TALKING POINTS: Dangerous Double Standard?

What happened in Pakistan?

• On November 3^rd, 2007, Gen. and President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan suspended the Constitution of the country and installed emergency rule and martial law.
• Musharraf feared a ruling on 6 charges against him by the Supreme Court about his being the Head of the Army and the President of the country.
• Musharraf shut down all television stations not controlled by the government, ordered the arrests of thousands of political opponents and pro-democracy activists, fired judges not supportive of his crackdown, jammed mobile phone networks and ordered attacks on peaceful demonstrators.
• 12^th and 16^th Prime Minister of Pakistan, Ms. Benazir Bhutto, Musharraf’s political opposition and critic, was put under house arrest in Lahore, Pakistan, where barbed wire and cement barricades were used to keep her from staging a protest about the declaration of emergency rule and suspension of democracy form Lahore to Islamabad.
• Bhutto, on her arrival in Pakistan from a family trip in Dubai in response to the declaration by Musharraf, said “The extremists need a dictatorship, and dictatorship needs extremists.”
• Bhutto was kept under house arrest for about a week.
• Reuters, Nov. 16, 2007
  
• Wiki: Benazir Bhutto
• NY Times: Pakistan
  

Does Iran have the capacity to build a nuclear arsenal?

• In 2005, the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (produced by the National Intelligence Council and expresses the coordinated judgments of 16 intelligence agencies which make up the U.S. Intelligence Community) stated that Iran was 10 years from making a nuclear weapon.
• In 2006, Germany’s head of intelligence Ernst Uhrlau said Tehran would not be able to produce enough material for a nuclear bomb before 2010 and would only be able to make it a weapon by about 2015.
• In May, 2007, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei said that Iran could take between 3 and 8 years to make a bomb if it decided to do so.
• The 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate is said to state that Iran will not be able to build a nuclear bomb until at least 2010 and possibly 2015.
• In October, 2007, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei reasserted that if Iran was trying to develop a nuclear bomb, they would require 3 to 8 years more to succeed, an assessment he says is shared by all the intelligence services.
• Wiki: Iran and Weapons of Mass Destruction
• NY Times: Iran
• The Guardian: Iran
  

How many nuclear warheads does each country have?

• Former Soviet Union (Russia): 5,830 active - 16,000 total
• United States: 5,163 active - 9,938 total
• United Kingdom: 750
• France: 350
• China: 130
• India: 70-120*
• Pakistan: 30-80*
• North Korea: 1-10*
• Israel: 25-200**

(* is a country that is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and is a known nuclear power or has a record of proliferation)

(**is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has not confirmed or denied possession of nuclear weapons)

Interesting to NOTE: The US strongly supports Israel, Pakistan and India as allies, three states which are developing or have developed nuclear weapons outside the confines of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Wiki: Nuclear Weapons

See Web Resources for further analysis.

Talking Points: Green With Energy?

Global Warming in the West

• At Glacier National Park this summer, scientists found that Gem Glacier was entirely snow-free for the first time in 100 years.
• At Glacier National Park, scientists found that they were about eight and a half years ahead of schedule for their projections about glacier melt due to global warming

"Warming Climate Shrinking Glacier Park's glaciers" (10/11/07)
USA Today

• The Arctic Climate Impact Assessment has seen a massive acceleration of the speed with which Greenland’s glaciers are moving into the sea, with ice moving at 2 meters an hour on a front five KM long and 1,500M deep. They equate this with one glacier putting enough fresh water into the sea in one day to provide drinking water for a city the size of New York or London for a year.

"Ice Caps Melting Fast: Say Goodbye to the Big Apple?" (10/10/07)
Alternet.Org

Oil and Gas Drilling

• An NRDC report released October 31, 2007 details how the U.S. oil and gas production industry has utilized loopholes in federal laws that allow it to pollute the land, air and water, and release toxic substances into the environment

Natural Resources Defense Council Report

• Since 1996, more than 25 million acres of Rocky Mountain West have been leased for oil and gas development.
• In 2006, the BLM received more than 10,400 applications for permits to drill for natural gas, an record high and a 20% increase from 2005

"Guest Opinion: Spike in drilling permits raises concerns for public land hunters" (11/2/07)
Billings Gazette

• In 2005, the Department of the Interior issued a plan to dramatically increase oil and gas development in the 4.6 million-acre management area of the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska, opening over 95% of the area to development. Although a court ordered a new Environmental Impact Statement from the DOI because their original EIS failed to properly consider the cumulative effects of other North Slope oil and gas activities, the new EIS submitted by the DOI does not include new alternatives.
• The DOI is moving forward with massive plans for oil and gas development throughout the entire 72 million acre Arctic Ocean. New areas have been opened to development through the DOI’s 2007-2012 give year oil and gas leasing program.

"Alaska Natives Call on Congress to Protect Native Cultures from Impacts of Oil and Gas Development in Northern Alaska" (10/31/07)
SitNews (Alaska, 10/31/07)

Energy Bill Update

Senate and House Majority leaders propose to cut support for renewables.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi are considering cutting from the Energy Bill renewable tax credits and a standard that would require utilities to get at least 15% of their power from renewable sources. This is a major shift away from supporting clean energy alternatives in the Energy Bill. The action would allow the House and Senate to agree on a federal Energy Bill by Thanksgiving but at what cost?

Investors reacted to the news, with Evergreen Solar shares dropping 11.84% and SunPower Corporation shares falling 9.4%. The Wilderhill Clean Energy Index, which tracks U.S. clean energy stocks, dropped a total of 5.19% on Friday, November 9. Clean energy companies and environmentalists are asking citizens nationwide to call Senator Harry Reid and Representative Nancy Pelosi and urge them to put the tax credit and renewable energy standard for utilities back on the table.

Clean energy alternatives will provide energy while lowering our carbon footprint and thus slowing the effects of global warming, a stated goal of many elected officials in Washington DC. Support for clean energy alternatives will also ease the strain on our natural resources and wild lands and provide cleaner air and water.

WEBLINKS for ENERGY BILL UPDATE:

"In big U.S. Energy Bill, who will pay?" (Christian Science Monitor, 11/7/07)
"U.S. Energy Bill - Early Christmas Present or Lump of Coal?" (Renewable Energy Access, 11/12/07)
"Promoting Green Energy: The Free Market Approach vs. The Public Policy Approach" (The Energy Justice Network)
"Sector Snap: Solar-Products Stock Tumbles" (The Houston Chronicle, 11/12/07)