear what the

whole world now knows: The American bubble has burst - and it was oil that popped it. Thus are those with an ‘oil addiction’ (as Bush once termed it) forced to grovel before the select few who can supply the needed fix.”

Michael Klare, author of Resource Wars and Blood and Oil and professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College. His newest book, Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy,

will be published in April 2008.

“I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone

knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil.”

Alan Greenspan, former FederalReserve Chairman, 2007

World

SolarTimes 17 SecondQuarter 2008

Hackers have already shown that they can disrupt utilities by causing blackouts - and they’ve done just that in several cities outside the US, senior CIA analyst Tom Donohoe said in a March, 2008 interview with UK-based newspaper, The Daily Mail. Potential terrorists, he told the paper, can cripple the economy and disrupt lives “with the click of a mouse.” In a recent report aired on CNN, Scott Borg of the US Cyber-Consequences Unit observed that the impact of a large cyber attack on US infrastructure would be “equivalent to 30 to 50 large hurricanes striking all at once.” He warned that such an attack would inflict greater economic damage than any modern economy has ever suffered. The threat is so great, noted one security company, that the CIA has launched a global effort to find the saboteurs before the damage is done. A spokesperson with Uniloc USA, Inc. told reporters that the intelligence agency is trying to circumvent the hackers, who, according to reports, “are running a huge extortion plot.” Recent cyber power attacks, all involving Internet-based intrusions, have caught the attention of some members of the Bush administration who believe that highly skilled terrorists could try to disable power, water and chemical plants in Europe and the US.

Last year, the US Department of Homeland Security reported that it had discovered a flaw in the computer programs that control a major electric generator at one power station. In a test, they showed how hackers could send messages to the power station through the Internet which would cause a ‘violent reaction’ in the generator causing a large-scale power outage. “Clearly, some Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) Networks are under imminent threat,” said Casey Potenzone, CIO of Uniloc USA. “The big weakness of these networks is their reliance on open-standards, which virtually invite hackers to break into vital systems controlling critical infrastructure.” Editor’s Note: It should be noted that Uniloc USA isn’t exactly an unbiased observer. The company is in the security business and has a vested interest in selling their systems, which their PR people claim

would put a big dent in the problem. Well...maybe - but only if the systems work ‘as advertised’ in a true cyber-emergency. Americans should probably be grateful they haven’t yet been put through that reality check. ... SLV

“A revolution of the hungry is in the offing,” Mohammed el-Askalani of Citizens Against the High Cost of Living told reporters this April ... Consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what is being called by some analysts, a ‘perfect storm of conditions.” Freak weather is one factor, reported Associated Press (AP) in March. Other factors, notes the article, include “dramatic changes in the global economy ... higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India. The world’s poorest nations still suffer the greatest deprivation, but in recent months, even ‘developed nations’ have reported food riots and/or protests. Italy, Egypt, Latin America, parts of Africa, Burkina Faso, Cameroon are just a few of the countries plagued by drought and/or skyrocketing food prices. Observes AP, “the price of spaghetti has doubled in Haiti [and] the cost of miso is packing a hit in Japan.” “It’s not likely that prices will go back to as low as we’re used to,” Abdolreza Abbassian, economist with the Intergovernmental Group for Grains for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, told AP. “Currently if you’re in Haiti, unless the government is subsidizing consumers, consumers have no choice but to cut consumption. It’s a very brutal scenario, but that’s what it is.”

In decades past, farm subsidies and support programs allowed major grain exporting countries to hold large surpluses, which could be tapped during food shortages to keep prices down. But new trade policies have made agricultural production much more responsive to market demands -- putting global food reserves at their lowest in a quarter century. Without reserves, bad weather and poor harvests have a bigger impact on prices. “The market is extremely nervous. With the slightest news about bad weather, the market reacts,” Abbassian said. That means that a drought in Australia and flooding in Argentina, two of the world’s largest suppliers of industrial milk and butter, sent the price of butter in France soaring 37 percent from 2006 to 2007. The same climate crises sparked a 21 percent rise in the cost of milk, according to the article. Among the driving forces are record high oil prices (up 80 percent in 2007 over 2006), which increase the cost of everything from fertilizers to transport to food processing; rising demand for meat and dairy in rapidly developing countries like China and India, sending up the cost of grain used for cattle feed; and the demand for raw materials to make biofuels. Because the oil spike has increased pressure on countries to switch to biofuels, the Food and Agriculture Organization is warning that the cost of corn, sugar and soybeans could continue escalating “for many more years to come.” What’s rare, reports AP, “is that the spikes are hitting all major foods in most countries at once. Food prices rose 4 percent in the US last year, the highest rise since 1990, and are expected to climb as much again this year, according to the US Department of Agriculture.” As of December, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed food-price controls. For many, that’s a disaster. The UN’s World Food Program says it’s facing a $500 million shortfall in funding this year to feed 89 million needy people.www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/24/food.ap/index.html

Revolution of the Hungry ‘in the offing’

Food provides the energy people need to survive and do work. The globalization of the food industry and concentration of the food supply chains are the major causes of increase in

food transport ... across the globe, wasting a lot of energy and spewing extra tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Policies are needed to minimize food import/export, to promote instead, national/regional food self sufficiency.

