Chavez Threatens to Halt Oil to U.S.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez threatened Saturday to halt oil exports to the United States and said opponents of his leftist government are not welcome within the military or the state-run oil company.

Also on Saturday, tens of thousands of supporters of Manuel Rosales, Chavez's main challenger in Dec. 3 presidential elections, staged a 16-mile march through the capital Caracas.

Some musings concerning the end of the world as we know it

For some years now, a thought has been troubling me. It's this: things cannot go on the way they have been forever, and sooner or later this machine we call the economy is going to completely destroy itself and in all likelihood take our civilization down with it.

The blood of our economy is oil, and it will not last anywhere near forever. Without it's continuous flow, everything we take for granted stops.

Cities can vote to dump PG&E for public utility

The quest for cheaper utility rates in parts of Yolo County began in Davis in the late 1990s, as California began its failed experiment with energy deregulation.

The ensuing crisis, marked by blackouts and soaring utility rates, led PG&E and other utility giants to rack up billions of dollars in debt. Municipally owned utilities emerged relatively unscathed.

Investors are filling up with biofuels

HENRY FORD dubbed ethanol “the fuel of the future” and planned to run his ubiquitous Model T car on it. Unfortunately, the discovery of cheap petrol and the prohibition of alcohol in America in 1920 put the brakes on his plans.

But now ethanol, a type of alcohol, is making a comeback. It is one of two biofuels — fuels made from plants rather than pumped out of the ground — that are being driven into the limelight by fears over climate change.

Soaring global demand for energy

The global demand for energy is expected to increase 50 to 60 per cent by 2030, much of it from newly emerging markets.

Oil producers learning to face up to the challenges of decline

UKOOA estimates that just over half the UK's oil reserves have been extracted, leaving an estimated 27 billion barrels, worth around £850bn, under the waves.

The North Sea's oil barons are concerned that competition from newer oilfields, an ageing workforce and an out-of-date tax regime may make it hard to get the remaining oil out.

Low-cost carriers hit back on climate change

The aviation industry is desperately defending itself against last week's Stern report, which said reducing air traffic to cut carbon and other emissions would be crucial in preventing climate change.

Scientific news grim for UN talks on global warming

An upcoming UN conference on climate change is taking place against a darkening background of scientific news, for barely a week goes by without a major study adding to a tall pile of distressing evidence.

Doubts about the reality of global warming that were significant half a dozen years ago have today shrunk to zero, leaving only denialists and fossil-industry lobbyists in opposition.

Green Power on the march: Thousands unite to rally against global warming

People power comes to the fight against climate change today as Britain witnesses its biggest march and rally demanding the Government acts against the threat of global warming.

Climate warning is a bit too stern

A FIERCE DEBATE has been raging, mainly on the internet, and for once it isn’t about Princess Diana, September 11 or UFOs. The debate is about oil, and whether the world is about to run out of it.

Australia calls drought summit as economy threatened

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has called an emergency drought summit as climate change and rising interest rates threaten a 10-year economic boom -- and his grip on power.

Shaping up as the worst drought since white settlement more than 200 years ago, the "big dry" is likely to cut agricultural output by 20 percent and GDP by around 0.7 percent, government officials say.