Summit 2012 Camp David, Maryland
CONTENTS EDITORIAL Credits..................................................................................................................2 Forward - Stefan Tevis...................................................................................55 Welcome - Barack Obama ..........................................................................55 Welcome - Hilary Rodham Clinton ...........................................................55 About the G8 ....................................................................................................55 Camp David - The Presidential Retreat...................................................55 Energy: Focus on Fundamentals...............................................................55 Nuclear Power in the Post-Fukushima World ......................................55 Additional Elliot Gue Article........................................................................55 10 Years Later: Utah .......................................................................................55
NATIONS & LEADERS Barack Obama...................................................................................................55 Unitied States of America.............................................................................55 David Cameron.................................................................................................55 United Kingdom...............................................................................................55 Vladimir Putin/Dmitry Medvedev..............................................................55 Russia....................................................................................................................55 Angela Merkel....................................................................................................55 Federal Republic of Germany.....................................................................55 Yoshihiko Noba.................................................................................................55 Japan....................................................................................................................55 Mario Manti.........................................................................................................55 Italy .......................................................................................................................55 Steven Harper....................................................................................................55 Canada.................................................................................................................55 Franรงois Hollande............................................................................................55 French Republic................................................................................................55 European Union................................................................................................55 Jose Barroso......................................................................................................55
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CREDITS Board Members and Executive Staff: President & CEO: Stefan N. Tevis Personal Assistant Hellen “Nakupenda” Executive Offices: Ngendo Exe Assistant to President: Kamille Turrentine Exe Assistant to President: Vanessa Jackson Editor-in-Chief: Elliot Gue Creative & Design Director: Jordon Mazziotti Assistant to the CD: Tahna Mazziotti General Council Legal: Carl Gustaveson Chief Financial Officer: Ken Rasmussen Chairman Designate: Alexander Church EVP Global Corp. Comm.: Peter Munson VP Sustainability & Development: Matthew Wilson VP Corporate Strategy: Stephan DeCarlo Int’l Business Consultant/Africa: Dr. Clifford Ferguson Sr. Int’l Correspondent/Australia: Diane Weeks VP Unstainable Energy: Sondra Bostwick Sales Coordinator: Veronica Lewis Head of Gov’t Think Tank: David Weeks AIDS Awareness Programmer: Victoria Ferguson Senior Correspondent: Roger Conrad VP Asian Affairs: Madan Subedi
Special “Thank You” is extended to the following for making this G8 Summit publication an outstanding success.... G8 Heads of State G8 Delegates and Press G8 Organizing Committee Tourism Council of Frederick County Dennis Porter Neil Wilkinson Tom Williamson Dr. Aaron Barson Dr. Clifford Ferguson Brian - Syptec Gustaveson Family
Thank you to all of our Advertisers
Special Contributing Editors & Feature Writers: Elliot Gue Roger Conrad Deborah Harry Jordon Mazziotti
Energy Strategist G20 Nations Senior Journalist - UK Senior Journalist - USA
Contact Information: Prestige Media Publications LLC 11075 South State Street, Suite #4 Sandy, Utah 84070 United States of America. Telephone: 001-801-428-1777 Fax: 001-801-428-1778 Email: prestigemedia@gmail.com Website: www.prestigemediausa.com
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Legal Disclaimer: Copyright © 2012 - All material found herein is the property of Prestige Media Group and its affiliates. Any reproduction or duplication of this magazine in any form without written consent is strictly prohibited. All advice, legal counsel and opinions are the opinions of the writers and Prestige Media Group is not liable for any misinformation or issues that may arise from that information. Prestige Media Group recommends seeking legal counsel for any and all issues stemming from information contained herein.
FORWARD
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restige Media is proud to present to the world’s leaders in Camp David, Maryland, the publication for the 2012 G8 summit. We began covering the G7 in 1997, when Governor Romer, through his personal friendship with the then President of the U.S. Bill Clinton, hosted the summit in Denver Colorado. Our deepest thanks are due to the United States Government for allowing us to cite our credentials, and assisting us in producing this publication.
The G8 summit, attended by the eight most powerful industrial nations, collectively accounting for 65% of the world’s GDP, provides an unequalled opportunity for world leaders to bring the most pressing issues of the day to the forefront of the world stage - the problems facing our planet and its’ future, and the multitude of races and species dependant on it. We are proud to have been able to play our part by bringing these enormously important issues into the public eye at such a high profile event, through the advertisers who have graced our pages, seeing our magazine as a major carrier of these themes to the world arena, and recognizing the high quality penetration of our distribution . This edition is exceptional in having secured the very best standard and quality of editorial writers, each an acclaimed expert in their respective field in each of the major topics of the G8, with an emphasis on climate change, the environment, and alternative & renewable energy. Our mission is to be their voice piece, keeping these themes to the forefront of everyone’s mind. We know that through a combined force of some of the largest companies in the world, a movement has begun which will be for the benefit of every one of us, as well as future generations. The problems we, as custodians of our planet face, are unprecedented. We must ensure that innovations and action promoted by governments, companies, and organizations are seized upon and embraced by us all.
To a brighter and more sustainable future,
Stefan N. Tevis President and CEO, Prestige Media
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WELCOME
Barack Obama President of United States President Barack Obama welcomes the world to the G8 Summit in Camp David, Maryland on May 18-19, 2012.
On the move of the G8 Summit from Chicago to Camp David: “Somebody pointed out that I hadn’t had any of my counterparts, who I’ve worked with now for three years, up to Camp David. G8 tends to be a more informal setting in which we talk about a wide range of issues in a pretty intimate way. And the thinking was that people would enjoy being in a more casual backdrop. I think the weather should be good that time of year.”
Invitations of African Leaders: President Obama has invited African Leaders to join Leaders at the G-8 Summit at Camp David on May 19 for a discussion session on accelerating progress towards food security in Africa. The African Leaders who have been invited to participate in the Summit are: Chairperson of the African Union and President of Benin Yayi Boni Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia President John Mills of Ghana President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania
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Welcome
Hilary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State The events of this past year affirm the continued need for comprehensive international cooperation, and the G-8 is an essential forum for that. We are alarmed for the ongoing violence in Syria, and we are concerned about the problems facing Special Envoy Kofi Annan as he attempts to bring about a ceasefire and the end to violence. We are very watchful of this. And finally, we have begun discussing some of the transnational issues – terrorism, piracy, food security – that affect so many millions of people throughout the world. We are also going to be discussing our shared framework to support the democratic transitions and promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth through the Deauville Partnership in the Middle East and North Africa. So there’s a lot for us to discuss, and we have a full agenda ahead of us in preparation for the leaders meeting at Camp David. So again, I welcome my colleagues and look forward to our work together. Thank you all.
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ABOUT THE G8
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he Group of Eight (G8) is a forum for the leaders of eight of the world’s most industrialized nations, aimed at finding common ground on key topics and solutions to global issues. The G8 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. While the leaders of these countries are in regular contact, they meet in summit format as the G8 once a year. The G8’s origin stems from meetings held in the 1970s between France’s Valéry Giscard D’Estaing and Germany’s Helmut Schmidt when they were finance ministers. Each subsequently assumed the leadership of their respective countries, just as the mid-1970s oil crisis was buffeting the world’s largest economies. French President Giscard D’Estaing urged the leaders of Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to meet in 1975 to discuss how to respond to the oil crisis. Canada joined the group in 1976 at the Puerto Rico Summit hosted by the United States. The European Community, now the European Union, was given observer status the following year at the London Summit. Russia became a full-fledged member of the G8 in 1998. Canada has hosted four summits since 1976: OttawaMontebello 1981, Toronto 1988, Halifax 1995 and
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Kananaskis 2002. France is host of the Deauville G8 Summit in Deauville on May 26 and 27. It was last held in France in 2003 in Évian-lesBains. Depending on discretion the G8 presidency, additional nations are invited. In the past these have included the Outreach Five which consist of Brazil, People’s Republic of China, India, Mexico, and South Africa. These are widely considered the top emerging nations in the world.
G8 PRESIDENCY The role of chairing the G8 rotates each calendar year among the member countries in the following order: United States, United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and France. The European Union, though not part of this hosting rotation, also participates in the G8 and is represented by the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. The country holding the G8 presidency is responsible for hosting and organizing the summit and a number of ministerial-level preparatory meetings in the lead-up to the main event. The chair also bears the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the G8 and engaging non-
member countries, non-governmental organizations and international organizations.
PREPARATORY MEETINGS The host country organizes several preparatory meetings before the summit. G8 leaders’ personal representatives, known as Sherpas, attend these meetings to discuss potential agenda items. The Sherpas, usually high-ranking government officials, communicate directly with each other throughout the year.
G8 foreign Ministers Foreign and finance ministers have always played a key role in the G-7/G-8, both at the summit itself and in the lead-up to the event. Other ministers meet as required. Since 1998, foreign and finance ministers have developed their own agenda and followed up on their commitments. G-8 foreign ministers deal specifically with foreign and security policy issues and they support the efforts of the summit. Last year the G8 Foreign Ministers met in Paris on 14-15 of March. Ministers discussed the ongoing subjects including: Libya, Broader Middle East and North Africa ing. further G8 action, and Middle East Peace Process Finance ministers meet regularly during the year. At a G-7 finance ministers meeting in Washington, D.C., in October 2008, for example, the ministers drafted a five-point plan aimed at easing the global financial crisis. It included recommendations such as taking steps to support struggling financial institutions and unfreeze credit and money markets.
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CAMP DAVID the presidential Retreat Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 62 miles (100 kilometers) north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near the small town Thurmont. It is officially known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont and is technically a military installation; staffing is primarily provided by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. First known as Hi-Catoctin. Camp David was originally built as a camp for federal government agents and their families, by the WPA, starting in 1935, opening in 1938. In 1942 it was converted to a presidential retreat by Franklin D. Roosevelt and renamed “Shangri-La�. Camp David received its present name from Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and grandson, both named David. Camp David is not open to the public.
Presidential Useage Every president since Franklin Roosevelt has made use of Camp David. Prestigious usage of Camp David by presidents include:
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Roosevelt hosted Sir Winston Churchill in May 1943. Dwight Eisenhower held his first cabinet meeting there. Lyndon B. Johnson often met with important advisors at the retreat and hosted Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.
Bill Clinton hosted then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, on several occasions in addition to numerous celebrities.
Gerald Ford hosted Indonesian President Suharto.
George W. Bush hosted dignitaries, including the then President of Russia, Vladimir Putin in 2003 and hosted the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, in 2007. This year Camp David was chosen by President Obama to host the 2012 G8 Summit after being relocated from Chicago, Illinois.
Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David Accords there in September 1978 between Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
In 1984, Ronald Reagan hosted the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher. The United States have hosted the G8 Summit five times in the past which include: San Juan (1976); Williamsburg (1983); Houston (1990); Denver (1997); and Sea Island (2004).
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George H.W. Bush’s daughter, Dorothy Bush Koch, was married there in 1992, the first ever to do so.
Welcome to Camp David for the 2012 G8 Summit!
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RUGGED MEETS LUXURY.
WEST YELLOWSTONE, MT 406-646-4200 HIBERNATIONSTATION.COM
energy: focus on the fundamentals by Elliott H. Gue
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hree years ago, a spike in commodity prices fueled civil unrest in some nations and contributed to the worst global economic downturn in a generation.
The sharp rise in crude oil prices in early 2011 brought back painful memories of that 2008 price shock and there are myriad signs that rising energy costs are prompting consumers to cut back on discretionary spending. Sustained high prices remain arguably the greatest downside risk to global economic growth. Unfortunately, the recent rise in prices has also prompted a return to the populist rhetoric common in the summer of 2008. Oil price speculators, big oil companies and the US Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing have all been blamed for the jump in oil prices. But, there is a more fundamental driver at work: rising demand for energy from emerging markets coupled with constrained supply. Short-term gyrations aside, these factors will continue to put upside pressure on crude
oil for years to come and it’s time the world comes to grip with that reality. There’s no doubt there are several short-term catalysts for the rise in oil prices this year. The conflict in Libya has interrupted roughly 1.5 million barrels per day of light sweet crude oil exports. Meanwhile, the tragic Sendai earthquake in Japan severely damaged the nation’s nuclear and fossil fuel power generation capacity and is supporting additional demand for oil and natural gas as alternative sources of electricity. But, the rise in commodity prices is far from a temporary spike. Recent events have served to accelerate a tightening in global oil markets that was already apparent long before the first quarter of 2011. The good news: the global economy can withstand a gradual increase in energy prices that allows time for consumers and businesses to adjust. But, there are no easy answers to the global energy crunch -- governments should refrain Energy from Continued on next page
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promoting silver-bullet one-size-fits-all energy solutions. In particular, wind and solar power will eventually play a more central role in global electricity generation. But, alternatives are expensive and difficult to integrate with existing electricity distribution infrastructure. With public sector finances in many countries severely strained by fiscal stimulus measures undertaken during the credit crisis and consumers still reeling from a severe recession, the scale of investment needed to make these technologies viable in the near-term is simply out of reach. Instead, world leaders must recognize that traditional fossil fuels must continue to play a central role in global energy supply for the foreseeable future. Further gains in energy efficiency and greater use of clean-burning natural gas will make it possible to meet the world’s energy needs in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective way.
The Red Herrings The Dollar Index measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of six major global currencies including the euro, the British pound, the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen. Throughout much of early 2011, this widely watched indicator hovered near all-time lows. There are several drivers of weakness in the dollar but one of the most often-cited is mon-
etary policy. The US Federal Reserve continues to hold interest rates near zero and has undertaken two separate rounds of quantitative easing in an effort to stimulate growth. In quantitative easing (QE), the central bank buys US government bonds in an effort to boost their prices and keep yields from rising. This has helped to push interest rates in the US below those in many of its key trading partners, making it more attractive to hold euros and other currencies than dollars. Like most other major commodities, oil is priced in dollars and prices tend to rise when the dollar falls in value. There is no doubt that prolonged weakness in the US dollar has been one factor in the rising price of crude oil over the past few years. But currencies can’t explain all of oil’s historic run-up. Consider that over the decade ended March 31, 2011, the price of crude nearly tripled in euro terms and jumped 230 percent priced in yen. And in the first quarter of 2011 alone, crude oil prices jumped 17 percent priced in euros. While that’s not as dramatic as the 27 percent rise in Brent oil priced in dollar terms, consumers in the EU have certainly felt the pain of higher prices even though the European Central Bank (ECB) has not followed the Fed in using quantitative easing to loosen monetary conditions this year. An even more spurious rationale to explain the rise in global oil prices is to blame “Big Oil.” US giant Exxon Mobil, EU-based Royal Dutch Shell and China’s Petrochina have a combined market capitalization of nearly $1 trillion and are among the largest firms in the world but control less than 8 percent of the world’s oil production, far from a dominant share. In fact, the global oil market is among the most competitive and fragmented in the world – big oil companies don’t set the price of oil. The large profits generated by these major energy companies in recent years have attracted plenty of less-than-favorable media coverage
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and prompted demands from some corners that they be taxed on “windfall” profits. But it’s important to remember that these same companies are plowing a large portion of their profits into exploration and development of new sources of oil and natural gas production. With traditional onshore oil fields experiencing declining production, companies are increasingly turning to more complex and expensiveto-produce fields located in regions such as the deepwater or the vast oil sands of Canada. Capital spending from the same three global giants was 70 percent higher in 2010 than it was in 2006, just four years earlier. If it weren’t for massive investment in these new sources of energy output, global oil and gas prices would be even higher than they are today.
