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.
Environment
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.
Yellow = Green
New York City yellow cabs are going green. They were having some problems with government red tape, but that seems all cleared up now. The cabs will be converted into hybrid cars to ensure much better fuel efficiency. Apparently 7 out 10 New York state citizens support a switch to hybrid vehicles.
Hopefully this will pave the way for more and more cars turning into green machines.
My lightbulb is almost as efficient as a car!
A British gas company has created a very efficient auto. Using hydrogen it needs only 25 watts to travel 25,000 miles (in theory). This car may put the Swiss car previously discussed here to shame. This car, however, will be piloted by a 13 year old for weight and space concerns.
After reading many arguments that hydrogen is a false hope it is good to see that really efficient vehicles can be made.
No SUV Guilt
A California company has created a method to turn your Hummer into a zero-emmison vehicle for under $200. TerraPass members pay a fee each year that is used to fund things that counteract carbon production. This could be the purchasing of trees or the planting of a windmill (or vice-versa). The company is for-profit but it does limit how much profit it walks away with each year to the tune of 10%.
How much a member pays is based on what kind of car they drive. Perhaps a driver of a Prius gets money sent to them for driving. CNN has more information on this green-driven-intiative.
You would think that SUV drivers might be interested in this company but, environmentalists who drive are their major market. From the CNN article: “We fully expected to target SUV drivers with SUV guilt,” he said. “It just doesn’t exist”
And be sure to find out what would Jesus Drive.