technology - to target and kill or enhance the lives of mankind

Alaskan Lt. Governor Expresses Support for Bering Strait Tunnel

During a Q&A session following a forum on Arctic development at the Brookings Institute, Alaskan Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell was asked about the Russian proposal for building a Bering Strait tunnel.


``Thanks for asking that question,'' Treadwell said. ``I traveled as a young aide with Governor Hickel to the Soviet Union in the 1970s, and already then they were talking about such a proposal. Now I know they have recently completed the Transsiberian to Magadan and are in the process of constructing a railroad bridge at Yakutsk. 


And they intend to take the rail further to Chukotka on the other side of the strait. What we are doing at this point is investigating the possibility of extending the Alaskan railroad to link it up with the continental U.S. line. But, again, thank you for bringing up the issue,'' Treadwell said.


How do we pay for it...same way we pay for bombs and bailing out criminals on Wall Street.



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China Investing in Key Water Projects in Iran and Pakistan


Iran, which is developing a comprehensive national water plan, is negotiating $10 billion worth of funding from Chinese sources, Iranian Energy Minister Majid Namjoo announced June 10. Tehran has reached an agreement with Beijing allowing China to finance water projects to both build and renovate irrigation and drainage networks downstream of Iran's dams, Mehr news agency reported.


These systems are just part of Iran's national water plan, Majid Namjoo said. Among the proposed $73 billion worth of water projects, is a crucial project, not yet approved, to desalinate water from the Caspian Sea and build a pipeline to transfer the desalinated water from northern Iran to the center of the country. 


This pipeline will follow the same path as previously built oil pipelines, and will be financed primarily from sale of stock by the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction company. The first phase of the project would pipe water from the town of Sari in Mazandaran Province to Semnan Province to the southeast. 


The completed pipeline would transfer 500 million cubic meters of desalinated water from the Caspian to central Iran annually, and expand Irans agricultural land by 2 million hectares, due to the expanded water supply.


In Pakistan, the Islamabad Capital Development Authority has finalized an agreement with the China Machinery Engineering Company to build a water pipeline to supply water from the River Indus to Islamabad and Rawalpindi, both extremely short of water, Daily Times reported June 5. The Chinese government will provide full funding of $1.2 billion over 20 years to finance the project.


The pipeline will supply 200 MGD (million gallons/day) of water when completed. Islamabad, which now has a 96 MGD water supply, is getting only half the water it needs: another 106 MGD is required, which does not include the requirements of neighboring Rawalpindi. The water will be piped through the Margalla Hills, which will save power costs now being used to pump water to Islamabad. The water will help raise the depleted groundwater levels.