Supply and Demand Speculators are perhaps most often blamed for rising oil prices. Proponents of this argument claim that the recent rally in crude oil prices has absolutely no grounding in market fundamentals and is solely caused by investors allocating more money to tracking crude and commodity indexes. Although this is a popular line of reasoning, such claims are just plain wrong for all but the shortest of time frames: the rally in crude oil prices over the past few years has little to do with speculators and everything to do with supply and demand. There’s a popular myth that global oil demand has remained weak since the 2007-09 recession. That couldn’t be further from the truth: Global oil demand is expanding at the fastest pace in years. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) global oil demand hit 87.9 million barrels per day in 2010, an all-time high. Here’s some perspective: in 2007 and 2008, the last time global oil prices were near current elevated levels, global oil demand was closer to 86 mil-
lion barrels per day. And in 2010 alone, global demand jumped by 2.9 million barrels per day as the global economy bounced back from recession, the fastest rate of growth in two decades. Emerging markets have been and will remain the most important drivers of global energy consumption. Consider that from 1999 through 2009 total oil consumption from developed countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) actually fell by more than 2.1 million barrels of oil per day. Meanwhile, oil consumption from nations outside the OECD jumped by more than 10 million barrels per day. The oil market’s fascination with week-to-week trends in US oil consumption and developed world inventories is fast becoming an anachronism as emerging markets become the driver of global supply and demand. Demand trends in emerging markets are driven by secular changes and are unlikely to be reversed. As fast-growing emerging markets like China and India become wealthier and disposable incomes grow it’s only natural that consumers would want to buy the same sorts of goods as their peers in the developed world. That spells rising sales of discretionary items like cars and household appliances that support higher demand for energy.
“For more than a century, the US was the world’s largest car market; the fact that Chinese car sales have surpassed the US over the past two years represents an historic shift.” Sales of passenger cars in China hit a record high of 1.34 million vehicles per month at the end of 2010. Despite the slowdown in economic growth since early 2010 and the government’s efforts to tighten monetary policy, Chinese demand Energy for cars Continued on next page
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remains robust. Similar trends are underway in India and other emerging markets. These rapidly growing economies will continue to push global oil demand higher. In fact, by the end of this year, the global oil market is likely to be running at close to 90 million barrels of oil per day, yet another record high. Oil supply is a more complex matter. Oil supply growth from outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was robust in 2010, expanding by 1.1 million barrels per day. Russian output jumped by about 250,000 barrels per day, while US production increased by 360,000 barrels per day. Most analysts see global non-OPEC oil production growing close to 1 million barrels per day once again in 2011, historically an impressive growth rate. But, this surge in oil production would be impossible without rising investment in exploration and production on the part of major energy firms. And that increased spending is, in turn, only supported by higher energy prices.
“In recent years, there’s been resurgence in the popularity of the so-called peak oil theory. Contrary to popular belief, peak oil does not mean the world is literally running out of oil or that global oil reserves have been depleted; rather, peak oil refers to the idea that the rate of global oil production in terms of barrels per day has hit a maximum.” Global oil production has not yet peaked and is unlikely to hit a wall over the next five years. But, peak oil theorists are at least half correct: increasing global oil consumption is becoming more difficult, technologically complex and expensive. World supplies of easy-to-produce oil have peaked and that has major ramifications for prices. Consider that 19 of the world’s 20 largest oil
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fields have been in production for more than 30 years. Many of those fields, including Mexican giant Cantarell and China’s Daquing are widely regarded as past their peak of production. Cantarell, in particular, has seen a rapid decline in production since hitting a peak in 2004 and if Mexico doesn’t soon develop new oil fields there’s a real risk it will become a net importer of crude by the end of the decade. Other giant fields, such as Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar are thought capable of at least maintaining current production levels for some time to come. But, the ageing of the world’s largest oil fields is a concern as these giants account for roughly 60 percent of global production and two-thirds of reserves. And as oil fields age, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain, let alone grow production. According to the IEA, the average annual decline rate for mature oil fields is more than 5 percent. That means that producers are running on a treadmill: every year, companies must find and develop new fields just to offset the natural decline rate of the world’s base of producing oil fields. To accomplish this feat, companies are increasingly turning to regions such as the deepwater and that spells a rapid rise in cost. Consider that producers are drilling in water two miles (3.2 kilometers) deep and the longest deepwater wells are around 36,000 feet (11 kilometers) in length. Oil produced from such reservoirs is under tremendous geologic pressures and temperatures, complicating production. The difficulties faced bringing the 2010 Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico under control offer a stark reminder of just how technically complex a deepwater oil project can be. Estimates of the cost of producing oil from deepwater fields vary widely. And the industry has learned a great deal from the 2010 Gulf oil spill; new equipment and operating protocols will make deepwater drilling even safer but have likely increased the cost hurdle for deep-
water developments. Average crude oil prices above $70 to $80 per barrel are a good general estimate of the price required to incentive higher deepwater investment. And OPEC nations aren’t immune to the rising costs and complexities of crude oil production. Saudi Arabia plans to boost drilling activity by 30 percent over the coming year. About 60 percent of the planned increase will occur in Manifa, a field that eventually could add as much as 900,000 barrels per day of production capacity. Located in the shallows, Manifa was discovered in the late 1950s. Scant development work has occurred over the years because the field contains tough-to-refine heavy oil and presents some daunting technical challenges. For example, in February 2011 Saudi Aramco announced it had set a record for the longest well ever drilled in the Kingdom, a 32,136-foot well in the Manifa. To develop the field, Saudi Arabia will build 27 artificial islands in the Persian Gulf that will be connected by a 47-mile causeway. The Saudis also plan to drill aggressively in an onshore portion of the field. The total cost: some $12 to $16 billion by the time the field starts production in 2013. And that’s only part of the story as Saudi Arabia plans to invest as much as $40 billion in new refineries and petrochemicals projects that will allow it to produce higher value refined products from Manifa and other heavy oil reserves in the Kingdom. Suffice it to say that Manifa is a far more complex and expensive development than drilling a handful of simple vertical wells such as those originally used to produce many of the nation’s giant fields, including Ghawar. Clearly, the Saudis know that Manifa only makes economic sense when oil prices are relatively high. The Manifa oil project was originally slated to begin construction in 2009 with
first oil production in 2011 but was delayed for roughly two years as commodity prices slumped in late 2008 and early 2009. There was simply no point in adding to the nation’s production capacity with oil prices under $50 per barrel.
“And despite record capital spending from the big oil firms, smaller independent producers and state-owned national oil companies (NOCs) in recent years, nonOPEC oil production simply hasn’t been keeping pace with growth in demand.” That makes OPEC spare capacity—oil production capacity that can be started quickly and maintained--the key to the global oil market. There are two possibilities: OPEC will dip into its spare capacity to pump more crude oil or global inventories will decline rapidly as demand continues to outstrip production. Either possibility is bullish for oil prices. In the last quarter of 2010, global oil inventories contracted rapidly as demand surged and OPEC remained disciplined in controlling its output. In early 2011, crude oil inventories remained well-supplied in the US, particularly in the key oil terminal at Cushing, Oklahoma. But, elsewhere around the developed world, inventories tightened sharply in the first quarter and were hovering near five-year seasonal lows. Meanwhile, OPEC spare capacity has fallen sharply, largely due to the loss of Libya’s 1.5 million bbl/day of oil exports. And don’t expect that output to come online again anytime soon – intense fighting has likely caused significant damage to production and export infrastructure. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, among other major OPEC producers, have dipped into their spare capacity to Energy partially Continued on next page
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offset declining Libyan exports. The result: by the end of the first quarter of 2011, total OPEC spare capacity stood at less than 4 million bbl/ day, the tightest since the last big run-up in oil between 2005 and the middle of 2008. While speculators can certainly influence crude oil prices in the short-run, the long-term drivers should be apparent: fast-growing demand and constrained supply. Rising oil prices are balancing the global market by incentivizing investment in more expensive and complex-to-produce oil fields and by dampening global demand growth for oil. In the short-run, the early 2011 spike in oil prices is far from a speculative bubble or a bet on the fate of the US dollar. Rather, oil prices are simply rallying due to declining inventories of oil in storage and falling OPEC spare capacity. Oil prices must rally to cool global demand growth and balance global supply and demand. Technology is the key to growing oil production from complex fields such as those in the deepwater and complex developments such as
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Manifa. For example, seismic services involve the use of sound and pressure waves to map underground rock formations that could contain oil and natural gas. As with most energy-related services, seismic work has become increasingly complex and technologically advanced in recent years. Drilling deepwater wells is extraordinarily expensive. Day rates for the rig alone can top $600,000 per day, and a single well can take 90 or more days to drill. In addition to the rig and crew, producers must pay services firms to handle a host of tasks, including drilling, logging and testing the well and managing the drilling fluid. Drilling alone can cost well north of $1 million per day. Given this expense, it’s no surprise that seismic services account for roughly one-quarter of all spending on exploration; high-quality seismic information enables producers to identify the areas in a basin that are most prospective for hydrocarbons.
Trial and error is part of the energy business. However, producers in the deepwater are willing to invest in high-quality data to avoid dry holes, or wells with no commercial value. And the need for seismic work doesn’t disappear the minute a new field is identified and drilled. Companies increasingly rely on seismic data to determine how best to develop a field over time and exactly where to sink wells. Oil services giant Schlumberger’s (NYSE: SLB) WesternGeco subsidiary is among the world’s largest providers of seismic services. The segment was a drag on the firm’s profits during the 2008 and 2009 commodity price collapse but looks to be on the cusp of a new wave of growth.
seismic surveying. The company operates two business lines: services, which accounts for roughly 75 percent of overall revenue, and equipment, which accounts the remaining 25 percent. The services division is broadly similar to seismic services offered by Schlumberger and Petroleum Geo-Services. But Veritas’ Sercel division, which manufactures and sells seismic equipment, is a unique and highly profitable business line that boasts market share of 60 to 65 percent. The company’s Unite wireless system for on-
And Schlumberger is known for its cutting– edge technology in seismic. The most modern and advanced seismic ships have equipment that can generate a high resolution 3D map of subsurface formations. And companies can also install seismic equipment that helps producers monitor the flow of oil and gas through a field as its produced over time, data known as four-dimensional (4D) seismic. Producers are willing to pay up for quality seismic data. Like WesternGeco, Norway-based Petroleum Geo-Services provides higher-end seismic solutions to deepwater operators, a segment of the market that offers superior returns. The company’s high-density 3-D data products account for 70 percent of new orders, and demand should continue to pick up as E&P firms target increasingly complex deepwater fields. Brazil, home to some of the biggest offshore discoveries, accounts for 15 percent of the Norwegian firm’s revenue. Petroleum Geo-Services has amassed one of the largest libraries of 3-D seismic data in Brazil, giving it a leg up in this rapidly growing market. And France-based Compagnie Generale de Geophysique Veritas or CGG Veritas, is another pure-play on an improving market for
shore seismic shoots eliminates the need for wires and cables connecting individual data collection devices, reducing setup times and making it easier to acquire data onshore. In the marine segment, the company’s advanced Sentinel seismic system is seeing strong growth as demand for advanced seismic data picks up. And technology goes far beyond just the need to find new oil fields. Major oil field services companies including Schlumberger, Weatherford, Baker Hughes and Halliburton perform a long list of crucial tasks surrounding the drilling and production of wells. Examples include manEnergy aging Continued on next page extreme
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underground pressures, evaluating the productivity of wells as they’re drilled, and managing the drilling of horizontal wells. Increasingly, major services firms are also taking on integrated drilling projects. Under such deals major producers contract with a services firms to provide all or much of the work needed to develop a particular field or group of wells. This can often include leasing drilling equipment, buying necessary equipment such as pipes and wellheads and handling the actual drilling of the wells.
No Alternatives The simple truth: there are no viable and costeffective alternatives to crude oil in the short term. Ultimately, electric cars or gasoline-electric hybrids could become commonplace as passenger cars. And, as I’ll detail later, natural gas will have an increasing role to play as a transportation fuel, particularly in commercial vehicles. But, even in developed markets like the US where hybrid vehicles have become more popular in recent years, oil’s dominance has hardly been dented. According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), 97 percent of all energy used in the US transportation sector was derived from crude oil in 2010. Natural gas has made inroads in the US transit bus market in select cities like Washington DC but still accounts for less than 9 percent of a market still dominated by diesel. And just under half of the nation’s commuter and transit rail systems run on electricity but that’s not as impressive as it might sound – commuter and transit rail only accounts for about 0.2 percent of energy consumed in the US transportation market. Making a major shift in a market the size of the US transportation sector takes time. Consider that according to the US Department of Transportation (DOT), there are more than 255 registered vehicles on the road in the US including about 140 million passenger cars. The current market for new cars is about 14 million
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per year – even if a large percentage of new car buyers were to choose electric and hybrid cars it would still take many years to shift the US vehicle fleet to electric. And such an assumption is unrealistic – several new models of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric cars are due to be introduced in the US over the next few years but even the most optimistic proponents are looking for modest growth. Electric and hybrid vehicles are still more expensive than traditional gasoline cars and current battery technology limits the range of electric vehicles. Since there’s no chance of replacing oil as a transportation fuel in the near future, the key to minimizing energy costs is efficiency. And, when it comes to efficiency, necessity is the mother of invention: Simple economics has historically driven energy efficiency and conservation more than any environmental argument or government mandate.
