THE END OF THE DINOSAUR CIVILIZATION (FOSSIL FUELS, NUCLEAR) AND THE EMERGING CONFLATION OF GLOBAL WARMING, GLOBAL CIVIL WAR, WORLD ECONOMIC DEPRESSION AND THE EXTINCTION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES…
(Thisdocument is sent to all global politicians, energy stakeholders, investment and banking houses etc., please post, link and circulate widely)
According to an old story, a lord of ancient China once asked his physician, a member of a family of healers, which of them was the most skilled in the art. The physician, whose reputation was such that his name became synonymous with medical science in China, replied, “My eldest sister sees the spirit of sickness and removes it before it takes shape, so her name does not get out of the house. My elder brother cures sickness when it is still extremely minute, so his name does not get out of the neighborhood. As for me, I puncture veins, prescribe medicines, and massage skin, so from time to time my name gets out and is heard among the lords.”
(Dr. Thomas Cleary’s introduction to Sun Tzu’s Art of War translation – note: Sun Tzu was writing at a time when Chinese civilization was embroiled in civil wars.)
War, Global Warming, financial calamity, starvation and suffering has become pornographic fodder world-wide. “The best and brightest” participate and profit by it regardless of their being on the right, left or the middle.
Chaos and Disorder are imbued and dispersed in our Knowledge-, Economic-, Climate-, even Wisdom networks of knowing. Politicians run amuck and Corporations have their blinders on to everything except what legally they are obligated to do – that is to make profit above all else. (see The Corporation documentary - What is a corporation? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pin8fbdGV9Y )
Too late is it now for long-term planning in the phase-out of King Coal and other Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power and Weapons.
All Tribes, Nations, Communities and Peoples must call and ACT for the Full Abolition of King Coal, Fossil Fuels, Nuclear Power and Weapons immediately.
Abolition of King Coal, Fossil Fuels and Nuclear power and Weapons Everywhere!
Call for the Abolition in your community now-
Stop the Global Warming Machines!
Stop the Coming Genocides - Food/Water/Energy Chaos!
Divest from King coal
Weekly Vigil - presently July 13, 2008
Sunday Noon-1pm
Ottawa, Ontario - Canada
U.S. Embassy
490 Sussex Dr.
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
psea4earth@gmail.com
Please see the following links or google “abolition king coal”
http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/28427 (previous document)
http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com
http://burningdinosaur.wordpress.com/
President George W Bush backs Israeli plan for strike on Iran
The Sunday Times July 13, 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article4322508.ece
President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official.
Despite the opposition of his own generals and widespread scepticism that America is ready to risk the military, political and economic consequences of an airborne strike on Iran, the president has given an “amber light” to an Israeli plan to attack Iran’s main nuclear sites with long-range bombing sorties, the official told The Sunday Times.
Iran ‘to target Israel, US bases’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7399403.stm
Iran will target “the heart of Israel” and 32 US bases in the Gulf if they launch an attack on Iran, an Iranian official has warned.
Ayatollah Kashani Warns that Iran Must Be Accorded Proper Respect
Iranian Republic News, Islamic Republic of Iran
http://worldmeets.us/irna000021.shtml
“Iran is ready for talks. So don’t raise such a hue and cry against Iran. Oh! the world’s liars! Oh Israel the liar! Oh White House the liar! If you do attack Iran, we’ll give you a response that will make you regret it.”
“Iran and Europe are ready for talks. Overall, Iran accepts the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program is completely clear.”
(Here we have the crux of the globally critical situation: “Dual-use technology” in this case, nuclear can be for civilian and/or military purposes. Iran is technically correct in the global confines of Energy security and Nuclear power. Yet, Israel is the Realist – in that the spin on nuclear power will not wash with its own National Security endangered.
And should President Bush or the Israelis pull the trigger,it’s de facto effect would also be to create the presumptive next president-a war President John McCain-the candidate who also represents without waiver King coal, fossil fuels, Nuclear power and weapons.
Six Arab states join rush to go nuclear
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia seek atom technology
The London Times, November 4, 2006, By Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article624855.ece
Total, Eni may offer nuclear for oil, gas - FT
Reuters UK - July 9, 2008
http://uk.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUKL0914561020080709
MILAN, July 9 (Reuters) - European energy firms Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Eni (ENI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) plan to offer help to build nuclear power stations in the Middle East to have a stronger negotiating position for oil and gas projects, the Financial Times reported in its European edition and on its Web site.
Middle Eastern States Seeking Nuclear Power
May 2008
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_05/MiddleEastEnergy.asp
Peter Crail and Jessica Lasky-Fink
In recent years, more than a dozen states in the Middle East have expressed an interest in developing nuclear energy. These states have offered a number of official rationales for their interest, including powering water desalination plants, diversifying their energy industry in the face of increasing energy demands, and furthering economic and scientific development. The timing of this renewed interest, which coincides with suspicions regarding Iran’s nuclear aspirations, suggests that security interests also provide a motivating factor for at least some states in the region.
