Coal battles to help keep strength inside PEOPLE vitality combine

4 months after pledging to lead the United States on a path to sustainable energy, President Barack Obama faces a turning point on electricity generated from coal, one of the dirtiest of fuels. The White House was expected this week to finalize a rule to reduce emissions from all new coal-fired plants. But mixed signals on whether it will be enacted have led environmentalists to prepare litigation to force action. The rule was due to be finalized April 13. But the Environmental Protection Agency, in charge of crafting and implementing the rule change amid some hefty opposition from the coal industry, told AFP this week that there is no timeline for completing it. The uncertainty underscores the difficulty in achieving the downsizing of coal-fired electricity that environmentalists say is needed to address climate change. Rather than being phased out, politically powerful coal, backed by dedicated support from coal-state lawmakers on Capitol Hill, is clinging to its place in the energy mix, pushing back against the Obama administration's measures and promoting new infrastructure to boost coal exports. Last month, Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia organized a campaign to pressure Obama to amend the power-plant rule to ease the requirements for new plants. Even without the new rule, coal use has been on the decline domestically. The share of coal-fired power in the US energy mix dropped from 48.5 percent in 2007 to 37.4 percent in 2012. During the same period, natural gas, which emits about half as much carbon as coal, increased from 21.6 percent to 30.4 percent. Natural gas has benefited from more competitive prices, thanks to the phenomenal rise of shale gas supplies, and the tougher environmental regulations on coal. Still, experts disagree on the prospects for the industry. "We suspect in the coming years there is likely to be lots of headline risk for carbon. But we see very little real restrictions likely," said a recent report from Jefferies that urged investors to buy coal industry equities. But Divya Reddy, an analyst at risk consultant Eurasia Group, predicted the long-term role of coal will "erode" as new environmental rules take effect. Even so, government experts say coal will be a major part of the mix for decades to come. The Energy Information Administration projects US coal use will increase four percent between 2011 and 2040. "We expect eventually gas prices are going to start edging back up," said Alan Beamon, director of the EIA's office of Electricity, Coal, Nuclear and Renewable Analysis. "And so some of the old coal plants will eventually recapture some of the market they used to serve." There are signs that coal is already recovering some of its market share, thanks to a doubling of natural gas prices in the past year. Coal producer Peabody Energy said demand "rebounded sharply" in the second half of 2012 and predicted higher coal consumption in 2013. The political battle has also extended to coal exports, which in 2012 approached historic highs. Emerging economies like China and India are huge coal consumers and Japan and some European countries are turning to coal to offset nuclear closures. Coal miners are pushing to build new transport and port facilities to expand exports, but those ideas are running into stiff environmental opposition. Advocacy group Friends of the Earth urged rejection of proposed sites in the Pacific Northwest, arguing "the dangers of coal exports affect our communities, health and entire planet." Four ports have been proposed in Oregon and Washington states. "The confidence is relatively high that one or more will be built," said Bob Hodge, editor of IHS Energy Publishing. But a Eurasia Group note pointed to an "uptick in noise" surrounding the controversial projects and predicted a "lengthy approval process."

 

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America tells N-Korea new missile launch would be "huge mistake"

SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea on Friday it would be a "huge mistake" to test launch a medium-range missile and said the United States would never accept the reclusive country as a nuclear power. Addressing reporters after talks with South Korea's president and leaders of the 28,000-strong U.S. military contingent in the country, Kerry also said it was up to China, North Korea's sole major ally, to "put some teeth" into efforts to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions. Kerry, like other U.S. officials, played down an assessment from the Pentagon's intelligence agency that the North already had a nuclear missile capacity. The United States, he said, wanted to resume talks about North Korea's earlier pledges to halt its nuclear programme. But he also stressed that Washington would defend its allies in the region if necessary and pointedly said that Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, "needs to understand, as I think he probably does, what the outcome of a conflict would be". North Korea has repeatedly said it will not abandon nuclear weapons which it said on Friday were its "treasured" guarantor of security. Kerry's visit coincided with preparations for Monday's anniversary of North Korean state founder Kim Il-Sung's birth date, a possible pretext for a show of strength, with speculation focusing on a possible new missile test launch. Kerry, who flies to China on Saturday and to Japan on Sunday, said that if North Korea's 30-year-old leader went ahead with the launch, "he will be choosing, wilfully, to ignore the entire international community". "I would say ahead of time that it is a huge mistake for him to choose to do that because it will further isolate his country and further isolate his people, who frankly are desperate for food, not missile launches." SHRILL RHETORIC The North has issued weeks of shrill threats of an impending war following the imposition of U.N. sanctions in response to its third nuclear test in February. Kerry said the threats were "simply unacceptable" by any standard. "We are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power," he said. Kerry later told U.S. executives in Seoul that China, as an advocate of denuclearisation, was in a position to press for a change in the North's policy. "The reality is that if your policy is denuclearisation and it is theirs as it is ours, as it is everybody's except the North at this moment ... if that's your policy, you've got to put some teeth into it," he told the gathering. But North Korea showed little inclination for further talks. Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the ruling Workers' Party, said Pyongyang would never abandon its nuclear programme. "The DPRK will hold tighter the treasured sword, nuclear weapons," it said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS North Korean state television showed footage of newscasts from other countries depicting the trajectory a North Korean missile launch might take. It also showed preparations for the Kim Il-Sung birthday festivities, including floral tributes, and a stadium of thousands of school children of the Korean Children's Union, each wearing a red scarf and saluting and marching in unison. Speculation has mounted of an impending medium-range missile test launch in the North after reports in South Korea and the United States that as many as five medium-range missiles have been moved into position on the country's east coast. Officials in both countries believe the North is preparing to test-launch a Musudan missile, whose range of 3,500 km (2,100 miles) or more would put Japan within striking distance and may threaten the island of Guam, which houses U.S. military bases. The North has been angry about annual military drills between U.S. and South Korean forces, describing them as a "hostile" act. The United States dispatched B52 and B2 stealth bombers from their bases to take part. Hours before Kerry's arrival, a U.S. lawmaker quoted a report by the U.S. Defence Intelligence Agency, one of the 17 bodies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, as saying it had "moderate confidence" that North Korea had developed a nuclear bomb that could be fitted on a ballistic missile. But Kerry poured cold water on the report said it was "inaccurate to suggest that the DPRK has fully tested, developed capabilities" as set down in the document. South Korea's Defence Ministry said it did not believe North Korea could mount a nuclear warhead on a missile. A U.S. official had earlier suggested that Washington's greatest concern was the possibility of unexpected developments linked to Kim Jong-un's "youth and inexperience". Asked if war seemed imminent, he replied: "Not at all." South Korean President Park Geun-hye, meeting officials from her ruling Saenuri Party before her talks with Kerry, struck a conciliatory note by suggesting Seoul should at least listen to what North Korea had to say. "We have a lot of issues, including the Kaesong industrial zone," local media quoted her as saying. So should we not meet with them and ask: "Just what are you trying to do?'" The president was referring to North Korea's closure this week of the jointly run Kaesong industrial park, with the loss of 53,000 jobs. Kerry said the United States would not object to the South talking to the North. He also did not rule out the possibility of U.S. aid someday flowing to the North, but suggested this could only happen if Pyongyang undertook real denuclearisation. Kerry sounded upbeat about resolving a dispute between the United States and South Korea over a civil nuclear cooperation agreement that expires next year, saying he thought a compromise could be found by Park's visit to Washington next month. South Korea is believed to want the right to reprocess its spent nuclear fuel, which would allow it to deal with a mounting stockpile of nuclear waste. However, this could also allow it to produce bomb-grade fissile material, a step Washington is loathe to see it take in part because of its nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea. "We are ... very concerned at this time about not having any ingredients that could alter our approach ... to either of those," he said. But Kerry added that he was "confident that one option or another will be able to come to fruition (with South Korea) by the time that President Park comes to Washington." (Additional reporting by Ju-min Park in SEOUL, Sui-Lee Wee in BEIJING, John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI, and Patricia Zengerle, Mark Hosenball and Jeff Mason in WASHINGTON; Writing by Ronald Popeski and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Nick Macfie and Jon Hemming)

 

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Update Issue: G8 ministers condemn North Korea "in strongest terms"