“One of the best measures of a nation’s energy efficiency is energy intensity, a measure of energy consumption per dollar of gross domestic product (GDP). Lower energy intensity implies greater energy efficiency.” Consider that between 1987 and 1997, a period when domestic energy prices generally fell, US energy intensity declined by about 11 percent . But energy prices climbed between 1998 and 2008, and energy intensity declined by closer to 18 percent. Companies became more energy efficient and innovative because the cost of using energy rose. Countries with few domestic resources of energy--Japan being a classic case--also tend to be far more energy efficient than nations with plentiful domestic supply. Japan’s energy intensity is around 6,492 British thermal units (BTU) per US dollar of GDP compared to 8,841
BTUs in the US. When energy prices rise, the cost of doing business increases; any firm that can reduce those costs will enjoy higher profit margins. And the higher energy prices head, the cheaper and more valuable energy efficiency and conservation initiatives become. That’s the basic economic incentive that drives innovation. Energy efficiency can take many different forms. In the transportation industry, rising energy prices have prompted consumers to show a distinct preference for more fuel-efficient cars. In the US, commercial vehicles, trucks and trains tend to burn diesel. But only about 1 to 2 percent of total passenger car sales are diesel. This is primarily due to historic reasons– the first small diesel cars introduced in the US market were of low quality and delivered inferior performance. In addition, the US has not offered the same level of tax breaks for buying diesel fuel that are offered in western European countries, reducing the relative cost benefits. In the US, light distillates, a category dominated by gasoline, accounts for about half of all oil-derived fuel consumed. Middle distillates, including diesel, accounts for about one quarter of fuel consumed and only a tiny sliver of that is the passenger car market. This is not the case in all regions of the world. In Western Europe close to half of all passenger vehicle sales are diesels in a strong year. As for total fuel consumption, the relative importance of light and middle distillates are reversed from the US case–about half of all oilderived fuel consumed is middle distillate and just 20 to 25 percent is light distillate. And in China, diesel is also an important transport fuel–about 40 percent of all oil consumption is middle distillates compared to just 25 to 30 percent light distillates. However, China is more like the US market than Europe in the
sense that gasoline still dominates the local passenger car market. Despite the American preference for gasoline, middle distillates are a slightly more important fuel globally, accounting for about 35 to 40 percent of global oil use. Demand is also growing more quickly–global demand for middle distillates rose about 23 percent between 1998 and 2008, compared to just 15 percent for light distillates. There are some good reasons for that trend. Diesel offers a fuel efficiency advantage of as much as 40 percent over a comparable sized gasoline engine–a significant edge in an era of generally high and rising energy prices. Meanwhile, diesel has always been the fuel of choice for trucks and heavy equipment as diesel engines offer better hauling and towing power. In the passenger market, diesel engine performance has improved markedly since the introduction of advanced turbo direct injection (TDI) diesel cars. Some experts believe the most modern diesel engines actually offer performance advantages over gasoline-powered cars. These factors suggest continued growth in diesel demand relative to other fuels. But the efficiency of gasoline powered engines has also improved markedly in recent years. For example, according to the EIA the average passenger car in the US managed just 16 miles per gallon in 1980 compared to 22.6 mpg in 2008. The gains in fuel efficiency have also been dramatic in sport-utility vehicles and light trucks where average fuel economy has improved from about 12 mpg in 1980 to more than 18 today.
“Another example of energy efficiency in the transportation sector is the rising popularity of
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freight rail in countries like the US. A train can haul a ton of freight for more than 400 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel, a feat that would be impossible with trucks. And freight rail systems in many countries are far less congested than highways – traffic jams are one of the world’s most unproductive usesof transportation fuels.” And there’s a lot more to energy efficiency than more fuel-efficient cars and the greater use of advanced diesel engines. Consider the manufacturing sector where companies have been spending on advanced factory automation and control technologies that help to conserve energy while boosting factory efficiency. That trend has been a boon to global industrials such as US-based Honeywell and Switzerland’s ABB that manufacture and install such equipment.
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Resource Efficiency And there’s another form of efficiency that gets far less attention: resource efficiency. As explained earlier, producing enough crude oil to meet global demand is becoming an increasingly difficult and expensive process. That means that the global supply and demand balance for oil is tighter than it is for other energy-related commodities including natural gas and coal. That also means that a British Thermal Unit (BTU) of energy produced from natural gas or coal has generally been cheaper than the same BTU produced by using oil. For example when oil was trading at $120/bbl in early 2011, a million BTUs of crude oil cost about $19 while natural gas traded in the US for less than $5 per million BTUs and at roughly twice that price in international markets. It makes sense to substitute more plentiful commodities for oil where possible. The rapid development of unconventional shale gas fields in the US and Canada has revolutionized the North American market. Two technologies have revolutionized the
production of oil and natural gas from shale fields in North America: horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Horizontal drilling involves sinking a vertical well to a particular depth and then drilling sideways. By drilling horizontally, producers expose a larger portion of their wells to the most productive parts of the field.
This technology is far from a recent innovation; the energy industry has relied on this technology for over 50 years. But, a surge in new LNG liquefaction projects in Asia, Africa and the Middle East in recent years means that importing countries now have more flexibility in terms of obtaining their gas supplies.
Oil and natural gas aren’t found in giant underground caverns or lakes; these hydrocarbons are locked in the pores and crevices of a reservoir rock. The issue is that in unconventional reserves, the pores aren’t well-connected, making it tough for the oil or gas to flow through the reservoir and into a producing well.
“Natural gas offers the added attraction of being the cleanest of the fossil fuels, producing far less pollution in the form sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, mercury and, of course, carbon dioxide than either oil or coal. “
To remedy that problem, producers pump a mixture of primarily water and sand into the field. The pressure literally cracks the reservoir rock, providing paths through which hydrocarbons can flow. The sand, or proppant in industry parlance, props open the fissures created during hydraulic fracturing.
The primary uses of gas worldwide include electric power generation, industrial and manufacturing processes and residential heating. All of these will remain major markets for gas in coming years; in fact, gas is likely to be among the fastest growing major sources of energy in the electric power industry given its environmental and cost advantages.
Less than a decade ago, many analysts were predicting that the North American market would become increasingly reliant on imports of natural gas in the form liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet demand. But, the shale gas revolution has resulted in a glut of gas across North America and depressed prices. Internationally, prices have tended to be higher and in many countries natural gas is supplied under long-term contracts indexed to oil. But wider global availability of LNG means that gas is unlikely to become as dear as oil. What is LNG? When natural gas is cooled to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit at a liquefaction facility, it condenses into a liquid that’s roughly 1/600th its original size. In this form, large amounts of natural gas can be safely transported overseas in specially designed ships. Re-gasification terminals warm the LNG to return it to its gaseous state before pipelines transmit the product to end users.
And, the expansion of solar, wind and other intermittent alternative energy technologies would be impossible without gas. Integrating renewable energy sources into the electric grid is a challenge, as the inevitable spikes and lulls in solar and wind power generation must be offset with natural gas and other flexible power sources that can be fired up to ensure that the supply of electricity meets demand. Consider that the UK’s and EU’s largest wind power installation, Whitelee Windfarm, comprises 140 wind turbines that stand 70 meters tall (230 feet) and sport wind-turbine blades of 40 meters (130 feet) in diameter. The rated maximum capacity of each wind turbine is 2,300 kilowatts (kw), so the farm’s total installed capacity is 322,000 kw, or 322 megawatts (MW). But, what really
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ticked up because of the harsh winter. And consumers aren’t likely to reduce their electricity consumption when the wind dies down.
counts is the load factor, or the ratio of power generation relative to its capacity. For example, a 100 MW plant that produces 75 MW of electricity in a given month would have a 75 percent load factor. Over the past two years, the highest average monthly load factor observed at Whitelee Windfarm was just shy of 40 percent. In other words, the entire facility produced just about 122 MW on average that month. To put that into perspective, the smallest the smallest coal-fired power plants in the developed world boast a maximum capacity of 400 to 500 MW and can operate at this level as long as the operator keeps feeding them coal. The power generated at Whitelee Windfarm also varies dramatically depending on the month; in its worst 30-day period, the installation operated at a load factor of 13 percent, generating less than 41 MW of electricity. On a daily basis, these fluctuations are even more pronounced. Weather patterns also don’t match consumer behavior; for example, Whitelee Windfarm posted its weakest monthly load factor in February 2010, a month where UK power demand
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To offset the inherent variability of facilities like Whitelee, utilities install shadow capacity that can feed power to the grid when wind generation fails to meet demand. In the UK, spare capacity would likely consist of natural gasfired power plants. The amount of spare capacity required depends on how windy it is outside and the total amount of variable power capacity that’s installed. A small amount of renewable power isn’t difficult to integrate with a modern electricity grid; the peaks and lulls in power output are easy to offset with existing gas-fired plants. However, the greater the percentage of renewable energy capacity, the more of a challenge this become. An even bigger potential market for natural gas is the transportation sector. As outlined above, oil currently dominates global transportation but there is scope for a shift. Globally there are about 7 million vehicles running on natural gas up from around 2 million in 2001 either in the form of LNG or compressed natural gas (CNG). In some isolated markets, such as Argentina, natural gas has already assumed some importance as a transportation fuel but globally it remains a niche market.
It would take time for natural gas to make a dent in the market for passenger cars as converting existing cars to burn gas can be expensive and infrastructure in the form of filling stations, pipelines and refineries is set up to handle gasoline and diesel, not CNG or LNG. But the market for commercial trucks and fleet vehicles offers a near term opportunity. Fleet vehicles like buses, taxis and waste collection trucks can be refueled from a handful of centralized stations as they tend to travel relatively short distances from their base of operations. And commercial freight vehicles could be supported using a relatively small number of refilling stations placed along common freight routes. There has been significant talk about subsidizing the use of natural gas in freight and fleet applications in recent years, particularly in the US where low natural gas prices make it a particularly attractive solution. One company that should benefit is Clean Energy Fuels, a firm that builds CNG and LNG refueling stations, the basic infrastructure that would be needed to support further growth. An even more obscure market is natural gas liquids (NGLs). Natural gas is composed primarily of methane, a hydrocarbon consisting of one carbon atom bound to four hydrogen atoms (CH4). But raw natural gas produced from wells isn’t homogenous; methane typically occurs with a variety of heavier hydrocarbons (NGLs) such as ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10). Crude oil, water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur also mix with raw natural gas. The components of this mélange vary from field to field. Some regions produce dry natural gas, or gas that consists primarily of methane with little NGL content. In contrast, “wet” fields such as the Eagle Ford of Texas and the Marcellus Shale in Appalachia also contain large quantities of NGLs.
NGLs may not receive as much media attention as crude oil or natural gas, but they’re vital energy commodities. Ethane and propane are commonly employed as petrochemical feedstock. Ethane is used to make ethylene, while propane is used to manufacture propylene--chemicals that form the building blocks of various plastics. Oil refineries also use NGLs to boost the octane rating of gasoline. Historically, petrochemicals producers have used naphtha, a product derived from crude oil, to produce basic chemicals such as propylene and ethylene. But, due to rising production of NGLs from unconventional fields in places like North America chemicals manufacturers like Eastman Chemical, Westlake Chemical and Dow are boosting their capacity to produce chemicals from the cheaper NGL feedstock. In effect, producers are substituting NGLs for oil in key industrial processes.
Rising oil prices are one of the biggest risks facing the world economy and the era of cheap oil is over thanks to booming global demand and constrained supplies. The rally is for real: speculators and the dollar are far less important than the simple forces of supply and demand. There are no real, cost-effective alternatives to fossil fuels in the near or intermediate term. The good news is that the global economy can adjust to higher prices over time and energy efficiency and greater use of cleaner, cheaper natural gas can play a powerful roll in controlling costs.
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Nuclear Power in the
Post-Fukushima World
by Roger S. Conrad
“
There’s before and after Fukushima:” Those words from Autorite de Surete Nucleaire Director Andre-Claude Lacoste sum up the world’s nuclear power industry three months after an historic earthquake and tsunami triggered the world’s second worst-ever nuclear accident. France’s Prime Minister Francois Fillon has since launched a full-scale review of France’s nuclear power fleet, which supplies more than 80 percent of the country’s electricity. And the government’s scrutiny extends to the new generation of reactors as well, which are far-less reliant on outside power sources to control an accident and therefore much less vulnerable to Fukushima-like conditions. That, however, is about where global consensus begins and ends on nuclear power in the wake of the radiation leaks at the six Japanese reactors. As was the case following the world’s last major nuclear accident—Chernobyl in the 1980s—there’s been an outpouring of opposition to all things nuclear. At the epicenter is Germany, where mounting pressure forced Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat-led government to retreat on plans to relicense the country’s existing plants past the 2022 shutdown date now enshrined in law. Merkel still paid a price at the polls in recent elections, which saw the rabidly
anti-nuclear Green Party gain unprecedented representation around the country. Germany’s 17 operating reactors currently generate about 23 percent of the country’s power. Major utilities E.ON and RWE warn that renewable energy can’t replace nuclear with the same degree of system reliability, a course the government now apparently favors. But their pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears, as some 250,000 anti-nuclear Germans recently gathered in four cities to demand immediate shut downs of plants. German opposition has apparently also spread over into France, where activists have swarmed to protest a plant built in 1978 and awaiting relicensing. And they’ve taken their case to the European Union as well, which is ramping up its own scrutiny measures against nuclear plants.
Supporting Nuclear Reaction to Fukushima elsewhere, however, has been sharply different. Italy will delay building a new generation of French reactors, pending future study. But rather than prescribe massive shutdowns, the response in most nations has been to step up safety measures to lessen the chances of devastation from potential earthquakes. Relicensing of existing plants continues to proceed and with very few exceptions, construction of a new generation of nuclear plants is going ahead. Nuclear power sta-
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tions produce about a third of electricity in the European Union overall, but supply some 80 percent of French power. As a result, French consumers are far less reliant on either fossil fuels or renewable energy and pay the second lowest prices for electricity in Europe, 36 percent below the EU average. That’s a major reason a clear majority were set against abandoning nuclear power even in the first blush of the Fukushima accident. Reflecting the popular will, President Nicolas Sarkozy has consistently professed confidence in both France’s currently operating fleet and its ability to build new plants. Speaking recently to Electricite de France workers at the plant in the town of Gravelines in northern France, the president pledged France will “continue to invest” in the nuclear industry, and that nuclear power is safe and essential for energy independence. He will host a meeting in June meeting of world’s civil nuclear safety authorities. As for a planned European Union-wide testing of nuclear plants, Lacoste says the accident at Fukushima was a “massive event” that could totally modify safety requirements at nuclear installations. But he also says “there is no assurance of a total convergence” between what France will do and what the EU decides. That’s a pretty clear indication that France will not go the same route as Germany.
No Three Mile Island The US was at the forefront of the 1960s-70s nuclear building boom, only to pull up the stakes following the 1978 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. That event triggered mass cancellation of new nuclear plants and dramatically increased the cost of those under construction. Today, anti-nuclear sentiment is still strong in many parts of the country and odds of building new Greenfield facilities—i.e. places other than existing sites—are next to none.