Israel’s Nuclear Program and Middle East Peace
Council on Foreign Relations, Lionel Beehner
February 10, 2006
http://www.cfr.org/publication/9822/israels_nuclear_program_and_middle_east_peace.html
FutureGen Alliance dies on Sunday
The Southern June 13, 2008 - By Caleb Hale
The U.S. Department of Energy informed the group, set up to bring the billion-dollar clean coal power plant into reality, that is contract with the government ends Sunday
http://www.southernillinoisan.com/articles/2008/06/13/local/24788692.txt
http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/
BATTELLE MEMORIAL INSTITUTE, was the global co-ordinator for the FutureGen Alliance consisting of the largest coal and energy companies in the world including Rio Tinto, Peabody, BHP Billiton, Luminant, and China Huaneng Group…
Battelle Memorial Institute is also the global coordinator of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP.) It was also a critical part of the Manhattan Project to build the nuclear bomb specializing in uranium enrichment.
Battelle specializes in Biological, Chemical and Nuclear warfare. It is the go to “guy” for Big Oil etc., Exxon Mobil went to Battelle for an Environmental Assessment of the “Exxon Valdez’ oil spill., they are the go “guy” for Water safety etc.
http://www.indymedia.org/el/2006/03/834692.shtml
http://www.indymedia.org/el/2006/03/835385.shtml
http://www.indymedia.org/pt/2006/02/834073.shtml
On October 31, 2007, dozens of energy and nuclear experts wrote the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/global_security/Community-letter-GNEP-Congress_Final.pdf
“We write to oppose the Department of Energy (DOE), Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) plan for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel because it undermines U.S. nonproliferation policy, would cost taxpayers $100 billion dollars or more … We urge you to eliminate funding for the program… Proposed enrichment or reprocessing programs in other countries create similar dangers. Clearly GNEP is fostering the spread of reprocessing technology and dangerous nuclear weapons-usable materials, undermining U.S. nonproliferation goals.
Bush’s Nuclear Reprocessing Plan Under Fire
Miles A. Pomper July/August 2008
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_07-08/BushNuclear.asp
The Bush administration’s Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) program, already under siege, has been further imperiled after recent action by several congressional panels and an April report from the congressional watchdog agency.
A nuclear-free world
By Ivo Daalder and John Holum October 5, 2007 Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/10/05/a_nuclear_free_world/
Senator Barack Obama pledged that as president he would say: “America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.” Former senator John Edwards has also pledged to lead an international effort to eliminate nuclear weapons, as has New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
And it isn’t just presidential candidates who are talking about a nuclear-free world. So are former statesmen like Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, Bill Perry, and Sam Nunn. Writing in The Wall Street Journal last January, they urged that the United States set the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, and proposed specific actions to that end.
British elders join ‘no more nukes’ call
-
Julia May, London
-
http://www.theage.com.au/world/british-elders-join-no-more-nukes-call-20080630-2zjv.html
- July 1, 2008
TWO decades after the Cold War ended, some of the most influential elder statesmen are calling for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Four political and defence heavyweights from Britain yesterday threw their support behind an initiative by a group of their US counterparts. The three former foreign secretaries, including Sir Malcolm Rifkind, and a former NATO secretary-general, Lord George Robertson, said that a combination of nuclear proliferation and extremism had brought the world to the brink of a “new and dangerous phase”.
They demanded a dramatic reduction of nuclear stockpiles and urged British and European governments to back the anti-nuclear campaign being led by former US secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former defence secretary William Perry and former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sam Nunn.
In a Nutshell: McCain vs. Obama on National Security
http://www.armscontrolcenter.org/policy/iraq/articles/070108_mccain_obama_national_security/
The G8 fiddles while petro-civilization burns
ALANNA MITCHELL July 12, 2008
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080712.BKAPOC12/TPStory/Entertainment
Today, world oil consumption is about 84 million barrels a day. Oil analysts expect demand to reach 104 million barrels a day by 2020 and then climb considerably higher. Oil production, however, is expected to stall at below 100 million barrels a day by 2012. Ergo, not enough to go around. What will happen, then, when demand outstrips supply, the reserves are even tougher to get at, and worth yet more than the $140 a barrel they fetch today? Fortunes, nations, coalitions, empires and regimes are at stake. ..
Big Oil Returns to Iraq
By Patrick Cockburn, The Independent UK. Posted June 21, 2008.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/88933/
The return of the four major Western oil companies will be greeted with dismay by many Iraqis who fear losing control of their vast oil reserves.
Nearly four decades after the four biggest Western oil companies were expelled from Iraq by Saddam Hussein, they are negotiating their return. By the end of the month, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Exxon Mobil and Total will sign agreements with the Baghdad government, Iraq’s first with big Western oil firms since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 ..
Posted AT 2:30 AM EDT on 19/06/08 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20080619.wafghanpipeline19%2FBNStory%2FAfghanistan%2Fhome&ord=24088956&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true
Pipeline opens new front in Afghan war
SHAWN MCCARTHY From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
OTTAWA — Afghanistan and three of its neighbouring countries have agreed to build a $7.6-billion (U.S.) pipeline that would deliver natural gas from Turkmenistan to energy-starved Pakistan and India – a project running right through the volatile Kandahar province – raising questions about what role Canadian Forces may play in defending the project.
