Dec

George Soros, Brazil, Petrobras and Copenhagen

In August I told you about President Obama’s plan to invest $2 billion in Brazil’s state owned oil company Petrobas, and how George Soros traded millions of shares of Petrobas. I wondered if and when the national media (besides the Wall Street Journal) would begin to pay attention. The Washington Post (inadvertantly?) reported yesterday that Petrobas is the largest single holding in George Soros’s investment fund. (H/T Mike Church)

The engine of that growth is a multinational that, for much of its 56-year history, was little more than a trading company. It pumped a few thousand barrels a day almost as a side note to its real function, overseeing oil imports. Then in 1974 — a time when oil shocks had alarmed Brazilian officials — came a major discovery: the offshore Campos Basin, east of Rio.

“Petrobras, before Campos, produced 180,000 barrels a day,” said João Carlos de Luca, a former Petrobras executive who is president of the Brazilian Petroleum Institute, which represents foreign oil companies here. “After Campos, it was a company that searched for self-sufficiency in production.”

In its drive to produce, Petrobras became a leader in offshore production. The Rio-based company is now responsible for more than a fifth of the world’s deep-sea operations, more than any other company, Gabrielli said. It operates in 26 countries and drills off the African coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. [We'll invest our money for Brazil to drill in the Gulf, but American companies can't increase production in the Gulf and create American jobs?]

With a market capitalization of more than $220 billion, Petrobras is one of the world’s 10 biggest companies. Over the past two years, it has been the most frequently traded foreign company on the New York Stock Exchange, trade data show. Among investors bullish on Petrobras is George Soros, who last year made the oil company the largest single holding in his investment fund, according to Bloomberg. …

So the Democrats keep us from drilling off our own coast, thereby stifling economic development while ”investing” in pie in the sky “green jobs” which never materialize (more on that later), while they and puppet master George Soros invest billions in a state run Brazialian oil company.

In related news, Brazil, while profiting immensely from US investment in their state owned oil company, is joining China in demanding more from the “rich” countries at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference.

Su Wei, a senior Chinese climate official at UN climate talks in Copenhagen, said the targets broadly fell short of the emissions cuts recommended by a UN panel of scientists. The panel has said cuts of 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 were needed to avoid the worst of global warming. The panel has said cuts of 25 to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 were needed to avoid the worst of global warming.

He said a US offer, equal to 3 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, “cannot be regarded as remarkable or notable.” He said the U.S. offer, equal to 3 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, “can not be regard as remarkable or noteworthy.” An EU cut of 20 percent was also not enough and Japan was setting impossible conditions on its offer of a 25 percent cut by 2020. An EU cut of 20 percent was also not enough and Japan was setting impossible conditions on its offer of a 25 percent cut by 2020.

“LIFE AND DEATH” “LIFE AND DEATH”

“This $10 billion if divided by the world population, it is less than $2 per person,” he said, adding it was not even enough to buy a cup of coffee in Copenhagen or a coffin in poorer parts of the world. “This $ 10 billion if divided by the world population, it is less than $ 2 per person,” he said, adding it was not even enough to buy a cup of coffee in Copenhagen or a coffin in poorer parts of the world.

“Climate change is a matter of life and death,” he said. “Climate change is a matter of life and death,” he said.

Brazil’s climate change ambassador said his country did not want to sign up for a long-term goal of halving global emissions by 2050 unless rich nations took on firm shorter-term targets — which the Danish hosts view as a core outcome for the talks. Brazil’s climate change ambassador said his country did not want to sign up for a long-term goal of Halving global emissions by 2050 unless rich nations took on firm shorter-term targets – which the Danish hosts view as a core outcome for the talks.

Copenhagen was meant to seal a legally binding climate deal to broaden the fight against climate change by expanding or replacing the Kyoto Protocol from 2013. Copenhagen was meant to seal a legally binding climate deal to Broaden the fight against climate change by expanding or replacing the Kyoto Protocol from 2013.

As noted by another blogger who picked up on this story today, “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that if our government pursues policies intended to slow our economic growth, and Brazil pursues policies designed to accelerate its economic growth, before long Brazil will be richer than the U.S.” No, it doesn’t take a genius to come to that realization, but without national coverage how many of our fellow Americans will even know what’s happening right under their noses?

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