Venezuela has ordered Royal Dutch/Shell to pay almost $131 million in back taxes. The government is cracking down on tax evasions by oil companies and so they also confiscated financial data form Chevron. Hugo Chavez, the current president of Venezuela, is trying to tighten the government’s control over the lucrative and strategic oil industry. The government has said that they are going to alert two more oil companies in the coming weeks if they owe back taxes or not.
Monthly Archives: July 2005
Rebels in Cote d’Ivoire to Disarm
After many failed attempts to get the rebels in Cote d’Ivoire to lay down their weapons it looks like there is now hope. In addition to the rebels disarming,All Africa is reporting that pro-government militias will also disarm. Both sides are ready to re-enter negotiations as early as the end of the month.
Hydrogen Made Efficiently?
There is a start up company that has researched a new way to produce hydrogen. Producing hydrogen is generally inefficient with (until now I guess) a energy loss of 70% on average when used in a car. So this is promising. Oddly enough the trick was to pour some salt on the wound
Parliament wants the government to stop supporting destructive mining projects overseas
Parliament has called on the Government of Canada to take action to end the devastating social and environmental impacts of Canadian mining operations overseas.
A recent Parliamentary report calls on the Government to: (i) stop using taxpayer money to support destructive Canadian mining projects abroad; (ii) hold Canadian mining companies legally accountable for environmental and human rights violations in other countries, and; (iii) force the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to respect international human rights standards.
The Government has about 60 days left to respond and, not surprisingly, it would like nothing more than to sweep the report under the carpet. So, like most of the good things that happen, the changes demanded will only take place as the result of many people’s efforts. Our participation is needed, as always, to pressure the Government to adopt Parliament’s recommendations and to address ongoing international scandals associated with the Canadian mining industry.
What can we do to help make this happen? The websites of Friends of the Earth Canada and Mining Watch have a lot of info on these issues and ways to take action.
Do You Have a Cancer Phone?
C|net has an article up that lets you know how much radiation your cell phone is emitting. The thing with this research is that it only looks into how much your brain can handle at once, but it by no means looks into the long-term effects of chronic exposure to cell phones.
I plan to use this list when I upgrade my cell phone, which I should do soon since the battery casing is paper thin.