G-8 Gamble: Pols Hope for Salvation in ‘Clean Coal’
Posted by Keith Johnson Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2008
Plenty of environmentalists—and not a few politicians—are disappointed with the G-8’s long-awaited plan to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and fight climate change. But one group should be thrilled: anybody with a stake in the future of “clean coal.”
Susan Estrich: Harry Reid Is Correct on Coal Issue
Wednesday, July 02, 2008, By Susan Estrich http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,375564,00.html
LOS ANGELES — Harry Reid is right.
Coal does make us sick.
It’s not even debatable. It’s just the truth. The fact that Republicans think they can use this fact against Democrats tells me just how out of touch they are with the new realities of American politics. The only question is whether the McCain campaign will turn out to be equally misguided.
Green protesters hijack train carrying 1,000 tonnes of coal
By Dave Higgens, Saturday, 14 June 2008
Riot police last night boarded a coal train which had been stopped by climate protesters as it headed for one of Europe’s biggest power stations. Dozens of officers surrounded the locomotive which was halted a few miles south of Drax power station, North Yorkshire. ..
Protesters oppose Somerset coal gasification plant
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2008/07/protesters_oppose_somerset_coa.html
Posted by David Beard, Boston.com Staff, July 11, 2008 08:33 AM
By Beth Daley, Globe Staff
The state may be a leader in pushing green energy, but coal is undeniably in our future.
And yesterday, dozens of youth activists in the region delivered a pile of coal to the state’s Executive Office of Energy and the Environment to tell officials they don’t want it to be. ..
Russia power firms turn away from coal as cost surges
By Simon Shuster and Jackie Cowhig
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL0749460320080707
MOSCOW, July 7 (Reuters) - Russian power producers expect coal prices to follow the cost of gas sharply upward in the coming years, and are switching away from coal as much as possible, said the head of one of Russia’s largest power firms.
AG seeks to slow coal-fired plant’s approval process
http://www.legalnewsline.com/news/214082-ag-seeks-to-slow-coal-fired-plants-approval-process
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Legal Newsline)—New Mexico Attorney General Gary King has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and supporters of the proposed Desert Rock power plant on Navajo Nation trust land in the Four Corners area of the state http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/
Desert Rock coal-fired plant is owned by Sithe Global who in turn are owned by the world’s, largest private equity corporation, Blackstone.
Brian Mulroney joins Blackstone board Firm takes on new directors as it prepares for blockbuster IPO
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=4cdcaad4-a282-48ec-9a0a-8c99b20b0d23
OTTAWA — Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has been named to the board of directors at Blackstone Group PLC, just as the U.S. private equity firm prepares for a blockbuster IPO.
Blackstone said in a regulatory filing Monday it has also named Lord Jacob Rothschild as a director.
Energy Association worried about coal
Monday, 07/07/2008
http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200807/s2296067.htm
The power industry has warned that Australia needs to look after its coal industry in the face of reduced greenhouse gas emissions targets…
The world’s largest Coal mining and Uranium corp etc., is RIO TINTO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Tinto_Group
History
Both the firm Rio Tinto and its name come from southern Spain, where the Río Tinto (Spanish ‘Red River’) was the site of an ancient mine [1] which supplied the Phoenicians, Ancient Greeks, Carthaginians and the Roman Empire. Its water is red-colored because of highly acidic pollution from acid mine drainage.
In 1873 N M Rothschild & Sons of London and de Rothschild Frères of Paris joined with other investors to acquire the Spanish government’s money-losing Rio Tinto mines. The new owners restructured the company and turned it into a profitable business. From 1877 through 1891, the Rio Tinto mine was the world’s leading producer of copper.[3] By 1905, the Rothschild interest in Rio Tinto amounted to more than 30 percent. Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner served as chairmen for a period before World War One.
During the Spanish civil war (1936-39) Rio Tinto sold pyrites to the fascists on credit which allowed General Franco to trade with Hitler and finance the war against Republican Spain. British investment in Spain was also a major consideration for British non-intervention in Spain.[4]
Barrick Gold: Planned Environmental Catastrophe in the Andean Cordillera Pascua Lama Open-cast mine
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=2483
No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera
Halt the destruction of glaciers providing pure water
No to Pascua Lama Open-cast mine in the Andean Cordillera on the Chilean-Argentine frontier. We ask the Chilean Government not to authorize the Pascua Lama project to protect the whole of 3 glaciers, the purity of the water of the San Felix Valley and El Transito, the quality of the agricultural land of the region of Atacama, the quality of life of the Diaguita people and of the whole population of the region.
