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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 12th, 2008 The Washington Post gives us indication of the very active, though private, work of the Obama transition team of 450. The headquarters are in Chicago, and the President elect is busy also returning phone calls from World leaders. Among the Tuesday calls were calls to: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil Previously it was also noted that Obama returned calls from leaders of most US allies - those in Europe and also among others, China, Japan and Israel. Obama will not go to the G-20 meeting in Washington, but we do not think that he will be out of reach by phone. Obama Also Lays Out Ethics Rules. The ethics rules — no federal lobbyist can raise or contribute money for the transition efforts, no one who has lobbied in the last 12 months can advise the transition on the policy area on which they lobbied, no one involved in the policy work of the transition can lobby on that issue for a calendar year — were announced by transition co-chair John Podesta during a press briefing for reporters this afternoon. (Full details of the Obama ethics plan for the transition are after the jump.) Podesta cast the new ethics rules as a leading indicator of what he termed “the most open and transparent transition in history.” Podesta added that members of the transition team will sign an ethics code laying out the specific principles announced today. Asked about reports of tension between President George W. Bush and Obama in their meeting Monday, Podesta demurred, saying only that it was a “private meeting” in which the auto industry as well as plans for an economic recovery package were raised. Podesta rejected reports that the passage of economic stimulus plan or a package to help the auto industry was part of a proposed legislative exchange for the elimination of Democratic opposition to the Colombia free trade agreement. “While the topic of Colombia came up, there was no quid pro quo,” Podesta asserted. He added that the relations between the current White House and the Obama transition teams have been “collegial” and “cooperative”. Podesta said that Obama had no plans to meet with any of the world leaders coming to town for the G20 gathering this weekend and aimed at addressing the global economic crisis. The President-elect will send an emissary to the meetings but Podesta would not offer any names as to the identity of that liaison. As for the nuts and bolts of the transition itself, Podesta said that the budget was approximately $12 million with $5.2 million of that coming in appropriations from Congress. The remaining $6.8 million will be raised by the transition operation, according to Podesta. The total transition staff will reach approximately 450 individuals, said Podesta, adding that beginning Monday a top to bottom review of every government agency would begin in an effort to insure “we hit the ground running on Jan. 20 because we don’t have a moment to lose.” Podesta offered few specifics about the naming of Cabinet officials other than to indicate that the announcements would likely be made by Obama in Chicago. As for White House senior staff, those announcements “will come out as they are ready to be announced.” Obama Ethics Rules * Federal Lobbyists cannot contribute financially to the transition. * Federal lobbyists are prohibited from any lobbying during their work with the transition. * If someone has lobbied in the last 12 months, they are prohibited from working in the fields of policy on which they lobbied. * If someone becomes a lobbyist after working on the Transition, they are prohibited from lobbying the Administration for 12 months on matters on which they worked. * A gift ban that is aggressive in reducing the influence of special interests. By Chris Cillizza | November 11, 2008; 3:00 PM ET Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 11th, 2008 Diplomats Say Uranium Traces Found at Bombed Syrian Site. See also Formal Report Drafted on Syria Atom Probe - Mark Heinrich Moreover, Syria has been made an official agenda item at the year-end November 27-28 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, unlike previously when IAEA officials said initial inquiries were inconclusive. (Reuters) —————- AP - updated 6:46 p.m. CT, Mon., Nov. 10, 2008 VIENNA, Austria - Samples taken from a Syrian site bombed by Israel on suspicion it was a covert nuclear reactor contained traces of uranium combined with other elements that merit further investigation, diplomats said Monday. The diplomats — who demanded anonymity because their information was confidential — said the uranium was processed and not in raw form, suggesting some kind of nuclear link. But one of the diplomats said the uranium finding itself was significant only in the context of other traces found in the oil or air samples taken by International Atomic Energy Agency experts during their visit to the site in June. Syria has a rudimentary declared nuclear program revolving around research and the production of isotopes for medical and agricultural uses, using a small, 27-kilowatt reactor, and the uranium traces might have originated from there and inadvertently been carried to the bombed site. But taken together, the uranium and the other components found on the environmental swipes “tell a story” worth investigating, said the diplomat. The second diplomat said the findings would figure in a report on Syria that will be presented to the IAEA’s 35-nation board next week ahead of a scheduled two-day board meeting starting Nov. 24. Attempts to reach IAEA spokespeople after office hours for comment were unsuccessful. Diplomats already told The Associated Press late last month that air and soil samples taken at the site bombed last year by Israeli warplanes had turned up traces of elements that the agency felt needed to be followed up. The findings are important after months of uncertainty about the status of the investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The U.S. says the facility hit by Israeli warplanes more than a year ago was a nearly completed reactor that — when on line — could produce plutonium, a pathway to nuclear arms. *** Covert program denied: But Damascus