Feed: Politic Yahoo UK
Posted on: Thursday, April 11, 2013 20:08
Author: Politic Yahoo UK
Subject: G8 ministers condemn North Korea "in strongest terms"

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign ministers from the G8 group of rich countries condemned "in the strongest possible terms" North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology on Thursday and called for more humanitarian aid to help civilians in Syria. North Korea's threats of war and Iran's nuclear programme topped the agenda of the foreign ministers' talks in London but little substance came out of their private meetings with members of Syria's opposition on the sidelines of the gathering. In a communiqué issued after the meeting, foreign ministers from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and Russia urged North Korea to "refrain from further provocative acts". "They condemned DPRK's (North Korea's) current aggressive rhetoric and confirmed that this will only serve to further isolate the DPRK," it said. Actress Angelina Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, also addressed the ministers, urging more action to prevent sexual violence against women in conflict zones. Leaders of the Syrian National Coalition were present on the sidelines. During a lunch meeting on Wednesday, they asked global powers for more humanitarian aid, according to a U.S. official. The United States, which on February 28 said it will for the first time give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebel fighters and more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition, has so far chosen not to provide arms to the rebels. In the final statement, the ministers themselves "called for greater humanitarian assistance and for improved and safe access to the Syrian people by humanitarian agencies in co-ordination with all parties to the conflict". (Reporting by Arshad Mohammed, Writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Stephen Addison)

 

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Margaret Thatcher: Teil Jingle Climbs Graphs

Baroness Thatcher's death is propelling the song Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead towards the top of the charts. Those who consider the former prime minister's demise a cause of celebration have launched a campaign to get the song to Number One. The Judy Garland version of the song is already at the top of the Amazon download chart, with Ella Fitzgerald's take on it at number four. Garland's is also currently number two in the iTunes chart. A Facebook group set up to encourage people to buy the song and take it all the way now has almost 5,000 members. One called Pat Cross said it was a "small way to register your protest against M Thatcher and the damage she did to so many lives". Anti-Thatcher graffitti in Londonderry The song, written by EY Harburg and composed by Harold Arlen, featured in the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. Midweek placings released by the Official Charts Company show it is now at number 10, having sold more than 10,000 copies. In death, as in life, Lady Thatcher has divided the nation with many hailing her huge contribution to British life but others celebrating her demise. Critics angry at her legacy who claim she destroyed communities with some of her more controversial policies have held parties. There have been demonstrations in Bristol, Brixton and Glasgow and on Tuesday night crowds also gathered in Belfast to celebrate. Australian foreign minister Bob Carr has also caused controversy by claiming Lady Thatcher made "unabashedly racist" comments after she left office. Mr Carr, who has a Malaysian-born wife, said she told him Australia could end up like Fiji "where the Indian migrants have taken over". Lady Thatcher died on Monday, aged 87 Speaking to ABC in China, he said: "I recall one conversation I had with her in her retirement where she said something that was unabashedly racist. "She warned Australia ... against Asian immigration, saying that if we allowed too much of it we'd see the natives of the land, the European settlers, overtaken by migrants." He added: "I couldn't believe it. "It reminded me that despite, yes, her greatness on those big questions, the role of the state, the evil nature of the communist totalitarianism, there was an old-fashioned quality to her that was entirely out of touch and probably explained why her party removed her in the early 90s." Mr Carr's opposite number in Australia, Julie Bishop, called his comments graceless and has demanded he immediately apologise. "His decision to make these claims after her death is a crude attempt to slur the reputation of one of the 20th century's most outstanding leaders," she said.