Judge for yourself if you want to take action. In the Valle de San Felix, the purest water in Chile runs from 2 rivers, fed by 2 glaciers. Water is a most precious resource, and wars will be fought for it. Indigenous farmers use the water, there is no unemployment, and they provide the second largest source of income for the area. Under the glaciers has been found a huge deposit of gold, silver and other minerals. To get at these, it would be necessary to break, to destroy the glaciers - something never conceived of in the history of the orld - and to make 2 huge holes, each as big as a whole mountain, one for extraction and one for the mine’s rubbish tip. The project is called PASCUA LAMA. The company is called Barrick Gold…
China chases ultra low quality, cheap coal
http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINL1035414620080711
By Jackie Cowhig and Rujun Shen
LONDON/SHANGHAI, July 11 (Reuters) - Coal end-users in China and India have given up waiting for standard quality prices to fall — instead seeking extremely low quality coal which matches their target prices, traders and producers said.
U.N. Warming Program Draws Fire
By Jeffrey Ball
Wall Street journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121573736662544537.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
A United Nations program designed to combat global warming has started doing something no one expected: It is subsidizing fossil-fuel power plants that spew millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere annually.
World coal fired power plant capacity to increase by 60%
July 14, 2008 - According to latest forecasts in “Coal Fired Boilers: World Analysis and Forecast” published by the McIlvaine Company, World coal capacity is expected to reach approximately 2,500 GW by the end of 2020, an increase of nearly 60% from 2008.
Climate campaigners threaten to invade and shut down power plant
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Friday, 11 July 2008
Green activists are vowing to force their way into one of Britain’s biggest power stations next month in what will be the most serious clash yet between the burgeoning climate change protest movement and the authorities…
Vietnam to Produce More Coal in 2010
Posted on: Wednesday, 9 July 2008, 09:00 CDT
http://www.redorbit.com/news/business/1469571/vietnam_to_produce_more_coal_in_2010/
Vietnam to produce more coal in 2010
HANOI, July 8 (Xinhua) — Vietnam will, under a recent national coal development strategy, explore more coal mines, and exploit more coal using advanced and environmentally-friendly technologies in the coming years, according to local newspaper Vietnam Economic Times on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT: COAL-BED EXPLORATION
Northern councils urge Shell to halt methane hunt
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080709.BCSHELL09/TPStory/National
Municipal councils in Smithers and Prince Rupert have passed a resolution calling for an immediate halt to coal-bed methane exploration in the region, throwing their weight behind native and environmental groups that have been lobbying against Shell Canada’s plans to hunt for coal-bed gas there.
“There are a lot of unanswered issues,” Smithers Mayor Jim Davidson said Monday. “And the biggest one is what impact it will have on rivers.”
Coal War: Georgia Court Halts Construction of New Coal-Fired Plant: First-ever thumbs-down by a court based on greenhouse gas as a pollutant
By David Biello Scientific American July 4 2008
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=coal-war
Tribes look to benefit from energy sources - Royalties rising as hope grows for more development
By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press
Sunday, July 13, 2008
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/13/tribes-look-to-benefit-from-energy-sources/
CROW AGENCY, Mont. - They tried casinos on the Crow Indian reservation. The one designed to bring in the biggest crowds, Res-a-Vegas, went bust within a year and is now a fireworks stand.
But now the Crow are convinced a really big jackpot lies below the surface: coal…(coal to liquids)…
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance (a homeless network of transborder activists, students, academics, Aboriginal etc.)
The Great Struggle Continues….
Ontario Regulation 496/07 (Coal Use Cessation) and its Amendment (Coal Emissions Reductions) receives a critical review in a public consultation paper submitted by the Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance to the Ministry of the Environment, Integrated Environmental Planning Division, Air Policy and Climate Change Branch
————————————–
“Carbon dependence has eroded our economic power, destroyed our moral authority, diminished our international influence and prestige, endangered our national security, and damaged our health and landscapes. It is subverting everything we value.”
http://files.tikkun.org/current/article.php?story=20080413090629151
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Manifesto - May 2008
Ivona Vujica, Coordinator
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
Ottawa, Canada psea4earth@gmail.com
This submission is also given to all Ontario MPPs, local politicians and Energy stakeholders
Public Review and Comment May 16 - June 15, 2008
Ontario Regulation 496/07 (Coal Cessation) and its Amendment (Implementation of Coal Emissions Reductions)
Contents:
Summary
Terminology
The possibility of clean coal not eliminated
“Emissions” talk matches the absence of talk on “clean coal.”
OPG: “no plan to shut coal plants”
Wording of the Amendment Unclear
Slashing emissions or capping their increase: which one?
Survival
What future?
Worsening of Global Warming, War and Conflict, Environmental Destruction and Ill Health Effects
Multiple-site fossil fuel burning at home and abroad for our energy in times of Global Warming
Power/Energy Privatization
Ontario blowing up Appalachia mountains for its coal-fired plants
Ontario Regulation 496/07 & its Amendment
“A positive step” - unbelievable! Renewable alternatives not in place!
At any time, especially in times of “emergency” - trumped!
Head on to economic, humanitarian, environmental disasters, with more coal, of course
Fever pitch: More natural gas means more coal
Action pacifier
Some Notes on Renewable Energy in Ontario
Subsidized for the rich, what about the rest of us?
