Congress toughens fuel economy rules
The News Review:
- Congress toughens fuel economy rules
- KPU: Ketchikan’s Home Grown Utility
- ‘Groundbreaking’ energy bill goes to Bush President to sign…
- Iran rejects suspension of uranium enrichment
- The Economist Debate Series: Education
- Film Critic John Harkness Found Dead in Home
Congress toughens fuel economy rules
St. Petersburg Times - Dec 19, 2007
Barton also complained that the bill would raise the cost of homes, appliances and even light bulbs. Lowell Ungar, director of policy at the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington coalition of business, consumer, environmental and government leaders, said that more energy-efficient lightbulbs would be more expensive, but consumers would, over the long run, save money on their utility bills. Food industry groups warn that the mandate for increased production of home-grown fuel, including corn-based ethanol, could drive up food prices. Scott Faber of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said the renewable fuel standard "won't give us cheaper gas, but it will give us costlier meat, milk and eggs. " Another point of concern is an emphasis on cellulosic ethanol, made from such feedstock as switchgrass and wood chips, after 2015. However, commercially viable production of cellulosic ethanol has yet to be proven, and some Republicans have argued that the new requirements could be impossible to meet. The bill does allows for a waiver if producers are unable to meet the federal requirement for cellulosic ethanol.
KPU: Ketchikan’s Home Grown Utility
SitNews - Dec 19, 2007
Hill who made a proposal to the Ketchikan city council in 1901 for a franchise to create Ketchikan Light and Power Company. Unfortunately, according to local historian June Allen, Hill went back to Juneau and no more was heard about the Ketchikan Light and Power Company, at least for the next couple years. Ketchikan’s power and water needs continued to grow as the town population doubled to more than 1,000 people in the next year and a group of local residents - with the backing of some outside investors - petitioned the city for another utility franchise in 1903 and the Citizens Light, Power and Water Company was granted a 15-year charter. First Dams and Powerhouses in 1903 One of the company’s first tasks was working with local contractors to build the first dam on Ketchikan Creek, just about a mile inland from the mouth of the creek. A 15-foot high dam was built, as was a flume to carry water to a power house which would be located on the creek beneath the main falls near where the Mary Frances garage is now located. When the water in the creek is low, you can see the remains of the Pelton Wheel from that power house in the creek mud… 6 Photograph courtesy Ketchikan Museums Throughout the 1910s, Ketchikan and CLPW continued to grow, but at a smaller pace than the hectic first decade of Ketchikan’s incorporation. World War I further slackened the pace of development because many of the local mining industries were not considered essential to the war effort. But things changed dramatically in the 1920s as Ketchikan’s economy roared headfirst into the era that made Ketchikan the "Salmon Canning Capital of the World. " By 1920, it was clear that Ketchikan’s economic progress, as personified by the canneries popping up all along the waterfront, was being hampered by a limited power supply. It was a scenario that would be repeated again and again over the next 87 years.
‘Groundbreaking’ energy bill goes to Bush President to sign…
San Francisco Chronicle - Dec 19, 2007
Joe Barton of Texas, the top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said during the House debate. Barton also complained that the bill will raise the cost of homes, appliances and even lightbulbs. Food industry groups warn that the mandate for increased production of home-grown fuel, including corn-based ethanol, could drive up food prices. Scott Faber of the Grocery Manufacturers Association said the renewable-fuel standard “won’t give us cheaper gas, but it will give us costlier meat, milk and eggs. ” Lowell Ungar, director of policy at the Alliance to Save Energy, a Washington coalition of business, consumer, environmental and government leaders, said that energy-efficient lightbulbs will be more expensive, but consumers will, over the long run, save money on their utility bills. “Consumers spend far more today to run their lightbulbs than they do to buy them,” he said. “If you go out now and replace an incandescent bulb with a compact fluorescent, it pays for itself in a few months.
Iran rejects suspension of uranium enrichment
央视国际 - Dec 19, 2007
President George W. Bush said Monday that Russian deliveries of nuclear fuel to Iran only fed the need for the world to clamp down more firmly on Tehran’s home-grown atomic work. 18 (Xinhua) — Iran on Tuesday reiterated its rejection of suspending uranium enrichment, one day after the first shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power station arrived in the country. Deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Saeedi was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that some people said Iran no longer needs to enrich its uranium after the delivery of the nuclear fuel, but the notion about Iran’s suspension of uranium enrichment was an “outdated analysis. ”
“The issue of the nuclear fuel has nothing to do with the issue of Iran’s uranium enrichment activities,” he said, adding that delivery of the nuclear fuel was a “success” for the Iranian nation after a long time.
The Economist Debate Series: Education
economist.com - Dec 19, 2007
It’s about the appropriate roles and priorities of governments and universities. Supporting this proposal requires one to agree that what is good for one university is good for all; that what is good for one nation is good for all; and that what is good for universities is always good for the nation. I would submit that for the sake of a nation’s long-term economic security, it is imperative for a government to cultivate home-grown talent and skill as well as to import it. Rather than trying to arrive at some kind of formula or quota on the proper mix of foreign vs. domestic students, as was suggested by several well-meaning commenters, I would suggest instead that some institutions decide for themselves what works, and others (those that depend heavily on public subsidies) be expected to refrain from trying to compete globally in order to give priority to local students. It is perfectly understandable that those universities choosing to compete globally would press governments to allow them unfettered access to foreign students. They have both academic and financial reasons for doing so.
Film Critic John Harkness Found Dead in Home
andPOP - Dec 19, 2007
“He had never missed a deadline in 26 years,” Hollet said, “so we sent somebody to his house when his copy didn’t arrive. ” After discovering the body, the police were promptly notified. The definition of home grown talent, Harkness was born in Montreal and was raised in Halifax and Sarnia. He attended Carlton University in Ottawa where he received a degree in English literature. Following his degree in English, Harkness did some graduate work at Columbia University in New York in Cinema Studies. Harkness’ work was not only limited to Toronto’s treasured NOW magazine, but he also worked with Cinematheque, Take One, and Sight and Sound, and spent a number of years reporting for Screen International and Cinema Canada.