 

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He states tension assessments create banking institutions much more steady

STONE MOUNTAIN, Georgia (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday the central bank's periodic bank stress tests have made the U.S. financial system more resilient. Contrasting the current state of U.S. banks to their tattered condition in 2009 after the historic financial crisis, Bernanke said the sector's rebound was positive for the broader recovery given the importance of credit to economic growth. "The resilience of the U.S. banking system has greatly improved since then, and the more intensive use and greater sophistication of supervisory stress testing, as well as supervisors' increased emphasis on the effectiveness of banks' own capital planning processes, deserve some credit for that improvement," Bernanke told a conference on financial stability sponsored by the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. In a speech that did not directly touch on the outlook for the U.S. economy and monetary policy, Bernanke hinted at why the central bank continues to pursue an extraordinarily easy monetary policy. "The economy is significantly stronger than it was four years ago, although conditions are clearly still far from where we would all like them to be," he said. Asked about how he felt about loose monetary policy in other advanced economies, Bernanke reiterated his view that it generally benefits all the nations involved. "Most of the world's major industrial economies are engaged in expansionary monetary policy and on net I think that's mutually constructive," he said. STRESS TEST CRITICS Some critics have argued the Fed's stress tests are not sufficiently harsh, while banks have complained they do not fully understand the central bank's methodology. The Fed has released scores for major bank holding companies that show how low their capital ratios would fall under proposed plans for dividends and stock buybacks if "severely adverse" economic conditions unfolded over the next two years. Bernanke said providing too many details about the methodology could lead banks to curtail their own internal risk-management systems. He argued U.S. financial institutions had bolstered their balance sheets by raising more capital. However, he said too many firms still rely too heavily on short-term sources of funding, raising some potential for trouble. "In the area of liquidity and funding, continued improvement is still needed on some dimensions," he said. "Notably, supervisors will continue to press banks to reduce further their dependence on wholesale funding, which proved highly unreliable during the crisis." Bernanke said it was important the stress test scenarios remain severe even as the economy improves so as to not generate complacency. The Fed was widely criticized in the wake of the global financial crisis for missing the oncoming train wreck and being too lenient on banks that took excessive risks. The crisis led to a series of unpopular bailouts of financial institutions that tarnished the central bank's reputation. According to something, He ignored the idea which monetary change came into existence very costly as well as troublesome. This individual stated the actual problems by itself clarified which reforms had been required, including the actual Given regularly views options whenever applying brand new guidelines.

 

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To the north Korea might be planning brand new elemental examination -- Seoul

