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Wednesday, February 08, 2012 07:22 GMT

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Cuba on the Road to Clean Energy Development
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA - More than a decade ago, solar electricity changed the lives of several mountain communities in Cuba. Now this and other renewable power sources are emerging as the best options available to develop sustainable energy across the island.
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Spain's Green Groups Slam Rollback of Conservation Policies
By Tito Drago
MADRID - Spain's new conservative government has announced changes in environmental policy that are a significant step backwards for environmental protection in the country, provoking an immediate, harsh reaction from the opposition and civil society.
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Spate of Spills at Sea for Brazilian Oil Industry
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO - An accident at an ultra-deepwater drilling platform spilled 160 barrels of crude off the coast of Brazil this week, deepening fears about safety in this new frontier of oil and gas production.
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2011 - A Year of Weather Extremes, with More to Come
Analysis by Janet Larsen and Sara Rasmussen*
WASHINGTON - The global average temperature in 2011 was 14.52 degrees Celsius (58.14 degrees Fahrenheit). According to NASA scientists, this was the ninth warmest year in 132 years of recordkeeping, despite the cooling influence of the La Niña atmospheric and oceanic circulation pattern and relatively low solar irradiance.
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China Looks Both Ways on Iranian Oil
Analysis by Antoaneta Becker
LONDON - China’s response to calls from the West to join an oil embargo penalising Iran for its nuclear programme so far has been to choose the middle course typical of its non-interfering foreign policy of the last 30 years – denouncing sanctions on one hand yet working to protect its national interests on many fronts.
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OP-ED
After Durban, Latin America Looks Towards Rio+20
By Ede Ijjasz-Vásquez*
WASHINGTON - After the climate change negotiations in Durban, South Africa in December, there is space to continue advancing in the short and medium term. Now the attention of Latin America and the rest of the world is turned towards the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development taking place this June in Rio de Janeiro.
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U.N. Panel Launches Blueprint for Sustainable Development
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - A long-awaited report by a U.N. high-level panel on global sustainability recommends several far-reaching proposals, including the establishment of new institutions and the creation of global indicators, aimed at protecting the world's environment and strengthening the U.N.'s sustainable development strategy.
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UZBEKISTAN
Population Endures Shortages Amid Plenty
By Deirdre Tynan*
BISHKEK - Just a week ago at a cabinet meeting, Uzbek leader Islam Karimov hailed the achievements of the Uzbek economic model, which is basically a retrofitted command system. But Karimov clearly hasn't gotten out of the capital much lately. For many citizens in Central Asia's most populous state, electricity cuts and gas shortages have become a defining feature of this winter.
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Shale Gas a Bridge to More Global Warming
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - Hundreds of thousands of shale gas wells are being "fracked" in the United States and Canada, allowing large amounts of methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas, to escape into the atmosphere, new studies have shown.
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PUERTO RICO
Cleaner Energy Sources Prove Divisive
By Carmelo Ruiz-Marrero*
SAN JUAN - As Puerto Rico seeks to lower soaring utility rates while simultaneously shifting toward cleaner energy sources, it faces grassroots opposition to two major projects even though at least one is 100-percent renewable.
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Money Is All That's Green in Biodiesel
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - The only green in biodiesel fuel is the money producers make from it, new research has revealed.
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U.S.
Obama Rejects Giant Keystone Pipeline Scheme
By Jim Lobe*
WASHINGTON - In a decision fraught with political risk, U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday rejected the permit for the proposed giant Keystone XL pipeline project, insisting that his administration needed more time to determine whether it served the national interest.
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JAPAN
Pushing Nuclear Exports After Fukushima
By Suvendrini Kakuchi
TOKYO - Japan plans to boost civilian nuclear exports even as it tries to appease its population angered at radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, crippled by an earthquake and tsunami on Mar. 11, last year.
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Saudi Arabia and Iran Spar over Oil Embargo
By Correspondents*
DOHA, Qatar - Saudi Arabia will make up for any shortfall in world oil supply caused by sanctions against Iran, the country's oil minister has said, despite warnings from Iran that such a move would provoke unspecified "consequences".
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NIGERIA
Corruption Fuels Public Anger
By Mustapha Muhammad
KANO, Nigeria - As a nationwide strike and protests against the lifting of the fuel subsidy paralysed Nigeria for the third day in a row Wednesday, analysts say the billions of dollars a year lost to corruption in the oil industry could have been used to leave the subsidy in place.
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Rio+20: The Moment When Everything Changed?
By Stephen Leahy
UXBRIDGE, Canada - Humanity is driving Earth's climate and ecosystems towards dangerous tipping points, requiring radical new forms of international cooperation and governance, experts say.
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CLIMATE CHANGE
Clean, Efficient Wood Stoves Good for People and the Planet
By Edgardo Ayala *
SAN SALVADOR - In his quest to make the most efficient possible use of energy generated through wood combustion, Salvadoran René Núñez developed a simple but highly efficient wood stove that produces no smoke and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 95 percent.
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TAIWAN
Poll Will Decide Nuclear Plant’s Fate
By Dennis Engbarth
TAIPEI - Voters in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential and national legislative elections will also decide the fate of a bitterly controversial 9.3 billion dollar nuclear power plant.
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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.