ISIL Channels

“German solar powerhouse, SolarWorld issued a press release yesterday, stating that the company plans to bid on four German production facilities and Opel’s Ruesselsheim development center and headquarters. (Opel is a German automaker that was acquired by GM in 1929, and continues to operate as a subsidiary) The company wants to make this Europe’s first true ‘green’ auto company. Here’s what SolarWorld representatives had to say about their plans: ‘With the restructuring of the product pallet, the traditional German auto builder would offer in future especially electric and hybrid automobiles and the newest technology combining extended-range electric and combustion motors highly efficiently.’ Had GM just gone this route a decade ago, the company would likely be able weather today’s market meltdown. Even with all those costs attributed to higher wages (in comparison to their Japanese counterparts) and bloated benefits packages the company had to contend with, they still would’ve had cars to sell — instead of trucks and SUVs sitting on dealership lots, collecting dust.” (11/20/08)

http://www.enn.com/business/article/38687

“Controversy over the location and operation of gravel pits illustrates an exceedingly important, widely neglected, and oft misunderstood principle of economics: clear and enforceable property rights minimize conflict. Their absence or ambiguity fosters all manner of negative feelings and behavior, sometimes even violence. The Indian Wars of the 1800s, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts over settlements, and the turf battles of drug dealers are horrific examples. Our controversies over billboards, methane drilling, stream access, and gravel pits are smaller in scope and lower in intensity, but the underlying principles are constant.” (11/19/08)

http://www.free-eco.org/articleDisplay.php?id=641

“A recent study by researchers from the U.K. Meteorological Office’s Hadley Center and Environment Canada have compared over fifty years of data records from Antarctic weather station and a century’s worth of weather data from the Arctic. By comparing the data between the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as against several computer climate simulations, the researchers have determined that natural influences, such as amount of sunlight or volcanic eruptions, could not account for the warming trends. The data didn’t match the measured temperature change until increasing levels of greenhouse gases were added to the equation. Peter Stott, climate modeler for the Hadley Centre and co-author of the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience says ‘We have detected the human fingerprint in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions.’” (11/20/08)

http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/38689

“House Democrats unceremoniously dethroned John Dingell (D-Mich.) as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, installing Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) in his stead — a move that will have resounding implications for climate and energy policy going forward and demonstrates growing strength among the party’s more liberal wing, especially when it comes to climate policy.” (11/20/08)

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/20/1676/5983

“After the excitement of scraping up slivers of what turned out to be ice on Mars this summer, NASA announced late Thursday that it has discovered vast glaciers hidden under rubble. One glacier is three times the size of the city of Los Angeles and up to a half-mile thick, according to an alert from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The glaciers were spotted by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which in late September also sent back information about fractures in the surface of the Red Planet that once directed water flows through underground sandstone.” (11/21/08)

http://tinyurl.com/5e4t7w

“A Palo Alto start-up with powerful backing on Thursday unveiled an ambitious $1 billion plan to help make the Bay Area the nation’s electric-car capital. Endorsed by all three of the Bay Area’s big city mayors, the plan would provide the re-charging infrastructure that must be in place before most consumers would consider buying or leasing an electric car.” (11/21/08)

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_11032113

“So, US crude oil production increased 182,000 barrels (or .01 percent) in 2007 compared to 2006. Good news, right? It would be, if that were not the first time production has increased since 1991, and only the tenth time that annual oil production has grown since it peaked in 1970. In fact, production has never reached the 1970 number of 3.52 billion barrels, and has lost an average of 1.8 percent per year in production since 1985. So why are we allotting a $24 billion budget to the US Department of Energy — which was set up specifically to reduce dependence on foreign oil — when, clearly, no progress is being made? Great question.” (11/21/08)

http://tinyurl.com/6qhenl

“Underlying the failure of fuels supply expansion to keep up with economic expansion was a widespread desire to reduce global warming by diminishing the use of carbon fuels. Indeed, the victors of the recent election talk as if they have only just begun to get America off carbon fuels. It now seems apparent that such a course of action may impose costs on a scale of those suffered during the Great Depression.” (11/20/08)

http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=112008A

“If the financial popularity of Michael Moore’s latest ‘documentary, Sicko, is an indication of popular sentiment in this country, then the United States seems to be ready for what once was called socialized medicine, but today is better known as ’single-payer medicine.’ All of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States this year promised programs similar to what exists in countries such as Canada, France, and Great Britain. The Republicans are promising ’socialism lite.’ Both parties promise that the government will be paying much, much more. … As I see it, the subject of medical care is extremely complex, not because of the nature of healthcare, but rather because of the vast number of government regulations and policies that already govern what currently exists.” (11/19/08)

http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson234.html

“Just got an email from one of our carriers updating us on the (formerly voluntary) ‘Data Sharing Agreement.’ For some time, carriers have been ‘legally permitted to provide eligibility data for its customers’ employees to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).’ Come this January 1, however, the ‘rules of engagement’ change dramatically; ‘the previously voluntary data exchange program will become mandatory and all employers, insurers and plan administrators will be required to share eligibility data with CMS.’ Required. … That could add up to some pretty hefty fines. And these requirements apply to all insured and self-insured groups, large and small. No ERISA skirts to hide behind.” (11/19/08)

http://tinyurl.com/6rxld8