denies running a covert program. Ibrahim Othman, Syria’s nuclear chief, has said his country would wait for final environmental results before deciding how to respond to repeated IAEA requests for follow-up visits to the one in June, when the samples were collected. But a diplomat attending a closed IAEA meeting in September told the AP that Syrian Ambassador Mohammed Badi Khattab suggested his country would not allow further visits under any circumstances because it was still technically at war with Israel and was concerned any additional IAEA probe would expose some of its non-nuclear military secrets. Beyond wanting to revisit the site bombed by Israel, IAEA experts also want to follow up on U.S. Israeli and other intelligence that North Korea was involved in building the alleged Syrian program. Also, IAEA officials have been seeking permission to visit three other sites purportedly linked to the alleged reactor destroyed by the Israelis — although Syria already has said that those locations are off limits because they are in restricted military areas. *** Images raise suspicions of Syria facility. Syria fears the IAEA probe could lead to a massive investigation similar to the probe Iran has been subjected to for more than five years — and to related fallout. Iran is under U.N. sanctions because of its refusal to heed Security Council demands to curb its nuclear activities. IAEA experts came back June 25 from a four-day visit carrying air and soil samples from the Al Kibar site hit by Israel. But intelligence suggests that radioactive material had not yet been introduced into the alleged reactor before it was destroyed. That left the inspectors looking for other components, including minute quantities of graphite, a cooling element in the type of North Korean prototype that allegedly was being built with help from Pyongyang. Such a reactor contains hundreds of tons of graphite, and any major explosion would have sent dust over the immediate area. *** Mark Heinrich - Formal report drafted on Syria atom probe. VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog is drafting an investigative report on Syria for the first time, suggesting to Western diplomats the agency has found some sign of undeclared activity at a site bombed by Israel last year. Moreover, Syria has been made an official agenda item at the year-end November 27-28 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, unlike previously when IAEA officials said initial inquiries were inconclusive. The IAEA has been probing Syria since May over U.S. intelligence allegations that it was close to completing a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor with North Korean help before Israel flattened the site in an air strike. Syria denies pursuing nuclear energy for atomic bomb purposes in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It says the unverified U.S. intelligence was fabricated. A restricted copy of the 35-nation meeting’s agenda said Syria was added to address a pending report by IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei, similar in format to those issued quarterly on an agency probe into Iran’s secretive nuclear programme. “The agency clearly thinks it has something significant enough to report to put Syria on the (nuclear safeguards) agenda right after North Korea and Iran,” said a senior diplomat with ties to the Vienna-based U.N. watchdog. “We do not have firm word on what the inspectors found (at the site), only that the findings suggest there are more questions to pursue,” said another senior diplomat accredited to the agency. The diplomats asked for anonymity in exchange for discussing politically sensitive and confidential information. Syria — an ally of Iran, which is subject of a much longer-running, and now stalled, IAEA investigation — has one declared nuclear site — an old research reactor. ElBaradei told an IAEA board meeting in September that preliminary findings from test samples taken by inspectors granted a visit in June to the desert location hit by Israel bore no traces of atomic activity. Diplomats said the IAEA apparently had now evaluated all the environmental swipe samples but exactly what the sleuths found remained unclear and would be laid out in the report. Syria says all that was there was a disused military building, not a clandestine nuclear complex of North Korean design that could have yielded plutonium for atomic bomb fuel as Washington has maintained. It told the IAEA in September it was cooperating fully with the IAEA inquiry but would not go as far as opening up military sites because this would undermine its security. ElBaradei said then that Syrian cooperation had been “good” but Damascus needed to show “maximum cooperation” for the agency to draw conclusions. Diplomats close to the IAEA say Syria has ignored agency requests to check three military installations that may have harboured materials connected to the alleged reactor site. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 10th, 2008 Monday, Nov. 10, 2208, Kyodo News. Sugihara died of cardiac arrest on Oct. 8 at the age of 94. “Yukiko has continued to stand as a heroic, brave woman, a true humanitarian, and a righteous person, whom the world should never forget,” Spielberg said in the letter. He has praised Chiune as “Japan’s Schindler,” comparing his deeds to those of Oskar Schindler, the German factory owner in Poland who provided Jews with safe haven during World War II and was depicted in Spielberg’s film, “Schindler’s List.” Chiune, who was the consul general in the then Lithuanian capital of Kaunas from 1938 to 1940, is known for rescuing 6,000 Jews from the Holocaust. *** Kaunas was sandwiched between Germany and the Soviet Union. After German leader Adolf Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Nazi armies invaded Poland and Jewish refugees streamed into Lithuania. Chiune repeatedly sought permission from the Japanese Foreign Ministry to issue visas for the fleeing Jews, but his request was turned down. He then issued them with transit visas on his own initiative. Records show that the recipients traveled via Siberia and Japan to eventual safety in the United States and other destinations. *** Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 8th, 2008 