+Summary
With current and projected heavy reliance on least energy secure and most expensive fuels – fossil (natural gas) and radioactive fuels, Ontario risks turning to more coal, not less. There is a lack of clarity in the wording of the Amendment to Ontario Regulation 496/07. This lack of clarity opens up possibilities for the rise of coal use. The Amendment needs to be rewritten. It should state in simple and clear language what the goal is and how it is to be achieved referencing all currently existing coal terminology.
People of Ontario should approach the Regulation and its Amendment with extreme caution. We don’t have time to wait and see what will come of this legally binding third promise by the McGuinty’s Government.
Without cessation and in unison, we must continue demanding a Fully Green Ontario and a complete phase-out (abolition of coal-fired plants) and fossil and radioactive burning for our energy without delay.
It has already been proven that the McGuinty Government could have phased out coal-fired plants by 2007 but in fact just continued exporting energy from coal-fired plants to the U.S. leaving Ontarians with all the ill effects to our health and the environment, our public health system continuing to absorb the hidden costs of coal. Then it was proven that the coal-fired plants could be phased out by 2010, the toxic carousel goes ’round and round with Ontarians and ultimately the earth paying the ultimate price.
+Terminology
The possibility of clean coal not eliminated
Under Environmental Protection Act, Ontario Regulation 496/07 called “Cessation of Coal Use” says that “[t]he owner and the operator” of Ontario coal-fired plants “shall ensure that coal is not used to generate electricity at the generating station after December 31, 2014.
“Cessation of Coal Use” Ontario Regulation 496/07 is about ensuring that “coal” is not used.
In itself, it does not ensure that “clean” coal is not used, therefore keeping the door open to indefinite extension of coal-fired plants through the possibility of using of the term “clean” to describe coal. “Clean” coal refers to carbon capture and sequestration rhetoric, which may be used to justify and prolong coal burning in Ontario. Failing to mention “clean” coal, introduces the possibility for using this terminology at a later time to upgrade the game of coal to the level where existing coal-fired plants not only would not close down but would receive public funding for pursuing “innovative” approach to emissions reductions.
“Emissions” talk matches the absence of talk on “clean coal.”
Ontario Regulation called “Implementation of Coal Emissions Reductions” made under Environmental Protection Act Amending O. Reg. 496/07 is about an “Interim Cap on CO2 Emission,”and says that “[b]eginning on January 1, 2011, the owner and the operator” of all Ontario coal-fired plants “shall ensure that the generating stations do not collectively emit more than 11,5 megatonnes of CO2 from the use of coal in any calendar year.”
In terms of terminology, this Amendment waters down O.Reg 496/07 talking about reducing “emissions” from coal-fired plants rather than eliminating “coal burning”, “phasing out coal-fired plants” or “coal cessation.”
The terms and phrases such as “phasing out of coal-fired plants,” “phasing out of coal burning,” and “coal-fired plants emissions reductions” differ from each other and are incompatible when it comes to achieving the goal of closing down coal-fired plants.
“Phasing out of coal-fired plants” is different from “phasing out of coal burning.” The latter term means that something else will be burnt in the plants which used to serve as coal-burning plants – maybe gas; maybe garbage.
Both “phasing out of coal-fired plants” and “phasing out of coal burning” differ from “coal emissions reductions / cap on CO2 emissions.” Putting cap on coal burning emissions does not necessarily lead to phasing out of coal-fired plants or coal burning. The use of “emissions” terminology in fact may open the door to indefinite extension of coal-fired plants.
There are a few rhetorical devices used by fossil fuel burning proponents for dealing with “emissions” of coal-fired plants. Some of them are “clean coal” or “carbon capture and sequestration,” “coal gasification” and “cap and trade.” All of these claim to be able to reduce emissions from coal-fired plants. However, the opposite is achieved from the goal of closing down coal-fired plants.
At this time, it is not clear how the Ontario Government will go about reducing coal emissions. The sound of this alarm is amplified by the Ontario Power Generation’s assertion that there is “no plan to shut coal plants.”
“Carbon capture and sequestration” has for many decades been in existence and used by the oil industry on very small scale for enhanced recovery of oil. Every reliable source from government to industry to scientists projects as the earliest date for commercial scale carbon capture and sequestration 2020 to 2025. This, of course, is the most optimistic scenario as it does not exist. Its commercialization phase has already failed in Saskatchewan Canada and the Battelle Memorial Institute FutureGen National U.S. project on which President Bush and the U.S. Department of Energy pulled the plug earlier in the year 2008
“Energy Secretary Scraps FutureGen Clean Coal Project”
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2008/2008-01-31-03.asp
The Saskatchewan, Canada – Battelle Memorial Institute etc. giant (clean) coal mega project has been scrapped because of soaring costs. Originally it was $1 billion and is now projected to be $3.8 billion to produce 450 megawatts, but everyone knows the science and technology is on very unstable grounds. The financial risk is too high. The threat to the eco-system is even higher by the continued maintenance of coal mining and coal-fired plants locally and globally. www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070907.RSASKPOWER07/TPStory/Business
http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/28427
OPG: “no plan to shut coal plants”
It is left up to Ontario Power Generation to come up with a plan by November on how to cap emissions beginning next year (Toronto Star May 17, 2008 - Rob Ferguson).
