That’s one of the topics in Benny Peiser’s CCNet offerings today. A selection below — but you really ought to subscribe, here.

Russia, Iran and Qatar made the first serious move toward forming a gas cartel with a meeting Tuesday. Together, they account for 60 percent of the world’s gas reserves. This raised fears in Europe that the cartel would boost Moscow’s use of energy as a political weapon shortly after it clashed with the West over its five-day war with Georgia in August. Less-polluting natural gas is becoming more widely used in Europe to generate power and heat as EU nations try to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. –The Associated Press, 22 October 2008The lure of a gas OPEC is great. Most of the world’s richest nations — European countries and Japan — depend heavily on natural gas; as concern grows about greenhouse gas emissions, natural gas is a cleaner choice than coal. So the three nations that Russia’s natural gas company called the world’s “gas troika” could have a lot to gain if they limit supplies to pump up prices. Together, the three control more than half the world’s proven natural gas reserves.
–Steve Mufson, Washington Post, 22 October 2008
In Serbia’s capital, Belgrade, where the average monthly wage is little more than $500, the needy have little time to discuss the perils of climate change. “Global warming? Who cares if we all starve to death,” said retiree Mirjana Budimirovic. Serbia has one of the largest carbon footprints of any country in Europe. . . .
[A]s Hungary’s currency crumbles, stocks hover at alarming lows in Poland and real estate prices plummet in Slovenia, the depth of malaise in the east has given greater urgency to New Europe’s calls for scaling back planned emission curbs.
–The Associated Press, 23 October 2008
The British Government witters on about fuel poverty while it rushes headlong to give 100 per cent subsidies to wind developers, the fat cats of the energy scene, whose electricity is the dearest form of carbon reduction yet devised by man.
–Bernard Ingham, Yorkshire Post, 22 October 2008