PhD Hubris

By John Gilkison

How having a PhD in Biology, Conservation Biology, Climate Science, or anything else really doesn't necessarily qualify you to speak on energy issues. Having actual expertise on energy issues is more important as without the prerequisite 10,000 hours of study you just won't know what you don't know.

On a Facebook page called the Arctic News I got into an argument with some Guy McPherson (a conservation biologist) fan club boys about global dimming. The thrust of their position was that because of global dimming caused by aerosols put into the atmosphere by dirty power plants (all kinds including mobile ones) it would not do us any good to try ...

Is the Mixed Company of Bolivian Lithium Deposits with Germany "Submissive" and Illegal? (Part I)

By Juan Carlos Zuleta

This is the first of a series of contributions on the joint venture between Bolivian Lithium Deposits and ACI Systems from Germany to extract lithium hydroxide from Salar de Uyuni. It is aimed at describing at length what I have called Bolivia’s worst economic business in national history. In addition, it highlights the contrasting views of the two partners in terms of vision and scope of the new association. At last, it also shows a number of contradictions identified in their respective press releases with respect to Supreme Decree No. 3738 that officially establishes the new joint venture.

Introduction

Since its foundation, which occurred on December 12, 2018 in Berlin, Germany, amid a marked secrecy and a huge lack of transparency, the joint venture formed by Bolivian Lithium Deposits (henceforth called YLB) and ACI Systems Germany GmbH (henceforth denominated ACISA) seems to present different perspectives from the two partner...