Free Republic

An energy company worker has been killed by a black bear at a base in the tar sands region of the Canadian province of Alberta, the firm has said. The 36-year-old woman was declared dead at the scene on Wednesday. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police later shot and killed the male bear, which had remained in the area. Bears are emerging from hibernation near the Suncor Energy Inc oil sands mining operation, 25km (15.5m) north of Fort McMurray.

The global-warming debate is shifting from science to economics. For years, the fight over the Earth's rising temperature has been mostly over what's causing it: fossil-fuel emissions or natural factors beyond man's control. Now, some of the country's biggest industrial companies are acknowledging that fossil fuels are a major culprit whose emissions should be cut significantly over time. A growing number of these companies are pushing for a mandatory emissions limit, or "cap." Some see a lucrative new market in clean-energy technologies. Many figure a regulation is politically inevitable and they want to be in the room when it's negotiated,...