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Sunday, March 21, 2010 06:21 GMT

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CLIMATE CHANGE: A Year On, Little Change in Political Climate
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - This time last year, United States federal legislation on climate change was starting to take shape, seemingly more pressing matters were taking up the bulk of U.S. policymakers' time, and a major climate conference was looming at the end of the year.
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IRAN: New Budget May Add to Uncertainties, Political Strains
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Iran's 347-billion-dollar budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, finally approved by the Guardian Council in Tehran Tuesday - just days before its scheduled implementation on the Iranian New Year Mar. 21 - appears likely to add to the tensions and uncertainty that have bedeviled the country since the disputed June 2009 elections.
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ENERGY-LATIN AMERICA: Moving Towards Renewables
By Marcela Valente*
BUENOS AIRES - Argentina is building its first solar energy park in the northwestern province of San Juan. The project calls for the manufacture of photovoltaic panels to supply the rest of the country and the other member countries of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur).
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CLIMATE CHANGE: In Canada, No News is Bad News
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - Canada's climate researchers are being muzzled, their funding slashed, research stations closed, findings ignored and advice on the critical issue of the century unsought by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, according to a 40-page report by a coalition of 60 non-governmental organisations.
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RIGHTS-GUATEMALA: 'Our Lives Are Cut Short at a Stroke'
By Danilo Valladares
GUATEMALA CITY - "This is a time of great tension because we know that at any moment, when we least expect it, our lives can be cut short at a stroke," Tito Gálvez, a leader in the Resistance Front for the Defence of Natural Resources and Rights of the Guatemalan Peoples (FRENA), told IPS.
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MEXICO: Scientists Reinvent the Corn Tortilla
By Verónica Díaz Favela*
MEXICO CITY - The process of making corn tortillas - the filling, age-old traditional food throughout much of Mexico and Central America - pollutes huge volumes of water and consumes a great deal of energy.
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ENERGY: Coal-Fired Power on the Way Out?
Analysis by Lester R. Brown*
WASHINGTON - The past two years have witnessed the emergence of a powerful movement opposing the construction of new coal-fired power plants in the United States.
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ARGENTINA-UK: Oil Plans Spark Tension Over Malvinas/Falklands
By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES - The imminent arrival of a British oil exploration rig in the South Atlantic ocean has recharged tensions between Argentina and Britain over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands.
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U.S.: Nuke Plants Back in Vogue, as Climate Bill Stalls
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - After decades of debate, the United States is poised to build its first new nuclear reactors since the early 1970s.
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CLIMATE CHANGE: U.N. to Mobilise Funds for Developing Nations
By Daniel Stahl
UNITED NATIONS - After countries failed to reach a binding agreement on greenhouse gas emissions at the crucial Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last December, the United Nations moving forward to enforce a pledge to help developing countries cope with the worst impacts.
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ENERGY: Planting New Seeds for the Take-Off
By Cam McGrath
CAIRO - A salty, crunchy salad herb known to gourmands as samphire could revolutionise agriculture in the Middle East by providing food, fodder and fuel without using a single drop of freshwater.
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ENERGY: Nuclear Does Not Make Economic Sense Say Studies
By Julio Godoy
BERLIN - The enormous technical and financial risks involved in the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants make them prohibitive for private investors, rebutting the thesis of a renaissance in nuclear energy, say several independent European studies.
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U.S.: Gas Prices, Economy Raise Stakes for Cleaner Cars
By Kathryn Barry
NEW YORK - The Chinese auto industry surpassed the U.S. in car sales last year, according to a recent report, raising the question of whether this represents a bump in the road for the U.S. auto industry or a long-term shift to other means of transportation.
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ENERGY-MEXICO: Big and Small Firms Harness Sun's Rays
By Emilio Godoy
CHAPANTONGO, Mexico - It was Isabel Cortés, the family matriarch, who started the project. In 1990, she started looking for a way to market xoconostle, the sour variety of the nopal cactus fruit that is abundant in this arid part of central Mexico, in the Mezquital valley.
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MIDEAST: Gaza Energy Crisis Averted - For Now
By Mel Frykberg
RAMALLAH - Pressure exerted on the Palestinian Authority (PA) by international and regional officials has given Gazans a last minute reprieve, albeit temporary, from plunging into darkness and plummeting temperatures.
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U.S.: Ill Omens for Senate Climate Legislation
By Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON - Delivering his State of the Union address before both houses of Congress and a global audience on Jan. 27, U.S. President Barack Obama asked for passage of "a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America."
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CLIMATE CHANGE: European Firms See Windfall in Renewable Energy
By Julio Godoy
BERLIN - European governments failed to help along an international treaty to stop global warming at the United Nations climate change summit in December, but their engineering and power industries see business opportunities in renewable energy sources and their smart management.
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ENERGY-PORTUGAL: Racing for Renewables
By Mario de Queiroz
LISBON - Just a decade ago, criticism rained down on sunny, windy Portugal for not making the most of nature's gifts to develop renewable energy sources. Now all signs indicate that it did not fall on deaf ears, as the country has become a leader in the field.
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The war in Iraq, fear of one in Iran. Uncertainties in Europe over gas dependence on Russia. Greenhouse gases and the consequent fear of climate change. The battle over sources to power development in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The nuclear option, and its own dangers. One crisis after another round the world is at heart an energy crisis.