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US Senate Group Unveiling Oil-Saving Plan
H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press via ENN
WASHINGTON — Efforts to stem America’s appetite for oil, nearly two-thirds of it imported, is getting new attention in Congress with a push from an unusual coalition of environmentalists, evangelical Christians and conservatives.
The diverse groups are putting pressure on lawmakers to find ways to curtail oil use, especially in transportation, and to promote alternative fuels and new technologies less depended on fossil fuels.
Environmentalists view reduced oil use as a way to curtail pollution and lower the risk of climate change. A number of conservatives and others argue the dependence on oil imports poses a security threat.
Both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans in Congress are listening.
(16 November 2005)
Sharp run-up in plastic raising tab for groceries
Bruce Mohl, Boston Globe
A sharp run-up in plastic costs is starting to have an impact on supermarket shelves, pushing up the price of products packaged in plastic and forcing some beverage companies to consider shifting to cardboard.
Citing the aftereffects of the Gulf Coast hurricanes, many milk producers have started passing along surcharges for raw materials and fuel costs. One food industry official, who asked not to be identified, said most milk producers added a surcharge of 9 cents a gallon last month and tacked on another 5-cent increase this month. The price increases by and large are being passed along to consumers.
(17 November 2005)
Blame for high energy prices not black and white, experts say
Harold Brubaker, Knight Ridder Newspapers via MENA FN
PHILADELPHIA _ Who’s to blame?
As consumers struggle to pay off gasoline credit cards and brace for what could be their highest winter heating bills ever, the easiest target for their frustration is Big Oil.
(17 November 2005)
On the other hand, David Roberts of Gristmill is not letting the oil companies off so easily: Senate debates which empty symbolic gesture to take against oil companies.
Senate Overwhelmingly Backs Resolution to Ease Out of Iraq
Maura Reynolds and Mark Mazzetti, LA Times
In its first direct challenge to President Bush on the war in Iraq, the Senate on Tuesday called on the administration to turn over to Iraqis more control of their country to hasten the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The resolution passed with broad bipartisan support, 79 to 19. Its approval comes as concern over the war’s course is rising even among Republican lawmakers, and as President Bush’s approval ratings have sunk to the lowest of his presidency.
(16 November 2005)
Veterans unemployment rate skyrockets
Agence France-Presse via Military.com
WASHINGTON – The return to civilian life for U.S. Soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan is full of pitfalls, with an unemployment rate three times the national average.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that for the first three quarters of 2005, nearly 15 percent of veterans aged 20-24 are jobless — three times the national average. According to the website VeteransToday, published by veterans for veterans, the high unemployment rate is “partly because most service members seriously injured in Iraq and Afghanistan are in the early stages of their military careers and possess limited transferable job skills or very little civilian work experience”.
The government is also worried about the number of veterans without a permanent address. “The tragedy of homelessness among veterans persists, even when the economy is robust and unemployment is low,” the California Department of Veterans Affairs said. …
(14 November 2005)
Document contradicts oil chiefs on meets with Cheney task force
Dana Milbank and Justin Blum, Washington Post
A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney’s energy task force in 2001 — something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress.
The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated.
In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force. The president of Shell Oil said his company did not participate “to my knowledge,” and the chief of BP America Inc. said he did not know.
(16 November 2005)
Also posted at Common Dreams.
A field now in high demand: disaster research
Stacy A. Teicher, Christian Science Monitor
After the rumbles of an earthquake, the winds of a hurricane, or the waves of a flood, first responders lay claim to the most dramatic jobs. But quick on the heels of relief workers come the disaster researchers – people who leave the ivory tower of academia and head to the scene, hoping their analyses can improve people’s lives the next time calamity strikes.
Alongside the engineers and meteorologists stand a small band of social scientists who train their lenses on the human picture. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, last year’s tsunami, a catastrophic hurricane season, and a devastating earthquake in Pakistan, their specialty is gaining respect – and an influx of scholars whose skills are in high demand.
(16 November 2005)
