This is what an oil boom looks like

Foreign Policy slide show.

A rogue, reckless petrostate

Foreign Policy: Over the last decade, Canada has not so quietly become an international mining center and a rogue petrostate. It's no longer America's better half, but a dystopian vision of the continent's energy-soaked future. That's right: The good neighbor has banked its economy on the cursed elixir of political dysfunction -- oil. Flush with visions of becoming a global energy superpower, Canada's government has taken up with pipeline evangelists, petroleum bullies, and climate change skeptics. Turns out the Boy Scout's not just hooked on junk crude -- he's become a pusher. And that's not even the worst of it.

With oil and gas now accounting for approximately a quarter of its export revenue, Canada has lost its famous politeness. Since the Conservative Party won a majority in Parliament in 2011, the federal government has eviscerated conservationists, indigenous nations, European commissioners, and just about anyone opposing unfettered oil production as unpatriotic radicals. It has muzzled climate change scientists, killed funding for environmental science of every stripe, and in a recent pair of unprecedented omnibus bills, systematically dismantled the country's most significant long-cherished environmental laws.

The EIU on North America’s oil and gas boom

Economist Intelligence Unit: Ten years ago, if you told an American that by 2012 the US would produce more oil and gas than it could readily use, he might have questioned your sanity. Yet this is what is happening, driven by advances in extracting oil and gas from shale rock. Across the northern border, meanwhile, Canada is busily tapping into its prodigious tar-sands resources. On both fronts, US energy supplies have begun to look more secure.

At the same time, gluts are building up. Pipeline infrastructure is under strain and the prices of gas and some types of oil have dropped. How much longer can the North American hydrocarbons boom last? What is the outlook for prices? How will surging petroleum production find its way from fields to the buyers who need it? Can the US achieve oil self-sufficiency, or even energy independence? These are among the questions addressed in this special report, which collects recent articles published by the Economist Intelligence Unit's Energy Briefing & Forecasts service.

Chinese Illegal Gold Miners in Ghana

Yang Jiao: Large influx of Chinese miners in mineral-rich African countries is rare. But the incident in Ghana points to vulnerabilities in the governance of resources and state control of transnational capital and migration as China and many African countries embrace neoliberal economic policies...

Mining in Brazil and Ecuador

The Economist this week:

• Mining in Brazil: A long-awaited bill ends uncertainty, but will hit mining companies’ profits
• Mining in Ecuador: As Brazil raises its mining royalties, Ecuador cuts its own

Obama's New Climate Push

Slate:

A New Climate Push: Associated Press: "President Barack Obama is planning a major push using executive powers to tackle the pollution blamed for global warming in an effort to make good on promises he made at the start of his second term. Obama's energy and climate adviser, Heather Zichal, said Wednesday the plan would boost energy efficiency of appliances and buildings, expand renewable energy and use the Environmental Protection Agency's authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate heat-trapping pollution from coal-fired power plants. The plan is expected to be unveiled in coming weeks."

How He'll Do It: New York Times: "Zichal suggested in her remarks that a central part of the administration’s approach to dealing with climate change would be to use the authority given to the Environmental Protection Agency to address climate-altering pollutants from power plants under the Clean Air Act. She said that none of the initiatives being considered by the administration required legislative action or new financing from Congress, but any effort to clamp down on power plant emissions is likely to provoke intense opposition in Congress and litigation by industry. Such regulations would hurt states heavily dependent on cheap power produced from coal and would drive up electricity prices, at least in the short term. ... The issue of power plant regulation is sensitive because it will most likely make electricity more expensive in many parts of the country and put further stress on the coal industry, which is already suffering from a lack of demand as utilities switch to natural gas, which is cheaper."

In His Own Words: "“The grim alternative affects all nations — more severe storms, more famine and floods, new waves of refugees, coastlines that vanish, oceans that rise," Obama said in Berlin. "This is the future we must avert. This is the global threat of our time. And for the sake of future generations, our generation must move toward a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late. That is our job. That is our task. We have to get to work."

Africa 'ripped off big time' by foreign resource firms

The Guardian: "The reality is, Africa is being ripped off big time," was the unusually blunt assessment by Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), in an interview with Reuters on Sunday. Kaberuka was addressing the perennial question of foreign corporations extracting Africa's mineral resources at huge profit for shareholders with scant reward for local populations. Speaking a day after meeting British and African leaders in London before the G8 summit, Kaberuka told the news agency: "Africa wants to grow itself out of poverty through trade and investment – part of doing so is to ensure there is transparency and sound governance in the natural resources sector."

Meanwhile, in Canada (The Economist): STEPHEN HARPER, Canada’s prime minister, made a splash on the eve of this week’s G8 summit of large industrialised economies. His government, he announced on June 12th, would make it mandatory for resource companies to disclose payments to governments, both domestic and foreign... But between Mr Harper’s announcement and the implementation of the new rule lies a long path littered with obstacles that will certainly delay, if not block, the intended result. Given that Canada is a significant player in mining finance—in 2011 almost 40% of equity in global mining firms was raised on the Toronto exchanges, which currently host 1,663 mining firms—this is of more than academic interest beyond Canadian borders.