From the 2006 energy report by the Institute of Science and Society (ISIS)

www.i-sis.org.uk/ISIS_energy_review_exec_sum.pdf

Hackers Could Cripple Economy

Energy self-sufficiency is the best guarantee of energy security. This can be

achieved by a diversity of sustainable,renewable energies at medium, small and

micro-generation scales,according to resources locally available,

so that energy is used at the point of generation, saving up to 69 percent

of the energy lost through long distance transport of electricity from big centralized power plants and the

associated carbon emissions.

Excerpted from the 2006 energy report by the Institute of Science and Society (ISIS)

www.i-sis.org.uk/ISIS_energy_review_exec_sum.pdf

Iran Joins Nuclear Renaissance,

Shrugs Off US, UN Demands

Iranian representatives reiterated in April that their country will continue to expand its nuclear program, in defiance of the US and other western powers. The proclamation came after diplomats in Vienna accused Tehran (Iran’s capital) of installing advanced centrifuges in its key uranium enrichment plant. Since George W. Bush took office in 2000, the US’ already-tense relationship with Iran has hit an all time low. The Bush administration has waged a relentless global campaign to pressure Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give up his nuclear program because it fears that his hidden agenda is to produce nuclear weapons. The administration has been relatively successful at getting other countries to join the effort, yet, with the modern world experiencing a ‘nuclear renaissance,’ most leaders privately admit that the mission is not a realistic one. Iran, which today is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, says it needs to produce nuclear fuel for a planned network of power plants to satisfy soaring electricity demand. “The trend of advancing nuclear capacity until reaching the production of nuclear fuel and building nuclear power plants to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity will continue,” an Iranian spokesperson said. On April 3, diplomats told Reuters that Iran has begun installing advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges in its Natanz enrichment complex, accelerating activity that could give it the means to make atom bombs in future. The country has been hit with United Nations sanctions for hiding its nuclear program and refusing to suspend disputed activities. Recently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose contempt for President Bush is legendary, reportedly rejected a package of UN incentives to cease its current activities. “This is our obvious right and we do not exchange our rights for things like incentives,” an official Iranian spokesperson told Japan’s Kyodo news agency. Meanwhile, a defiant Ahmadinejad continues to insist that Iran will only discuss its nuclear program with the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), rejecting a call by world powers to hold more talks with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCADAH52983420080405?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

GLOBAL DIMMING ‘Global Dimming’ is a heretofore under-publicized phenomenon that scientists have understood since the 18th century. SolarTimes believes that global dimming must become a critical component of the climate change conversation - the sooner the better ...

Global dimming is the phenomenon of atmospheric pollution cooling the earth down, by reflecting sunlight and forming sunlight-reflecting clouds. Scientists have long known that air pollution can significantly reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth, lower temperatures, and mask the warming effects of greenhouse gases. Yet, paradoxically, even as the planet is warming, a phenomenon known as “global dimming” is cooling earth’s surface by more than one degree Celsius (1.8°F). A good place to begin to learn more about Global Dimming is:

www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=105

18 SolarTimes

WHO in the WORLD

united StateS

SecondQuarter 2008

SolarTimes’ Power Links:

www.theoildrum.com/www.envirosagainstwar.orgwww.yoursolarfuture.com

www.calseia.orgwww.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk/www.environmentalintegrity.org

www.iraqoillaw.comwww.solarati.com/category/solar-news/California and Federal Energy Legislation:www.sdenergy.org/contentpage.asp?C

ontentID=143&ProfileID=9407

china

No gasoline-powered vehicle currently manufactured in the US would today meet China’s fuel-efficiency standard...That’s mainly because:

China’s standard is much higher than that of the US with its minimum-allowable efficiency standard (as opposed to a “fleet-average” standard like that of the US);

US automakers don’t make their (relatively few) high-efficiency vehicles in this country;

By 2010, China will be the world leader in wind turbine manufacturing and solar photovoltaics manufacturing.

