India's Traditional Power Sources on Razor Edge of Supply

OTTAWA — Canada’s offshore petroleum boards are not equipped to cope with a major spill, the country’s environmental watchdog warned on Tuesday in a report that also said the booming energy sector needed more oversight. Environment Commissioner Scott Vaughan said in a report that unless Canada improved its record on environmental regulation, resource customers might be deterred.

Wolf Richter   www.testosteronepit.com   www.amazon.com/author/wolfrichter

Despite what your mom said, you don’t matter that much. In fact, with each passing day, you, me and the rest of the developed-world-dwellers are losing our clout. Today I’ll prove it to you with a few newfound energy statistics – plus, we’ll discuss what you can do about it. As I type, the developing world is gobbling up market share for the world’s resources – oil, natural gas, coal, you name it. It’s the same story, really, but it’s coming true in front of our eyes.

Coal will nearly overtake oil as the dominant energy source by 2017, and only a drop in world gas prices could curb the use of the dirtier fossil fuel in the absence of high carbon prices, the International Energy Agency said. The IEA, the energy agency for developed countries, said earlier this year that without a major shift away from coal, average global temperatures could rise by 6 degrees Celsius by 2050, leading to devastating climate change.

ETF Database submits: Over the past decade, investors have piled into investment vehicles that track the so-called BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China. These economies have generally been very good to investors, with many BRIC-focused funds producing solid gains over the years that have far outpaced more developed markets. However, not all of the BRIC building blocks were created equal, with each offering their own unique risks and rewards.

DECLARING an end to the BRIC era might seem the height of foolishness. Last year Brazil, China, India, and Russia accounted for a quarter of global output, a figure that is forecast to rise to about one-third by the end of the decade. China will probably become the world's largest economy before then. India should continue to rise through the ranks as well.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has staked the future of the world’s 11th largest economy on natural resource wealth spreading across the country. Brandy Damm, a welder who lost her job from a locomotive factory in London, Ontario, last year, isn’t seeing the benefit.

So a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a small post on Russian stocks and why oil prices above $80 dollars per barrel make Russia a compelling opportunity for investors with a global mindset. The reaction was rather poor. There were quite a few comments, albeit the vast majority of the comments were most definitely negative.