Associated Press A section of the Arctic National Refuge in Alaska.In an essay co-authored with Spencer Abraham, energy secretary under President George W. Bush, Fred Upton of Michigan, the leading Republican candidate for chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in next year’s Congress, calls for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling, a massive increase in domestic deepwater oil production and a rapid expansion of nuclear power. Yet “oil and nuclear are not the only energy sources we need more of,” the two write. “The current situation demands an ‘all of the above’ strategy — diversifying our energy portfolio and pushing development of our own natural resources. That means not just more oil and nuclear, but more coal, natural gas and renewables. Sooner rather than later.” [Politico]
Torrential rains inundate Venezuela and Columbia, causing devastating landslides and floods. Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan president, appears to blame the disaster on man-made climate change. “The calamities we are suffering with these cruel and prolonged rains are yet more evidence of the unfair and cruel paradox of our planet,” he wrote in a weekly opinion column. “The developed nations irresponsibly shatter the environmental order, in their desire to maintain a criminal development model, while the immense majority of the earth’s people suffer the most terrible consequences.” [The Guardian]
Severe drought hits China’s major wheat-producing regions, responsible for 50 percent of the country’s wheat production. The dry weather will have a “significant impact” on grain production, a Chinese official says. [China Daily]
Scientists report two more confirmed sightings of Sierra Nevada red foxes, once thought extinct, near Yosemite National Park. [Associated Press]