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No Death Squads, No Torture, No Milton Friedman, No "Shock and Awe" Bombing; just Mild-Mannered Liberals from the World Bank and Harvard driving hundreds of thousands of poor people around the world to starvation and suicide. Read P. Sainath's searing special report. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Remember contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now
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October 16, 2007 Peter
Linebaugh Uri
Avnery October 15, 2007 Gary
Leupp Andy
Worthington Heather
Gray John
Walsh Joshua
Frank Dave
Lindorff Matt
Vidal Ali
Khan Sen.
Russ Feingold Johnny
Barber Website
of the Day October 13 / 14, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Wajahat
Ali Jeffrey
St. Clair Ralph
Nader David Heleniak Laura Carlsen Brian Cloughley Richard Rhames Ron Jacobs Fred Gardner John Ross Russell Hoffman Missy Beattie Poets' Basement Website of the Day
Cindy
Sheehan Brendan
Cooney Alan
Farago Jan
Oberg M.
Shahid Alam David
Macaray Julia
Kendlbacher Peter
Rost, MD Website
of the Day
Al
Giordano Saul
Landau Jacob
G. Hornberger William
S. Lind Joshua
Frank Josh
Mahan Pat
Williams
October 10, 2007 Michael
Yates Gary
Leupp David
Macaray Alan
Farago Tom
Clifford Col.
Douglas MacGregor Sunsara
Taylor George
Wuerthner Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz Michael
Dickinson Website
of the Day
October 9, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Andy
Worthington Alan
Farago Brian
Eno David
Rovics Farzana
Versey Andrew
Buncombe Website
of the Day
October 8, 2007 David
Macaray Jeff
Ballinger Brian
Eno Christopher
Brauchli Louay
Safi Matt
Reichel Dave
Lindorff Thomas
P. Healy Martha
Rosenberg Richard
Rhames Website
of the Day
October 6 / 7, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Norman
Finkelstein James
Bovard Patrick
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Ralph
Nader Ray
McGovern Saul
Landau Ben
Tripp Terry
Lodge Seth
Sandronsky Kevin
Funk / Steve Fake Missy
Beattie Website
of the Weekend
October 5, 2007 Andy
Worthington David
Macaray Lee
Sustar Dan
La Botz Aaron
Hess William
A. Cook Website
of the Day
October 4, 2007 Uri
Avnery Dave
Marsh Valerio
Volpi Cecilie
Surasky Dave
Lindorff Norman
Solomon Laura
Carlsen Walter
Brasch Ben
Terrall William
S. Lind Website
of the Day
October 3, 2007 Vijay
Prashad Anita
Sinha Winslow
T. Wheeler Sharon
Smith Jeff
Leys Sen.
Russ Feingold Mohamad
Bazzi Brenda
Norrell Robert
Weissman Website
of the Day
October 2, 2007 Ibrahim
Warde Gary
Leupp David
Macaray Conn
Hallinan John
Ross Alan
Farago Sonja
Karkar Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Website
of the Day
October 1, 2007 Al
Giordano Paul
Craig Roberts Moshe Adler Ingmar Lee John V. Walsh Norman Solomon Roger Burbach Ramzy Baroud Stephen Lendman Susie Day Website of the Day
September 29 / 30, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Uri
Avnery Andrew
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Wajahat
Ali Andy
Worthington Don
Santina Ralph
Nader Fred
Gardner Seth
Sandronsky Gideon
Levy William
S. Lind Reza
Fiyouzat Richard
Rhames David
Michael Green Zach
Mason Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
September 28, 2007 Kathleen
and Bill Christison Roberto
J. González / Saul
Landau Tom
Clifford Christopher
Brauchli Martha
Rosenberg Dave
Zirin Laray
Polk Binoy
Kampmark James
McEnteer Website
of the Day
September 27, 2007 Alan
Farago Andy
Worthington Jonathan
Cook William
Hughes Ray
McGovern Ron
Jacobs Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Anne
Dachel Website
of the Day
Bill
Quigley Paul
Craig Roberts Jeff
Kisseloff China
Hand Behzad
Yaghmaian Sonja
Karkar Mike
Ferner Col.