“We don’t have plans to shut coal plants ..” said OPG spokesperson Ted Gruetzner on May 17, 2008 in an interview for the Toronto Star. “None of OPG’s coal plants, such as the giant Nanticoke generating station on the north shore of Lake Erie, or the Lambton plant near Sarnia, will close as emissions are lowered, said Gruetzner.” http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/426847
+Wording of the Amendment unclear
It is necessary to rewrite the Amendment to O.Reg 496/07 and clearly state what the goal is and how it is to be accomplished.
+Survival
What future?
The question of energy has come down to the question of survival for each one of us.
Ontario Government has, in spite of the threats of extinction by fossil fuel burning – chosen fossil fuel burning as its energy “future.”
This is ironic because planning future with that which destroys future is plain insane, irresponsible and dangerous. It is a crime against humanity!
Ontario Government has decided to make the Province of Ontario into a market for natural gas mining, shipping, piping, storing and burning corporations.
Also, the Government has set up the province as the market for uranium mining, transporting, refining, enriching, burning and nuclear waste dumping.
+Worsening of Global Warming, War and Conflict, Environmental Destruction and Ill Health Effects
Multiple-site fossil fuel burning at home and abroad for our energy in times of Global Warming
Natural gas plants and nuclear plants promise to keep coal-fired plants on-line as long as Ontario ignores implementing integrated renewable energy for all existing and new infrastructure following 100% green building standard, and does not stop subsidizing fossil and radioactive fuel burning industry.
Integrated renewable energy is:
-most affordable
-the only type of energy which is secure
-can be brought on-line in shortest period of time
-eliminates the need for mining for fuels
-eliminates the need for long-distance transportation and piping of fuels
-eliminates waste (see Poverty and Energy) http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/poverty-energy/
Through its regulatory noose and the absence of needed subsidies, the Ontario Government has shown what they think of renewable energy. Except for a few large scale 2007 electioneering gimmicks, they don’t like it at all. (New Rules Jeopardize Wind and Solar Projects, Toronto Star May 19, 2008) http://www.thestar.com/article/427244
Why does not the Ontario Government like Ontario to become environmentally-, economically-, and energy secure by turning the province 100% green through integrated renewable energy systems for all current and new infrastructure?
Province of Ontario – artificially set up as a market for natural gas and uranium mining, transportation, burning and waste release – has chosen to rely on massive fossil fuel burning for its energy – not only at home, but also in multiple locations in Canada, United States and elsewhere.
Power/Energy Privatization
Note: Sithe Global a large multinational U.S. corporation is the major stakeholder in several multi-billion dollar privatized gas plants in Ontario. Also note Sithe Global owns dirty coal fired plants such as the controversial Desert Rock coal-fired plants being opposed by the Navajo peoples in the American SouthWest. Also note, Sithe Global is owned by the world’s largest private equity corporation Blackstone, which just over a year ago added Brian Mulroney to its board of directors. A big shark in a small pond escalating the push for Ontario Power Generation to be privatized; presently being privatized essentially through mega natural gas plants and nuclear power plants. (Brian Mulroney joins Blackstone Group) http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/business/story.html?id=4cdcaad4-a282-48ec-9a0a-8c99b20b0d23
Dirty Coal and Power at the Navajo Blockade
by Brenda Norrell, Human Rights Editor
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=2954&blz=2
As Navajo elderly camp in the cold at a blockade of a planned power plant, the Navajo Nation Council plans to meet in special session to allocate millions for the Desert Rock Power Plant.
At the Navajo blockade Thursday night, the sheepdog of the Navajo elderly protester who lives on the land was skinned alive, run over by a car and thrown next to the blockade.
It comes as no surprise that the power plant parent company Sithe Global LLC is linked to the elite Skull and Bones, the world power elite that the Bush family belongs to.
Lori Goodman, spokesperson for Dine Citizens against Ruining our Environment described the torture of the Navajo’s sheepdog…
With all these new natural gas plants and the price of natural gas going through the roof, Ontario tax payers will be fleeced and subjugated by another fossil fuel – GAS! - for another twenty, thirty, forty year contracts.
And Premier McGuinty is boasting that he would be re-elected with another majority government in the key year of 2011. http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/28427
Why has the Province of Ontario artificially decided to be a driver of massive, multiple-site fossil fuel burning in the times of Global Warming?
This creates a lot of environmental destruction and ill health effects everywhere!!!
This creates a lot of conflict over land rights (especially Indigenous Peoples’ land rights) leading to forceful takeovers of land by mining corporations in partnership with state military forces. http://www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com/
In short, our energy “future” as planned by the Ontario Government - if there is future – relies on environmental destruction, conflict and worsening of Global Warming.
