Carbon producers would have been able to trade emissions allowancesA US attempt to establish a system of caps and tax relief to cut carbon emissions has been blocked in Congress. The bill was backed by most senators, but did not get the 60 votes needed to stop a delaying tactic - a filibuster - used by the bill's opponents. Even if it had succeeded in passing Congress, President George W Bush had pledged to veto the bill. Lawmakers will now wait until next year - when there will be a new president - before attempting to pass a new bill. Tax relief The bill - sponsored by Republican John Warner and Independent Joe Lieberman - would have introduced caps on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, oil refineries and factories. Carbon producers would have been granted emissions allowances, which they would have been able to trade with one another, providing them with an incentive to cut their emissions. "It's a huge tax increase," said Mitch McConnell, leader of the Senate Republicans, most of whom opposed the bill. Supporters of the new system said that tax relief would be provided to help people pay energy costs. Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama were present for the vote, but both presidential candidates said that they would have supported the bill if they had been able to attend. E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bookmark with:DeliciousDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponWhat are these?
After years of getting by on government subsidies, he says his income has doubled or possibly tripled thanks to rapidly rising world demand for grain, and the expansion of America's biofuel industry.
Consumer spending is the engine of the US economy, and the latest jobless data is another set-back for Americans who are struggling with falling house prices, a credit squeeze and rising fuel bills.
Just by the bridge that links Canada and America lies St Clair County, Michigan. The 170,000 people who live here have long depended on the American car industry, which is headquartered 80 miles away in Detroit.
On Monday, US light, sweet crude hit a fresh record of $119.93 a barrel. Prices rose as traders eyed the disruption caused by the Grangemouth strike and supply problems in Nigeria following pipeline attacks.
The move follows a report earlier this year from America's leading health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which revealed one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease.
An estimated 37m lbs (16.8m kg) of the beef recalled on Sunday went to school lunch programmes and other federal nutrition programmes, the USDA said. Some was also supplied to major fast-food chains.
Democrats had said funding must be tied to a pullout timetableThe US Senate has authorised more spending for the Iraq war, without tying the bill to a timetable for troop withdrawal - a key Democratic demand. In a 90-3 vote, it approved a further $189bn (£94bn) for the campaigns in Iraq and also in Afghanistan. Democrats, who have a 51-49 majority in the Senate, accepted the measure after failing to impose the timetable demand. The bill had passed in the House of Representatives. President Bush is now expected to sign it into law. The bill covers the budget year ending in September 2008. In total, it authorises $696bn (£345bn) in military spending, including the $189bn for Iraq and Afghanistan. While it does not send money to the Pentagon, it is seen as a crucial policy measure as it guides companion spending legislation and dictates the acquisition and usage of weapons programmes. The approval of the bill reflected the failure - yet again - by the Democrats to overcome Republican objections in the Senate, which required 60 votes. Republicans expressed their satisfaction with the Senate vote. "I was pleased to see... no policy changes to the Petraeus plan," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. He was referring to the US chief commander in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, whose plan for a troop "surge" in Baghdad has been credited with reducing violence. President George W Bush has asked Congress for extra emergency funding for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned that if the money was not approved, funds would run out by February. The bill also expands the size of the US armed forces and sets conditions on Washington's plans to build a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic. E-mail this to a friend Printable version Bookmark with:DeliciousDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponWhat are these?
"Many residents are very upset that people are coming into the country illegally and then demanding rights, demanding that people speak their language, and at the same time, impacting their community," says Prince William's top elected official, Corey Stewart, Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors.
"There are fears about the US economy and worries that US interest rate cuts will be front-loaded while rate cuts in the rest of the world will take longer to materialise," said UBS currency strategist Mansoor Mohi-Uddin.
