Metro is doomed as start delayed
Metro is doomed as start delayed
ANDREW CLENNELL STATE POLITICAL EDITOR
February 18, 2010
THE metro system is dead, with the Keneally government to abandon plans to begin work on the project this year, amid a push from Treasury officials to delay the lines for 20 years.
Senior government sources have confirmed plans to start work this year will be scrapped in a transport blueprint to be announced on Sunday amid pressure from the Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, and his officials to defer or dump the project.
This will allow the Coalition an opportunity to dump the project cheaply if it wins office as expected next year.
Treasury officials were pushing yesterday for work to begin on the Western Metro as late as 2030, despite an original deadline on the CBD Metro to begin mid-year.
A Herald investigation yesterday revealed bureaucrats and political fixers inside the state’s transport agencies altered official reports as part of a widespread government effort to suppress criticism of the controversial $5.3 billion CBD Metro.
Big firms drop support for US climate bill
Big firms drop support for US climate bill
• BP America, Caterpillar and Conoco end support
• Opponents claim climate law is dead in the water
- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 February 2010 21.31 GMT
- Article history
Barack Obama suffered a setback to his green energy agenda as three firms drop out of a coalition that had been pressing for climate change laws. Photograph: Brian Kersey/Getty Images
Barack Obama suffered a setback to his green energy agendatoday when three major corporations – including BP America – dropped out of a coalition of business groups and environmental organisations that had been pressing Congress to pass climate change legislation.
The defections by ConocoPhillips, America’s third largest oil company, Caterpillar, which makes heavy equipment, and BP rob the US Climate Action Partnership of three powerful voices for lobbying Congress to pass climate change law.
They also undercut Obama’s efforts to cast his climate and energy agenda as a pro-business, job-creation plan.
Only hours earlier, Obama and other cabinet officials had made a high-profile announcement that $8.3bn (£5.3bn) was being awarded in loan guarantees for a company building the first new nuclear reactors in America in nearly 30 years.
U.S, Has (almost) 100.000 Grid-tied PV Systems
U.S. Has (Almost?) 100,000 Grid-Tied PV Systems – Happy Valentines Day!*
I am a self-confessed data junky when it comes to PV installations. And my favorite metric for following a PV market is the number of installations, rather than the capacity of MW installed. Perhaps I favor distributed generation over centralized, or maybe it seems like the more systems installed, the more jobs created.
Our country is now, very likely, hosting more than 100,000 grid-tied PV systems. Quite a milestone.*(see comments below). The last data milestone this exciting was when we hit our first cumulative Gigawatt of grid-tied PV capacity, sometime last year. That went mostly unreported, but based on Larry Sherwood’s “Annual Trends” report we may reach the 1GW per year milestone in 2010. In any case, we are now past our first “onesies.” One Gigawatt, and One-Hundred-Thousand distributed systems.
Fixers twisted metro files
LINTON BESSER AND ANDREW WEST
February 17, 2010
BUREAUCRATS and political fixers inside the state’s transport agencies have altered official reports as part of a widespread government effort to suppress criticism of its controversial $5.3 billion CBD Metro.
A Herald investigation has discovered official documents, including some marked cabinet-in-confidence, have been suppressed to bury embarrassing but crucial technical advice that undermines the case for the metro.
At least four documents – not written for public view but required under government guidelines – have been censored, shelved or covered up.
Attempts have also been made to alter scientific modelling to justify the metro, the Herald has been told.
Sea-level fears as Greenland ice begins to melt
Sea-level fears as Greenland begins to melt
Greenland’s icesheet is being significantly eroded by winds and currents that drive warmer water into fiords, where it carves out the base of coastal glaciers, new studies say.
The icy mass sitting atop Greenland holds enough water to boost global sea levels by seven metres, potentially drowning low-lying coastal cities and deltas around the world.
Reality of Mexico’s green battle
Reality of Mexico’s green battle Felipe Calderón’s fight against climate change should start at home, where pristine natural landscapes are hard to find Tanya Huntington Hyde guardian.co.uk, Saturday 13 February 2010 15.00 GMT Article history Mexican President Felipe Calderón made international headlines recently with his comments regarding climate change at the World Economic Forum Continue Reading →