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And despite a major push from the Obama administration to encourage nuclear building, including $18.5 billion in loan guarantees, few companies have taken the bait. On the other hand, the Obama Administration and a majority of Americans continue to support increased use of nuclear power, despite the Fukushima accident. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission itself has stepped up safety reviews of several plants around the country in response to Fukushima. But it’s also continued to approve operating license extensions for existing nuclear plants. That includes approving a 20-year license extension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant on March 25, just days after the accident in Japan. Remarkably, Vermont Yankee is fiercely opposed by state government, which claims the right to veto NRC actions. That the state is controlled by Democrats—the president’s own party—demonstrates the Obama Administration’s resolve to continue supporting nuclear energy in the US. Days later, the NRC granted environmental approval to new nuclear plants being built in Georgia and South Carolina, saying they posed no health risks to the surrounding communities. That leaves just final approval, which is on track for later this year. US Department of Energy Chairman Stephen Chu has indicated there will be no additional delay in the proceedings due to Fukushima, stating investigation of the accident and approvals can proceed at the same time. To quote: “If you look at the process in which the NRC approves going forward with construction projects and nuclear reactors, it’s a thoughtful process. It’s a multiyear process and because of its very nature, I think these things can proceed.” If France’s continued support for nuclear power is grounded in its dominance of the industry and the low rates it provides, US support is
based on desire for energy independence and to cut emissions of carbon dioxide over time. Legislation to regulate CO2 has stalled in Congress but new rules are being put in place by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Nuclear energy is the only realistic alternative to the coal plants that generate more than 50 percent of US electricity. That’s because the average wind plant runs at about 20 percent of its nameplate capacity, and the largest wind farm has less than 200 megawatts of capacity. Nuclear reactors, in contrast, run all the time and are typically more than five times as large. They also take up far less space. There are still some battlegrounds over relicensing. The Vermont Yankee case is one
and plant owner Entergy is taking the state to court. The Indian Point plant also owned by Entergy is another. While not of the same design as the Japanese reactors, that plant is located upriver from New York and has drawn the ire of local politicians. As state approval is not required for relicensing, shutdown looks extremely unlikely. Also, a tsunami the size of the one that knocked out power at Fukushima Daiichi would fully wipe out New York City long before it became a problem for the plant. Nonetheless, the fact that people still want to shut down a plant that contributes 33 percent of the City’s electricity—and all of its lower cost power—is a strong indication of how emotional this issue is in parts of the US.
That definitely includes California, which still houses two nuclear reactors. One is San Onofre, which is located right on the Pacific Coast off the highway between Los Angeles and San Diego. The other is Diablo Canyon, owned by PG&E and the plant not-too-subtly portrayed in the movie “The China Syndrome.” However, the NRC and Obama Administration refused to close any US nuclear plants as Fukushima struggled. And as for plant relicensing, the NRC has indicated it will stick to its current multi-year approval process. As of April 2011, 60 reactors at some 40 different sites have been cleared for license extensions. There are 19 others that have submitted applications, located at 11 facilities. The remaining plants are expected to file applications between now and 2017, and there’s no indication that approval won’t be forthcoming. The expectation is that operating costs at some reactors will rise. In fact, John Rowe, CEO of the largest nuclear producer Exelon (NYSE: EXC), stated he expects American regulators will impose new safety requirements on nuclear plants that are likely to add “significant costs.” Particularly targeted could be Exelon’s plants using a “boiling water” design like those at Fukushima. Those rising safety costs will hit earnings and may even induce some owners to close facilities. But with the NRC and Energy Department still supportive, not even those increased costs should upset nuclear’s solid economics in the US. In fact, at more than 20 percent of demand—and still the cheapest source of baseload power in most areas—nuclear is basically irreplaceable in the US. Also note that most operating nuclear plants in the US have little or no debt attached. They’ve been paid for long ago. Aside from the Geor-
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gia and South Carolina projects, new plant construction in the US is still a slow moving trend. That even at existing sites, where local popular support is strongest and needed transmission infrastructure and logistical capability are already in place. The Georgia project (lead operator Southern Company) and South Carolina project (SCANA) have plenty of both. So did, however, the South Texas site where NRG Energy had proposed a nuclear plant. This spring, the company cancelled the project, blaming fallout from Fukushima and worries about potential costs of new safety regulations. In North Carolina, Duke Energy will proceed with its preliminary activity to build a new plant on an existing site. But the state legislature has put on hold a plan for the company to recover the estimated $11 billion cost automatically in rates and as incurred, pending further investigation. The governor of Virginia remains very supportive of a potential new nuclear plant to be built by Dominion Resources in Louisa County. But for the most part, it looks like Southern and Scana will be the industry guinea pigs, as companies wait to see what their costs and challenges will be and what additional safety measures regulators require in the aftermath of Fukushima.
Nuclear Growth Fortunately, the global nuclear industry isn’t depending on the US to spur plant development, or for Germany to keep its nuclear plants running past 2022. Rather, opinion is solid that existing plants will keep running and new construction will proceed. One reason is CO2 regulation, as nuclear power produces no greenhouse gases. But many countries like China suffer from chronic air pollution problems, caused by increasing reliance on fossil fuels. Nuclear is the only way to generate the electricity they need with-
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out further poisoning the air. And reliance on imported fossil fuels also opens up emerging economies to inflation pressures. That’s the major problem in Japan, which remains supportive of nuclear despite the Fukushima accident as the only alternative to intolerable reliance on imported fossil fuels. The country is experiencing that right now with the Fukushima Daiichi plant hobbled. And a planned overhaul of several other plants to protect against future earthquakes and tsunamis will only make matters worse in summer cooling season.
Before Fukushima, China and Russia were the two countries with the biggest plans for nuclear power. That remains true today, though China did initially make statements that it would delay building until the Fukushima accident could be more fully investigated. According to the World Nuclear Association, China’s current nuclear count is 13 plants in operation and 26 under construction. A total of 34 have been approved by the State Council, which sets energy policy. Current plants call for a 10-fold increase in the country’s nuclear power output to 400 gigawatts by 2050, and the country is well on its way to meeting an intermediate term goal of 80 GW by 2020. Most nukes are on the south
and east of the country, with a preponderance on the coasts. The first plant was the two reactor Daya Bay complex serving Guangdong province, a pressurized water reactor with a nameplate capacity of 944 megawatts. But the country is now spearheading the effort in a wide range of designs. Despite early lip service paid to anti-nuclear worries, reactor building got back on track in May in China. The reactor building dome of unit 2 at the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China was installed, 16 days ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, the second ring of the containment vessel of unit 2 at the Haiyang plant was lifted into place. If China remains committed to nuclear energy, Russia is doubly so. At a business conference organized in Berlin by newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung following the Fukushima accident, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was quoted: “The German public does not like the nuclear power industry for some reason, But I cannot understand what fuel you will take for heating. You do not want gas, you do not develop the nuclear power industry, so you will heat with firewood? You will have to go to Siberia to buy the firewood there.” Speaking later at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the Prime Minister predicted demand for energy sources will soar over the next few years. Regarding the widespread view that renewable energy can pick up the slack, he stated “You couldn’t transfer large electric power stations to wind energy, however much you wanted to. In the next few decades, it will be impossible. Nuclear energy is the only real and powerful alternative to oil and gas. Other approaches to meeting future energy demand are claptrap.” Russia’s nuclear efforts are similar to those in fossil fuels: The country wants to enhance its
energy exports, particularly to Europe. Current building efforts include deals with India for fuel and cooperation agreements with Kazakhstan. The country is also in effect competing with Lithuania to build three plants in the Baltic region, including two reactors using its VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors. Russia’s primary nuclear producer Rosatom is for the first time looking for foreign partners to take up to 49 percent ownership of a nuclear project. One candidate is Italian power giant Enel, which has been temporarily stymied in its attempts to build a new generation of Italian nuclear plants by fallout from the Fukushima accident. A cooperation agreement has now been signed by Enel chief Fulvio Conti and Boris Kovalchuk of Inter RAO UES to develop plans for the export and distribution of a “significant proportion” of power from two reactors.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Russia’s current nuclear count is 31 operating reactors totaling 21,743 megawatts. Overall capacity is projected to grow more than 50 percent by 2015 and to at least double by 2020. That includes plans by Rosatom to build up to eight floating nuclear power plants by 2015. As in the US—where nuclear power’s operating rate has surged from under 60 percent to over 90 percent in the last 30 years—Russia has also seen a quantum leap in plant efficiency. Capacity factors averaged just 56 percent in the 1990s, but have since risen over 80 percent, with a goal of 90 percent plus by 2015. That’s a huge plus for nuclear power economics globally.
The Players Producing 75 percent of France’s electricity from nuclear plants and the dominant owner of reactors in the UK as well (another country still supporting new NUCLEAR POWER plants), Electricite Continued on next page
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de France has the furthest flung interests in nuclear power. The company has thus far been stymied in efforts to build plants in Italy and the US, but remains a major contender with a long-term view. Other prominent nuclear power producers in Europe include EDF’s main French rival GDF Suez, Italy’s dominant electricity company Enel and Finland’s Fortum. Germany’s EON and RWE are also big producers, but appear doomed to shutter their reactors within the next 10 years, if not sooner. In the US, Exelon is by far the largest player in nuclear power, with all of its capacity sold into the wholesale market. Low natural gas prices in North America have pushed down power prices in many markets, one reason for the company’s reluctance to build new nuclear plants. But its operating rate remains superior and its operations soundly profitable. Other major players include Entergy—the second largest owner of US nuclear plants—Dominion Resources, Duke Energy, First Energy and Southern Company. Constellation Energy, which operates five plants in the US, is in the process of merging with Exelon. Turning to manufacturers of new plants, the AP1000 is the design used by both Southern Company and SCANA in the US, and is widely used throughout China. It’s the product of Westinghouse, a unit of Toshiba. The AP1000’s typical capacity is 1250 megawatts. It differs from the boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors in that it does not require outside power to cool the reactors. In the event of an earthquake/tsunami event such as struck Japan this year, the reactors would shut down without incident. The AP1000 is the major vehicle for China’s move to Generation III technology in nuclear energy. The country’s first four reactors with the design are being built at Sanmen and Haiyang. At least eight more at four sites
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will go up soon after, and about 30 more are proposed. The construction timeline is roughly 50 months from first concrete to fuel loading, then six months to grid connection. China is also building EPR reactors developed by France’s Areva. These are still larger reactors, with a typical capacity of 1660 megawatts. This is also the design favored by EDF globally, and is being used at the Gravellines site in northern France. Other players include Russia’s Atomstroyexport, developer of the VVER reactors being constructed in the Baltics. These reactors incorporate Finnish safety features and SiemensAreva instrumentation and control systems. Russia’s Energoatom is responsible for maintenance. These are also being used in China. China Huaneng Group, owner of Huaneng Power, is the lead organization in a consortium to build the demonstration Shidaowan HTRPM reactor with China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Group (CNEC) and Tsinghua University’s INET, which is the R&D leader. Finally, fast neutron reactors FNRs) are seen by some as the main technology by 2050. Finally, uranium remains the primary fuel for nuclear power plants, providing a long-term opportunity for companies that mine it safely. One of the premier plays: Canada’s Cameco, whose Cigar Lake facility is on track to become one of the world’s most prolific resources.
From an investment point of view, the unfortunate events at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan have depressed the value of all nuclear power players. The industry, however, is alive and well—and a profit opportunity for those who recognize it.
Too often our media focuses only on major disasters affecting millions of people in the poorest countries of the world, and it is easy for us to feel helpless in the face of such suffering. Yet when Victoria Ferguson first visited Kenya in 2006, she was so moved by the plight of Mombasa’s street children that she resolved to help in whatever way she could. Vicky spent five months of her gap year as a volunteer working with the street children and youths during that time she met many inspirational social and youth workers who are now part of the Glad’s House family. Vicky made a vow to work alongside them to establish a centre for Street Children and on her return home to the UK co-founded with her parents, Glad’s House, a charity working on-the-ground in Mombasa, Kenya to improve the lives of the city’s street children and youths, giving them the chance of a real childhood before supporting them to become self-sufficient adults. Glad’s House shows it’s possible to make real changes one life at a time, proving that small amounts of money can make a big difference.
boxes, parks or on the street itself. Some still sleep in a house but often with ‘unsuitable’ adults. There are as many 250,000 children living like this in Kenya, with approximately 35,000 in Mombasa alone. It is easy to turn away, to assume that the children in question are in some way to blame for their own situation, but Glad’s House is founded on the belief that children with no home belong to us all.
How is Glad’s House helping these children?
By engaging the help of her parents, Cliff and Jan, now Glad’s House Chairman and Secretary, Victoria is able to split her time between Mombasa and the UK. Her father Cliff runs the UK operations, raising funds and delivering the resources required in Kenya. Both Cliff and Jan make regular visits to see for themselves the work that can be done with even limited resources. From a standing start in 2006, the charity has already touched the lives of countless street children. Cliff says, “Glad’s House is a small charity with a narrow focus. But this allows us to see real results in individual children. Their lives can be transformed” Victoria says, “The generosity we have experienced from people since establishing this charity never ceases to touch or amaze me. Through their support we are able to achieve so much and make a difference to so many children’s lives.”
Who are the Street Children? They are children from diverse backgrounds, aged between five and eighteen, who have been orphaned, abandoned by their parents or fled their home and are forced to live without any care or protection on the streets. Their lives are a daily struggle to find food and shelter, often funded by petty crime or prostitution. Many are addicted to glue, a substance which alleviates their hunger and is cheaper than food. Frequently the children band together, as children do all over the world, providing help and support for each other as they have no home, no school, no family other than their friends on the street. Street children live in abandoned buildings, cardboard
Glad’s House is building a community-based care and support facility for street children and Youths, as well as for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the local community. The project involves a process known as the 4-Rs: Rescue, Rehabilitation, Re-socialization and Reintegration. Here at “the Base” children and youths are assisted in re-joining the Kenyan school system or to begin vocational training programmes. It provides a vital sanctuary for children from a life of poverty, homelessness and crime. Children and youths from the surrounding neighbourhood are also given the chance to access education, arts, sports and medical aid. The children visit the centre on a daily basis and are given food, healthcare and counselling. They are also helped to find and reunite with their families.
Existing projects One of the ways Glad’s House currently works to improve street children’s lives is through sport. Partnering with MOYO (Mombasa Olympic Youth Organisation) – established by a
former Kenyan Olympic athlete, Fred ‘Bokey’ Achola – the charity provides sports kit and funding for boxing, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tae kwando and occasional rugby teams. The children are supported and given the motivation to stay away from drugs and crime while enjoying a very real break from their dayto-day existence. The charity has also established local businesses – a cyber café, a matatu (Kenyan transport system), bicycle shop, cobblers, sports shop and carpentry shop – all of which provide employment opportunities for the local community and children moving away from the street. They have also created an innovative programme in association with Vipingo Ridge Golf Resort, where 44 young people have been trained as caddies and now work full-time on the course. This project was partially funded by the European Tour and fully supported by the European Tour Caddies Association.
