Pre-release Jan 2012
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Russian gas giant Gazprom is seeking a larger share of the European energy market in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and German vow to shut down all of its nuclear power plants.
Gazprom looks to expand, both east and west — RT
Bosses say action would benefit business by stimulating the economy
BBC NEWS | UK | Bosses urge climate change action
Why are we asking this now? Two hugely ambitious power-generating schemes have been launched in recent weeks, one offering to create the world's largest solar farm and the other to create the biggest hydroelectric dam on the planet. In both cases the location for the mega-projects is Africa: the solar-power scheme envisages harnessing the sun in the Moroccan and/or Algerian Sahara; while the hydroelectric plan centres on damming the mighty Congo River.
The Big Question: Should Africa be generating much of Europe's power? - Africa - World - The Independent
The charity said huge subsidies and targets in developed countries for boosting the production of fuels from plants such as maize and oil palm are exacerbating environmental and social problems in poor nations. And rather than being a "silver bullet" to tackle climate change, the carbon emissions of some of the fuels are higher than fossil fuels because of deforestation driven by the need for land for them to grow. According to a report, Growing Pains, by Christian Aid, industrial scale production of biofuels is worsening problems such as food price hikes in central America, forced displacement of small farmers for plantations and pollution of local water sources.
Biofuel production 'is harming the poor' - Green Living - Environment - The Independent
Decoupling Report
Decoupling natural resource use and environmental impacts from economic growth “People believe environmental ‘bads’ are the price we must pay for economic ‘goods.’ However, we cannot, and need not, continue to act as if this trade-off is inevitable"
Political parties have been vying to offer the biggest tax cuts as the credit crunch tightens its grip on Britain. In their view, low taxes are now the best way to get the economy going and to help out families. Cutting or keeping taxes low has always proved popular with the electorate: in 1992 the Conservatives' election campaign slogan 'Labour's tax bombshell' made the most of the then shadow Chancellor John Smith's intention to increase the higher rate of tax from 40 to 50 per cent.
Sweden: Where tax goes up to 60 per cent, and everybody's happy paying it | Money | The Observer
Why Scandinavia can teach us a thing or two about surviving a recession | Society | guardian.co.uk
High numbers of Swedes are employed in the public sector, such as this nurse in a Stockholm hospital. Photograph: Graham Turner According to liberal thinkers, Scandinavian countries should have drowned in the current economic crisis with their bloated public sectors and a nanny-state mentality that stifles individual creativity.
What does Canada's withdrawal from Kyoto protocol mean? | Adam Vaughan | Environment | guardian.co.uk
Canada has shown that a legally binding deal does not guarantee countries won't walk away from their commitments It's been four years in the offing, but Canada on Monday finally and formally withdrew from the world's only existing legal treaty to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the Kyoto protocol. Despite criticism from environmentalists and the international community – China has called the move "irresponsible" through its state media – Canada is within its legal rights.Sweden's carbon-tax solution to climate change puts it top of the green list | Environment | guardian.co.uk
If there's a paradise for environmentalists, this Nordic nation of 9.2 million people must be it.
STOCKHOLM (AP) — Facebook is to build a new server farm on the edge of the Arctic Circle — its first outside the United States — to improve performance for European users, officials of the social networking site said Thursday. It will also expose them to potential eavesdropping from a Swedish intelligence agency, according to Sweden 's Pirate Party , a group opposing government interference with the Internet.