Governments, Private Sector, Unions and Environmentalists look to Copenhagen.
Filed under: Commentary, Energy, Environment, United Nations
This December, delegations from 192 countries will descend upon Copenhagen, Denmark for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (7-18 Dec.). Regional member blocks such as the African Union and the G77 have already been having internal discussions for months. The Obama administration singled its desire to lead the dialogue, organizing three run-up meetings this summer with the group of nations called the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate. The US is also expected to advance agreement amongst the major industrial countries at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh (Sept.) on what reforms to bring to Denmark this winter.
The weight of the Copenhagen Conference’s importance is punctuated by global technology and energy companies whose heavy hands are invested in the game. In May this year, the private sector held the World Business Summit on Climate Change in Denmark. While there, leaders discussed global climate change legislation and their means to influence the framework that will determine future business. Several industries such as solar, wind, geo-thermal and high performance electric batteries optimistically look forward to more business. Other industry verticals are unprepared.
The Dow Jones Clean Technology Insight, an industry analyst report cites a research study sponsored by International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) that “says that 90% of utilities around the world know they are at risk from climate change but fewer than a third said they have performed any financial review of the possible impacts on their business.
Utilities face a variety of potential problems from climate change, including shortages of water to cool plants, increased generation demand from hotter summers and power outages from more frequent severe weather, according to the report. They also face challenges as society tries to address the need to curb carbon emissions with new technologies like electric vehicles, which will increase electricity demand”. (read full coverage)
Unfortunately, the US Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry announced a new delay on climate change legislation today in Washington, D.C. An industry expert in involved in the discussions said, “Practical climate change legislation cannot hope to proceed in Denmark unless the United States has made adequate concessions to lure China and India into the same. Our trade balance actually hangs in the midst.” Green technology and energy corporations are beginning to see their interests in shaping the debate and have been sharing their priorities on Capital Hill this summer.
At the same time, the Blue Green Alliance a collaboration of six unions and two environmental groups including the Sierra Club, the United Steelworkers, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Service Employees International Union, Communications Workers of America, Utility Workers Union of America, Laborers’ International Union of North America, and the American Federation of Teachers is uniting more than six million of their members in pursuit of a platform aimed at good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy.
It will be interesting to see whether the President has something to show for his efforts in Pittsburgh.
Iraqi Refugees
Displacement in Iraq, Where Are We Now?
By: Gonzalo Pena
The Al-Askari mosque in Samarra, Iraq was re-opened not too long ago, its reconstruction still underway. Its golden tiles shine in the desert again, while massive and obtrusive scaffolding surrounds the dome, along with the rest of the mosque. The mosque’s image reflects a dual message of hope and weariness for those whose lives have been transformed by the conflict in Iraq. On February 22, 2006, the mosque suffered its first bombing, unleashing a wave of sectarian conflict in a country already embedded in a bloody war, one that would leave a trail of death and massive displacement that would turn Iraq into the biggest humanitarian crisis in the world.
The Conditions for Return
Today the country is still trying to recuperate from the devastating years of 2006 and 2007 but signs of improvement are beginning to show. In a recent report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 81,000 internally displaced Iraqi have returned as of May of 2009. This news however, is far from true progress, as these returns have not always been sustainable…Continue Reading.
Finally, a serious international evening newscast
This is not breaking news, but its worth a reminder. It is encouraging to see progress on cable news. Beginning Sept 27th, Christiane Amanpour will begin to host one of the few serious international newscasts. With..”her 25 years at CNN, Christiane Amanpour has hopscotched the world, the very model of a foreign correspondent, turning up at seemingly every war, genocide, famine and natural disaster, slipping through previously closed borders and interviewing even the most recalcitrant of foreign leaders.
Chistianne Amanpour
But there is one thing she has never done: anchored her own daily news show.
That will change {in September}, when she starts a nightly program on CNN International, which is retooling its lineup. An edited version of Ms. Amanpour’s show is expected to be shown on the weekends on CNN’s United States channel. Ms. Amanpour said she would continue to travel with the program, “because I’m a field person at heart, in my bones and in my DNA.” (Read Further: NY Times)
CNN deserves credit for going the route of quality and Amanpour deserves ratings for the years of courageous field reporting.
