Wednesday, March 02, 2022
New island in Papua New Guinea prompts territorial dispute
The Warmist "spin" put on the article below is flagrantly dishonest. Coral cays throughout the Pacific are expanding. The cay mentioned below is one of many. There are hundreds of them. But the reality of it contradicts Warmist expectations. Islands are supposed to be disaster areas. So the island below has to be treated as aberrant. Expectations trump the facts
While across the Pacific communities are dealing with shrinking coastlines, one area in Papua New Guinea has an altogether different problem: a new island that has solidified and started supporting vegetation in the last few years has caused tensions and even outbreaks of violence as competing clans lay claim to the land.
That fight has been intensified as communities struggle to deal with the consequences of warming oceans and the devastating impact of natural disasters.
The island, off the village of Gona in Oro province, and accessible by canoe, has gradually formed from three smaller islands over the course of two decades but has only solidified over the past few years.
Uninhabited bar the occasional fisherman, it is now home to diverse local flora. Tropical pine (Klinki pine) make up the majority of trees while low-growing shrubs cover the rest of the island.
“At first [when forming], it was made entirely of just crushed coral and sand, but now there’s soil and we see vegetation that normally only grows in soil,” says Simon Seboda, a local fisherman. “We haven’t planted anything. Everything sprang up naturally and on its own. The rain and waves wash a lot of seeds on to the island.”
But the island’s emergence from the waves has caused tensions among two local clans, which have taken the matter to village and district courts in a bid to resolve the dispute. On several occasions they have come to blows, including one instance in which a man was stabbed.
Members of the Yega tribe say their ancestors first settled the mainland opposite the island hundreds of years ago, in a village called Waususu, and eventually moved inland.
But the Garara people who now live along the coastline have also laid claim to the island
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Alaska Gov. Dunleavy: We Can Supply Plenty Of Oil, ‘If We’re Allowed To”
Things don’t have to be so bad in America but apparently, Joe Biden wants it this way.
Just eighteen months ago the United States was energy independent as the largest producer of oil in the entire world, but then came along Joe Biden and his far-left parties Green New Deal.
Immediately following President Biden’s inauguration, his handlers in the White House wrote and presented an executive order to Joe, which he signed, stopping the building and completion of The Keystone XL pipeline.
The developer halted all construction on the project months after its permit was revoked by the Biden administration. The pipeline was set to carry oil 1,200 miles (1,900km) from the Canadian province of Alberta down to Nebraska, (Jun 9, 2021)
On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) stated that Alaska is ready to do its part in helping the U.S. reduce its dependence on foreign energy if the Biden administration will allow it to do so and argued that oil from Alaska is better for the environment than oil from Russia.
Dunleavy said, “I think we should do both. I think we should push renewables, and we should push oil and gas. I think they both present great opportunities for this country. And I don’t understand why we aren’t doing that, especially given what’s happening over in Russia. We’ve had the same issue with Iran and others that are not necessarily friendly to the United States. And so, Neil, I’m all for opportunities. I think we should push it. Alaska could do its part. We have billions of barrels of oil still in the ground. We’ve got about 126 trillion cubic feet of gas that we can deliver to our friends in Asia, as well as our west coast. So, we’re prepared and ready to do our part, if this administration allows us to.”
He added, “We still import oil from Russia, which makes no sense to us here in Alaska. You know, the worry by many of the environmentalists is if you drill in Arctic Alaska, you’re somehow going to spoil it. Do people really think if you drill in Arctic Russia, that they are going to have tougher environmental regulations than we are? That’s simply not true. And so, a molecule of oil coming from America is going to be a cleaner molecule of oil than if it’s coming from Russia. And, at the same time, we’re going to supply ourselves and our friends with American oil if we’re allowed to do that. That just makes for better national security, and again, a lower price at the pump.”
When asked about what steps President Biden was going to take to combat the increasing oil and gas prices resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, in line with the goals of the Great Reset, zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner, flippantly said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has highlighted the need for America to reduce its consumption of foreign oil.
Yes, America, the Biden administration which could unleash the massive oil production infrastructure of the U.S., but they are choosing not to.
Instead, they are hoping that the pain consumers are feeling at the pump will eventually force them into buying overpriced electric cars. If this plan doesn’t work, Americans will vote them out of office, replacing them with a pro-America President who will reverse everything Biden did, leading to lower fuel prices and much more.
In the end, the voters will have the final say. If they vote blue, electric cars are on the way, if they choose red though, oil rigs are here to stay.
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European Industry Faces Shrink or Shut Decisions on Energy Pain
Europe’s biggest industrial firms have been banking on spring to bring down soaring energy costs. Those hopes faded this week as Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine.
Smelters and chemical factories across Europe were already struggling before the invasion sparked another jump in gas and electricity prices. Now, a growing list of companies including Europe’s biggest chemicals maker BASF SE are warning the energy crisis will keep hacking away at their bottom lines for the foreseeable future.
“Energy prices will stay at a high level and they won’t go back to normal soon,” said Martin Brudermueller, BASF’s chief executive officer.
BASF already took an 800-million euro ($900 million) hit from rising gas prices in the fourth quarter, and the situation could worsen if the U.S. and Europe broaden sanctions against Russia, which supplies more than 40% of the European Union’s natural gas.
“It would be very difficult to replace Russian gas with liquefied natural gas from elsewhere,” Brudermueller said.
BASF isn’t alone. The energy-intensive metals industry is also struggling. Aluminium Dunkerque Industries France, Europe’s largest aluminum smelter, had planned to ramp up curtailed production after the French government helped shoulder as much as 80% of the cost burden. But the renewed surge in prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the plan on ice, a labor union official said.
