By Fran LowryMarch 1, 2011 The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and subsequent spill, which gushed uncontrollably into the Gulf of Mexico for 3 months in 2010, has left those who live along the environmentally fragile Gulf Coast with increased rates of depression and anxiety and feelings of anger, hopelessness, and despair. The […]
By Faye SunderlandFebruary 25, 2011 Australia has abolished plans to help develop greener cars and encourage consumer uptake of lower emission vehicles. Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced that the country’s $1.3 billion Green Car Innovation Fund will be dropped along with the Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme as part of spending cuts to help finance […]
Source: Congressional Budget Office [pdf] A huge share of the nation’s economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244. Note: The 2007 data (the most current) […]
By BOB HERBERTFebruary 21, 2011 A 46-year-old teacher in Charlotte, Vt., who has been unable to find a full-time job and is weighed down with debt, wrote to his U.S. senator, Bernie Sanders: “I am financially ruined. I find myself depressed and demoralized and my confidence is shattered. Worst of all, as I hear more […]
By Mike Foster21 Feb 2011 Institutional investors need to shift 40% of their portfolios into climate-sensitive sectors, including infrastructure and agriculture, to safeguard returns against the impact of global warming, according to consultant Mercer. Mercer is the biggest investment consultant in the world. Its approach, backed in a report by global institutions managing $2 trillion, […]
[Austerity measures begin in the US. As usual, these cuts are aimed at the citizens who are least capable of defending themselves. Meanwhile, America’s ruinously expensive land wars in Asia drag on.] By Charles Riley, staff reporterFebruary 12, 2011: 8:10 AM ET NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — President Obama’s 2012 budget will propose cutting $2.5 billion […]
By Ben BerkowitzWed Feb 9, 2011 9:53am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) – In Chester County, South Carolina, off a dirt road in the middle of a field, insurance companies are literally unleashing a storm. To simulate hurricane-like conditions, an industry group has built a wind tunnel big enough to accommodate nine large residential homes. Some […]
By JEFF RUBIN, Globe and Mail BlogPosted on Wednesday, February 9, 2011 6:21AM EST It’s more than coincidence the Arab world is convulsing with social unrest just as the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization’s widely watched price index recently soared past the previous food price peak set in the summer of 2008. After all, […]
Caption by M. Justin Wilkinson, NASA-JSCFebruary 7, 2011 [cf. Image of the Day: Artificial Archipelagos, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Photo gallery: Satellite images of the ghost cities of China] At the southern end of Bahrain Island, at the furthest point from the cities of the kingdom, a new complex of 14 artificial islands has risen out […]
[Update: This claim has been widely disputed, most recently by Dr. Al Husseini himself: Saudi Oil Reserves and the WikiLeaks Chinese Whispers Effect; The Guardian, Wikileaks cables and oil production in Saudi Arabia; Saudi Oil Production and Reserves – Reasons Behind Wikileaks Concerns; and finally, Press Release by Dr. Sadad Al Husseini.] By John Vidal, […]