World News Desk – November 6, 2008, http://www.realtruth.org/news/081106-001… Newspaper headlines from Azerbaijan to Argentina speculated about what kind of changes a presidency under Mr. Obama would bring to the world, who has been viewed as a global denizen and force of international unification. Chandra Bhan Prasad, a prominent Indian author: “This is America’s second revolution, and Obama’s victory will boost the esteem of the underprivileged social classes and ethnic groups the world over” (Washington Post). Samir Saadi, a Saudi journalist: “Given Obama’s name, his background, the doubts about his religion, Americans still voted for him and this proved that America is a democracy,’ he said. ‘People here are starting to believe in the U.S. again’” (ibid.). Viktor Yerofeyev, Russian novelist: “The choice of an African American president in the United States overturns the whole idea of the stiff and conservative America. This means that America did wake up. This means that America is again open for free and democratic values. America has once again become a good model to emulate. It has again become a great country” (ibid.). Kenya, the nation from where Mr. Obama’s late father was born, even declared a national holiday to celebrate the U.S. senator’s victory to the “most powerful office on earth” (Daily Nation). Many world leaders were equally optimistic. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd: “Senator Obama’s message of hope is not just for America’s future, it is also a message of hope for the world as well” (Washington Post). Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen: “Barack Obama’s remarkable personal story—allied to his eloquence and his huge political talents—sends a powerful message of hope to America’s friends across the world” (ibid.). Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission President: “I sincerely hope that with the leadership of President Obama, the United States of America will join forces with Europe to drive this new deal. For the benefit of our societies, for the benefit of the world” (Jerusalem Post). Russian President Dmitri Medvedev: “Russian-U.S. relations are historically an important factor of stability in the world. They are of great and sometimes, of key importance for resolving many pressing international and regional problems…We are confident that it is necessary to step-by-step enhance cooperation between our countries on a wide range of issues on the world agenda, but also to really promote bilateral interaction in all areas” (Itar-Tass). French President Nicolas Sarkozy: “By choosing you, the American people have chosen change, openness and optimism…At a time when all of us must face huge challenges together, your election raises great hope in France, in Europe and elsewhere in the world” (AFP). Kenyan Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka: “It is exciting for Kenya not only because of continental attachment to President-elect because of his roots in Kenya but because Obama victory is a harbinger of good tidings especially for our tourism sector” (Daily Nation). Chinese President Hu Jintao: “The Chinese government and I myself have always attached great importance to China-US relations. In the new historic era, I look forward to working together with you to continuously strengthen dialogue and exchanges between our two countries and enhance our mutual trust and cooperation on the basis of the three Sino-US Joint Communiques, with a view to taking our constructive and cooperative relationship to a new high and bringing greater benefits to people of our two countries and the rest of the world” (China Daily). Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: “The historical election of an Afro-descendant to rule the most powerful nation of the world is a symptom that the epoch change that has been gestated from the South of America could be knocking the doors of United States” (Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias). BBC News also outlined the “Top 10 foreign challenges for Obama,” alluding that there could be “problems in new areas of al-Qaeda activity, especially Algeria and Somalia” when he takes office. Although most government officials were excited about the historic win, several tried to be realistic. The Jerusalem Post: “‘We are not the first priority,’ one senior diplomatic official said, reflecting the consensus thinking in the Foreign Ministry. According to this thinking, the new president will first need to tackle the economy, the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the tension with Russia and a worsening situation for the U.S. in South America—the U.S.’s ‘own backyard’—before tackling the Middle East conflict.’” Der Spiegel also featured a series of commentaries from various European leaders about what they want to see under the new president-elect. Margot Wallström of Sweden, the vice-president of the European Commission: “The U.S. has been particularly successful in creating growth and jobs, and maintaining competitiveness through technological innovation rather than low labor costs. The EU on the other hand has brought forward an ambitious climate change package and works hard to promote social justice. As we have seen in Scandinavia—where the concept of the flexicurity seems to have been born—it is possible to combine economic growth with social justice…I believe the era of U.S. unilateralism is over, and that partnership with Europe has become a central plank of U.S. foreign policy.” Democrats in the United States were equally elated about Mr. Obama’s win. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 3rd, 2008 Burning flags, Iranians cheer US Embassy takeover. The Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran: Hundreds of Iranian school students bused in for the occasion crowded outside the former U.S. Embassy on Monday, burning American flags and chanting slogans to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the building’s seizure by militant Iranian students. Equal parts unofficial school holiday and angry demonstration, the commemoration came on the eve of the U.S. presidential election and was marked by anti-U.S. and anti-Israel chants and the burning of American, Israeli flags and an effigy of Uncle Sam.