A personal story by Victoria Ferguson “Nicholas Karani” When I started in care work one of the first rules I was told was that I couldn’t have favourites... then I met Nicolas Karani, and I like everyone else who met him instantly fell under his spell! Karani as he was known, was a very special human being, he had an energy around him that was infectious and even the most miserable person in the world would be melted by Karani’s charm. Karani was tiny for his age, he had been on the street from a very young age and mal-nourishment plus too much glue had stunted his growth and addled his brain, but this didn’t matter to anyone around him. He was your classic street boy; dirty, always with a glue bottle in hand, a free spirit, a survivor. However, like most children, the street got the better of him in the end. If Karani had had a different start in life I have no doubt he would have gone far, but he didn’t, he was, from too young an age made to sniff glue, so he wasn’t afraid at night and so that the hunger in his stomach wasn’t the overpowering sensation in his life. Karani was a victim of his situation and like all of his peers did what he had to do to try and survive on a daily basis. For me Karani is the personification of why Glad’s House exists and why it is so important we offer support for children on the street. We need to stop the Karanis of this world dying for no reason. No child should have to live on the street and no child should die on the street. In November 2010 Victoria won the ‘Ultimate International Angel’ category at The Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards. The annual awards, sponsored by Avon, celebrate the remarkable stories of the nation’s ultimate real-life women and inspiring celebrities.
The Future The main focus now is to build a proper community centre providing high quality services for both children and youth.
The programme will: Rescue, rehabilitate, re-socialise and reintegrate abandoned and vulnerable children back into the family unit and community Increase community understanding and awareness of the rights of children as a way of stemming the flow of children on to the streets Increase vulnerable children’s access to basic education and vocational training opportunities Increase vulnerable children’s access to basic health services and information Establish a sustainable child-care and support model for street children, which could be scaled up and replicated in other communities When completed the centre will incorporate offices, a kitchen, plus a dining hall to feed our children and youths, a few ‘emergency’ bedrooms, a dispensary/ medical centre and classrooms. The latter two would be used by current street children, ex street children and members of the community of Magongo. Glad’s House has been slowly growing over the past five years and there have been some very special moments along the way. These include being the nominated charity for Sky TV’s ‘Soccer AM’ for two seasons, the Chelsea Legends playing 5 a side football in Spitalfields Market for Glad’s House and the Caddie Programme being supported by The European Tour. But the real highlight has to be seeing Glad’s House grow into a pioneering and high quality project for the street children and youth in Mombasa and, of course, street children and youths leaving the street and successfully standing on their own two feet. If reading about the work and aspirations of Glad’s House has left you feeling inspired to make a donation, no matter how small, please help by visiting www. gladshouse.com, it’s easy to make a difference, one life at a time.
Where Small donations make a BIG difference! Registered UK Charity No. 1115744 Registered Kenyan NGO No. OP.218/051/2010/0119/6304
Better skin from outer space by Dr. Aaron Barson Since time immemorial the quest for beauty has been a constant in all societies of which we have written records. This quest for skin beauty has been a goal that covers all periods of time, all races and both sexes. Over thousands of years many products have been used to enhance the skin, especially in women. In our present-day, cosmetic enhancements to the female face and body have reached the point where it is a major industry. There is also no lack of interest in homebrewed substances that hold the promise of eternal youth and beauty. With all of the emphasis on enhancing natural beauty through the use of substances and materials not manufactured by the body, we now have many thousands of products purporting to improve beauty and skin health. What is lacking in this quest for eternal youth is the use of internal treatments to enhance skin beauty. It seems that most efforts at improving the skin’s condition and appearance are almost
always topical in nature. Looming problems with using surface nutrients and vitamins to improve the skin lies in the construction of the epidermis or outer layer of your skin. The outer layer consists of skin cell remnants called keratinocytes. These are the cellular remains of the epidermal cells after they have undergone internal conversion to a protein called keratin. This keratin substance is very resistant to mechanical stress and chemical attack. Is this layer of dead skin cells that armor plates your skin against the many assaults from the outside world. It is also the reason that substances applied topically do not work as effectively as one might desire. The keratinocyte layer of the epidermis is a wonderful barrier that protects us but also does not allow for much nutrition to reach the skin through the surface. It may sound like science fiction, but new nutritionals developed for the US space program may hold the secret to younger-looking skin. A nutritional combination of superfruits was created to help protect American as-
tronauts against radiation exposure in space flight, but has been found to have amazing properties that can help smooth out wrinkles and blemishes. On the radiation protection side, a trial carried out at the University of Pittsburgh last year and published in the Radiation Research Journal showed that the NASA nutritional supplements high level of antioxidants provided strong protection against oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is the end result of radiation passing through the water in your body and is responsible for everything from aging skin to how long we might live. In a recent skin study carried out at Surface Medical Spas in Utah, the NASA supplement was shown to reduce wrinkles by almost a fifth, UV spots by almost a third and red spots by almost half in only three months. Dr Aaron Barson, the cosmetic physician that carried out this unique study, believes that reactive oxygen species (ROS) created by both radiation exposure and other natural processes, can harm the body in many ways. These reactive oxygen molecules or “free radicals” can create cell damage that has been linked to everything from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease. “Think of them as little Pac-men taking bites out of molecules that are essential for cells to function,” says Dr Aaron Barson, “This is how radiation exposure kills: the body is overwhelmed by ROS that cause cellular damage that the body can’t repair.” While the precise mechanism is not known, Dr Barson says skin condition improves because the large quantities of antioxidants in the NASA supplement can ward off oxidative stress.
Antioxidants in the superfruits attach themselves to ROS and neutralize them before they can cause damage. Dr Barson thinks that the skin may be the tissue most helped by reducing ROS and oxidative stress because it is the first body tissue (it’s on the outside of us) to be exposed to the environmental stressors of life. The most common example is the skins exposure to ultraviolet light in sunlight. The skin is the only tissue that “sees” this exposure because it is on the outside of us. Dr Barsons study shows that the skin greatly benefits from a reduction in this oxidative stress and the skin can heal itself if the oxidative stress is reduced. “This is not a facelift in a bottle, but it is extremely powerful,” says Dr Barson. “We have never seen anything as powerful as this as far as its effect on the skin and the different parameters of damage by which we evaluate it. I believe the future of skin care will be oral rather than topical. ”The drink contains the juice of five different super fruits – cupuaçu, açaí, acerola, prickly pear and yumberry – which as well as being high in antioxidants, contain phytochemicals, vitamins, flavonoids, glyconutrients and essential oils. The “Nasa Quintet” is also a vital ingredient, a complex extract of grape, green tea, pomegranate, vegetables (broccoli and spinach) and wild berries (blackberry, cranberry, blueberry and strawberry. Dr Barsons research is ongoing.
to develop energy storing batteries and an advanced grid system to move renewable energy where it is most used. Additionally, the Obama Administration has created a website to track these efforts, recovery.org.
Barack Obama
I
n 2008, history was made when Barack Obama was elected as the first African American President of the United States of America. This will be the fourth G8 Summit and his first as the host president. In March 2012 he changed the location of the G8 Summit from his hometown of Chicago, Illinois to the Camp David in Maryland. He sponsored State Children’s Health Insurance Program which will help 4 million more children, including immigrants, receive healthcare with no waiting period. He issued orders to suspend all proceedings at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba and have it closed within the year.
Environmental Direction This will be President Obama’s fourth attendance at the G8 Summit. During his current term, President Obama has already made several environmentally sound initiatives. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a stimulus package that was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. This stimulus package includes approximately $60 billion in clean energy investments including low income home weatherization, state and local renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts, grants
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President Obama directed the Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel economy standards for Model Year 2011 and beyond cars and trucks, enabling them to get better fuel mileage. This direction was made in order to prompt transportation companies to create more innovative energy saving products. Mr. Obama also issued a memorandum to the Department of Energy to develop tougher energy efficiency standards for household appliances including dishwashers, refrigerators and stoves. In 2009, revealed a program to developing renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf. These projects include renewable energy that produces electricity from wind, wave and ocean currents.
USA on the Horizon Barack Obama is currently campaigning for his second term as President of the United States. He will be running against the whichever Republican candidate wins GOP nomination, which as of May 2012 looks to be former Massachusetts Govenor, Mitt Romney.
BARACK OBAMA HISTORY 1961
Born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1985
Director of the Developing Communities Project.
1991
Receives Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.1992 Professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
1997
Senator of Illinois.
2005 United States Senator. 2008
Elected President of the United States.
2011 Ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.
The United States of America
T
he United States of America is known as a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. Known as the land of opportunity, such diversity has sprouted many innovative ideas like the invention of the telephone, motion pictures and motor vehicles, just to name a few. The United States has fifty metropolitan areas with populations greater than 1 million. The overall growth rate is 0.89%, compared to 0.16% in the European Union. Operating under a constitutional federal republic, the United States is made up of 50 states and a federal district. It was structured as a democracy regulated by checks and balances set up by the United States Constitution.
Economy at a Glance The United States has what is considered a capitalist economy comprised of rich natural resources and the labor of converting those natural resources into goods and technologies. It is the world’s largest national economy.
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The United States is the largest importer of goods, with vehicles as the number one import, and is the third largest exporter in the world, with electrical machinery at the top of the list. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and Germany are the United States major trading partners and it ranks at eighth in nominal GDP per capita. Currently, United States is experiencing the worst economic decline since The Great Depression which began in 1929. Over the past several years, the housing market has hit record lows, unemployment rates have reached record highs and consumer spending has been weary. Due to these poor conditions, many foreign trading partners with the U.S. are being deeply affected. In what may be a bold attempt to breathe life back into the U.S. economy in February 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The act is designed save and create over three million jobs, increase college affordability for students, create a new infrastructure and provide tax credits and tax cuts to over 129 million working households. This $787 billion stimulus package could be the investment America needs for a brighter future.
United States of America - continued
Global Efforts The United States has been heavily involved in bringing humanitarian aid to countries worldwide through federal government agencies like USAID. This agency focuses on providing humanitarian efforts to Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe and Eurasia and the Middle East. The USAID is committed to providing aid by way of economic growth, agriculture and trade, global health and conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance. More recent humanitarian efforts by the USAID is being focused on aid for the pandemic swine flu, the global fight against the HIV/ AIDS pandemic, the global food crisis caused by higher food prices, and addressing the needs of conflict affected areas of Somalia. The USAID counts on continuous charitable donations of money, food and goods that can go to various countries. Also on the Global spectrum, through the Global Climate Change Policy the United States hopes to reduce greenhouse gasses by 18% over the next decade. The policy, along with other policies that may come into affect soon, helps continue the United States’ role in leading support for research regarding climate change, resources for in science and technology and working with different institutions to find solutions to the climate crisis.
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UNITED STATES SNAPSHOT Official Name: United States of America Land Area: 3,794,101 sq. miles (9,826,675 sq. kilometers) Population: 313,533,000 Capital: Washington, D.C. Government: Constitutional Republic Head of State: President Barack Obama Principal Language: English Life Expectancy: 75 Years (male) 80 Years (female) Currency: United States Dollar GDP Per Capita (US$): $48,386
UNITED STATES HISTORY 1917
Enters World War I.
1920
Women gain right to vote.
1929
Stock market crashes. Great Depression begins.
1947
Enters World War II after attack on Pearl Harbor.
1965
Enters Vietnam War.
1969
Neil Armstrong is first person to walk on moon.
1974
President Nixon is investigated for Watergate scandal and resigns.
1991
Enters Gulf War.
2001 September 11 attacks. 2003
Invades Iraq.
2008 Barrack Obama first black American elected President of United States.
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encouraging sustainable water management, and taking action to help our wildlife at home and internationally. In their manifesto, the Conservatives promised “to be the greenest government in our history.” The Conservatives have also outlined plans to modernise the national grid to deliver power more cheaply, subsidise home insulation projects, and make more use of green technologies including electric cars and offshore windfarms.
David Cameron
O
n 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and on his recommendation, Queen Elizabeth II invited Cameron to form a government. At age 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool, who was appointed in 1812. Mr. Cameron is a descendant of King William IV and was born into a family with both wealth and an aristocratic pedigree. In his first address outside 10 Downing Street, he announced his intention to form a coalition government, the first since the Second World War, with the Liberal Democrats. Cameron outlined how he intended to “put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest.” As one of his first moves Cameron appointed Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democratic leader, as Deputy Prime Minister.
Environmental Direction The Conservative Government will make Britain greener by tackling climate change and protecting and enhancing the environment. They have pledged to improve Britain’s environment by working towards zero waste, providing incentives to recycle,
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Publishing his party’s “Plan for a Low Carbon Economy,” Mr Cameron said that changes in the way that Britain generates, distributes and consumes electricity will save families significant amounts of money as well as benefiting the environment. There is an urgent need to improve the protection of their marine environment, as many of their fish stocks have been overexploited. The Conservatives vow to fight for wholesale reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to encourage sustainable practices, give communities a greater say over the future of their fishing industries, and bring an end to the scandal of fish discards.
DAVID CAMERON HISTORY 1988
Conservative research department
1992 Special advisor, Treasury and Home Office 1994 Head of corporate affairs, Carlton Communications 1996
Married Samantha Sheffield
2003 Shadow deputy leader of the Commons 2004 Conservative party deputy chairman 2005 Leader of the opposition 2010 Apppointed Prime Minister of United Kingdom
United Kingdom
T
he United Kingdom is composed of four remarkable regions which include Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man and The Channel Islands. With its distinct landscape made up of breathtaking lakes, rolling hills, picturesque shorelines and dense forests echoing a nation’s history, it’s no wonder that for its small size the United Kingdom boasts one of the most culturally diverse and compact populations in Europe.
service industry has developed considerably, establishing about 73% of the UK’s GDP.
The government is made up of a parliamentary democracy and is a member of the European Union and Commonwealth of Nations. The United Kingdom is also a constitutional monarchy with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.
High export revenues can be attributed to the chemical industry and United Kingdom is the leader in financial, pharmaceutical, software and defense industries. Some other profitable endeavors involve revenues from coal reserves, North Sea oil and natural gas with their primary trading partners including many other European Union countries as well as the United States.
Economy at a Glance The United Kingdom’s economy is made up of the economies of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. As leaders in the industrial revolution they have always had a strong hold on economic development and the
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From London’s Big Ben Clock Tower to the mysterious astral Stonehenge the United Kingdom is known for some of the most recognizable landmarks in the world. Boasting over 32 million tourists in 2006 alone, tourism has always been a very lucrative business for the United Kingdom. In fact, both international and domestic tourists contribute billions of pounds each year towards the UK’s economy.
Global Efforts The United Kingdom is constantly looking for ways to stay deeply involved in the growth and welfare of the world. Two of the more pressing issues involve the development of Africa and the World’s climate crisis.
