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By Enrico Coen
$29.95
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$23
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A flurry of legislative activity over the weekend left a mixed bag of progress and surrender. While the House voted to require clean-energy standards for the first time and cut oil industry tax breaks, enough Democrats caved to the White House to pass the president’s preferred FISA rule changes.
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AP Photo / RTR Channel
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Although Canada and the U.S., among other nations, are disputing Russia’s claim to vast territory in the Arctic, Russia has planted its flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole. Why does it matter? Well, some 25 percent of the Earth’s oil reserves might be at stake.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Russia is launching an underwater expedition to the North Pole in order to back up its claim to a massive section of the Arctic, which may contain vast energy reserves. “The Arctic is ours and we should demonstrate our presence,” said a Russian parliamentarian and explorer who will participate in the flag-planting expedition.
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Thanks in part to executives’ decision to unload the trouble-prone offshoot KBR in April, multinational corporation (and Dick Cheney’s former employer) Halliburton more than doubled its profits during the three-month period ending June 30, according to the BBC.
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AP Photo / Yonhap
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Score one for diplomacy: North Korea is toeing the line and following the dictates of a deal struck with the U.N. in February to shut down one of its nuclear reactors in exchange for heavy fuel oil, according to the BBC.
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Truthdig/Zuade Kaufman
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Note to public utility companies: Do not cross Gore Vidal. What began as a personal nuisance—the shutdown of his newly installed home solar power system by Los Angeles’ water and power provider—has become emblematic of a bigger issue (or two) for the venerable writer, who states his position in no uncertain terms in this interview.
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AP photo
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You wouldn’t think one of the world’s biggest oil producers would have gasoline shortages, but Iran simply lacks the refining capacity to meet demand. A new rationing system meant to keep costs down has sparked riots. Under the new rules, prices have soared to 38 cents a gallon.
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Michael T. Klare —
What if wars of the future are fought just to run the machines that fight them? That’s just the alarmingly ironic point that Klare, author of “Blood and Oil,” takes on in this essay, sizing up the Pentagon’s huge energy expenditure—which will only increase exponentially if America’s imperialist globe-trotting continues. Note: Originally posted on TomDispatch.
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kucinich.us
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Congressman Dennis Kucinich commandeered the House floor for an hour Wednesday to discuss “in detail the Congressional and White House efforts to privatize the oil of Iraq.” Before he spoke, he announced the speech in a public e-mail. The talk is excerpted here.
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Vice President Dick Cheney made the symbolic move of delivering a warning to Iran while aboard a nearby U.S. aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. Cheney said the U.S. would use military force if necessary to prevent Iran from interfering with oil trade or “gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.”
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The Gulf nations of the Mideast have long been allies of the U.S. and Vice President Dick Cheney has been dispatched to make sure that doesn’t change, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also visiting the region in an attempt to win over disgruntled governments. Mustafa Alani, a regional analyst, sums up how the Gulf is handling all the attention: “We have a deep mistrust of both sides.”
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By Amy Goodman — All 114 on board were killed in the crash of Kenyan Airlines Flight 507, including Anthony Mitchell, a brave journalist who risked his life to shine a light on often ignored Africa. Shortly before his death, Mitchell had revealed America’s use of secret Ethiopian prisons.
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Saudi Arabian authorities say they have captured 172 militants who were planning a series of attacks around the country. The royal family began a more aggressive approach toward extremists, which it calls a “deviant group,” four years ago after attacks targeted the nation’s oil industry.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Evidence of Iran’s influence over the global economy appeared Wednesday as the oil-rich nation agreed to release 15 British captives and petroleum prices consequently fell. If a relatively minor diplomatic dispute can perturb investors, imagine how invading or bombing Iran would affect global markets.
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washingtonpost.com
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Henry Waxman’s House committee put the irons to Philip A. Cooney on Monday. The former oil lobbyist who became chief of staff of the White House Council on Environmental Quality made hundreds of edits to government reports in order to downplay the link between fossil fuels and global warming.
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smartstays.com
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Oil giant Halliburton has decided to move its headquarters to the United Arab Emirates in order to better exploit Mideast opportunities. The controversial company has had much success in the region, with no-bid contracts in Iraq helping it pull in $22.6 billion in global revenues in 2006.
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iraqdevelopmentprogram.org
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The Iraqi Cabinet has approved an oil revenue sharing plan that would divide profits among the provinces based on population, and allow foreign oil companies unprecedented access to Iraq’s reserves. Distributing the wealth of Iraq’s natural resources has been a major political obstacle, as most of the nation’s current oil fields are in Shiite territory.
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The Project on Defense Alternatives has collected more than 120 articles on Iran that offer “critical perspectives on the current crisis, its origins, and implications.” For information about U.S. foreign policy, oil geopolitics, war plans for Iran and much more, check it out.