Iranians blame the CIA for helping topple the elected government of Mohammad Mosaddeq in the 1950s and blames the United States for openly supporting the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi against the 1979 Islamic revolution that led to the collapse of the dynasty. {OK - they had a point - but why now this repeat performance? They will simply make it more difficulton themselves by making it more difficult for those that may be trying to have a decent and honest contact with them} Today, some of Iran’s leaders see Barack Obama as a harbinger of much-wanted change in U.S. policy toward their government. Iranian state radio broadcast a commentary Monday praising the Democrat. “Obama entered the race under the slogan of change,” it said. “The American people expect their government to put aside neo-conservative policy of unilateralism and return to dialogue in their dealings with the international community.” But although Iranian conservatives may prefer Obama to Republican John McCain, reformers say a McCain victory will bolster Iranian hardliners, who may claim continued U.S. hostilities justify their suppression of freedoms at home and their tough foreign policy. Last week, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on all state matters, said his country’s hatred for the United States runs deep and differences between the two nations go beyond a “few political issues.” The comments by Khamenei were seen as a signal that a thaw in U.S.-Iran relations was not expected no matter who wins Tuesday. During Monday’s demonstration, the Iranian parliament deputy speaker, Mohammad Hasan Abutorabifard, told the crowd that Iran’s lack of ties to the U.S. has helped insulate the country from the global financial crisis. Reza Pourtaghi, an 18-year-old high school senior at the rally, said anti-U.S. sentiments are strong among his generation. Iranian youth “must not forget that the U.S. is enemy of all Muslims, especially Iranians,” he said. State television broadcast file footage of the takeover and the 1980 release of hostages when they boarded single-file a plane destined for home. Meanwhile, Iran’s joint armed forces called the takeover a “Collapse of U.S. hegemony” in a statement made available to The Associated Press. Current U.S.-Iranian relations remain very tense, with Washington accusing Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons and of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq — charges which Tehran denies. The U.S. has backed three sets of U.N. sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran asserts the activity is only meant to produce electricity. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 3rd, 2008 Investing in doing good can be good risk management.
*** Insight Investment, in partnership with world poverty action group Oxfam, is about to launch a year-long programme to promote discussion and research about the role of institutional investors in poverty alleviation and development. “Responsible investors benefit from better risk management, greater transparency, and an active engagement with companies to promote better management,” says Helena Vines Fiestas, a policy analyst for Oxfam. “Social, environmental and governance issues are also key features of their investment analysis. In this climate, responsible investors offer a real way forward.” Although Oxfam clearly has an agenda, it is making an effort to engage with investors who are concerned that their fiduciary duty to maximise returns overrides any interest in doing good. The first question to be asked, according to Ms Vines Fiestas, is what role, if any, investors have to play in poverty alleviation, but the second is how to measure their performance in this field. This is at least a sop to those critics of sustainable investing who claim it is too woolly to be meaningful. Proponents of the concept naturally reject this criticism. “If you invest in ways that don’t undermine the financial system [ie by having regard to the long term impact of your investment behaviour], that’s economically rational,” says Colin Melvin, chief executive of Hermes Equity Ownership Services, the corporate governance arm of the institutional fund manager owned by BT Pension Scheme. “That economic rationality has been absent for some time.” James Gifford, executive director of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investing, says he is also seeing a surge in interest in these issues, and not just for woolly reasons. “As things become tougher, it’s the commercial fund managers who need to demonstrate to their clients that they have these things under control,” says Mr Gifford. *** “People don’t want any surprises these days,” says Mr Cronin. “The issues are not new, but an ESG framework helps you manage an aspect of risk.” Whether it is about better risk management, a clear conscience, better returns or good PR, more and more asset managers are jumping on the bandwagon.