United Kingdom - continued Keen interest has been given regarding the future of Africa by backing a debt relief agreement. The agreement details that large retailers in the United Kingdom will make strong efforts to use their buying power to assist the developing countries in the world. Already, a million quality fruits and vegetables are being sold in the UK that are grown from these developing countries. This is just a start in the hope to pave a path for big business to assist these evolving countries not only through aid, but through agricultural trade as well. Active involvement of the United Kingdom in reducing planetary greenhouse gas emissions is one of the central concerns being concentrated on in recent years. They are focusing efforts to make their mark through the many environmental projects and initiatives laid down by the government. UK Scientist and environmental advisors to the government are studying the positive effects of biofuels replacing petroleum based fuels versus the negative effects of biofuel production. This is to ensure that the loss of plant-life does not outweigh the benefits of our removed dependence on fossil fuels. This is a clear demonstration of the high character in leadership in the United Kingdom, to be responsible in its actions by not simply following guidelines of the established consensus.
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UNITED KINGDOM SNAPSHOT Official Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Land Area: 94,060 sq. miles (243,610 sq kilometers) Population: 62,262,000 Capital: London Government: Constitutional Monarchy Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II Prime Minister: David Cameron Principal Language: English Life Expectancy: 77 Years (men); 82 Years (women) Currency: British Pound GDP Per Capita(US$): $38,592
UNITED KINGDOM HISTORY 1914
Enters World War I.
1939
Enters World War II.
1952
Elizabeth II becomes Queen.
1969
Capital punishment abolished.
1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman prime minister. 1994
Channel Tunnel links Britain back to European continent.
2004 English population reaches 50 million. 2010 Gordon Brown resigns as Prime Minister.
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such as the Bureya Dam and the Boguchany Dam, as well as the restoration of the nuclear industry of Russia, with some 1 trillion rubles ($42.7 billion) allocated from the federal budget to nuclear power and industry development before 2015. A large number of nuclear power stations and units are currently being constructed by the state corporation Rosatom in Russia and abroad.
Vladimir Putin
V
ladimir Putin was re-elected President of Russia since May 7, 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008 and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2012. Putin also serves as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term. After his successor Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election, Putin was nominated by Medvedev to be Russia’s Prime Minister. In September 2011, Putin and Medvedev agreed he should seek a third, non-consecutive term in the 2012 presidential election, which he won. Putin is skipping G8 this year and send his Prime Minister Demitri Medvedev in his place. The Russian leader told Obama by phone that he is unable to join the other leaders of the G8 leaders on May 18-19 because he needs to finish work setting up his new Cabinet.
Environmental Direction Putin also presided over resuming the construction of major hydropower plants,
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Russia on the Horizon On his first day as President, Putin issued 14 Presidential decrees, including a lengthy one stating wide-ranging goals for the Russian economy. Other decrees concerned education, housing, skilled-labor training, relations with the European Union, the defense industry, inter-ethnic relations, and other policy areas dealt with in Putin’s programme articles issued during the Presidential campaign.
VLADIMIR PUTIN HISTORY
1994 First deputy head of St. Petersburg administration 1998
Head of the FSB
1999
Appointed as one of Boris Yeltsin’s Deputy Prime Ministers
1999
Appointed Acting President upon Boris Yeltsin surprise resignation.
2000 Inaugurated President of Russia 2004 Re-elected President with a 71% vote 2008 Became Dmitry Medvedev’s Prime Minister 2012
Re-elected President of Russia for a non-consecutive third term
all levels of government. Mr. Medvedev has also stated that more severe penalties need to be put into action for businesses who are heavy polluters. Currently, the cost of an environmental fine is many times less the cost of investing in meeting local environmental guidelines. Though Russia has also experienced loss in the Global economic crisis as of late, efforts are still being made to invest into such environmental endeavors.
Demitri Medvedev
D
mitry Medvedev was the third President in the history of the Russian Federation and is not the current Prime Minister for newly elected Presdient Vlademir Putin. Though never previously holding an elected office, he has stood strong in the face of any adversity that has come his way. Prime Minister Medvedev is quickly becoming known for his charismatic nature and his ability to take a new stance against corruption.
Environmental Direction During his first term of then President Vladimir Putin, the duties of environmental governance was shifted to the Natural Resources Industry. This was an attempt to centralize the direction and lead to a more stable approach to environmental policy making. However, all of the power for environmental control and natural resource policy making was moved to this same ministry, placing the supervision of how the resources are spent and then protected into one governing body. Prime Minister Medvedev and President Putin have both spoken of a greener Russia. Both men have stated that the interests of the environment should now be of importance to
Russia on the Horizon During his presidency Medvedev was the iconic face for the Russian Federation. At just 45-years-old, he brought a new and youthful outlook to this position of President and vowed to be his own man and take his own stances on both foreign and domestic policy. In the past Mr. Medvedev has said that he wishes to bring reform to the judicial and legislative branches, resolving any lingering corruption and bringing a true separation between the two governing bodies. Russian leaders have implemented needed reform for many years and he has proven that he will continue to do so to enable Russia to continue in its growing prosperity as the Prime Minister.
DEMITRI MEDVEDEV HISTORY 1990
PHD in private law from Leningrad State University.
1998
Member of Board of Directors of Bratskiy LPK.
1999
Given top Moscow government position by Vladmir Putin.
2002 Two time chair of Gazprom’s Board of Directors. 2005
Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.
2008 Elected President of Russia. 2012
Appointed Prime Minister
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Russian Federation
R
ussia is the largest country in the world in overall area, almost twice the size of the United States. The geography is quite diverse with tundra, forests and deserts. There is rich heritage rooted in its culture, one which celebrates both its past and future.
over 12 % in 1999 and the average household monthly income is up nearly a remarkable 800% over the past 10 years. The GDP is firmly situated in the worlds top ten. The Russian government acknowledges improvement still needs to be made, but clearly they are headed in the right direction.
Times are much better for this nation who struggled so much in the prior decade. The government is considerably more stable and Vlademir Putin who returns to the office of President, looks to lead the country down a proven path of success; where overall growth is becoming a yearly achievement. Russia has weathered the bad times and works its way towards beginning a new prosperous era.
While economic growth is apparent, it has been centered mostly near Moscow. The other parts of the country fall significantly behind in these numbers. However, the middle income class has risen from about 8 million of the population in 2000 to over 55 million today.
Economy at a Glance Unlike other countries in recent years, Russia has experienced unprecedented economic growth based mainly on the rise of oil costs, increased government stability and more domestic spending. Russia has seen significant improvements during this nine year period. Citizens below the poverty level are at 14% down from a staggering 40% in 1998, the unemployment rate is near 6% down from
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In December 2011, Russia finally joined World Trade Organisation, allowing it a greater access to overseas markets. Some analysts estimate that WTO membership could bring the Russian economy a bounce of up to 3 per cent annually. Russia is rich in natural resources that are increasingly in demand. The country ranks first overall in the amount of natural gas reserves and ranks second in stored coal reserves and eighth in oil reserves. Russia is a large importer of foodstuffs. The government is concerned with its dependence on importer foods and hopes to increase size and production of the domestic agricultural sector.
Russian Federation - continued
Global Efforts Russia is considered a prominent figure in proving generous assistance to countries worldwide. The government has extended debt relief to those countries who are in developing stages. Substantial debt relief to the Iraqi nation has recently been provided. While humanitarian aid was also provided to the fleeing Serbian people in Kosovo. Russia’s commitment to the Kyoto Agreement of 1997 was extremely critical to the agreement’s survival. Russia signed the Kyoto Agreement in 2004. The country’s emissions fall well below the baseline outlined in the agreement. This means any unused emission credits can be sold to other countries that have exceeded their limits. Instead, Russia can keep the credits and ensure compliance with the agreement until its expiration in 2012. In large part, the reason Russia’s emissions are so low are due to a fall in industrial inactivity during the 1990’s after the fall of the Soviet-era. Environmental concerns are at the top of Russia’s agenda as many areas could be unfit for living in years to come. Russia has the opportunity to show the world that a lack of ecological action is not a valid response and change is still not too late. Prime Minister Medvedev will be making his fourth G8 appearance. This time attending as a replacement attendee for President Putin, who is staying back in Russia to organize his Cabinet.
RUSSIA SNAPSHOT Official Name: Russian Federation Land Area: 6,592,800 sq. miles (17,075,400 sq. kilometers) Population: 143,030,106 Capital: Moscow Government: Federal semi-presidential republic President: Vladimir Putin Prime Minister: President Dmitry Medvedev Principal Language: Russian Life Expectancy: 62 Years (males); 74 Years (females) Currency: Ruble GDP Per Capita (US$): $12,993
RUSSIA HISTORY 1914
Joined World War I.
1922
Creation of USSR.
1939
Joined World War II.
1957
USSR launches Sputnik satellite.
1961
USSR erects wall between East and West Berlin.
1971
Venera 7 sends probes to Venus.
1991
Soviet Union collapses.
2012
Vlademir Putin is reelected President
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agenda. In the 1990’s Ms. Merkel was Germany’s Environmental Minister and strived to bring elected officials from across the globe to start serious talks about the current state of the environment and what could be done to start limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Her efforts in these talks are credited with getting officials to outline and sign the Berlin Mandate, which lead to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
Angela Merkel
A
ngela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany since 2005, has played a strong role in politics and has been the leader of several significant groups of interest since the late 1980’s. A few notable groups include the Christian Democratic Union, of which she is the chairwoman, Grand Coalition, of which she leads with the Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party of Germany. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and is an elected member of the German Parliament.
Mrs. Merkel attended the 2007 European Union Summit where a plan was commissioned to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 and increase renewable energy’s production to 20 percent by 2020. Many attribute these goals and agreements to the hard work and convincing speeches given by Mrs. Merkel at the Summit.
Germany on the Horizon Mrs. Merkel has outlined numerous proposals for improving Germanys’ future. In her first address as the Chancellor of Germany, she proposed her goals on improving Germany’s’ economy and reducing unemployment rates. She wants fundamental reforms to pull the economy out of the doldrums, especially reducing staff costs and red tape for employers and raising sales tax.
Mrs. Merkel is credited with the honor of being the first woman Chancellor of Germany since 1871 and the youngest person to become Chancellor since the Second World War. She joins Margaret Thatcher and Kim Campbell as only the third woman to serve on the G8 and only the second to become chair of the G8 summit. Additionally, Chancellor Merkel was recently awarded the 2008 Charlemagne Prize for her work in uniting Europe as an EU member.
Angela Merkel is a key influential player in worldwide affairs and looks to strengthen that influence with a strong voice at the G8 Summit.
Environmental Direction
1990
Commitment to addressing climate change has long been a part of Chancellor Merkel’s
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ANGELA MERKEL HISTORY 1978
Graduated from University of Leipzig.
1990 Doctorate from Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Services. Elected to Bundestag.
1994 Elected Minister of the Environment and reactor Safety. 2000 Elected Chairman of the CDU. 2005
Elected Chancellor of Germany
Federal Rupublic of Germany
G
ermany is widely regarded as a very modern and cosmopolitan country with a diverse and open minded society. The culture is centralized around a broad scope of fine arts. Theater, film, museums and literature are just a few of the celebrated industries in Germany’s history. The democratic political system of Germany was founded on the ideas in their constitution, the Basic Law. Germany was also a founding member of the European Community in 1957 which eventually became a major pillar in the creating of the European Union. With a normally powerful and robust economy, a high standard of living has been established. In large part, due to a society that proclaims itself, the Land of Ideas. The proclamation is more statement of fact given the creative minds at work behind widely recognizable products that shout quality and state-of-the-art.
Economy at a Glance The economy of Germany is represented by innovation, quality and cutting-edge technology. The country claims the fourth
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largest economy in GDP. It has the largest and most advanced national economy in Europe. The majority of the German economy is export driven. Germany’s main commodity exports come from motor vehicles, but other substantial exports machinery, chemical products, electrical devices and telecommunications technology. Germany currently has 37 companies that are included in the Fortune 500. Fitting for a G8 member, Germany can also pride itself as the leading producer of wind turbines and solar technology in the world. Germany has made itself into a worldwide staple of high quality products. Where design and innovation has clearly played its part, quality control divisions are unsung heroes that factor in the success of many of the larger companies like Daimler, Bosch and BMW.
Global Efforts Germany has strived to give humanitarian assistance nationwide. After the devastating Myanmar cyclone in May, Germany was front and center in providing aid organizations to assist the people in Myanmar with shelters,
Federal Republic of Germany - continued drinking water, household goods and mosquito nets. According to recent statistics from the Organization for Economic Cooperation, Germany trails now only the United States in development assistance in aid. Through it’s commitment to several environmental treaties, Germany has long been known as advocates for environmental awareness. These treaties concern everything from low emission standards and recycling to renewable energy and biodiversity at a global level. Although the country as a whole believes actions needs to be taken to improve the status of the global environment, the country is somewhat split on the urgency that this action needs to occur. Due to country-wide efforts, pollution in the Baltic Sea have been reduced and Germany’s governmental heads have announced plans to end the use of nuclear power to produce electricity. The production of electricity will be shifted towards solar technology, but primarily wind energy. Germany already has the largest installed capacity for wind energy and this move will provide not only a stabilizing factor in providing a necessary consumable, but also sets an example as a leader in a move towards alternative methods to harvest energy.
GERMANY SNAPSHOT Official Name: Federal Republic of Germany Land Area: 137,847 sq. miles (357,021 sq. kilometers) Population: 81,799,600 Capital: Berlin Government: Federal Parliamentary republic Head of State: Jens Böhrnsen Chancellor: Angela Merkel Principal Language: German Life Expectancy: 76 Years (male); 82 Years (female) Currency: Euro GDP Per Capita (US$): $43,741
GERMANY HISTORY 1929
Suffers Great Depression.
1939
Hosts Berlin Olympics.
1945
Divides into West and East Germany.
1955
West Germany joins NATO.
1970
Joins the United Nations.
1989
Fall of the Berlin Wall.
1990
Reunification of Germany.
2002
Euro replaces Duetsch Mark.
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world in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index. In an attempt to meet Japan’s rising energy consumption, Japan is aiming to increase growth in nuclear energy. This took a bit of a hit with the recent natural disaster. Nuclear energy produces no carbon dioxide and is very safe and clean alternative to answer the country’s energy needs.
Yoshihiko Noda
P
rime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will be making his first appearance at the G8 Summit this May. In 2010, He was appointed as the Finance Minister, and was designated Prime Minister by the Diet and later by Emperor of Japan, In 2011, his country endured a devastating earthquake an tsunami, followed by a international nuclear crisis.
Japan on the Horizon Japan faces several issues such as an increasing population decline and social security funding due to lower birth rates and an aging population. Immediate action resulting in drastic reform is needed that will benefit Japan both in the present and in the future. In order to revitalize the economy, the government wants to focus on core areas, including “green innovation,” which it estimates will create 1.5 million jobs, and health care, which would generate 2.8 million jobs.
