EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission and some EU member states hope to redefine palm oil plantations as "forests," according to a leaked document from the EU executive. Rules governing the use of biofuels were supposed to be designed to sort out the sustainable versions of the technology from their dirtier cousins following a massive backlash against it in 2008. At the time, an avalanche of reports revealed that many forms of the fuel source both increase greenhouse gas emissions and put pressure on food prices. The production of palm oil was one of the most egregious examples of the problem. In the wake of the biofuels boom, there has been a rush to chop down rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations. The UN says that the growth in such plantations is now the main cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia.
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The European Commission and some EU member states hope to redefine palm oil plantations as "forests," according to a leaked document from the EU executive.
Rules governing the use of biofuels were supposed to be designed to sort out the sustainable versions of the technology from their dirtier cousins following a massive backlash against it in 2008. At the time, an avalanche of reports revealed that many forms of the fuel source both increase greenhouse gas emissions and put pressure on food prices.
The production of palm oil was one of the most egregious examples of the problem.
In the wake of the biofuels boom, there has been a rush to chop down rainforests to make way for palm oil plantations. The UN says that the growth in such plantations is now the main cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia.
AFP - Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Thursday requested explanations from a previous government on Russia's release of toxic waste into Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea, his spokeswoman told AFP. Swedish public television SVT reported Wednesday that between 1991 and 1994 Russia dumped chemical weapons and radioactive waste off the shores of Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. The network also said the Social Democrat government that came into power in 1994 was informed of the dumping by military intelligence in the late 1990s, but failed to act on the information. The current centre-right government "didn't know" about the issue, Reinfeldt's spokeswoman Roberta Alenius told AFP.
AFP - Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on Thursday requested explanations from a previous government on Russia's release of toxic waste into Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea, his spokeswoman told AFP.
Swedish public television SVT reported Wednesday that between 1991 and 1994 Russia dumped chemical weapons and radioactive waste off the shores of Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea.
The network also said the Social Democrat government that came into power in 1994 was informed of the dumping by military intelligence in the late 1990s, but failed to act on the information.
The current centre-right government "didn't know" about the issue, Reinfeldt's spokeswoman Roberta Alenius told AFP.
It soon becomes clear that the giant salamander has hit Claude Gascon's enthusiasm button smack on the nose."This is a dinosaur, this is amazing," he enthuses. "We're talking about salamanders that usually fit in the palm of your hand. This one will chop your hand off." As a leader of Conservation International's (CI) scientific programmes, and co-chair of the Amphibian Specialist Group with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dr Gascon has seen a fair few frogs and salamanders in his life; but little, he says, to compare with this.
It soon becomes clear that the giant salamander has hit Claude Gascon's enthusiasm button smack on the nose.
"This is a dinosaur, this is amazing," he enthuses.
"We're talking about salamanders that usually fit in the palm of your hand. This one will chop your hand off."
As a leader of Conservation International's (CI) scientific programmes, and co-chair of the Amphibian Specialist Group with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Dr Gascon has seen a fair few frogs and salamanders in his life; but little, he says, to compare with this.
Last night's 10 O'clock News saw another classic illustration of BBC bias. Reporting on the looming energy crisis Britain faces, the BBC kept referring to the "failure of the markets" to provide energy. The idea that we are not producing enough energy because of "the markets" is absurd. The energy sector is one of the most heavily regulated parts of our economy. Energy producers need the permission of officials at almost every turn. Suppliers are unable to supply enough energy precisely because of the rules that force them to shut down power plant, purchase renewables, and jump through all manner of regulatory hurdles.
Last night's 10 O'clock News saw another classic illustration of BBC bias.
Reporting on the looming energy crisis Britain faces, the BBC kept referring to the "failure of the markets" to provide energy. The idea that we are not producing enough energy because of "the markets" is absurd.
The energy sector is one of the most heavily regulated parts of our economy. Energy producers need the permission of officials at almost every turn. Suppliers are unable to supply enough energy precisely because of the rules that force them to shut down power plant, purchase renewables, and jump through all manner of regulatory hurdles.
Hasn't he ever heard of load balancing? En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
He seems to have come up with opposite ideas to John Gummer who has an equally low lying constituency. Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