Dan Smith Clifton
Ross Brenda
Norrell Website
of the Day
September 25, 2007 Nicole
Colson Uri
Avnery Brendan
Cooney Harry
Browne Marjorie
Cohn David
Macaray Ralph
Nader Dan
Bacher Anthony
Papa Christopher
Ketcham Website
of the Day
September 24, 2007 George
Ciccariello-Maher Saree Makdisi David
Keen Sherwood
Ross Ron
Jacobs Donna
Saggia Mike
Ferner Malini
Johar Schueller Monique
Dols Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Loewenstein Linn
Washington, Jr. Jeffrey
St. Clair Alan
Farago Brian
Cloughley Robert
Fantina Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz Jason
Hribal David
Rosen Mike
Whitney John
V. Walsh Dave
Lindorff David
Michael Green Fred
Gardner Cassandra
Jones Roger
van Zwanenberg Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
September 21, 2007 Karim
Makdisi M.
Shahid Alam Alan
Farago Joshua
Frank Dave
Zirin Kenneth
Couesbouc Dr.
Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein Ben
Terrall Steve
Fournier Frederico
Fuentes, et al Website
of the Day
September 20, 2007 Kathleen
Christison Zoltan
Grossman Paul
Craig Roberts Stan
Cox Russell
Mokhiber Charles
Modiano Raymond
J. Lawrence Brendan
Cooney Website
of the Day
September 19, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Paul
Krassner Sgt.
Martin Smith Seth
Sandronsky Claud
Cockburn Victoria
Buch Robert
Weissman Mike
Ferner Dan
Bacher Website
of the Day
September 18, 2007 Mike
Whitney Alan
Farago John
Ross Ron
Jacobs Alex
Doherty September 17, 2007 Marjorie
Cohn Paul
Craig Roberts Ricardo
Alarcón Marc
Levy Eva
Liddell Website
of the Day Sept. 15-16, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Vicente
Navarro Mike
Whitney Herman
Mindshaftgap Ellen
Cantarow Jordan
Flaherty Zachary
Hurwitz September 14, 2007 Debbie
Nathan Franklin
Lamb Patrick
Cockburn Farzana
Versey Alan
Farago Hank
Edson September 13, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Scott
Vest, former Air Force Captain at Minot Andy
Worthington Michael
Baney Dr.
Susan Block September 12, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Stan
Goff William
Blum Manuel
Garcia Debbie
Nathan
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October 16, 2007 Inconvenient CorrectionsAl Gore's Wacky FactsBy ROBERT BRYCE Facts don't matter. Only spin matters. That's the main conclusion to be drawn from the fact that Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last week. My complaint has nothing to do with the science of global warming or whether or not the current warming of the planet is due solely to manmade causes. Rather, it's this: Gore won the prize even though his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, concludes with one of the most blatantly absurd statements ever committed to film. Just before the final credits, in a segment that advises viewers as to what they might do to help slow global warming, the following line appears onscreen: "In fact, you can even reduce your carbon emissions to zero."ù Again, the point is not whether or not I agree with Gore's view on warming. Instead the objection stems from this obvious point: We humans breathe. And in doing so, we emit carbon dioxide. The idea that we can somehow negate the gas that results from our respiration--through the legerdemain of carbon credits, or compact fluorescent light bulbs, or fleets of Toyota Priuses is simply not possible. And the fact that none of the dozens of smart people involved in the production of the movie--including, particularly, Gore himself--paused to consider the veracity of their declaration leaves me agog. Imagine any other documentary--on
virtually any subject--that concluded with a line that declared
something like, "By the way, the world is flat." The
producers and everyone associated with the movie would be the
laughing stock of the modern world. And yet, when it comes to
the claim that you can "reduce your carbon emissions to
zero," Gore has been given a free pass. The obvious conclusion:
facts and science don't really matter. What matters, it appears,
is how dedicated you are to the cause of publicizing what Gore
