Conservative Revolutionary American Party III: Daily Grist: Hurricane Ike nails U.S. Gulf Coast, Palin opposes air regs for Calif. ports, and more‏

TOP STORY

Confessions of a Dangerous Wind
Hurricane Ike disrupts oil supplies and causes drinking-water worries

Before hitting land in the United States on Saturday, Hurricane Ike killed some 70 people in Haiti and four in Cuba last week as it made its way north from the Caribbean, but so far in the U.S. the death toll estimate remains a relatively modest 13. Hurricane Ike nailed Texas as well as the Louisiana and Arkansas coasts with winds up to 100 miles per hour as well as heavy rains and a 15-foot storm surge. Health officials warned residents in affected areas to boil tap water or only drink bottled water due to fears that water supplies were contaminated. Hurricane Ike stopped some 98 percent of oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico and shut down a major pipeline from Texas to New York. Fifteen oil refineries remained closed Monday, including the nation's largest, and federal officials estimated the storm completely destroyed 10 oil production platforms in the gulf, but so far there are no reports of any large oil spills. Upon news of the oil-supply disruptions, gas prices in some parts of the country hit $5 a gallon. In an attempt to offset the spikes, the Department of Energy said it would release 939,000 barrels of crude oil from its strategic reserves and investigate accusations of price gouging.

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sources: Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, Associated Press

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TODAY'S NEWS

A Matter of Import
Palin asks Schwarzenegger to veto bill that would reduce port pollution

One day before being catapulted into the running for vice president, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote a letter to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), urging him to veto a significant pollution-reduction effort. Specifically, she asked the Governator to not sign a bill that would impose container fees on ships entering the ports of Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Oakland. If OK'd, the fees would bring in an estimated $400 million per year, which would go toward installation of cleaner truck and train engines and projects aimed to reduce congestion and idling. Palin said the fee will harm Alaska's economy by burdening shippers already dealing with high fuel prices, and "may harm California by driving port business away from its ports." The three ports together handle more than 40 percent of U.S. goods. Says state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D), who sponsored the bill, "We are losing about 3,400 Californians each year because of pollution. ... I don't think Gov. Palin truly understands the impacts going on here."

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source: Los Angeles Times

Livin' and Dion
Environment and energy hot topics in Canadian election

Canada is gearing up for an Oct. 14 election between two main candidates with similar first names but little in common policy-wise. Liberal leader Stephane Dion is campaigning for a "Green Shift" that would include a carbon tax on most fuels, excepting gasoline. Revenue would be used to cut income and business taxes as well as providing incentives for clean energy. Dion on Friday proposed a $542 million program to improve energy efficiency in Canada -- "one of the less energy-efficient countries of the world" -- including improved building standards and tax incentives for home retrofits. His opponent, incumbent Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, isn't touting any particular environmental platform, and vehemently opposes a carbon tax, saying that "the results for the economy will be disastrous." Harper's government has pledged to cut Canada's fossil-fuel emissions 20 percent by 2020 and halve air pollution by 2015, but has been vague on specific steps.

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sources: Canwest News Service, CBC News, The Province, Canwest News Service, BC Local News

Chad and Subtract
World Bank yanks corruption-tainted pipeline funding from Chad

The World Bank has pulled funding from a 663-mile oil pipeline in Chad and Cameroon, having lost its gamble that the project would funnel oil wealth into poverty reduction instead of the pockets of corrupt officials. The bank made the loan in 2000, with the stipulation that 72 percent of oil royalties be spent on schools, hospitals, and roads. Covering the decision, Grist wrote that opponents "say it would destroy sensitive rainforest, lead to oil spills, dislocate indigenous peoples, and line the pockets of corrupt African officials." Sure enough, the Chadian government failed to follow through on its end of the bargain, disseminating far less than promised and often funding shoddy or never-completed projects. President Idriss Déby continually tried to renegotiate the contract for more flexibility; much of the oil revenue was likely spent on the military. Environmentalists, who criticized the project from the get-go, say it's further evidence that the World Bank shouldn't be funding fossil fuels.

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sources: The Guardian, Reuters, Associated Press, The New York Times

In Brief
Snippets from the news

• Green Party activist and former Nader running mate Peter Camejo has died.

• Europe backs farther away from biofuels.

• American Chemistry Council spends $180,625 in one month fighting Seattle plastic-bag ban.

• Test flight of commercial jet will use new technologies to save time and fuel.

• MTV attacks greenwashers.

• Brower Youth Awards given to young environmental leaders.