Monday, July 28, 2008

What Have These Efforts Produced...

On The Attack:

A Thought in 5 Parts

1.

Published: July 27, 2008
To the Editor:

Re “9/11 and 4/11,” by Thomas L. Friedman (column, July 20):

I agree with Mr. Friedman’s assertion that we must break “our addiction to oil.” But it is ridiculous and unfounded to claim that the president’s response to this challenge consists only of an effort to expand offshore drilling.

The president has put forward a series of policies to expand access to our domestic resources, improve energy efficiency and harness the power of alternative energy.

On the demand side, the president signed into law increases in fuel efficiency standards and financed critical research into gas-saving technologies like advanced batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.

On the supply side, we’ve spent more than $12 billion to advance alternative energy sources including solar, wind, biofuels and nuclear power. To more rapidly deploy these technologies, we recently announced the availability of more than $30 billion in clean-energy project loan guarantees.

What have these efforts produced so far?

The United States has the fastest growing wind power capacity in the world, and installed photovoltaic capacity has grown 30 percent a year, and we lead the world in overall biofuels production. And the list goes on.

Americans recognize that our energy challenges are complex and serious. We must continue to pursue real solutions, not demagogy and clever rhetoric.

Samuel W. Bodman
Secretary of Energy
Washington, July 24, 2008

2.

12 killed in Cameroon attack over oil

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Ten insurgents and two Cameroonian soldiers were killed in a rebel attack in the oil-rich Bakassi peninsula, Cameroon's Defense Minister said on state-run TV on Friday.

Eight of the assailants were captured in the attack Thursday in the town of Kombo Ajanai, Remy Ze Meka said. He said a military battalion was attacked by an armed group on three power boats.

A spokesman for the armed rebel group, who identified himself as Commander Ebi Dari, told The Associated Press by telephone that more attacks will follow if Cameroon does not renegotiate its claim to the territory.


3.

TEHRAN, July 26 (Reuters) - Iran's OPEC governor said world oil prices could reach as high as $500 per barrel in a few years' time if the U.S. dollar falls further and political tension worsens, an Iranian weekly said.

"If the dollar's value continues to decrease and if the political crisis becomes worse, the oil price would reach up to $500," Mohammad Ali Khatibi told Shahrvand-e Emrooz in an interview published on Saturday.

4.

BRITISH TAKE UP SENATE OIL ATTACK; London Times Correspondent Links It With Irish and Other Anti-British Propaganda. NO EMBARGO IS EXPECTED Labor Paper Charges "Standard Oil Rule" in Poland Through East Galician Concessions.

Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
January 9, 1921, Sunday
Page 6, 693 words

LONDON, Jan. 8.--The London Times Washington correspondent in reporting the speeches of Senators McKellar and Phelan in the Senate on the oil policy of Great Britain Says :

5.

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNN) -- A rebel group in Nigeria said it sabotaged two oil pipelines in southern Nigeria on Monday.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said "detonation engineers backed by heavily armed fighters" sabotaged two pipelines about 1:15 a.m. Monday.

The rebels said they believe that both pipelines belong to the Shell Petroleum Development Company -- one in the the city of Kula, Nigeria and the other in Rumuekpe, Nigeria.

Shell said it had been informed of an incident, in Kula, Nigeria, and was "conducting an overfly to determine what actually happened." It did not address reports of something out of the ordinary in Rumuekpe, Nigeria and declined to comment further.

Nigeria is the fourth-largest supplier of oil to the United States, and attacks by rebels have helped fuel the year-long spike in crude oil prices. It's one of many factors pushing up the price of gas in the United States, where one in every 10 barrels of oil comes from Nigeria.

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