South Africa // Current TV

Mapping Africa’s tweets [infographic]

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Your tax dollars at work: A giant coal plant in South Africa

Officials say a new US-backed coal plant outside Johannesburg will be a boon to the community. Locals beg to differ.

—By Kate Sheppard

Earlier this week, I traveled to South Africa's Mpumalanga province, the center of the country's coal industry and the home of one of the newest coal-fired power plants, Kusile. Most Americans would probably be surprised to learn that their tax dollars have been used to underwrite Kusile, but they are. And when completed, the 4,800-megawatt plant will be among the largest in the world.

EMalahleni, the municipality in which Kusile is located, means "place of coal" in Zulu. South Africa consumes 93 percent of all the coal used in Africa, much of that here in Mpumalanga. While much of it is burned in the region's 11 power plants, 25 percent of it is exported to other countries. South Africa is the fifth-largest producer of coal in the world, and 80 percent of its mining takes place in this province.

A significant chunk of Kusile's upfront financing—$805 million—came from a direct loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States to Eskom, South Africa's state-owned electric power utility. Construction on the plant began in 2007 and is expected to be completed in 2015. In April 2011, ExIm agreed to provide the loan to the plant to help ensure its construction. Kusile will be the 12th coal-fired power plant in this area, which lies to the east of Johannesburg.

The Kusile power plant

The region is also home to the Sasol plant in Secunda, which is both the largest coal-to-liquids plant and the largest point source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world. The plant produces 160,000 barrels of fuel from coal every day, which is used to power buses, planes, and automobiles in the country.

The South Africa-based environmental group Groundwork reported that in a single four-month period last year, the country exceeded its ambient air pollution standards 570 times—mostly due to the emissions from plants in this region. The national air quality law, which was passed in 2004, is actually pretty good, says Groundwork director Bobby Peek, "but government doesn't have the capacity to enforce it." There are fines for violating the law, but in an area with numerous plants like Mpumalanga, it can often be hard to peg the violations to one particular plant.

Peek was my guide earlier this week for a trip to the region. The first plant we see is the Kendal power station, also owned by Eskom. Its six generators have made it the largest station in the country since it was completed in 1993, but Kusile will be even bigger.

More at the linkOfficials say a new US-backed coal plant outside Johannesburg will be a boon to the... more

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Worldwide Hippies News Briefs Saturday

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Global Warming Alarmism Cooling

Another frantic effort to redistribute wealth from developed nations to developing nations is under way, this time in Durban, South Africa. The excuse is the same old, tiresome claim that socialism writ large is necessary to save the planet from global warming.

Fewer people are fooled every year the United Nations brings together representatives of about 190 nations hoping to profit from the shakedown. Just as claims of climate doom are wearing thin, so are arguments for separating you from your money.

We like the way contrarian climate scientist S. Fred Singer describes the confab: "10,000 or so Durban attendees – official delegates, U.N. and government officials, journalists, NGO types and other hangers-on – will have a grand old time: two weeks of feasting, partying, living it up in luxury hotels, and greeting old friends at this 17th reunion – all at someone else's expense."

"At someone else's expense" could be the theme of the global warming movement.
Americans should be pleased that the conference no sooner began than the U.S. was blamed for not taxing and regulating greenhouse gases enough, and for not writing enough compensatory checks to countries less fortunate. In the view of those overseas who want your money, America still hasn't sacrificed enough, despite onerous regulations and punitive taxes imposed domestically, including the horrific California Global Warming Solutions Act.

The United States and other developed nations are realizing that reducing their own productivity – a byproduct of reducing greenhouse gas emissions – isn't smart in hard times. It's good to see common sense prevail.

On the eve of this conference to extend the Draconian Kyoto Protocol greenhouse gas-limiting treaty, someone leaked thousands of emails revealing the duplicity, flawed science and conspiratorial inclination of the clique of climate scientists, who have claimed global warming threatens the planet.

A similar leak occurred on the eve of the 2009 global warming conference in Copenhagen, which ended in frustration for climate alarmists and nothing binding for the rest of us. The emails' peek behind the scenes called into question the motives of climate alarmists, the reliability of the science behind their scary stories and pointed up the conspiratorial nature of the clique.