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pbs.org
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Although California has a reputation for smog-choked freeways and self-indulgent excess, the Golden State consumes less energy per capita than any other state in the union. What’s the secret? A combination of tough regulation and high prices.
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The oil company notched an annual profit of $39.5 billion, the largest ever by a U.S. company. You can leave your Ph.D. at home when connecting the dots between this and the Iraq war.
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AP Photo / Denis Poroy
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By Joshua Scheer — Annie Nelson, wife of Willie Nelson and co-chairperson of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, speaks to Truthdig about stomaching the State of the Union and the myth that alternative fuels are years away.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Hugo Chavez has won preliminary approval to rule by decree for 18 months. The Venezuelan president has said he intends to enact sweeping reforms, including the elimination of term limits for the president and the nationalization of some key industries.
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AP / Bassem Daham
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By Stan Goff — A retired U.S. Special Forces soldier takes an oil-filtered look at Bush’s “surge” plan for Iraq.
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autointell.de
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The higher cost of hybrid cars is worth it in the long run, according to a comprehensive new study. When considering not just fuel economy but insurance, maintenance, depreciation and other factors, a Toyota Prius owner can expect to save $13,408 over five years, compared with a non-hybrid in the same class.
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The Iraqi parliament is expected to vote on a U.S.-crafted law that would open the nation’s oil industry to exploitive foreign control. If the bill passes, it would give foreign investors up to 75 percent of Iraq’s oil profits until costs are recouped, and then twice the industry standard after that. This law is a naked admission that the U.S. invaded Iraq, at least in part, for its oil.
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AP Photo / Khalid Mohammed
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By Robert Scheer — Many critics of the war suggest that the U.S. remains in Iraq because it wants that nation’s petroleum. But oil is not the primary reason. Instead, look to the military-industrial complex, a threat that President Eisenhower warned of in the 1960s.
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Rolling Stone
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The Pentagon’s favored weaponeer, above, has a proposal to stop global warming—without burning less oil, and for a tiny fraction of the cost of mainstream proposals. And it’s so crazy it just might work. It also might destroy the planet in the process. Interested? Read on ...
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While oil companies have been raking in record profits, Detroit has struggled to pitch gas guzzlers to consumers, causing a rift in the once amicable relationship.
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The secretary of defense added another item to the revolving and evolving list of reasons we invaded Iraq: If we hadn’t, Saddam “would be rolling in petrol dollars. Think of the oil price today. He would have so much money.”
Excuse us, we’ll be back in a moment. We need to de-lice after just reading something like that.
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CEOs of the largest 15 oil companies averaged $32.7 million in compensation in 2005. This sum is more than twice the amount paid out to CEOs at other “large U.S. firms.” More on the study released by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy here. Oink, oink! (via huffpo)
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No need for creative accounting at these outfits: It’s good to be an oil company these days.
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According to Reuters: “Mediterranean-style diets, rich in healthy fats from olive oil or nuts, may be better for the heart than low-fat regimens, a new study shows.”
Posted on Jul 5, 2006
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That’s according to Saudi Ambassador Prince Turki al Faisal.
Not that that should be the reason that dissuades America from invading Iran, but it’s at least worth noting.
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A well-connected Texas oil executive reaches out to Karl Rove and presto!—thus disappears a new rule designed to keep groundwater clear near drilling sites.
Posted on Jun 13, 2006
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From CNN
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“Today the American people are way out in front of our leaders,” says the actor and noted environmental activist. “I believe America is ready to kick the oil habit and launch a new movement for real solutions and a better future.”
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The longtime TV broadcaster, writing in the New York Times, snarkily suggests that oil companies that have the greatest interest in safeguarding a particular region should pick up the tab for hiring soldiers to defend it.
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In this time of record profits for oil companies, the House approved a measure to withdraw a $7-billion subsidy over the next five years. Unbelievably, 165 Republicans wanted to let the oil companies keep the public’s money.
Posted on May 19, 2006
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From enterstageright.com
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Next time you’re stuck in gridlock, keep in mind that many American cities had fantastic public rail systems until Big Auto bought up all the tracks and scrapped them to make way for cars. The Observer reminds us that “it did not have to be like this.”
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Check out this sobering video, which spells out the moral imperative we face to wean ourselves from dependence on oil. Robert Redford will be talking about this new campaign on Larry King tonight (May 17.)
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From the N.Y. Times
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Bush’s 31% rating (which echoes a USA Today/Gallup poll) equals the low-water mark of his father’s presidency, and is the third-lowest approval rating of any president in the last 50 years.
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Luckovich
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Even the House majority leader, a Republican, has rejected the Republican Senate leadership’s idea to send taxpayers a $100 check to cover rising gas prices.
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The U.S. has apparently just told Iraq that it should no longer expect American dollars to aid in the country’s reconstruction—rather, Iraq must rely on its own revenues.
Did anyone know this was coming?
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Real American Boy: How Our Byzantine Immigration System and Failed Economy May Have Made a Terrorist
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