Ontario blowing up Appalachia mountains for its coal-fired plants
*** Over 40 per cent of Ontario’s power from coal-fired plants come from the total destruction of Appalachian Mountains tri-state area environment and destruction of local people’s habitat and lives. The peoples of Appalachia have called for those receiving coal from Appalachia such as Ontario to call for a boycott of mountain-top-removal coal mining in Appalachia.
(Coal River Mountain Watch) http://www.crmw.net/campaigns.php
People who live here think of themselves as collateral damage – accidental victims of a war to feed the nation’s insatiable demand for energy.
What does this have to do with you? This is where Ontario gets 40 per cent of the fuel powering its coal-fired power plants. That means every day you run your dishwasher, you are connected to one of world’s oldest mountain chains, 900 kilometres south of Toronto, which is slowly being flattened, one peak at a time.
“When you go home and flip on your lights,” says Nelson, looking down at the devastation, “do you think of this?”
(Coal Mining Ravages Appalachia mountains Toronto Star February 23, 2008) http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Environment/article/306165
+ O.Reg 496 /07 & Amendment
“A positive step” - unbelievable! Renewable alternatives not in place!
(Assuming “coal cessation” or “coal emissions reductions” means bringing coal burning to a stop)
Since 2003, the McGuinty’s Ontario Government promised twice to close down coal-fired plants. Both promises were broken. The same government made a third promise, and that is to close down the four coal-fired plants by December 31, 2014. (Please note towards the end of 2007 Ontario election, at a convention for energy stakeholders: when asked informally how many members of the audience thought Ontario coal-fired plants would close by 2014, hardly a hand rose in affirmation Globe and Mail August 2007 )
On August 24, 2007, Ontario Government, as if to make its third promise more believable, came up with Ontario Regulation 496/07 making “Cessation of Coal Use” by the end of 2014 legally binding.
Right now, we are in the middle of a 30 day “public review and comment period” May 16 – June 15, 2008 regarding the proposed Amendments to O.Reg. 496/07, which “ensures that the government’s coal cessation commitment has legally binding interim carbon dioxide limits and reporting requirements.”
While phasing out coal-fired plants is necessary and should have been done by the end of last year (2007) as promised in 2003, the third McGuinty’s promise regarding “coal cessation” through “emissions cap” – dubbed by some as a “positive step” - is unbelievable.
Just the way the Ontario Government has not taken steps necessary for closing down of coal-fired plants in 2007, it still does not have those necessary steps in place and right now we are in year 2008. “‘We have to figure out how to use our coal plants less,’ said OPG spokesperson Ted Gruetzner” in an interview for the Toronto Star on May 17, 2008.
Necessary steps for ensuring energy stable economy would amount to full subsidies for the fully green Ontario through integrated renewable energy systems making all existing and new infrastructure 100% green with the concurrent phase-out of fossil and radioactive fuels burning in the province.
Open hostility towards renewable industry and preferential treatment of nuclear and fossil fuel industry measured in billions of public dollar subsidies is a warning that we should approach O.Reg 496/07 and its amendment with caution.
+ At any time, especially in times of “emergency” – trumped!
Head on to economic, humanitarian, environmental disasters, with more coal, of course.
O.Reg 496/07 and its Amendment can be revoked at any time, especially in “times of emergency.”
The current energy planning in Ontario, which keeps door wide open to fossil fuel burning, worsening the Global Warming, is setting the province for energy-, environmental- and economic disasters.
What will be the response to such a manufactured crisis?
More coal!
Fever pitch: More gas means more coal
Emphasis on natural gas, promoted as a solution to closing down of coal-fired plants, IS an emphasis on coal. Natural gas brings “clean” coal into play. Natural gas plants require mining for gas (gas shale, coalbed methane..). Mining for gas is made easier and more abundant with injections of captured carbon. Clean coal is about capturing the greenhouse gases from coal-fired plants, commercializing it into a product for sale to gas and oil miners for the purpose of fuel “enhanced recovery.”
When natural gas plants lead to commercialization and profit making off the DEADLY biproduct of coal-fired plants, they are essentially adding value to existing coal-fired plants. Potential gas shale mining in Quebec could be a source of profit for Ontario if Ontario decided to sell greenhouse gas captured from its coal-fired plants to gas shale mining operations for this fuel’s enhanced recovery.
(Will Quebec be a gas, gas, gas? Globe and Mail May 28, 2008) http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FRTGAM.20080528.wrgas28%2FBNStory%2FSpecialEvents2%2Fhome&ord=114502128&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true
(Re: Will Quebec be a gas, gas, gas? http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/re-will-quebec-be-a-gas-gas-gas-2/)
The Province of Ontario’s energy plan is about making temporary profit rather than creating a stable green and long-term economy. There is no reason to not project that Ontario will not take advantage of carbon capture and sales to gas and oil mining projects, even if it only means relying on the empty rhetoric of such a failed technology.