It also hasn't hurt that the public increasingly is aware climate alarmists' catastrophic claims aren't panning out. Sea levels declined in 2010, rather than drowning island nations as claimed. The melting of Mount Kilimanjaro's snow cap was proven unrelated to global warming, contrary to claims. There are fewer, not more, devastating hurricanes. Temperatures at best have remained level for nearly 15 years, despite historic increases in CO2 emissions, which warming theorists insist should drive them higher.

And now, as nations ride out a rough economy, they are becoming more reluctant to cut their own economic throats and throw money at unproductive uses.

...

I know the environment is f*cked up, but if you're sophisticated about complex issues, you would understand why CO2 emitted by man is not the cause of so-called "global warming" and paying carbon taxes is not the solution...its a red-herring Ponzi scheme.Another frantic effort to redistribute wealth from developed nations to developing... more

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What on earth does a conservation entrepreneur do?

I was completely overwhelmed by (ok, I admit it, I was initially actually deterred... more

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Social Justice News and Analysis from South Africa This Week

SACSIS – The South African Civil Society Information ServiceA nonprofit news... more

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Rewritten Headlines: Assassination to Cheerleaders

Tony D rewrites the news so you don't have to read it.

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HOLY COW! Mountain Biker Gets Taken Out By Antelope (VIDEO)

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Wave Power For Africa

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Fracking stirs controversy in South Africa

A controversial method for extracting natural gas — hydraulic fracturing or 'fracking' — is stirring an environmental and property rights debate in South Africa.

The controversy stems from concerns over the safety of the technology, which uses large amounts of clean water mixed with sand and various chemicals to crack the rocks underground to release the gas. Various reports from the United States — where the method has spread widely over the past decade — suggest that the method pollutes water supplies, potentially endangering local environments and people's health.

A group of energy companies — including Royal Dutch Shell and South Africa's SASOL — have leased rights to a huge shale field containing underground gas, promising economic development and energy security.

But their efforts are being contested by environmental groups, such as Greenpeace and Earthlife Africa, leading the South African government to place a moratorium on all further fracking permits.

The field is located in the semi-desert Karoo region, home to the native Khoisan people and unique biodiversity. Some fear that the industry will pollute and deplete already scarce water supplies in the region.

"Karoo comes from a Khoisan word for 'thirsty land'," Lewis Pugh, founder of Treasure the Karoo Action Group, told Yale Environment 360. "Even if the chemicals were safe, and they are not, there just isn't enough water to spare. Water is going to be a source of conflict. Do you think the Karoo farmers are going to let Shell show up and destroy their farms? They're going to grab their rifles."

Shell officials claim that the chemicals used are biodegradable, and say the company has created thousands of jobs. They say the industry promises billions in revenue, much-needed jobs and energy security for all, according to Yale Environment 360.

But the benefits cited by the industry would be short-term, Pugh argues, as many wells would only work for about five years, leaving permanent environmental problems.

In South Africa, farmers and homeowners own the surface of the land, while rights to any minerals or resources that lie underground are the government's to exploit. This means that people in Karoo do not stand directly to earn royalties, as they would in many parts of the United States, causing further furore.

"The bottom line is that the poor people in the Karoo have not been engaged by the Shell environmental management plan," said Muna Lakhani, volunteer branch coordinator in Cape Town for Earthlife Africa. "Shell has made it clear they'll only consider compensation if it can be proved that the contamination came from their wells. Think of someone poor. How on Earth will they be able get justice?"

More at the linkA controversial method for extracting natural gas — hydraulic fracturing or... more

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“Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius Reaches 400m Semi-Finals At World Championships

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South Africa: Farmworkers’ Dismal, Dangerous Lives

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The X-Structure - 4 free albums - South Africa space-trip

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Hemp House: South Africa's Most Sustainable Home Made From An "Illegal Narcotic"

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SA203 powered by BeatMaven

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Nuclear Horizon An atomic economy is booming in New Mexico

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Babies Barcoded For Security. « Ramani's blog

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May 17, 1988 - Another Day In Paradox. | Newstalgia

If you came to this morning and heard this on your radio, you fell into a time-warp.

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"Corrective Rape," Killing of Gay Rights Campaigner

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