"Since the Zetas discovered coal, violence has been on the rise, especially in a town of 150,000 called Piedras Negras, or black stones.
For drug cartels, diversification is almost a natural evolution, said Antonio Mazzitelli of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
In Colombia, for instance, traffickers infiltrated gold and coal mines and also dealt in oil.
In Colombia, for instance, traffickers infiltrated gold and coal mines and also dealt in oil.
"Corruption is their main tool for doing business, and also violence, if necessary," Mazzitelli said.
Legitimate businesses help cartels launder money and bring in extra revenue, added Eduardo Salcedo, a Colombian who co-authored of a book on how drug cartels have reshaped Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.
Such business activities allow them not just to bring in more money "but above all gain social and political legitimacy," Salcedo said.
Traffickers want to be able to "legalize their leaders and activities and join the formal economy, and be able to
Legitimate businesses help cartels launder money and bring in extra revenue, added Eduardo Salcedo, a Colombian who co-authored of a book on how drug cartels have reshaped Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico.
Such business activities allow them not just to bring in more money "but above all gain social and political legitimacy," Salcedo said.
Traffickers want to be able to "legalize their leaders and activities and join the formal economy, and be able to
operate in society in a more relaxed
way," he explained.
But that quiet end does not always involve peaceful means.
Traffickers sometimes kidnap, mug or even kill miners and their bosses, or force them into business-sharing agreements, said Salcedo."...
But that quiet end does not always involve peaceful means.
Traffickers sometimes kidnap, mug or even kill miners and their bosses, or force them into business-sharing agreements, said Salcedo."...
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Image above: "Suspected members of the Mexican drug cartel 'Los Zetas' from Guatemala and Mexico wait in court for a judgement in Guatemala City in June 2012.
First word of the Zetas drug cartel's presence in mining-heavy Coahuila
state came in October from a former governor, Humberto Moreira, who
blamed the notoriously violent group for his son's death." AFP
----------------
Coal mining "more lucrative for Zetas than selling drugs."
"The infamous Zetas are diversifying, by muscling in on a business that can be "more lucrative than selling drugs."""Mexican drug cartels seem to be getting their hands dirty in a new trade: illegal coal mining. Evidence of criminal mining activity has been traced to the State of Coahuila in Mexico, which produces 95% of the country's coal—mostly from small, unregulated roadside mines that can easily be exploited. Humberto Moreira, Coahuila's ex-governor, tells Al Jazeera that the power-hungry Los Zetas have been taking advantage of this chance to diversify. "They discover a mine, extract the coal, sell it at $30, pay the miners a miserable salary," says Moreira. "It's more lucrative than selling drugs." Although many have contested Moreira's claims, the federal government has found evidence of organized crime activity in the mines, and they've dispatched 200 government inspectors to the region to investigate. Samuel Gonzalez, former chief of Mexico's Anti-Organized Crime Unit, says that Los Zetas—now seen as Mexico's most powerful cartel—will seek out any opportunity to turn a profit. "The Zetas are interested in any type of illegal business, from prostitution to extorting business, to mining coal," says Gonzalez. "They’re capable of analysing where they can earn money from any type of illicit dealings." Coal miners in Coahuila reportedly confirm that organized criminals have infiltrated their industry, but refuse to comment on the record. Mexico's federal human rights agency has said that criminal involvement in the mines poses a threat to miners' lives, by stripping them of basic safety protocols."
- Decapitated heads in Mexico, a frequent occurrence. via Giovanni.
Ellie Whitney says a US "carbon fee" will save the planet though the US is only 1.5% of the planet, and US CO2 has already plunged and is heading lower, while that of other countries is the same or higher. She's sure if the US government forces US CO2 to almost nothing, others like the Zetas will say OK, we'll lower our CO2 because we care about humankind:
2/7/13, "Opinion: Carbon fee would put the brakes on global warming before it's too late," Times of Trenton guest editorial, by Ellie Whitney, via Newark Star-Ledger
"We will be engaging in the most important work that humankind has ever undertaken. Our descendants will point to this as the time when we began to heal the Earth.""
=============================
6/4/12, “Climate change stunner: USA leads world in CO2 cuts since 2006,” Vancouver Observer, Saxifrage
“Not only that, but as my top chart shows, US CO2 emissions are falling even faster than what President Obama pledged in the global Copenhagen Accord.… Here is the biggest shocker of all: the average American’s CO2 emissions are down to levels not seen since 1964 --over half a century ago. …Coal is the number two source of CO2 for Americans. Today the average American burns an amount similar to what they did in 1955, and even less than they did in the 1940s. …It is exactly America’s historical role of biggest and dirtiest that makes their sharp decline in CO2 pollution so noteworthy
and potentially game changing at the global level.”...
====================================
6/26/12, “The Incredible Shrinking Carbon Pollution Forecast – Part 2,” switchboard.nrdc.org, Dan Lashof
.
.“Back in February I posted about a surprising development: Despite the failure of comprehensive climate and energy legislation in 2010, U.S. carbon pollution emissions and projections of future carbon pollution have been coming down ever since....
While there has been some press coverage of these facts (see here and here) I continue to find that most people are surprised to learn about this progress….
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8/16/12, “AP IMPACT: CO2 emissions in US drop to 20-year low,” AP, Kevin Begos
“In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.
Many of the world’s leading climate scientists didn’t see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against carbon dioxide....
Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University, said the shift away from coal is reason for “cautious optimism” about potential ways to deal with climate change….
In a little-noticed technical report, the U.S. Energy Information Agency, a part of the Energy Department, said this month that energy related U.S. CO2 emissions for the first four months of this year fell to about 1992 levels. Energy emissions make up about 98 percent of the total.
The Associated Press contacted environmental experts, scientists and utility companies and learned that
virtually everyone believes the shift could have major long-term implications for U.S. energy policy.”…
===================================
1/15/11, “Recession Special: Cleaner Air,“ NY Times, Matthew Wald
“What the government has not mandated, the economy is doing on its own: emissions of global warming gases in the United States are down.
According to the Energy Department, carbon dioxide emissions peaked in this country in 2005 and will not reach that level again until the early 2020s.”…
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4/21/12, "Why Emissions Are Declining in the U.S. But Not in Europe," NewGeography.com, Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus
"It wasn't that long ago that the U.S. was cast as the global climate villain, refusing to sign the Kyoto accord while Europe implemented cap and trade.
But, as we note below in a new article for Yale360, a funny thing happened: U.S. emissions started going down in 2005 and are expected to decline further over the next decade, while Europe's cap and trade system has had no measurable impact on emissions. Even the supposedly green Germany is moving back to coal.
Why? The reason is obvious: the U.S. is benefitting from the 30-year, government-funded technological revolution that massively increased the supply of unconventional natural gas, making it cheap even when compared to coal.
The contrast between what is happening in Europe and what is happening in the U.S. challenges anyone who still thinks pricing carbon and emissions trading are more important to emissions reductions than direct and sustained public investment in technology innovation."
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“Even factoring in a stronger economy, forecasters see greenhouse gas emissions continuing to fall…. Others take the U.S. success in reducing its energy sector emissions as a sign that its fragmented, state-based, regulatory approach has worked better than Europe’s market-based cap-and-trade approach.”
======================
News of US CO2 plunge has been described as:
- “Surprising,“
- “little noticed,“
- “dramatic,“
- “stunner,“
- “most people are surprised to learn,“
- “quiet but tremendous progress,”
- “major long term implications,”
- “game changing,”
- “shocker,”
- “huge contrast to the forecast.”
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