Free Republic

America's loss is China's gain. In the aftermath of the Keystone XL fiasco, which will see not only a number of jobs "uncreated" but a natural source of crude lost, Canada is already planning next steps. Which will benefit Shanghai directly and immediately. As Bloomberg reports, "Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in a telephone call yesterday, told Obama “Canada will continue to work to diversify its energy exports,” according to details provided by Harper’s office. Canadian Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver said relying less on the U.S. would help strengthen the country’s “financial security.” The “decision by the Obama administration underlines...

The state Department of Environmental Conservation is on course to kill any hope of a New York natural-gas boom with the death of 1,000 stalls. The DEC is taking too long, and paying too much heed to disingenuous critics, in issuing rules to allow the key process of “fracking” — a k a hydraulic fracturing, which involves forcing water and chemicals at high pressure into shale-rock formations to release natural gas. Last week, the DEC announced it’s extending for another 30 days the public-comment period on its proposed fracking rules. This, after already stretching the period from 60 days to...

Earth Hour labelled a waste of time Updated Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:05pm AEDT The chairman of Western Australia's largest sustainability program says Earth Hour is tokenistic and a waste of time. Since 2007, the Earth Hour campaign has been encouraging people to turn off their lights simultaneously for one hour to show their support for making a stand against climate change. Last year, more than 200 million people in 128 countries participated in the event. John Carlson, from the not-for-profit initiative Days of Change, says the event gives people a false sense of achievement. "In one hour you can't...

Zamboni make the ice resurfacing carts that are a familiar sight at any hockey game, and also at any number of Winter Olympics – Turin, Salt Lake, Nagano and way back into the past. But the company has been frosted out at Vancouver. Instead, the ice resurfacing is being done by what are called “electric Zambonis”. Zamboni is a bit like Hoover and Aspirin - it’s become a generic term – and it turns out the “electric Zambonis” are not Zambonis at all, but manufactured by a company called Olympia that landed the contract because the Vancouver organizers were determined...

British Minister Calls for 50% Reduction in UK Population Jonathon Porritt, one of the leading environmental advisers to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, will claim this week that if the country wants to build a sustainable society, it will need to halve its population from 60 million to 30 million. "Each person in Britain has far more impact on the environment than those in developing countries so cutting our population is one way to reduce that impact." Population growth is one of the most politically sensitive environmental problems. The issues it raises, including religion, culture and immigration policy, have proved...

                                                               Brave, brave Sir Albert...   Read my screenpaly Global Village Idiot here for free! Yeah, another post about Al Gore. What can I say? He's a big target. I chose the world "poltroon" over "coward" in the title because it gives this blog that pipe-sucking, chin-pulling W.F. Buckley vibe that the chics dig. And also because it started with the letter P. But when it comes to describing Al Gore, please feel free to substitute the word "coward" for "poltroon" in casual conversation. Do it generously and with absolute moral authority. Also "cowardice", "cowardly" and "cowardliness" are acceptable, depending on sentence construction. Because Al...

BOCA RATON — With the deadline for a decision on where to locate The Scripps Research Institute less than two weeks away, support for Boca Raton's proposal is gaining momentum among various homeowner associations. "People think it is the right address for Scripps," said Rick Coffin, president of the Woodfield Country Club Homeowner Association, which represents 1,300 homes in Boca Raton. "It's a nice fit." Many residents support bringing Scripps here because it would lure a "highly creative" and "intellectual population" — some of which was lost when IBM fled its sprawling Yamato Road campus in 1996 — as well...