In short, reliance on natural gas for energy drives the need for coal, as coal burning biproduct ensures enhanced recovery of gas necessary for natural gas plants. Fossil- fuel burning and commercialization of its deadly biproduct leads to a disaster scenario the response to which will more likely than not be more coal – the old way of doing things as new ways have not been GIVEN A CHANCE. “‘We have to figure out how to use our coal plants less,’ said OPG spokesperson Ted Gruetzner” (Toronto Star May 17, 2008)
Action pacifier
While the Ontario Government’s regulation and amendment to regulation regarding phasing out of coal-fired plants in Ontario sound noble, just like the last three promises sounded noble, it serves as a pacifier to concerned citizens - an artificial buffer zone for their disquiet.
It gives a hope and eliminates needed action for the fully green Ontario. It buys time for the government’s deadly coal-fired games leaving people to passively wait for the regulation to come to its fulfillment – a repetition of history from which we fail to learn.
We would like to warn People of Ontario to take the 496/07 O. Regulation and its Amendment with extreme caution as the Ontario Government is known for its dishonesty, its steady and confirmed reliance on fossil fuel and nuclear burning and its hostility towards renewable energy industry. http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/366521.shtml
People of Ontario should in unison and without cessation demand fully green Ontario and a complete abolition (phaseout) of coal-fired plants and fossil and radioactive burning for their energy without delay.
+Some notes on renewable energy in Ontario
Integrated renewables refer to a variety of locally suited renewable energy systems (geothermal, wind, wastegas, tidal waves, sun) complementing each other to provide all energy required for current and new infrastructure (100% green building standard). Integrated renewable energy should by default be made available to everyone through full public subsidies.
Right now, each type of renewable energy is offered solo accomplishing only a very small percentage of renewable energy needed by the current infrastructure. Also renewable energy is not made a prerequisite for constructing new infrastructure.
Renewable energy is subsidized for the upper middle class and the rich allowing them access to inexpensive and renewable clean energy.
It is left to the poor and the struggling people of this province to absorb the skyrocketing costs of energy generated by burning fossil and radioactive fuels – most expensive and least energy, environmentally and economically secure fuels. They are brought to the point to beg for “affordability rates” to access the dirty types of energy, another aspect of subsidies for fossil fuel and nuclear power industry. (Sounds like a recipe for the world-wide Boston Tea Party – see American Revolution.)
There is no reason why citizens and local politicians anywhere in Ontario wouldn’t or couldn’t together with Ministries of Energy and Environment form partnerships with renwable energy developers to enable access-for-all to integrated renewable electricity/heating/cooling systems. (Poverty and Energy) http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/poverty-energy/
In vary rare and sporadic instances, and with some exception, accessible renewable energy (leased over time) exists through limited time offers. Some current renewable energy initiatives among local hydro utilities and renewable energy developers, allowing access to renewable energy systems through leasing are as follows:
· Next Energy company and Waterloo North Hydro offer installment and maintenance of geothermal systems without asking for upfront payment, instead leasing equipment over 20 years.
· Mondial Energy Inc. installs solar hot water systems on buildings with a central boiler without upfront payment. With Mondial’s help, Hospital for Sick Children, Woodgreen Community Centre, seniors homes (Hillcrest Lodge in Orillia) and hotels have been able to go green http://www.mondial-energy.com/projects.htm
· In Mississauga, Brampton, King Township, East Gwillimbury, Georgina or Whitchurch-Stouffville, Enersource Hydro Mississauga, Hydro One Networks and Hydro One Brampton Networks currently provide a limited offer on zero-interest loans or rebates for residential installations of solar (PV and solar hot water), geothermal and small wind systems. http://www.powerhouseprogram.ca/
· Orangeville hydro utility works with renewable developers offering PURE, a Community-Based Sustainable Energy Strategy for Dufferin County and the Headwaters Region http://powerupenergy.ca/projects.html
Additional References and Links
Abolition of King Coal Everywhere, Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
http://quebec.indymedia.org/en/node/28427
Water and Informed Consent: Citizen’s Inquiry on the impacts of the Uranium Cycle http://www.uraniumcitizensinquiry.com/submissions/submission160.html
Ontario’s proposed nuclear waste dump threatens Pennsylvania
by Great Lakes United Nuclear-Free/Green Energy Task Force http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2008/06/29584.php
Natural Gas Plants Not an Answer to Phasing Out of Coal-Fired Plants
A Note on Carbon Sequestration
http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/re-western-premiers-remain-divided-on-environment-policies/
Gas Shale Mining in Quebec
http://floodiceorfire.wordpress.com/re-will-quebec-be-a-gas-gas-gas/
IGCC stands for Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle http://www.energyjustice.net/coal/igcc/factsheet.pdf
Ontario Quebec Carbon Trading System
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/06/02/ont-que.html
PORTLANDS power play (Toronto’s Waterfront 550MW gas plant)
Residents walk out of consulting committee charging Energy Centre kept them in the dark
http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=159110&archive=26,46,2007
Three letters in reference to “Portlands Power Play”: 1.) Burning question, 2.) Clean Air’s pro-gas plank, 3.) A dirty future in coal http://www.nowtoronto.com/letters/index.cfm?content=159179