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US State of the Union

By Thomas L. Friedman On Tuesday, President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address and map out priorities for his last three years. The direction in which America needs to go is obvious: toward energy independence. If Mr. Bush steps up to that challenge, this speech could be a new beginning for his presidency. If he doesn’t, you can stick a fork in this administration. It will be done – because it will have abdicated leadership on the biggest issue of our day. Here’s the speech I’ll be listening for: My fellow Americans, on May 25, 1961, President Kennedy gave an extraordinary State of the Union address in which he called on the nation to marshal all of its resources to put a man on the Moon. By setting that lofty goal, Kennedy was trying to summon all of our industrial and scientific talent, and a willingness to sacrifice financially, to catch up with the Soviet Union, which had overtaken America in the field of large rocket engines. “While we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first,” Kennedy said, “we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last.” I come to […]

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Ballard Secures US$40M Contract Extension

Ballard Power Systems (BLD) subsidiary, Ballard Material Products (BMP), has been awarded an exclusive four-year contract extension for the supply of carbon friction material for automatic transmissions to an existing major automotive customer. The contract is valued at approximately US$40 million. BMP, as a Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry, already supplies friction material that is being used in more than five million vehicles annually. The material improves transmission operation, thereby ensuring smoother and more efficient performance. “Enhanced transmission performance means improved fuel efficiency and, therefore, cost savings to the consumer,” said William Foulds, BMP’s President. “The carbon fiber products we are developing today help our customers meet the challenges presented by concerns around the price of oil, energy security, and the environmental footprint we leave.” Website: http://www.ballard.com     

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US Mutual Fund Investors At Odds With Fund Managers Over Warming

Seven out of 10 U.S. mutual fund investors now want their mutual funds to support global warming shareholder resolutions, but not one of the nation’s largest mutual funds voted in favor of any climate change proxy measures during 2005, according to a major new public opinion survey from the Civil Society Institute (CSI) and a report prepared for the Ceres investor coalition. The new Ceres report shows that while many of the nation’s institutional investors are routinely supporting global warming resolutions, none of the nation’s 100 biggest mutual funds — including those managed by Fidelity, Vanguard and American Funds — supported any of the 33 global warming resolutions filed with U.S. companies in 2005. However, the new CSI survey shows that a clear of majority U.S. mutual fund investors want their mutual fund managers to vote in favor of the global warming resolutions and also to actively screen companies linked to climate change woes. (See full Ceres report and CSI survey data below.) Civil Society Institute President Pam Solo said: “Mutual fund investors and their funds are completely at odds today on the topic of global warming. Our new survey shows that seven out of 10 American mutual fund investors […]

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US State of the Union Address

By Thomas L. Friedman On Tuesday, President Bush will deliver his State of the Union address and map out priorities for his last three years. The direction in which America needs to go is obvious: toward energy independence. If Mr. Bush steps up to that challenge, this speech could be a new beginning for his presidency. If he doesn’t, you can stick a fork in this administration. It will be done ? because it will have abdicated leadership on the biggest issue of our day. Here’s the speech I’ll be listening for: My fellow Americans, on May 25, 1961, President Kennedy gave an extraordinary State of the Union address in which he called on the nation to marshal all of its resources to put a man on the Moon. By setting that lofty goal, Kennedy was trying to summon all of our industrial and scientific talent, and a willingness to sacrifice financially, to catch up with the Soviet Union, which had overtaken America in the field of large rocket engines. “While we cannot guarantee that we shall one day be first,” Kennedy said, “we can guarantee that any failure to make this effort will make us last.” I come to […]

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First-Of-Its-Kind Voluntary Climate Protection Program

Pacific Gas and Electric Company has submitted a proposal to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for a new and innovative environmental program that will allow interested customers to contribute toward a cleaner California. This voluntary program would be available to most of PG&E’s residential and business customers. Through the Climate Protection Program, customers can choose to sign up and pay a small premium on their monthly utility bill which will fund independent environmental projects aimed at removing carbon dioxide from the air. The use of electricity and natural gas creates greenhouse gas emissions. The structure of the program is designed to make participating customers “climate neutral” by creating enough projects to equal the greenhouse gas emissions of their collective energy usage. Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound found in the earth’s atmosphere and is the most common greenhouse gas. The emission of greenhouse gases may cause climate change impacts that disrupt existing weather patterns and have a significant impact on the physical environment. “Through this first-of-its-kind demonstration project, we look forward to giving our customers the opportunity to help remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere while also improving California forests and habitat,” said Thomas E. Bottorff, PG&E’s senior vice […]

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The Next Big Thing From Detroit

URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012801016.html Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012801016.html     

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