As for the US’ much-hyped new 35-mpg (average) standard, it will reportedly take until 2020 to get where the Chinese are already;

Today, the US is not even to where Japan and Europe were six years ago. So whether you believe in human-caused global warming or peak oil, America remains unprepared to capture the huge explosion in jobs this century for clean, fuel-efficient cars.

www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/80532/Access Full Article:

www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/326294

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California

Power producer FPL Energy announced in March that it had applied to build a 250-megawatt (MW) solar farm in the Mojave Desert. The company is seeking certification from the California Energy Commission and plans to begin work on the plant, known as the Beacon Solar Energy Project, late next year. Construction is expected to take about two years to complete. The site will contain more than 500,000 parabolic mirrors assembled in rows on 2,000 acres in Kern County, Calif., north of Los Angeles. The solar power will be used to make steam for a turbine generator connected to a nearby electric grid. A one MW plant running continuously at full capacity can power 778 households each year, according to the US Department of Energy.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-24045528.htm

Mega-Solar Farm Planned for Mojave

On April 1, Japan officially kicked off its five-year commitment period to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as stipulated by the Kyoto Protocol... The Kyoto pact covers only 30 percent of the world’s carbon emissions, failing to cover major emitters such as the US and China, the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters. Further, the accord does not require developing countries to cut emissions. As of 2005, Japan is the world’s fourth biggest carbon dioxide emitter after the US, China and Russia, according to 2007 data by the International Energy Agency. The Kyoto Protocol requires Japan to cut its emissions by an average of 6 percent in fiscal 2008-2012 from the fiscal 1990 level. Including Japan, the accord requires 37 industrial and relatively developed countries to slash emissions by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels over the five-year period, a goal Japan could find challenging, as its emissions expanded 6.4 percent in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 1990 to about 1.34 billion tons. Japan believes that a post-2012 regime that excludes big polluters and emerging economies makes no sense and would be ineffective in mitigating global emissions while the US argues it is ‘unfair’ that the burden of emission cuts should be exclusively on industrial nations because it exempts emerging economies like China and India. The 27-nation European Union says the industrialized world must take the lead in reducing emissions, calling for a 25-40 percent reduction for developed countries by 2020 below 1990 levels, a range suggested by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But developing countries, led by China and India, argue that industrial countries should take the lead in the issue because their past emissions have contributed significantly to global warming. The US is the only developed country to have rejected the Kyoto accord.

Access Full Article:http://news.aol.com/story/_a/japan-boosting-steps-

against-global/n20080331150409990009

US Fuel Standards Dwarfed by China’s

JaPanJapan Takes Steps Against Warming under

Kyoto Protocol

Don Deane, Editor and Publisher of the Coastal Post (www.coastalpost.com) in Bolinas, CA

says he counts on SolarTimes for well-written, reliable, non-corporate energy news ...

Scotland

In April, the community-owned Islay Energy Trust of Scotland, a group that seeks to develop renewable energy projects that benefit the community, approved a proposal to begin developing Scotland’s first commercial-sized tidal energy project in collaboration with Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University. The proposed project will consist of four to six turbine devices, with a total capacity of about 2MW. The development phases are expected to take three years to complete and once on line, revenue is expected to be generated from electricity sales. Scotland has some of the best tidal resources in Europe. It is estimated that marine energy could makeup about one-third of the country’s renewable energy resources. Scotland has set a target of 50% electricity generation from renewable resources by 2020.

www.sundayherald.com/oped/opinion/display.var.2174741.0.0.php

Tajikistan’s power infrastructure was simply ‘unable to cope’ with demand this winter, said government officials. And the result was what officials are calling ‘an avoidable tragedy’... “Unusually low levels of water” in Tajikistan’s hydroelectric reservoirs, together with a failed power generation and distribution infrastructure are being blamed for the deaths of at least 300 infants and a dozen young mothers. The mothers and babies were in the maternity unit of a hospital when the power failed, and temperatures inside fell to below zero. During January and February 2008, Tajikistan was gripped by extreme cold weather and the extra demand for heat caused its neglected power infrastructure to fail. Thousands of Tajiks suffered, with the elderly and the very young hardest hit. Conditions in hospitals became appalling, with sub-zero temperatures indoors. Tragically, officials said, “infants in hospital maternity units died who would have survived had electricity been available.”

