The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has bombed an oil pipeline, according to the government. The bombing may have come in response to Colombia’s recent killing of a FARC leader in a cross-border raid into Ecuador.

Because oil and gas pipelines provide such critical infrastructure for governments, they are often favored targets of insurgent groups.

This post is meant to highlight the strategic significance of infrastructure and should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the FARC.

According to statistics released by the US DOT‘s Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the value of US trade with Canada and Mexico has increased 73.5% since 1997. Exports have increased 63.6%, while imports have gone up by 82.0%.

Total trade between the US and the other two countries amounts to $60.9 billion per year, and 90% of that trade moves by land, mostly via highways (trucks).

Between December 2006 and December 2007, surface trade between the three nations increased 3.1%.

The US Federal Highway Administration has allocated an extra $195 million to help rebuild the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, MN that collapsed in August 2007, bringing the government’s investment in rebuilding the bridge to $337 million.

The federal government has temporarily suspended a program that gives out loans for the construction of new coal plants in rural areas. While the feds have given out $1.3 billion in loans for rural coal plants since 2001, none are expected for 2008 or possibly even 2009.

Among the reasons cited were the concern over global warming and, probably more significantly, the rising costs of coal plant construction. Materials and labor costs for rural coal plants have been increasing at a whopping 30 percent per year.

This decision eliminates a major source of funding for new rural coal plants, making such ventures significantly more vulnerable financially. The East Kentucky Power Cooperative has announced that it will wait until the loans are reinstated to build any more such plants, while other power companies have announced plans to seek private loans.

The governors of Illinois and Missouri have announced that a planned 4-lane I-70 bridge across the Mississippi River in St. Louis will not be a toll road, but analysts say that an eventual toll is likely. The Corridors of the Future plan for truck-only lanes for I-70 might only be financially feasible with tolls, analyst Robert Poole said.

While much smaller than the 8-lanes originally planned, the bridge might eventually be expanded to six. Construction is projected to take five years, and to be complete by 2015.

In Maine, the Maine Turnpike Authority is planning to expand tolling along I-95. The public can comment via maineturnpike.com, or by contacting spokesperson Bruce Pelletier at 1-800-698-7747 or bpelletier@maineturnpike.com.

In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger continues to support a controversial toll road through San Onofre State Park. The proposed road, which would run parallel to I-5 to relieve congestion on that Corridor of the Future highway, was recently rejected by the California Coastal Commission. The commission’s decision has been appealed to the US Secretary of Commerce.

Schwarzenegger and 15 other governors are part of the Building America’s Future coalition, which calls for increased federal highway funding.

“Infrastructure is a federal challenge. It requires a federal commitment of resources,” Governor Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania said.

The heads of state of Canada, Mexico and the US met in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on February 27-28 to discuss their ongoing plans for a Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP). According to a La Jornada article, the agenda included regional security, crime and terrorism, frontier security, sustainability and renewable energy.

The SPP is part of a wider effort called Deep Integration, to harmonize military and policing protocols between the three countries and to extend the changes begun by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). In addition to “security” issues, the SPP and other deep integration negotiations include increasing US access to Canadian and Mexican natural resources like oil, gas and water, and expanding continental trade infrastructure.

The next SPP summit will take place in New Orleans on April 21-22.

More information about the SPP:

“If You Liked NAFTA, You’ll Love Deep Integration”
Council of Canadians

On February 27, police raided indigenous Naso Teribe communities in Panama and arrested several anti-dam organizers.

Naso communitites have been resisting the entry of machinery to build the Bonyic hydroelectric dam in their territory. The dam is planned to be placed inside the Protector de los Palos Forest, right next to La Amistad International Park. None of the indigenous peoples that would be affected have been consulted by the Panamanian government.

Bonyic is one of four dams currently planned for the region.

Activists in the UK are keeping the pressure on to stop a proposed runway expansion at Heathrow Airport. On February 25, four Greenpeace activists scaled a jet on a Heathrow runway and unfurled a banner reading “Climate Emergency – No Third Runway.” Two days later, another group of protesters scaled the roof of Parliament and chained themselves into the stairwells after unfurling banners reading “No third runway” and “BAA HQ.”

The second banner refers to the government’s collaboration with BAA, the company that runs Heathrow Airport.

A strong movement has been opposing the expansion of Heathrow Airport, in large part due to air travel’s contribution to climate change. The airport was the focus of the 2007 UK Climate Camp.

For more information, visit www.planestupid.com.

A shutdown of a nuclear reactor in southern Florida on February 26 led to a cascade effect, leading to blackouts across the region, cutting off power to 3 million people, and forcing hospitals and airports onto backup generators.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that two nuclear reactors at Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point station south of Miami automatically shut down, although it would not say why. Two coal plants at Turkey Point also shut down, possibly due to a chain reaction.

According to a news story on the incident, “The loss of power from a major station such as Turkey Point can trigger a cascade effect, causing other units to automatically shut when their circuit breakers sense a sudden drop or surge in power on the grid.”

The traditional territory of the indigenous Lubicon nation in what is commonly known as Alberta, Canada is already overrun with 1,700 oil and gas wells, which have generated $13 billion for energy companies since 1980. The Lubicon have never ceded any of their territory and were not consulted or paid for this exploitation, making it illegal under Canadian law.

Now the company TransCanada is planning a massive natural gas pipeline across Lubicon territory. This pipeline would transport fuel to the Alberta Tar Sands project, to allow increased extraction of this dirty fossil fuel. Not far from the planned pipeline location and just west of Lubicon territory, Bruce Power has proposed the construction of a nuclear power plant. Trans Canada is a major owner of Bruce Power.

Friends of the Lubicon is organizing against these plans, and particularly calling for help from any shareholders in Trans Canada.