News Sources: OPEC Blames U.S. for High Oil Prices

As President Bush declared the the U.S. has "to get off oil," OPEC ministers have opted to not put more oil on the global market. OPEC President Chakib Khelil says the global market is being affected by what he called "the mismanagement of the U.S. economy," and America's problems were a key factor in the cartel's decision. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online at the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges and universities, including the following:

Michael T. Klare - Professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Hampshire College - Klare is the author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum. He is an expert on world security and serves on the Committee on International Security Studies, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Thomas E. Drennen - Assistant Professor of Economics, Hobart and William Smith Colleges - Drennen's expertise interweaves economics with environmental issues. Drennen is the author of more than 20 publications alternative energy, gas prices, nuclear facilities, hybrid cars, public policy, sport utility vehicles, and more.

Mary Ann Tetreault - Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Trinity University - Tetreault is an expert on international affairs and how political systems affect the oil industry. She is he author of books on political and social movements in the Middle East.

News Sources: Economic Stimulus Talks

President Bush has jump-started the talks between the White House and Congress over how to give a needed boost to the slowing US economy, announcing he wants to pump about 140 bln usd into the hands of consumers and businesses.

Philip N. Jefferson - Associate Professor of Economics, Swarthmore College - Former research economist at the Federal Reserve Board. Has researched small business employment and effect of the money supply on economic performance. Expert on the Fed and its chairman.

Ann Owen - Associate Professor of Economics, Hamilton College - Economics professor Ann Owen served as an economist for the Federal Reserve Board of Governors before joining Hamilton College. She has published several papers on long-run growth and income distribution. Owen is a frequent media commentator on issues related to Federal Reserve decisions, Social Security, and various economic indices for outlets including MarketWatch, Associated Press, The New York Times, UPI, Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Baltimore Sun. She also serves as director of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College.

Steven E. Schier - Position:Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, Carleton College - Schier's interests are primarily in methodology and American politics, including the role of interest groups, elections, fiscal policy, generational politics, and political parties. Schier also publishes widely on the federal government. He is co-author of Payment Due: A Nation in Debt, a Generation in Trouble, and author of Congress in Default, which looks at why Congress has failed to solve the federal budget deficit.

News Sources: Intelligence Finding on Iran

President Bush said today that a new intelligence finding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003 had not altered his sense that Iran remained a danger. At a White House press conference, Bush called the report “a warning signal,” not grounds for reassurance, and said the United States would not renounce the option of a military response. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them on the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including the following (click on names for contact information):

Samuel V. Wilson - Wheat Visiting Professor in Leadership, Hampden-Sydney College - Wilson is former deputy to the director of central intelligence for the intelligence community and retired director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. He is president emeritus of Hampden-Sydney College.

Martha Crenshaw - John E. Andrus Professor of Government, Wesleyan University - Crenshaw has gained an international reputation for studies of political terrorism. She has testified before Congress and has served as a consultant to the Department of State, the U.S. Naval and Army War Colleges, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Defense Nuclear Agency. Crenshaw has authored three books, including Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power: The Consequences of Political Violence.

Darius Rejali - Professor of Political Science, Reed College - An expert on human rights, Rejali is the author of Torture and Modernity: Self, State, and Society in Modern Iran.

Kennedy Blasts Administration, Media

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accuses the Bush administration of overseeing more than 400 major environmental rollbacks "as part of a deliberate, concerted effort to eviscerate 30 years of environmental law." In a recent speech at DePauw University, Kennedy - who is senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance - also lambasted the media for giving the public more information about Anna Nicole Smith, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan than about global warming.

News Sources: Bush's Global Warming Initiative

President Bush told a global climate change conference Friday that the United States will do its part to improve the environment by taking on greenhouse gas emissions. He proposed the creation of an “international clean technology fund,” to be supported by contributions from governments around the world, that would help finance clean-energy projects in developing countries. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. will lead discussions with other countries on starting that fund. Reporters looking for experts to interview on this topic can find them online a the collegenews.org database of news sources and subject matter experts from America's leading liberal arts colleges, including: (click on names for contact information):

Karin Warren - Chair of Environmental Studies, Randolph College - Warren is a specialist in climate and global change, energy and environmental policy, and mathematical modeling/quantitative methods. She has researched ecosystem response to climate manipulation, and worked with developing and testing mathematical models. Her courses include environmental studies, energy and society, environmental policy, global change and earth interactions.

Gary Yohe - Professor of Economics, Wesleyan University - Yohe is a prominent consultant on the social and economic impact of global warming. His work includes a mathematically-based model making it possible to assess the impact of climatic change under different scenarios and to evaluate possible countermeasures. He was a participant at the Second World Climate Conference.

Adam Wade Burnett - Associate Professor of Geography, Colgate University - Burnett is an expert in global change, environmental issues and synoptic climatology. He is the author of articles on Northern Hemisphere climate change and its causes. He teaches weather and climate, geographic information systems, environmental studies and cartography.