The US National Intelligence Council issued a report, "Global Trends 2030: Potential Worlds," that emphasizes the rise of China and the risk of catastrophic climate change.
Energy firm Lone Pine Resources is challenging Quebec’s fracking moratorium under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and demanding $250 million in compensation.
Xi Jinping was chosen as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party amid stepped-up repression and a wave of labor unrest in the Fujian and Zhejiang industrial zones.
The oil and energy industry are funding both candidates—but not equally. Romney has received $6 million from individuals and PACs linked to the industry; Obama $1.6 million.
Romney’s new energy plan is billed as a drive towards “energy independence”—yet ironically mirrors the plan Obama unveiled two years ago to lift current restrictions on offshore drilling.
A state of emergency has been declared in Barrancabermeja, the oil hub on Colombia's Río Magdalena, following a rupture on a pipeline delivering crude to the city's refinery. The spill at the Lizama 158 well, run by parastatal Ecopetrol, contaminated local waterways that flow into the Magdalena, and which local campesino communities depend on. The affected area includes habitat for jaguars and manatees. The Fracking-Free Colombia Alliance called it a "catastrophe of unequaled magnitude" in a long history of oil spills in the area, and said the impacts could last 30 years. Colombia's attorney general has opened an investigation to determine if there is criminal liability in the spill. (Photo: Contagio Radio)