Access Full Article:www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/SKAI-

7BUQDL?OpenDocument

Scotts to Produce 2MW of Renewable Energy with Tidal Power

Infants, Mothers Freeze to Death Indoors as Tajikistan’s Power Grid Fails to Deliver

taJiKiStan

BostonActivists Work Globally to Expose

Corporate AbuseFrom the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the death of Ken Saro Wiwa who was executed for protesting Shell’s oil drilling of the Niger Delta, the oil industry has been behind some of the most devastating environmental disasters and human rights abuses in recent history ... The oil industry’s shadow falls over the destruction of indigenous South American tribes, and cancer rates among children that are three times the national average in Ecuadorian villages. In Angola, a corrupt dictator accused of torture and murder receives generous funding from ExxonMobil in exchange for lucrative drilling rights. Corporate Accountability International (CAI) says it is campaigning around the world to challenge two of the most egregious oil companies in the world, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, and their leading trade association, the American Petroleum Institute (API). The group is working to stop Big Oil’s abusive practices which are contributing to the climate-change crisis and other ecological disasters, as well as the wholesale destruction of communities and traditional ways of life. All over the world, writes CAI, “people feel the squeeze from the cut-throat business of the oil industry. From their political opposition to addressing climate change and increasing fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks to their legacies of unmitigated pollution from the pristine waters of Alaska to the rain forests of South America, the oil industry has been behind some of the most devastating environmental disasters and human rights abuses in recent history. “The economic dominance of the oil industry translates into unprecedented political power which the industry regularly uses to block environmental legislation that would increase its costs and to press for billions of dollars in public subsidies to boost industry profits still further,” obvserves CAI.

To learn more, please visit:www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1112.cfm

“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.”

Mark Twain

SolarTimes 19

take Legislative Action

CTL: Not Clean or GreenS 155 is an unfortunate piece of legislation (even more unfortunately sponsored by Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill). Coal-to-liquid (CTL) technology uses a highly energy-intensive process to convert coal into diesel fuel for cars or jet fuel for airplanes, appealing to the coal industry in Obama’s home state of Illinois. Creating liquid coal (CTL) is an expensive, inefficient, dirty process. There are better, cheaper, cleaner, and quicker ways to decrease US dependence on oil while helping to slow global warming. The coal industry is pushing Congress for huge subsidies and mandates for liquid coal production, even though it is inefficient, expensive and produces large amounts of global warming pollution. Use links below to send a pre-written letter to your Congressperson:

http://ga3.org/campaign/liquid_coalOR

www.sierraclub.org/legislativetracker/110S155.asp

SolarT imes Makes It Easy to Par ticipate

President: George W. Bush (R)PHONE: 202 456-1414

FAX: 202 456-2461The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NWWashington, DC 20500

Email: president@whitehouse.gov

US Senators: Barbara Boxer(D)District Office415 403-0100

FAX: 415 956-67011700 Montgomery St.,

Ste. 240San Francisco, CA 94111

Email: senator@boxer.senate.gov

Diane Feinstein (D)District Office415 536-6868

525 Market St., Ste. 3670San Francisco, CA 94105

Email: senator@feinstein.senate.gov

Local Representative: Lynn Woolsey (D)6th District (Marin)

District Office415 507-9554

FAX: 415 507-96011050 Northgate Drive, Ste. 140

San Rafael, CA. 94903Email: lynn.woolsey@mail.house.gov

Governor: Arnold SchwarzeneggerRegional Office

415 703-2218555 California Street, Ste. 2929

San Francisco, CA. 94104

Democracy Requires Action

Act LocallyBe a Co-Sponsor of the Sanders/Boxer Global

Warming Bill The Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S 309) would reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The reason that’s important is because it attempts to stabilize global temperatures and contain carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations. It also would regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and transportation, and establishes a federal renewable energy standard of 20% by 2020. Use the link below to sign on as a co-sponsor to

S 309 at a site sponsored by Barbara Boxer: www.ga6.org/campaign/citizen_cosponsor

California Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act

AB 1109 includes conservation and renewable measures to reduce statewide energy

consumption and free up energy efficiency funds for other uses. The environmental benefits of

using less electricity combined with the pollution reduction provisions of this bill make this a win-

win for consumers. Send a letter to your representative

supporting AB 1109.

www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/TURN/campaign.

jsp?campaign_KEY=11159

Continue Iraq Oil Investigations

Start Clean Energy at HomeMonths after the ‘deadline’ for passing the oil law (Hydrocarbon Act) that would privatize Iraq’s oil fields, the Iraqi people have still not signed on. But as long as US troops are still

there, the Bush administration will do all it can to influence Iraq’s oil industry.

