science

Energy CEOs Ask Canadian Party Leaders To Declare ‘Energy Crisis’, Reduce Oil And Gas Regulations

Authored by Matthew Horwood via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A group of 14 energy CEOs have written a letter to all major federal parties urging them to declare an “energy crisis” in Canada and use emergency powers to relax regulations within the industry and increase production levels.
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce is warning the federal government that its proposed cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector could compromise the valuation of the Trans Mountain pipeline. Workers position pipe during construction of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion in Abbotsford, B.C., on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The CEOs, who represent the 10 largest oil and gas companies and four largest pipeline companies in Canada, suggest several measures to support oil and natural gas investment and “remove the barriers we have imposed on ourselves over time.”

“By declaring a Canadian energy crisis and key projects in the ‘national interest’ the federal government will be able to use all its available emergency powers to ensure that the dramatic regulatory restructuring required to expand the oil and natural gas sector is rapidly achieved,” they said in the March 19 letter.

The letter was addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet.

The CEOs are calling for regulatory simplification by revising or abolishing the Impact Assessment Act and oil tanker ban on B.C.’s north coast, which they said are “impeding development.” They are also requesting a reduction in regulatory timelines to allow approval of major projects within six months of application, as well as the provision of loan guarantees for indigenous communities to ensure they benefit from the development.

The letter also calls for Ottawa’s emissions cap for the sector to be eliminated. The Liberal government announced a cap-and-trade scheme in 2023 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, which the Alberta government has opposed.

Additionally, the letter calls for the carbon tax to be repealed to allow provincial governments to “set more suitable carbon regulations.”

Carney announced on March 15 the consumer carbon tax had been reduced to zero, and has planned to replace it with a system rewarding Canadians for making greener choices while making “big polluters” in industry pay for the system.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has said his government would remove the carbon tax for both consumers and industrial emitters, including the federal backstop that requires provinces to impose industrial taxes.

The CEOs said in the letter there is “increasing public support” for building new energy infrastructure such as oil and natural gas pipelines and liquid natural gas terminals, amid U.S. tariff threats.

Tariffs imposed by the United States have prompted initiatives in Canada to seek alternatives to lessen its reliance on the United States, which includes boosting interprovincial trade and expanding its trade relationships with countries in Asia and Europe. Energy has emerged as a concern because 97 percent of the country’s crude oil exports are transported to the U.S.,…

Escobar: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall… From The West Down To The East

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

Let’s start with that phone call. The Kremlin readout is quite sober – but it does reveal a few nuggets. There is no comprehensive deal – yet – between Moscow and Washington. Far from it: we are just in the initial tentative stage of talking and talking about several interconnected dossiers.

President Putin gave absolutely nothing away. The agreed-upon pause on attacks on energy infrastructure – not energy and (italics mine) infrastructure – spells out as Putin imposing a stop on dangerous Ukrainian hits on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant.

That may be lost among all the Western hysteria; but there are two absolute conditions expressed by Moscow for anything in this riddle to start complying with objective reality – and not muddle along as a reality show narrative trainwreck:

1.“The settlement in Ukraine must take into account the unconditional need to eliminate the root causes of the crisis, Russia’s legitimate security interests.”

2.“The key condition for preventing the escalation of the conflict should be a complete cessation of foreign military aid and the provision of intelligence information to Kiev.”

US special envoy Witkoff is spinning that ceasefire “details” will be ironed out on Sunday in Saudi Arabia. No matter the amount of shrieking, Kiev will have to accept it.

Putin-Trump did not spend over 2 hours just talking hockey, hazy Black Sea navigation prospects and a quite limited energy infrastructure missile strike one-month pause.

In this incandescent juncture, what matters is off the record. And that might as well have been Iran. And the prospect of serious Hard Rain fallin’.

I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forestsI’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceansI’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard

A certain psychopathological entity in West Asia is obsessed to ram all its opponents through the mouth of a graveyard. Putin must have had the chance to explain to Trump that Russia respects the UN Charter and abides by international law. Russia and Iran – top BRICS members – signed a comprehensive strategic partnership last January in Moscow. Russia provides detailed ISR/air defense/EW intel to Tehran.

A proverbially hysterical narrative now imprints the notion that Tel Aviv – courting Trump 2.0 backing – is ready to inflict airstrikes on Iran to “prevent it from going nuclear”. Tehran, as detailed by Ayatollah Khamenei, has no interest whatsoever in building a nuclear weapon.

There’s no way Russia will allow Israel – with crucial American backing – to wreak havoc on Iran. Even as Tehran is already capable to react to any attack, with devastating consequences. Without nuclear weapons – and even without Russian direct help.

