Professor Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, is a special adviser to United Nations secretary general Ban-Ki Moon and was a prominent interviewee on a BBC World “Third Eye” documentary about Malaysia which was produced by FBC. The Independent has established that FBC was paid £17m by the Malaysian government to work on a “global strategic communications campaign”. FBC also worked for Sime Darby, the world’s biggest palm oil producer. Sime Darby is a major donor of the Earth Institute. --Ian Burrell,
The Independent, 17 November 2011
The Independent have followed up on their piece about the BBC's links to environmentalists with a look at links between the Earth Institute at Columbia University - in particular its star economist Jeffrey Sachs - and a big palm oil company in Malaysia. As far as I can tell, the Earth Institute gets lots of money from said palm oil company and Jeffrey Sachs turns up as a talking head on TV shows saying how great their environmental stewardship is. The TV shows appear to have been made by the same company that were funding the BBC's green output. --Andrew Montford,
Bishop Hill, 17 November 2011
ENERGY bills are set to soar by 60% bringing financial pain to millions of people already struggling to pay. Experts blame the upward trend on wholesale costs and the green agenda which will force suppliers to invest in new technologies that consumers will have to pay for. --Dana Gloger,
Daily Express, 16 November 2011
RIO TINTO yesterday said new environmental taxes and red tape were partly to blame for the closure of its Lynemouth aluminium smelter in Northumberland, risking 600 jobs. The mining giant said the smelter “is no longer a sustainable business because its energy costs are increasing significantly, due largely to emerging legislation”. It is thought that the coalition’s controversial plans for a carbon price floor, announced in the 2011 Budget, are being blamed alongside EU emissions trading and large combustible plant rules. --Marion Dakers,
City A.M., 17 November 2011
Fears that energy-intensive industry could be hit by government climate-change policies were heightened on Wednesday after Rio Tinto Alcan said it would close its Northumberland aluminium smelter, with the loss of more than 500 jobs. Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Wansbeck, said the government has “got to make its mind up” about its stance on environmental legislation or risk tens of thousands of job losses. -- Chris Tighe,
Financial Times, 17 November 2011
Deforestation, considered by scientists to contribute significantly to global warming, has been shown by a Yale-led team to actually cool the local climate in northern latitudes, according to a paper published today in Nature. --
Yale University, 16 November 2011