The link below will take you to a form that instructs Congress to continue

investigations into US interference in Iraq’s sovereignty and cease supporting a war

that is illegal, immoral and unjust. You can also use the letter and background

material as the basis for your own Op Ed, a Letter to the Editor, or to help you call-in to

your local radio stations. Support Iraqi citizens in saying no to Big Oil and US citizens in saying yes to clean energy.

www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizations/oilchange/campaign.

jsp?campaign_KEY=21876&t=wide.dwt

JUST SAY NO TO CA NUKES

Send a pre-written letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and CA legislators urging them to reject new nuclear power plants in the state and to phase out pre-existing plants:

http://a4nr.org/actionLetters/actionlettercecworkshop/view

Send a pre-written letter to the California Energy Commisison:

http://a4nr.org/actionLetters/11.17.2005-cecltr/view

Critical California Solar Bill

AB 1451 (Leno) is a solar-friendly bill that extends the current property tax exclusion for solar energy systems to 2016, and clarifies the application to solar on new home construction. AB 1451 makes everything the state is trying to do with energy - from AB 32 to the California Solar Initiative to the Renewable Portfolio Standard - cheaper and easier. It’s now stuck in the Senate Revenue and Tax Committee. Senator Perata, as the Senate President pro Tem decides what happens next or whether the bill moves forward to a Senate floor vote. Please, email him, and tell him that you support solar, that you believe AB 1451 is sound policy and deserves the consideration of a floor vote.

www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/votesolar/campaign.

jsp?campaign_KEY=12524Or better yet, give his office a call at

(916) 651-4009

Think Globally

The Union of Concerned Scientists warns that a rapid global expansion of biofuels could have profound negative environmental,

economic and human consequences. Support a Renewable Fuel Standard that requires a more thoughtful approach to

biofuels and reduces global warming pollution:

http://ucsaction.org/campaign/12_20_07_bioenergy/8xxxeigzy7jeb7wb?

The Environmental Protection Agency has denied California’s waiver request to cut global warming pollution from automobiles, ignoring both science and the law. Seventeen other states plan to implement similar programs. EPA’s action is nothing more than a heavy handed stroke to limit the authority of states to fight global warming and protect our environment. Send a (pre-written) letter today to Administrator Johnson expressing your opposition to this unfounded decision:

www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/719802574

EPA Ignores Science AND Law

Act Nationally

In December of 2007, 58,000 gallons of (highly toxic) bunker fuel was spilled into the San Francisco Bay. More than 1,000 times dirtier than the diesel fuel used in

trucks and buses, this fuel pollutes the air, threatens human health, and contributes to global warming. Friends of the Earth’s

Clean Vessels campaign is calling on Congress to require a complete phase-

out of bunker fuel use.

Sign Friends of the Earth’s Petition:

http://action.foe.org/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=816

End Bunker Fuel Use

SecondQuarter 2008

“the trouble…is that we have taken our democracy for granted; we

have thought and acted as if our forefathers had founded it once and for all. We have forgotten that it must be enacted anew in every generation, in every year and day, in the living relations of person to person in all

social forms and institutions.” - John Dewey

CUT OIL SUBSIDIES CLEAN ENERGY AT HOME

Tell Your Senator to CUT Subsidies to Big OilThe House of Representatives passed a bill in

March that would end $18 billion in subsidies to the oil industry over 10 years. Instead, the money

would be used for tax credits for renewable energy sources and energy-efficient technologies.

This bill faces heavy opposition in the Senate. Use the link below to ask your Senators to Cut

Subsidies to Big Oil: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/790/t/3097/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23460

Chevron’s Huge ExpansionChevron’s oil refinery in Richmond, CA is

expanding, not only to refine more oil, but dirtier and thicker crude oil.

Tell the Richmond City Council that you are concerned about the environmental

impacts of this project, that this expansion will cause more flaring, fires, and pollution.

Print CBE’s SAMPLE LETTER or download the letter and add your own text at:

www.cbecal.org/action/letter.html For more information or to volunteer,

contact: Jessica Tovar, at jessica@cbecal.org or 510-302-0430 ext 24.

Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008 Faces Vote in Senate

The Clean Energy Tax Stimulus Act of 2008, introduced in April, includes an eight-year extension of the commercial investment tax credit (ITC). A one-year extension of the residential ITC - along with the removal of the existing $2,000 cap - and the suspension of the utility exemption have also been proposed. If both houses of Congress don’t pass a bill, and the president doesn’t sign it within the next one to two months, “we will start to see as much as $20 billion of anticipated [solar] investment in 2008 delayed or cancelled,” said Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA). “This could result in more than 100,000 U.S. jobs lost at a time when the country is skidding into a recession and energy prices keep getting higher.”

www.seia.org/breakingnews.php

OWN YOUR POWERMarin Solar415 456-2800www.marinsolar.com

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20 SolarTimes SecondQuarter 2008