Operation True Promise 2 – True Promise 3 is still on hold – had already demonstrated that Israel is absolutely defenseless against wave after wave of sophisticated Iranian missiles. Were the US under Trump 2.0 to be involved in a direct attack, all US military bases in West Asia would be incinerated, plus severe punishment to vassals hosting these bases. End result: oil…

CDC Warns About Elevated Risk Of Dengue Fever

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday sent an alert to health officials and providers about relatively elevated levels of dengue fever cases.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta on April 23, 2020. (Tami Chappell/AFP via Getty Images

“Dengue activity remains high in some parts of the United States and globally, with many countries reporting higher-than-usual numbers of dengue cases in 2024 and 2025,” the CDC warned in a bulletin.

The agency urged health care providers and state and local health agencies, along with the public, to take steps to detect and prevent dengue.

Transmission remains high in North America and South America, including in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, both territories of the United States, the CDC said.

“Spring and summer travel coincides with the peak season for dengue in many countries, increasing the risk of both travel-associated and locally acquired cases in the United States,” the CDC said in an alert.

The federal health agency pointed to data, updated as of March 10, that shows more than 13 million cases of dengue reported in North America, Central America, and South America, as well as the Caribbean region. It noted that local transmission of the virus was reported in Florida, California, and Texas last year.

Also known as “break-bone fever” because it can be so painful, dengue is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. Four different but related viruses cause the disease: dengue virus 1, 2, 3, and 4, according to health officials.

The World Health Organization says that about half the world’s population is at risk of getting the disease and that there are 100 million to 400 million infections every year. Symptoms can include fever, severe headaches, and pain in muscles and joints. There is no widely available medicine for treating dengue infections.

Last year, the CDC sent out a similar health alert about an increased risk of dengue infections across the United States.

“Global incidence of dengue in 2024 has been the highest on record for this calendar year; many countries are reporting higher-than-usual dengue case numbers,” the CDC said in its June 2024 advisory.

Some people can experience no signs or symptoms of a dengue infection. But when symptoms do occur, they can be mistaken for another illness such as influenza. Symptoms usually start between four and 10 days after being bitten by a dengue-infected mosquito, according to the Mayo Clinic. The virus generally causes a high fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and can include several other symptoms.

These include muscle, bone, or joint pain; vomiting; nausea; pain behind the eyes; swollen glands; and a rash. In some cases, the symptoms can become life-threatening in what is known as “severe dengue,” dengue hemorrhagic fever, or dengue shock syndrome, the clinic says on its website.

The severe symptoms often can occur after the fever goes away and can include persistent vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, rapid breathing, bleeding gums or nose, blood in stool or…

Trump Admin Removes Advisory From HHS Website Labeling Gun Violence A Health Crisis

Authored by Michael Clements via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The June 2024 advisory by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declaring violent crime involving guns a public health crisis has been removed from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) website.

The unprecedented advisory was the realization of a goal for gun control proponents.

An HHS spokesperson said the change was made to comply with a Feb. 7 executive order.

“HHS and the Office of the Surgeon General are complying with President Trump’s Executive Order on Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” Emily G. Hilliard, HHS deputy press secretary, wrote in an email to The Epoch Times.

Second Amendment advocates praised the move.

Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, said Murthy was selected by President Joe Biden mainly for his views on gun control. Pratt said the Biden administration was attempting to sidestep the U.S. Constitution to implement its gun control plans.

Pratt said the real issue is fighting crime, not disease.

“Scrapping that absurd ‘advisory’ from the HHS website was a no-brainer and absolutely the correct call,” Pratt stated in a text message to The Epoch Times.

“The true health emergency in this country is how Democrat-run cities play catch-and-release with hardened criminals while slapping law-abiding concealed carriers with off-limits zones left and right.”

Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said the advisory was an empty gesture that did nothing to reduce crime or suicides.
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“The surgeon general should have never issued this advisory. He was just catering to the gun control lobby. Its total effect was symbolism over substance. Gun ownership is not a communicable disease,” Gottlieb told The Epoch Times.

Giffords, the gun control organization begun by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, posted a statement on its website decrying the change. The former congresswoman was shot while meeting with constituents on Jan. 8, 2011, in Tucson, Arizona. The gunman killed six people and injured 12.

“By removing this important public health advisory with lifesaving resources, President Trump has chosen to prioritize gun industry profits over protecting kids and families,” Giffords Executive Director Emma Brown said.

“Guns have been the No. 1 killer of American children and adolescents since 2020, and nonpartisan health care experts have understood gun violence as a public health crisis for years.”
Guns confiscated by the Santa Ana Police Department are displayed for a press event in Santa Ana, Calif., on March 11, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The advisory called for a public health approach to address violent crime involving firearms. Murthy described the issue as a “moral crisis” that required immediate action.

A surgeon general’s advisory is meant to highlight urgent public health issues and is reserved for significant public health challenges. One of the most well-known was the 1964 report on tobacco by then-Surgeon General Luther Terry. That report is credited as the genesis of cigarette warning labels.

Murthy said his experience as a doctor motivated him to issue the advisory on guns.

“I’ve…