European gas prices have surged, denting BASF profits
Meanwhile, Germany’s Trimet Aluminium SE said manufacturing the metal isn’t economical at present energy prices. And building-materials giant HeidelbergCement AG on Thursday warned that profits are likely to suffer from rising energy costs over the coming months.
European energy prices surged in the autumn, tipping smaller firms across the continent toward bankruptcy and prompting others to temporarily cut production at unprofitable factories. The continent’s larger industrial firms typically purchase their energy in monthly tranches, a strategy that initially enabled them to absorb the price shocks and more gradually pass them to consumers.
While mild weather eased gas prices off record highs hit Dec. 21, benchmark month-ahead prices have traded at nearly four times the five-year average of 90 euros per megawatt hour over the past five months.
Gas prices have been highly volatile since Russia’s invasion. Benchmark month-ahead contracts surged 60% to an intraday high of 143 euros per megawatt hour Thursday, before falling back to trade around 90 euros per megawatt hour late Friday.
Low Storage
Wolfgang Hahn, owner of Energy Consulting GmbH that gives energy advisory services to 2,500 companies in Germany, said there’s growing concern about energy supplies later in the year.
“Many companies are already looking forward to next autumn and winter and are wondering whether the gas storage facilities will be filled again,” Hahn said. They’re also worried “whether an appropriate alternative to Russian gas will be found, or whether gas imports from Russia will be completely interrupted.”
In the days since hostilities began in Ukraine, prices have spiked for forward contracts for warmer months when consumers typically use less energy to power and heat their homes. The impact of sanctions, Germany’s decision to halt the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and uncertainty around Russian gas supplies that flow through Ukraine are expected to keep prices elevated over the coming months.
“Firm supplies through Ukraine and NS2 are needed to balance the European gas market and rebuild depleted storage levels,” Rystad Energy analysts said in a note. “The suspension of NS2 wipes out all hope of this and will likely create a prolonged supply deficit and high prices in the European gas market.”
Goldman Sachs Inc. analysts said prolonged price increases will force some industrial producers to shrink or shutter.
“We now believe price-induced industrial demand destruction will be required in the second half of the year to balance the European gas market,” the analysts wrote in a note.
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Anti-mining green frauds not welcome in Central Qld
By Robert Schwarten, a former minister in an Australian Labor Party government. His electorate was in Central Queensland
If the Greens think they can repeat Bob Brown’s stunt of bringing an anti-mining convoy to Central Queensland, they’ve got another thing coming, says Robert Schwarten.
Greens leader Adam Brandt says he will repeat green fraud Bob Brown’s stunt in Capricornia in bringing up a paid gaggle of misfits and no-hopers to protest mining in Central Queensland.
He is in for a rude shock if he expects the same reception. Here’s why.
In 2019, Labor candidates in CQ were instructed to ignore Brown and his convoy of paid parasites on the way to promote a public meeting hosted by the LNP in Clermont.
I actually paid for a large sign to put on my ute and parked at the northern entrance to the city. I authorised the wording, “Welcome Brown and your convoy of coal-fired hypocrites.”
Russell Robertson, the ALP candidate for Capricornia, received a call from someone in the campaign office telling him to get rid of the signage.
As Robertson did not have any involvement he did not comply. Some campaign flunky rang me and I impolitely told him where to go.
This time Labor’s message is clear. Coalminers are not criminals, coal is here for as long as the market says, our coal workers will not be put at risk by overseas miners undercutting their jobs and product quality.
I note that has displeased some of the keyboard job snobs who tut-tut about Labor endorsing coalminers as candidates.
Our party was formed on miners, shearers and other manual workers. It is still their party, the one that still stands up for workers’ rights, and the Tories are still those that oppose them. Rump parties are still the opportunistic oddballs they always were.
Anthony Albanese has had to campaign directly against the inner-city Greens to preserve his political hide. He is not going to sanction any meekness towards a Greens invasion into Labor votes here.
His message could not have been clearer last time he was in Rocky: “Capricornia needs a coalmine worker in Canberra.”
He pointed to the number of times current LNP member Michelle Landry had voted down legislation aimed at improving the lot of workers. Casualisation, penalty rates, mine safety and wage parity were just a few points he raised.
Given that Australians are generally waking up to these impostors it is likely the vote will come down further.
The truth is, Labor has a proud record of achievement on environmental reforms. Brown big-noted himself on saving the Franklin River in Tasmania, but that was the Hawke Labor government.
Brown was merely the protester. The protectors were the Labor MPs who voted to save it.
The Greens voted (with the LNP and One Nation) to sink the Labor Carbon Trading scheme a decade ago. Every bit of carbon thrown into the air since then is theirs.
The Greens have never saved anything. They have never had to put up a Budget, much less a serious policy.
The billboards are awash up here with desperate statements from the LNP of a green alliance with Labor.
Reality is with polling pointing to a Labor lead the numbers mean it will be the LNP, which may well be trying to cobble together One Nation, the Katters and every other ratbag rump if they want to keep their hands in the public till.
Mining is not the conversation piece it was last time. Skills shortages, house prices, the lack of rental accommodation, nursing home workers’ pay are just to pick a few.
The sports rort issue is hotting up too as impoverished clubs want to know where their money is.
Petrol prices and interest rates are hot topics – the cost of meat in the beef capital is at an all-time high. That wages are not keeping pace is also being felt and talked about.
Adam Brandt and his other impostors take note. Whichever way you come into CQ, you will be met with a Labor-led protest.
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My other blogs. Main ones below
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
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Jim Hansen and his twin
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