Southern Korea's Protection Ministry upon Mon rejected recommendations that the elemental hands examination had been impending within To the north Korea, stating documented actions round the reclusive state's atomic website had been program, contradicting previously federal government remarks. Speculation has been mounting that North Korea will launch some sort of provocative action in coming days - an arms test or a missile launch - after weeks of bellicose threats against the South and the United States. The prospect of another test would have boosted tension, already driven up by Pyongyang's fury over the imposition of new U.S. sanctions after its last nuclear test in February. "We found there had been no unusual movements that indicated it wanted to carry out a nuclear test," a Defence Ministry spokesman said. South Korea's Unification Minister, responding to a newspaper report, had earlier said movements did point to a test. "I can only say there are such signs," Ryoo Kihi-jae told a parliamentary committee, while declining to give details. The JoongAng Ilbo daily, quoting a senior South Korean government official, had reported that movement of manpower and vehicles at the Punggye-ri test site was similar to that observed before the February blast. North Korean statements have clearly irritated China, the North's sole diplomatic and financial backer. Leaders in Beijing, in scarcely veiled criticism of the North, have in recent days said they would tolerate no "trouble-making" on their border. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday said Beijing wanted to see nuclear-free peace on the peninsula and said it was the responsibility of al parties to work towards it. Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a Beijing briefing that China "believes that the only way to realise denuclearisation is dialogue among all the parties concerned". North Korean authorities told embassies in Pyongyang they could not guarantee their safety from Wednesday - after saying conflict was inevitable amid joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises due to last until the end of the month. No diplomats appear to have left the North Korean capital. A South Korean government official, quoted by Yonhap news agency, said a North Korean general had told diplomats at the weekend that the situation remained "grave". But he made no mention of Pyongyang's appeal to consider leaving by Wednesday. Pyongyang has moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast, according to media reports last week. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Seoul this week and the North holds celebrations and possibly military demonstrations next Monday to mark the birth date of its founder, Kim Il-Sung - grandfather of the current leader, 30-year-old Kim Jong-un. "MORE DANGEROUS" The turmoil has hit South Korean financial markets, long used to upsets over the North. Shares in Seoul dipped to near a four-month low as the rhetoric prompted selling by foreigners after substantial losses on Friday. Moody's credit rating agency said in a report on Monday that the rise in North Korean rhetoric and the re-starting of a nuclear plant to make fissile material had made the current situation "more dangerous" and negative for South Korean assets. A prominent symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, the Kaesong industrial park inside the North Korean border, is also in doubt after Pyongyang prevented southerners from entering last week. Several hundred South Koreans inside have since returned home. North Korea's KCNA news agency said a senior member of the ruling Workers' Party had visited Kaesong and singled out South Korean actions for putting the facility under threat. "It has become impossible to operate the zone as usual due to the South Korean warmongers' reckless acts," KCNA quoted Kim Yang Gon, secretary of the party's Central Committee, as saying. A spokesman for the South's Unification Ministry said 13 companies out of around 120 firms had stopped operations there because of a lack of raw materials. One academic, Yang Moo-Jin of the University of North Korean studies in Seoul, said North Korea was likely to choose the action most likely to get the most mileage. "North Korea does things with the maximum impact in mind. It has not set a no-fly zone yet, which it does every time they do a ballistic missile test," he said. Pyongyang has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million-strong army for war, indicating the threats are partly intended for domestic purposes to bolster Kim, the third in his family dynasty to rule North Korea. The North has also reacted furiously to annual South Korean-U.S. military exercises off the Korean peninsula, which have involved the dispatch of stealth bombers from their U.S. bases. But a long scheduled U.S. missile launch was postponed at the weekend to try to ease tensions. The U.S. commander of American forces in South Korea also cancelled a trip to Washington due to the situation on the peninsula. EXASPERATION The weekend message from China was one of exasperation after years of trying to coax North Korea out of isolation and to embrace economic reform. No country "should be allowed to throw a region and even the whole world into chaos for selfish gain", President Xi Jinping told a forum on China's southern island of Hainan. He did not name North Korea but he appeared clearly to be referring to Pyongyang. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China opposed "provocative words and actions from any party in the region" and would not "allow trouble-making on China's doorstep". U.S. lawmakers said China was not doing enough. Republican Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticised China's "failure to rein in what could be a catastrophic situation". Analysts said that whatever influence China once had as North Korea's principal backer had waned. "China has some say over its economic relations with the North but doesn't have the power to say 'don't do it' when it comes to nuclear weapons and political and military issues," said Kim Yeon-chul, professor of unification studies at South Korea's Inje University. "North Korea is not listening to China."

 

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Immigration Strategy Is going to be Prepared Immediately, Sen. Chuck Schumer Says

Since the United states senate earnings through break immediately, Sen. Throw Schumer, D-N. B., stated this individual believes the actual bi-partisan Bunch associated with 8 may have the immigration strategy finished at the end from the 7 days.

"We hope that we can have a bipartisan agreement among the eight of us on comprehensive immigration reform by the end of the week," Schumer said today on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Over the last two weeks, we've made great progress. There have been kerfuffles along the way, but each one of those, thus far, has been settled."

Schumer said that the staffs of each Gang of Eight member has worked 12 hours a day to fine-tune the details of their immigration plan and reach an agreement on every issue.

In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also a member of the Gang of Eight, set a longer time frame of a "couple of weeks" before the plan is completed.

But one Republican member of the bi-partisan group has expressed concern that the deal on immigration reform is being reached in haste.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has called for more hearings and time to review the plan in order to encourage "healthy public debate."

"Arriving at a final product will require it to be properly submitted for the American people's consideration, through the other 92 senators from 43 states that weren't part of this initial drafting process," Rubio said in a statement last week. "In order to succeed, this process cannot be rushed or done in secret."

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., disputed the idea that the plan is being rushed, saying on CBS' "Face the Nation," "I reject this notion that something is being railroaded through. This is the beginning of the process, not the end of it."

Graham defended Rubio, even though questions have been raised about whether he will ultimately agree to a bi-partisan plan.

"Marco Rubio has been a game changer in my party," Graham said. " He can become generally there only when the actual Democrats will certainly accept the visitor employee system along with a merit-based immigration program to change the actual damaged 1 as well as we're going restore our own sovereignty through obtaining our own edges as well as getting effects of work via E-Verify. Ámbito is going to be generally there.

 

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