China accuses Anglo-Australian giant of spying and the market responds..
China has held 4 Rio Tinto employees for weeks.
For several weeks, iron ore and steel markets around the globe have been closely monitoring a situation in China, involving senior executives from Rio Tinto the British-Australian mining conglomerate. Stern Hu, an Australian businessman of Chinese origin, was detained on July 5th, 2009 with three other Chinese colleagues of Rio Tinto by the Chinese government for suspected bribery and espionage. For weeks speculation around the case has hinged on slow diplomatic inquiries, but Chinese authorities refused to level official charges.
Analysts and journalists have guessed about the true motivation behind the arrests, but the possibilities are endless considering the strategic importance of iron ore to China’s economic development and the billion USD of business in China for Rio Tinto. On Sunday, China said that it had evidence showing that for at least six years, employees working for the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto had engaged in commercial espionage, costing the country about $100 billion. The New York Times reported that this sensational allegation was published on (http://www.baomi.org) a Web site affiliated with China’s State Secrets Bureau. (source: David Barboza, NY Times, 8.9.09)
Sam Walsh, chief executive said, “Rio Tinto believes that the allegations in recent media reports that employees were involved in bribery of officials at Chinese steel mills are wholly without foundation. We remain fully supportive of our detained employees, and believe that they acted at all times with integrity and in accordance with Rio Tinto’s strict and publicly stated code of ethical behaviour.” (source: Rio Tino, Press Release, 7.17.09)
When markets open in New York Monday, I predict Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP) will fall 2-5% more in early trading after ending last week at $163.71.
UPDATE: Concerns about the Anglo-Australian miner’s deteriorating relationship with China, one of its largest customers, took the stock down 5.25% in morning trading.
Washington Dispatch – Advisors counsel Obama on science and technology
Filed under: Commentary, Domestic Politics, Energy, Environment, Technology
Washington, D.C. – Today I had the opportunity to break out of New York and attend the first meeting of President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) who met to present the administration with bold proposals to answer America’s challenges. With a membership that boasts the CEO of Google, the President of Yale University, the Chief Research and Strategy Officer of Microsoft, and the President of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the collective force of their advice to the President is impressive. (see full membership list)
PCAST is an advisory group of the nation’s leading scientists, engineers and innovators which directly advises the President and makes policy recommendations in the many areas where an understanding of science, technology, and innovation are key to strengthening the public policy of the United States. At the outset of the meeting, it was clear that the 100% attendance in the room not only impressed the meeting’s chair Dr. John Holdren, Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, but also the decorated researchers, CEOs and President’s who compose the council.
While the morning session focused largely on healthcare, (Google’s ceo Eric Schmidt delivered the entertaining moment of the morning, find out what it was on www.btquarterly.com) the afternoon meetings on the environment and climate change were significant for their honestly and the U.S.’s reborn engagement in the global climate change debate.
Robert Sussman, Senior Policy Counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency told PCAST that “we are at a moment of significant transition…we have a government commitment to address climate change that we have never had before,” citing support from the President and Congress. He raised the prospects of carbon capture and storage technologies, since 50% of US electricity comes from coal and these emissions are a major contributor worldwide to greenhouses gases. This technology would aim to capture the carbon dioxide before it is released into the environment, then compact it into liquid form and store it beneath the earth. Many questions whether this is a “pipe-dream or real” he said, but he stated that he believes it is our only option to continue utilizing our number one source of electric energy in this country.
Secretary of Energy Steven Chu joined the meeting at 5:15 pm straight from the airport, after visiting with the editorial board of the Boston Globe and Havard’s Kennedy School. Predictably, the audience in the room swelled to over-capacity for his presentation. The Secretary’s message to the Council invited them to offer new ways to evaluate and fund research ideas for energy and technology advancements. He began by deriding the negative emphasis that Wall Street analysts have on which companies succeed and which ones flounder. Research and development endeavors take time he said, and funding mechanisms that are more visionary and encourage risk taking must be incorporated in science and technology developments.
Overall, a central theme of the day kept appearing in varied subtle forms and it certainly was not lost on the journalists in the room. The United State is eight years behind where it should be, eight years of public policy must be rewritten and we all must start working on these major challenges without a moment to spare.
