Friday’s Environment

Articles — By forcechange on October 24, 2008 11:07 am

· What gas is 17,000 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO2, is being released at a larger rate each year, and is released during the manufacturing of electronic parts, including photovoltaic solar cells!?  Nitrogen trifluoride.

· Due to market and credit conditions, Canadian oil-sands producers, Suncor and Petro-Canada, are delaying oil-production projects and scaling back capital expenditure, including plans to install “upgraders” that can turn tar sands into crude oil.  Consequently, this “could mean sharply higher oil prices in a few years’ time.”

· Citing a “a dramatic collapse” in oil prices, “OPEC decided Friday to reduce output by a deeper-than-expected 1.5 million barrels a day, and suggested more production cuts are coming as demand slumps amid the credit crisis and a broad economic slowdown.”

· The LA Convention Center upgraded its facilities and received a LEED Certification for Existing Building. 

· And the Boston Globe wonders, if elected, will Obama be susceptible to the same political winds that caused McCain to reverse his pro-green policies? “An Obama administration is not likely to reenact the secretive Cheney energy meetings and delete science reports. But normal lobbying could be quite enough to keep a new White House from demonstrating leadership for the planet.”