Robeco itself has already demonstrated its commitment to responsible investment by signing up to the UNPRI and the Carbon Disclosure Project, as well as buying an 85 per cent share in Sustainable Asset Management, a Swiss based fund manager specialising in sustainable investment. Christian Werner, Sam’s chief investment officer, explains the thinking behind his investment philosophy as being driven by concerns around climate change and the environment. “If we don’t invest in these companies fast, we won’t get anywhere near the solution.” This is the argument that growth will have to come from these sectors if the future of humanity is to be secure, and therefore they provide an excellent investment opportunity. “It’s all about investment and asset allocation,” says Mr Werner. The asset allocation certainly seems to be running his way, as Sam has just picked up two new mandates from US institutional investors. *** Not to be outdone, HSBC has instituted a Climate Change Centre of Excellence, whose head, Nick Robins, has co-authored a book, Sustainable Investing: The Art of Long-Term Performance, with Cary Crosinski, vice president of Trucost, an environmental research organisation.
This is because much of it is about saving energy, which in turn saves costs. However, that is not the only way for property investment to be sustainable. Oxford Group has recently launched a closed ended fund investing in renewable energy sustainable property projects in Eastern Europe and Near Asia. Aiming to raise €50m (£39m, $64m), the fund promises to deliver a minimum of 25 per cent per annum over the three and a half year life of the fund. By investing in areas designated by local governments as regeneration targets, ensuring the planning process integrates developments into local infrastructure with a view to sustainable community building and ensuring the supply chain is also sustainable, Hadley Barrett, Oxford Group’s chief exeuctive, is confident he can meet this goal. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 2nd, 2008 Google got onto a Green Business Information Spree With Its GREEN CHIP sending out Green Chip Review International Companies are Dominating the Cleantech Space: Many of the world’s new energy technologies are being developed in countries outside the United States. Germany, for example, is mother to the modern solar industry. The Danes have all but cornered the wind industry with the now-famous Vestas Wind Systems. Green Chip International is taking full advantage of this phenomenon. Its latest German solar recommendation is up about 11% in under two weeks. Everyday, international renewables companies are delivering monster gains. Further: Google’s Green Imperative The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy research center at the University of California, says data center energy costs can be 100-times higher than those for typical buildings. Or, as the techies put it: RE < C Intel and Google are both pushing hard into power reduction and production. Intel has paved the way in energy-efficient microchips, and Google’s constant advances in streamlining daily life make telecommuting more possible than ever. But with well over 200,000 buzzing servers used to run the world’s top search engine, it appears that Google’s massive data processing facilities may have started something of an IT arms race. The quest for cheap power today is already pushing American tech heavyweights from Silicon Valley overseas, to downstream solutions for energy optimization… According to Strand’s piece in Harper’s, “Microsoft has announced plans for a data center in Siberia, AT&T has built two in Shanghai, and Dublin has attracted Google and Microsoft. In all three locations, as in the United States, the burning of fossil fuels accounts for a majority of the electricity.” But keep in mind that the same low-cost draw of Chinese energy is also attracting foreign direct investment that goes further in China than it would in U.S. startups. Intel announced in the last week of October that it will invest $20 million in a Chinese solar power company through its investment arm, Intel Capital. Moves like that earned Intel the EPA Green Power Partner of the Year designation, awarded to companies that voluntarily move to minimize their carbon footprint and ramp up efficiency.
*** Carbon neutrality is a primary goal, and the next step is fostering new power generation techniques for server farms and other juice-guzzling technologies. In September, before the stock market collapse got Washington talking about large-scale investment projects and job creation schemes, Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke passionately about political will and competitive reality to a roomful of his peers at the Corporate EcoForum: “Why not retool the infrastructure in the U.S.?” he added rhetorically. Well, there’s no good reason why not, other than putting off until tomorrow what could be done today. Google and Intel see energy efficiency as an industrial imperative. To increase shareholder value and minimize costs, smart power is a must. Same goes for the country and the world. Taxpayers will reap the rewards of energy investments with jobs and GDP growth. Schmidt sees a pathway to the kind of sustainable competition that can move us forward, rather than engaging in a race-to-the-bottom mentality of outsourcing and cost-cutting that has dominated in recent decades. It’s no wonder, then, that Schmidt is rumored to be on the short list for a national chief technology officer position that Barack Obama has promised to create, in the event he wins office next Tuesday. Google has set the standard for IT excellence since the turn of the millennium. Out of the thousands of companies that rose and fell during dot-com mania, Google survived to change the way information flows and the way many industries work.
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on November 1st, 2008 |