Environmental Direction Having recently hosted the G8 Summit in 2009, it put Japan’s environmental policies directly in the spotlight. This event led Japan to announce they will commit to an emissions reduction goal that will be met by 2050. It was proposed by Japan that all major polluters, including Japan, set a mid-goal date prior to 2050 for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. A 2020 goal date is being planned for and Japan has lobbied for an optimistic 30% cut in emissions by the top polluters. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, so it is imperative that new agreements be made early for a better chance of success. Japan is one of the world’s leaders in the development of new environment-friendly technologies, and is ranked 20th best in the
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YOSHIHIKO NODA HISTORY
1980 Graduated from School of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University 2007
Chairman of the Public Relations Committee, DPJ
2009 Chairman of the Committee on Discipline, the House of Representatives 2010
Chosen to be Finance Minister
2011
Elected Prime Minister of Japan.
Japan
J
apan, known as The Land of the Rising Sun, is an island country made up of over 3000 small islands. It spreads from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in the south. Japan’s culture has become very contemporary, yet the Japanese people still hold strong to their traditional values and ideals in relation to education, arts and ceremonies. The government of Japan is a unitary constitutional monarchy lead by Emperor Akihito and a parliament called the National Diet of Japan consisting of a House of Representatives and the House of Councilors. These houses are responsible for electing the Prime Minister of Japan.
Economy at a Glance Japan’s economy has a very competitive and skillful spirit. It’s the world’s third largest social market economy and the second largest GDP economy. This strength is widely attributed to unique Japanese characteristics such as work ethic, knowledge of cutting edge technology and close government-industry cooperation.
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The major industries in Japan’s economy includes banking, insurance, real estate, retailing, transportation and telecommunications. They are also heavily focused on industrial endeavors such as vehicle and electronic manufacturing. Vehicles, electronics, and chemicals are Japans main exports. Due to the lack of natural resources they also rely on exports to provide much of its raw materials such as fossil fuels, food including meat and various materials for their many industries. Japan’s main import and export partners are the United States, the European Union and China. One issue that the Japanese economy faces is a dwindling population. The birthrate has dropped to an alarming rate of 1.2%. As this trend continues the workforce will shrink and unclear results can lead to a turbulent future. The government will either have to coax the population to have more children or relax immigration policies to maintain a healthy population growth rate.
Global Efforts Since the early 1970’s, Japan has been leading the way in environmental preservation through many environmental laws introduced by the
Japan - continued government and the creation of the Ministry of the Environment in 1971. In doing so, their recent history and current policies boast a delicate but successful balance between development and environmental protection. Current policy makes Japan world leaders in creating environmentally friendly technology. Japan’s government takes the climate crisis and global warming very seriously and is feverishly seeking out innovative efforts to comply with the promises made in the Kyoto Protocol. They’ve made strides in vehicle emissions issues with hybrid, biofuel and building material technologies and they are aiming to reduce pollutants from factories and other places of business. Japan has long been a supporter for humanitarian aid across the globe contributing their share of financial donations. From wars and other crisis plaguing countless countries to natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes Japan often steps in to provide emergency food, shelter materials, goods, and monetary donations where they are needed. In 2006 they were first in line to contribute funds to help launch the Central Emergency Response Fund and in 2008 pledged one million dollars to continue the program year after year.
JAPAN SNAPSHOT Official Name: Japan Land Area: 145,925 sq. miles (377,944 sq. kilometers) Population: 127,799,000 Capital: Tokyo Government: Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy Head of State: Emperor Akihito Prime Minister: Naoto Kan Principal Language: Japanese Life Expectancy: 78 Years (male); 85 Years (female) Currency: Yen GDP Per Capita (US$): $45,920
JAPAN HISTORY 1914
Joins Britain in World War I.
1937
Goes to war with China.
1947
New constitution goes into force.
1951
Signs peace treaty with U.S. and othernations.
1972
Diplomatic relations resumed with China.
1997
Economy enters recession.
2004
Deploys combat soldiers to Iraq.
2011
Earthquake hits Northern Japan.
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Capture and Storage methods become available to thwart greenhouse gas emissions.
Mario Monti
F
ollowing the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi. Monti was sworn in as Prime Minister on November 16, 2011, just a week after having been appointed a Senator for Life. This will be his first G8 Summit
He was seen as a favorite to replace Silvio Berlusconi to lead a new unity government in Italy in order to implement reforms and austerity measures. Following Berlusconi’s resignation, Napolitano invited Monti to form a new government. Monti accepted the offer, and held talks with the leaders of the main Italian political parties, declaring that he wanted to form a government that would remain in office until the next scheduled general elections in 2013.
Environmental Direction The price of oil and natural gas are on the rise and energy use security is becoming a real question. Italians currently pay the highest electricity costs in Europe. In an attempt to appease all sides, which include those who want clean energy and those who simply want affordable energy, a new coal plant is being constructed in the town of Civitavecchia. The plant will be CCS ready for use when Carbon
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In the meantime, the plant is a model of recycling, making use of all of its byproducts. Ashes and gypsum will be sold to cement makers, there is even use for the heated water created from cooling stations, which will be used to warm one of Italy’s largest fish farms. Still, environmentalists around the world fear that a return to coal energy may put the already dismal outlook on climate change into a worse situation. Clean nuclear energy is being closely looked at for future energy needs.
Italy on the Horizon On December 4, 2011, Monti’s government introduced emergency austerity measures intended to stem the worsening economic conditions in Italy and restore market confidence, especially after rising Italian government bond yields began to threaten Italy’s financial stability. The austerity package called for increased taxes, pension reform and measures to fight tax evasion. Monti also announced that he would be giving up his own salary as part of the reforms. Monti’s government formally adopted a package of reforms targeting Italy’s labor market. The reforms are intended to open certain professions to more competition by reforming their licensing systems and abolishing minimum tariffs for their services.
MARIO MONTI HISTORY
1943
Born in Varese, Italy
1995
Served as European Commissioner
2011
Minister of Economy and Finance
2011
Appointed Senator for Life
2011
Sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy.
Republic of Italy
I
taly was at the forefront in founding the European Union in 1957, then known as the European Community, and is a charter member and energetic supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO.
Though relatively small in size, Italy is widely known for four big things; iconic fashion, passionate opera, decadent cuisine and timeless architectural landscape. From explorers like Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo to progressive artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Masaccio Italy has produced some of the most recognizable figures in history. Italy’s government is made up of a bicameral parliament, consisting of a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate, a separate judiciary, and an executive branch made up of a Council of Ministers (cabinet), headed by the prime minister.
Economy at a Glance Italy’s economic stability rests in the hands of private family run firms that are in the business of processing and manufacturing goods. Since World War II it has morphed from an almost
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exclusively agricultural based economy to its rank as the world’s fifth largest industrial economy. The most significant exports include motor transportation like luxury vehicles, scooters and motorcycles, and more famously, food and fashion. Tourism also accounts for Italy’s growing economy. With over 37 million tourists flocking to Italy each year the country ranks again as the fifth largest destination for travel in the world. Because Italy is faced with having scarce natural resources and very little land capable of farming, their main imports are agriculture and energy sources. However, the natural gas reserves coming from the Po Valley and offshore Adriatic have flourished in recent years making it Italy’s most significant mineral resource. Trade with the European Union makes up about 59% of Italy’s total trade with their main trading partners being Germany, France and the Netherlands. Outside of the European Union, Italy’s major exporting partners are the United States and Great Britain.
Republic of Italy - continued
Global Efforts Italy is still a generous nation when providing poorer countries with aid. Sierra Leone, ranked the least developed country after a long civil war, received a huge financial boost from Italy. This aid will help stabilize a growing agricultural sector in the area and increase food security. A new government has recently been established headed by the familiar face of Mario Monti. Mario Manti unveiled a technocratic cabinet composed entirely of unelected professionals. The hope is that under new leadership, Italy can come together and resolve the internal issues.
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ITALY SNAPSHOT Official Name: Republic of Italy Land Area: 116,346 sq. miles (301,338 sq. kilometers) Population: 60,681,514 Capital: Rome Government: Parliamentary republic Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi Principal Language: Italian Life Expectancy: 77 Years (male); 83 Years (female) Currency: Euro GDP Per Capita (US$): $36,267
ITALY HISTORY 1915
Joins allies in World War I.
1941
Declares war on USSR.
1948
New constitution formed.
1955
Joins the United Nations.
1994
Freedom Alliance wins election.
1997
Umbria earthquake damages Basilica of St. Frances.
2005
Parliament ratifies EU constitution.
2009
Earthquakes in Abruzzo region lead to relocation of G8 Summit.
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Mr. Harper tirelessly works towards uniting leaders around the world to agree to a projected reduction of global emissions by half by the year 2050. Mr. Harper has already made aggressive strategies to reduce overall greenhouse emissions by 60-70% by 2050 and 20% by 2020.
Stephen J. Harper
T
he Right Honourable, Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Joseph Harper is committed to keeping Canada a strong and independent nation. Mr. Harper is a charismatic visionary who cofounded the Conservative Party of Canada, which was a merger of former parties the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Mr. Harper has a long and distinguished resume transcribing a successful political career most notably winning an election for Member of Parliament for Calgary West over his former employer. He served as MP until 1997 when he was appointed as a vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative think-tank and advocacy group, and soon was nominated their President.
Environmental Direction Prime Minister Harper has pledged to a responsible approach to a safe and healthy environment for the Earth. He believes global climate change is a clear danger to all inhabitants and a strict reduction in gashouse emissions must be reached by all gross polluting countries.
Details were published by Canada in a regulatory framework titled “Turning the Corner.” These details include federally regulating of emissions reduction, targeting dates to start oil sands operation to perform emissions storage and retrieval, as well as banning the construction of coal plants that contribute to excessive pollution. Prime Minister Harper is preparing Canada to lead the way for all nations to act responsibly for a cleaner, cooler planet.
Canada on the Horizon Prime Minister Harper has Canada’s most pressing issues at the forefront of his agenda. The areas of federal accountability, tax reform, crime, child care and health care are said to be his top priorities during his time as Prime Minister. There has also been more attention given to military forces to improve national and worldwide security.
STEPHEN J. HARPER HISTORY
1978
Works in Alberta oil fields.
1991
Earns MA in economics from University of Calgary.
1993 Won seat for Canadian House of Commons. 1997
Lead the National Citizens Coalition.
2002 Wins leadership of Canadian Alliance Party. 2004 Becomes leader of Conservative Party of Canada. 2006 Elected Prime Minister of Canada.
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Canada
C
anada occupies most of the upper portion of North America, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world’s second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States. The country is filled will natural wonders and beauty. Vast forests offer solace to visitors and a backbone to the economy with the logging industry. Mammoth rivers and lakes are born from snow capped mountains providing watering holes to unique wildlife. Canada’s natural resources are its most invaluable commodity. The Canadian government is made up of a sovereign head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, head of government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the legislative power of parliament. Canada has maintained its own independent foreign policies without external influence, despite its heavy trade relationship with the United States.
Economy at a Glance Canada is a mixed market, or social market economy, commonly found in Western and
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Northern Europe during the Cold War. This type of economy looks for a middle ground between socialism and capitalism. Over the years, Canada has maintained a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources. Roughly 75% of all imports and exports occur with its southern neighbor the United States. Canada has avoided economic recession for several years while keeping unemployment rates to its lowest percentages in a number of decades. The nation’s economic identity is slowly moving away from agriculture, mining and factories to a more knowledge and service-based focus. Retail leads the way in Canada’s economic identity employing more than one tenth of the Canadian population and tourism will receive a significant boost when Canada hosts the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. The major sector of the country’s exported product has always been oil and logging. Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Ranging offshore deposits of natural gas and crude oil can be found centered in the province of Alberta. Canada touts the world’s second largest reserves of crude oil behind Saudi Arabia.
Canada - continued
Global Efforts Dedicated to aiding developing countries, Canada was recently joined by other nations in funding the creation of various vaccines for third world countries and a call to all other able countries to do the same has been made. Canada has also been providing aid in the form of debt relief to these poorer countries. The main concern is that these countries should not have to focus on the debts of the past, but rather refocus their goals on their future. The Minister of Natural Resources in Canada has recently announced a number of initiatives that are directed to improving clean energy technology. Funding from the 2008 budget will be given to the Institute of Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy at the University of Calgary to drive these efforts. Greenhouse gases will be reduced through advances in technology for carbon capture and storage. This process stores carbon dioxide instead of releasing it into the atmosphere. Canada is committed to reducing global emissions by 20% by the year 2020. This goal represents a considerable challenge, however the country believes in its leader’s guidance and citizen’s willingness to face the obstacles with collective fervor.
CANADA SNAPSHOT Official Name: Canada Land Area: 3,854,085 sq miles (9,984,670 sq.kilometers) Population: 34,796,000 Capital: Ottawa Government: Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II Prime Minister: Stephen Harper Principal Language: English, French Life Expectancy: 76 Years (male); 83 Years (female) Currency: Canadian Dollar GDP Per Capita (US$): $40,541
CANADA HISTORY
1939
World War II forces active abroad.
1949
Founder of NATO.
1950
Korean War forces help UN efforts.
1965
Present Canadian Flag adopted.
1982
Gains complete freedom from UK.
1991
Forces participate on Gulf War.
2003
An outbreak of SARS hits Toronto.
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Financial system: Back the creation of a European rating agency and the separation of lending and investment in banks. Education: Supports the recruitment of 60,000 civil servants (new teachers), the creation of a study allowance and meanstested training, setting up a mutually beneficial contract that would allow a generation of experienced employees and craftsmen to be the guardians and teachers of younger newlyhired employees, thereby creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs.
François Hollande
F
rançois Hollande was elected President of France on 6 May 2012. He will take office on May 15. He defeated incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy. He has served in numerous positions in public service for France. These offices include: National Assembly Member of the National Assembly of France for Corrèze Regional Council, Mayor of Tull and the First secretary of the Socialist Party.
Environmental Direction Mr. Hollande endorses reducing the share of electricity generated by nuclear power in France from 75 to 50% in favor of renewable energy sources.
Recruitment of 5,000 judges, police officers and gendarmes. Construction of 500,000 state ruled homes per year, including 150,000 social, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the A passbook, the region making available its local government land within five years. The provision of development funds for deprived suburbs. Return to a deficit of 0% of GDP in 2017.
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE HISTORY
France on the Horizon
1997
First Secretary of the Socialist Party
2001
Mayor of Tulle
2008
President of the Corrèze General Council
As the newly elected President of France, he has many policies that he would like to install in the French government :
2012
Elected President of France
Foreign policy: Supports the withdrawal of French troops present in Afghanistan by the end of 2012.
