No image available
/ 3 February 2007

Bush’s smoke and mirrors

George W Bush proposes to deal with climate change by means of smoke and mirrors. So what’s new? Only that it is no longer just a metaphor. After six years of obfuscation and denial, the US now insists that we find ways to block some of the sunlight reaching the earth. This means launching either mirrors or clouds of small particles into the atmosphere.

No image available
/ 27 September 2005

It’s better to cry wolf now over oil

Are global oil supplies about to peak? Are they, in other words, about to reach their maximum and then go into decline? There is a simple answer to this question: no one has the faintest idea. Consider these two statements: 1. "Last year Saudi Aramco made credible claims that as much as 500-billion to 700-billion barrels remain to be discovered in the kingdom." 2. "Saudi Arabia clearly seems to be nearing or at its peak output and cannot materially grow its oil production."

No image available
/ 9 November 2004

Puritanism of the rich

If Bush wins," the United States writer Barbara Probst Solomon claimed just before the election, "fascism is possible in the United States." Blind faith in a leader, she said, a conservative working class and the use of fear as a political weapon provide the necessary preconditions. She’s wrong. So is Richard Sennett, who described Bush’s security state as "soft fascism" in <i>The Guardian</i> last month.