September 23, 2013

LePage intervention in Statoil deal could damage Maine’s image in global energy

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/09/23/business/business-consultant-lepage-intervention-in-statoil-deal-could-damage-maines-image-in-global-energy-market/?ref=comments

AUGUSTA, Maine — New revelations about how Gov. Paul LePage’s administration worked behind the scenes to stymie Statoil’s offshore energy project are renewing worries about the state’s image in the eyes of the international business community.

Prior to pushing legislation in June that essentially put the Norwegian company’s project on hold while the University of Maine could prepare a competing proposal, the LePage administration initially attempted “a much more aggressive effort to explicitly void” the state’s agreement with Statoil, according to a report published Sunday by the Associated Press, which obtained emails and documents regarding Statoil’s project in Maine through a Freedom of Access Act request.

If true, the revelations further hurt Maine’s image in the eyes of the international business community, according to Annette Bossler, an international business consultant based in Bremen.

“That Associated Press article is in every major U.S. national newspaper and it’s only a matter of days until it will get picked up by the international media,” Bossler told the Bangor Daily News on Monday. “It does not do much to improve Maine’s image, neither in the offshore wind energy industry or in general, because let’s face it — Statoil is not just in wind, their main business is oil and gas.”

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September 9, 2013

2012’s Extreme Weather Influenced by Manmade Climate Change

http://www.highlightpress.com/2012s-extreme-weather-influenced-by-manmade-climate-chance/4732/mhoster

2012 was a year or wild, wacky and in some instances downright catastrophic weather. Most regions experienced conditions not befitting the seasons or the kinds of extremes few were prepared for, while others had their lives torn apart by natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy.

And while there’s little to nothing that can be done about what Mother Nature has in store for any of us, the American Meteorological Society has stated that at least some of last year’s extreme weather was entirely our own fault.

The AMS suggests that climate change directly resulting from the activities of the human population may have contributed to the global events of last year. From record rainfall across parts of Europe to the superstorms that wiped whole villages off the map, they warn that to some extent we have only ourselves to blame.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration looked into a series of events from last year in order to assess which may have been triggered or at least contributed to by manmade climate change. They concluded that although things like solar radiation the temperatures of the world’s oceans influence different events in different ways, human beings nonetheless played a part in at least 50% of the extreme weather events of 2012.

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