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French Republic
F
rance is a country rich in cultural heritage. Paris’s monument laden grounds alone make France the most popular choice of destination for tourists. Landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, The Louvre Museum, and the Alps to the shores of the Mediterranean draw simple conclusion as to why the number of yearly visitors outnumber the countries population itself. France lends itself to a unitary semi-presidential republic. This means there are two key figures who lead the country; the elected President, Nicolas Sarkozy and his appointment of Prime Minister, Francois Fillon.
Economy at a Glance Now that the initial impact that the global financial crisis has settled, a time for renewed commitment to energizing the economy is here. Ranked as high as 5th largest in the world by GDP, the French economy has crawled to a slower growth in recent years. Clear indicators of problems are apparent where inflation rates have soared to new heights in nearly 17 years. High unemployment rates and rising prices for
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goods and fuel are presenting the government with difficult challenges. Unemployment has been an issue since the 1970’s and has been addressed by the government in the past. The thirty-five hour work week was introduced to promote a need for employers to hire more workers to fill these available hours. However, this has not led to the desired increase in workers hired as was originally hoped. Other attempts to lower unemployment rates have been tax relief to younger workers entering the workforce, financial incentives to both workers and employers and a relaxation to overtime penalties.
Global Efforts France has the second largest network of diplomatic missions in the world, second only to the USA. A few of the major topics already of interest to the French government are climate change, energy security and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Proposals by the government for greater security for the supply of energy include plans
to guarantee needed energy savings, secure contingency plans for lapses in supply, discuss investments needed to improve infrastructures and rekindle relations with energy supplying nations. In regard to CAP, the first step noted by the French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, will be to make a health check on CAP’s current state. From there, discussions can be had to decide what issues can be addressed that will appeal to all involved parties. France was presented with an opportunity to shine as a leader and founding member of the European Union. France’s recent opportunities have been met with high ambitions and clear goals set for the greater prosperity not only for France, but Europe as a whole. France is the second largest donor of development aid in the world, behind the US, and ahead of Germany, Japan and the UK. This represents 0.5 % of its GDP, in this regard rating as more generous than most other developed countries. The main goals of this help are “developing infrastructure, access to health care and education, the implementation of appropriate economic policies and the consolidation of the rule of law and democracy.
FRANCE SNAPSHOT OfficialName: French Republic Land Area: 260,558 sq. miles (674,843 sq. kilometers) Population: 65,350,000 Capital: Paris Government: Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic President: President Nicolas Sarkozy President-Elect: François Hollande Prime Minister: François Fillon Principal Language: French Life Expectancy: 77 Years (male); 84 Years (female) Currency: Euro GDP Per Capita (US$): $44,008
FRANCE HISTORY 1914
Enters World War I.
1936
Enters World War II.
1944
Women gain right to vote.
1954
Enters Algerian War.
1974
Oil Crisis causes recession.
1981
Abolition of the death penalty.
1997
Signing of the Amsterdam Treaty.
2001 Presidential election time changed in the constitution.
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through fostering their uptake by enterprises, especially SMEs, and designing the appropriate regulatory environment. An industrial base which is modernised to use and produce environmental-friendly technologies and which exploits the potential for energy efficiency is the key to sustainable growth in Europe.
José Manuel Barroso
A
s President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso has worked hard to revitalize the public’s confidence in the European Commission. Through his vigorous strategies on climate change, European and African economy growth and renewable energy sources, he has helped to sustain a public support around the Globe. Nearly twenty years into his political career he was elected president of the European Commission and re-elected twice.
Environmental Direction President Barroso has stated that the economic and financial crisis and the scientific evidence of climate change have shown us that we need to invest more in sustainability. But this is not just about doing the right thing for the future of the planet – Europe stands to benefit enormously from investing in new low carbon technologies for future jobs and growth. Fighting climate change and the move towards a low carbon economy provide huge opportunities for business and people and will enhance our energy security. First-mover advantages can be gained by exploiting the potential of EU environmentallyfriendly industries, services and technology
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The next Commission needs to maintain the momentum towards a low emission economy, and in particular towards decarbonising our electricity supply and the transport sector – all transport, including maritime transport and aviation, as well as the development of clean and electric cars.
European Union on the Horizon President José Manuel Barroso has set his recent attention regarding the continued growth of Europe to issues such as debating nuclear energy, addressing rising agricultural prices and introducing the Treaty of Lisbon. The shared concern for lowering greenhouse gas emissions has brought new discussion on the pros and cons of looking to nuclear energy as an alternative energy source for European countries. Concentrating on both short and long-term solutions to stabilize food security.
JOSE BARROSO HISTORY 1958
Born in Lisbon, Portugal
1999
Name President of the Social Democratic Party and reelected 3 times
2002
Appointed Prime Minister of Portugal
2004
Elected by the European Parliament to the post of President of the European Commission
European Union
T
Economy at a Glance
last year, Sweden had the biggest GDP growth from all the states in EU (5,7%). The current map of EU growth is one of huge regional variation, with the larger economies suffering from stagnant growth and the new nations enjoying sustained, robust economic growth. Although EU27 GDP is on the increase, the percentage of gross world product is decreasing due to the emergence of economic powers such as China, India and Brazil. In the medium to long term, the EU will be looking forward to increase GDP growth in Italy and the UK in order to stabilise growth in European Union states. This is to ensure sustained economic prosperity.
The EU’s share of gross world product (GWP) is stable at around one fifth.
Global Efforts
he European Union (EU) is an economic and political union or confederation of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. Important institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Central Bank. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens.
The twelve new member states of the European Union have enjoyed a higher average percentage growth rate than their elder members of the EU. Notably the Baltic States have achieved massive GDP growth, with Latvia topping 11%, close to China, the world leader at 9% on average for the past 25 years. Reasons for this massive growth include government commitments to stable monetary policy, export-oriented trade policies, low flat-tax rates and the utilisation of relatively cheap labor. For the
In 2007, member states agreed that the EU is to use 20% renewable energy in the future and that it has to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 by at least 20% compared to 1990 levels. This includes measures that in 2020, 10% of the overall fuel quantity used by cars and trucks in EU 27 should be running on renewable energy such as biofuels. This is considered to be one of the most ambitious moves of an important industrialised region to fight global warming.
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EAGLEWOOD UTAH ONLY 10 MINUTES FROM DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE CITY
Utah’s Olympic Legacy10 years later by The Utah Sports Commission It may be hard to believe for those who hosted, visited or participated in the XIX Olympic Winter Games in the Salt Lake City region, but a decade has passed. And apart from the immediate impact the Winter Games had on Salt Lake City and the state, the legacy of that Olympiad can be seen and felt today across Utah. Since the Winter Games, Utah has adopted “The State of Sport” as its calling card — the perfect description of where Utah stands today. “It seems just yesterday, but we’re celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Winter Olympics,” said Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the Utah Sports Commission (utahsportscommission.com). “The legacy that the Winter Games have created is, in a word, amazing. And best
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of all, in the intervening ten years Utah has been able to take that incredibly successful world-class event and turn it into a platform for branding our state as a tremendous place to hold other events of all sizes, types and seasons. “When you look at what we have hosted in the past decade, you get a real sense of that reality and the Winter Games’ true impact,” Robbins added. There is little doubt about Robbins’ perception of what the Winter Games have meant to Utah. Since 2002, when Utah hosted both the XIX Olympics Winter Games and the VIII Paralympic Winter Games, Salt Lake County between the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains has continued to grow as a site for a wide range of sporting events. From July 2010 to June 2011 alone, for example, the Utah Sports Commission assisted acquiring more than 30 events in
Salt Lake and Tooele counties. In 2011, the area hosted baseball’s Triple-A All-Star Game, the Nationwide Tour’s Utah Championship, Summer Dew Tour, AMA Monster Energy Supercross, FIM World Superbike, Tour of Utah, the U.S. Adult and Junior Figure Skating Championships and the USA Team Handball Championships. “That is just a sample of the events that Utah has hosted recently,” Robbins said. “The Winter Games helped Utah create its worldclass stamp of approval, you might say.” Again, Robbins is not overstating the case. Since 2002, there have been more than 70 World Cups or Championships hosted (or to be hosted) in Utah, as well as 90 Olympic (USOC/USA-sanctioned) events that have taken place in the state. Looking ahead, there are 11 Olympic- related events on the calendar for 2012-2014, and the original 14 Winter Olympic Games’ venues continue to be used for events, elite training and recreational purposes on an ongoing basis. Other future competitions on the docket in Utah include the 2012 USA Hockey High School National Championships, USA Volleyball’s 2012 U.S. Open Championships, the 2012
USA Fencing Junior Olympic Championship, the 2014 USA Fencing Summer Nationals, and the 2013 Golden Gloves Boxing National Championships. Finally, Utah today serves as home to three National Governing Bodies: the United States Ski & Snowboarding Association (U.S.S.A.); United States Speedskating (U.S.S.); and USA Team Handball (USATH). Of course, apart from leaving a tremendous sports legacy, the 2002 Winter Games had a very positive effect on the State of Utah in general. A record 250,000 visitors from around the world were able to experience Utah while attending the Games (both Olympic and Paralympic Games), and another 2.1 billion were exposed to the state through the specific global media coverage of the XIX Olympic Winter Games. Utah experienced significant economic growth as a result of the Games, including an $76 million endowment to help fund operations for the Olympic Park and Olympic Oval. The Utah Athletic Foundation (www.utaholympiclegacy.com), Robbins noted, today manages the endowment and utilizes those two major venues for hosting sporting and training events.
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Interestingly, the Utah Sports Commission was created in 1999 to assist with the legacy of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and so far, so good based on Utah’s growth as a state where sport continues to thrive. The Commission partners with venues and numerous other organizations throughout the state to attract Olympic related and other major sporting events. “The 2002 Winter Games still holds the distinction of being the last Olympiad to take place in the United States,” Robbins noted, adding that the Salt Lake Games were the largest Winter Olympiad ever held up to that date, and also set records in broadcasting and marketing revenues. Robbins explained that while Utah’s winter event schedule has grown since 2002, there are several legacy-related, non-winter events that have blossomed as well.
tremendous volunteer database, and a communications culture - all critical attributes that grew out of the 2002 Winter Games experience. Without hosting the Winter Games, there may have been an organic growth within Utah, Robbins noted, but the Winter Games provided the perfect platform to accelerate that pace. “We believe no other state has as much of a sports brand as Utah,” Robbins said, noting that since 2002, more than 400 sporting events have taken place across Utah. “The Winter Games were a great opportunity and we were honored to host the world. In the past decade, we’ve been the ‘keeper of the flame’ by taking that experience and building on that success. Looking back, Utah was the right place for the Games, and that legacy is stronger than ever.”
“You can focus on downhill skiing but there are only so many cups and championships, so it’s limited,” he said. “Instead, we have been focused on the idea of creating a broader legacy, bringing all types of sports to Utah. On that front, we have succeeded in broadening our legacy.” He explained that for a post-Olympic Games scenario, certainly in the U.S., what the state has been able to do is broaden the appeal of Utah using a public-private partnership. “We are now commemorating the tenth anniversary, but we also have an eye on the future. The 2002 Winter Games served as an incredible platform to position Utah and establish the state as a real player in the global sports community,” Robbins added. “The right word for the Winter Games is catalyst.” As part of its Olympic legacy, today Utah is viewed not only as a location to host major sporting events, but also as an entity that has created a major sports infrastructure, a
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Today, the downtown is more developed, there is now light rail to the airport, a major train service from Ogden to Provo is being put in place, and many other infrastructure improvements have been made since the Games. “From a hosting point of view, Utah is probably in a better position to host a Games now than it was in 2002,” Robbins said.
PLANNING FOR THE GOLDEN YEARS:
Is your nest egg global enough? by Carl R. Gustaveson, Attorney at Law, Utah
MEDICAL CARE PLANNING
As the population of the industrialized nations continues to age, and various nations around the globe are looking at the sustainability of their social safety nets, more and more aging individuals are going to need to plan for their golden years. Individuals, to feel secure and comfortable in their retirement years will need to plan their finances, including their estate plans, their medical care, and even make arrangements for their final funeral expenses.
PLANNING FOR THE INEVITABLE
FINANCIAL PLANNING Many have looked to the promises of government to take care of them in their old age. Americans have looked to the programs of Social Security and Medicare as their retirement plan. Today, these programs look more and more tenuous as the average age of Americans increases. This puts more strain on the system. Individuals should look to plan for their own retirements, and the earlier a person begins, the better. With the help of a good Financial Planner, or based on one’s own knowledge, one can live by the principal of spending less than what you earn and put away for one’s retirement. This is a simple principal, but one few live by consistently.
ESTATE PLANNING In considering an estate plan, one must consider their goals. One must consider if tax planning is needed, if one is planning for the care of minor children or other individuals, if one is trying to avoid the expenses and complexities of probate, plan for a potential incapacity, or any other legitimate considerations in planning. In considering an estate plan, a question that is inevitably asked is “What’s better, a will or a trust?” Either one is better than nothing. For the vast majority of clients that I have had, I have recommended to have both. Even though I prefer, as an estate planner, to use a trust to pass property, a will is still needed in Utah for a deceased parent to indicate to a Court their preferences for a guardian for their children. Also, a will allows property that was not placed in trust, to be distributed by the terms of the trust after being probated.
Many states, including Utah, have developed a statutory advanced directive for health care. These forms generally include directions to a physician as to your healthcare wishes when you are not able to communicate your wishes yourself, similar to a “Living Will.” The advanced directive also allows an individual to designate someone to communicate with healthcare providers and make decisions for them.
While Americans tend to avoid the reality of death and discuss it as little as possible, the best deaths are when families can come together and remember their loved ones, telling stories and crying together without the stresses of planning and paying for a funeral when they are emotionally vulnerable and when the expense is not planned. It’s hard to prepare for the end of life and to look at all the issues involved. It’s hard to prepare for your own end of life and for that of a loved one. However, there are costs associated with every decision at life’s end. But, the emotional and financial hardship can be eased considerably through proper planning. “Today, there are preneed financial products that can be purchased as a type of insurance plan with monthly payments that can cover funeral expenses. These contracts are regulated by the state and kept at the funeral home for the consumer’s protection, so that an individual’s wishes are known and so that funds can be immediately available for a funeral’s expenses.” Valerie Gustaveson, PreNeed Counselor.
CONCLUSION As the demographics of the industrialized world are shifting to an older population and there are fewer workers supporting a greater number or retirees, inevitably, government benefits to the elderly will be reduced. It is up to the individual, for their sake, and for the sake of their families to plan for the later years and for end of life. Through planning, a person can reduce the stress and burden often associated with caring for an aging parent or other relative or friend. One can bring peace into their lives and the lives of their loved ones by proper planning.
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