calls the "climate crisis." Which brings me to my other objection: It's fine to say we have a problem with climate change. Perhaps we do. So what's the solution? Put another way, given that the Nobel committee--as well as lots of politicians and activists--agree with Gore that carbon dioxide is bad, then what? The world economy (and most living beings) depends, one way or another, on emitting carbon dioxide. And the overwhelming majority of those carbon dioxide releases are a byproduct of our consumption of fossil fuels. Those fuels allow us to be mobile, feed ourselves, stay warm, and generally improve our living standards. As Decartes might have put it: we are, therefore we emit carbon dioxide. And yet Gore offers no viable alternatives to the fossil fuels that we depend upon to sustain our civilization. What are his suggestions? Well, at the end of an An Inconvenient Truth, Gore and his fellow producers provide yet more proof that facts don't matter. In the same section that advises viewers about what they can do to fight global warming, Gore conflates the issues of global warming and energy independence by suggesting that they encourage the biggest scam of the modern era: ethanol. The text that appears on the screen advises viewers: "Reduce our dependence on foreign oil, help farmers grow alcohol fuels." Even a modicum of research into the issue would have shown Gore and his pals that alcohol fuels--even with massive subsidies--are not going to make a significant dent in the world's fossil fuel habit. In fact, ethanol and biofuels in general may make global warming worse. A recent study led by Nobel prize-winning chemist P. J. Crutzen, published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, found that biofuels made from rapeseed and corn release about twice as much nitrous oxide as was previously thought. Nitrous oxide is nearly 300 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The report's co-author, Keith Smith, from the University of Edinburgh, summed up the study, saying growing biofuels "is probably of no benefit and in fact is actually making the climate issue worse." Last year, Gore told Grist magazine that cellulosic ethanol would "be a huge new source of energy, particularly for the transportation sector. You're going to see it all over the place. You're going to see a lot more flex-fuel vehicles. You're going to see new processes that utilize waste as the source of energy, so there's no petroleum consumed in the process." But cellulosic ethanol is decades away from being viable. That's not the opinion of Big Oil, instead it comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Last month, the agency's Economic Research Service reported that while cellulose-based fuels hold "some longer-term promise, much research is needed to make it commercially economical and expand beyond the 250-million-gallon minimum specified for 2013 in the Energy Policy Act of 2005." Just for the sake of argument, let's assume the USDA is wrong. And let's further assume that given enough federal subsidies, cellulosic ethanol has a big technical breakthrough and expands at the same rate as what we've seen with corn-based ethanol. It took more than two decades of fat subsidies before the corn ethanol sector was able to produce 5 billion gallons of ethanol per year. And today, that industry provides only about 1 percent of America's oil needs while gobbling up about 14 percent of the country's corn crop. If cellulosic ethanol follows that same trajectory as what we've seen with corn ethanol, it will be 2030 or so before cellulosic ethanol will be able to supply just 1 percent of America's oil needs. So the key question Gore must answer is this: does a 1 percent share of the oil market qualify cellulosic ethanol as "huge"? Gore advocates solar power and wind power as alternatives to fossil fuels. That's fine. What are the facts? Well, according to projections from the Energy Information Administration, both solar and wind will add lots of new generation capacity over the next two decades, but by 2030, the combined output of both sources will only total about 70 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. That's a miniscule amount when compared to the expected annual electricity generation from coal (3,351 billion kWh) per year, nuclear (871 billion kWh) and natural gas (1,003 kWh). The problem is that wind and solar are both incurably intermittent. The sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. That means--unless we have a huge technological breakthrough that permits large-scale electricity storage or we are willing to live with frequent blackouts and brownouts--we are going to continue relying on the same power plants that we have now, and they use coal, uranium and natural gas. Those are the facts. It's unfortunate that the Nobel committee doesn't seem to care about them. Robert Bryce lives in Austin, Texas and managing
editor of Energy Tribune.
He is the author of Cronies:
Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate.
His third book, Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy
Independence," will be published in March by PublicAffairs.
He can be reached at: robert@robertbryce.com ![]()
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