http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/46794/story.html

RUSSIA: February 6, 2008
From PlanetArk

MOSCOW - Poland hopes to convince Russia to abandon the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea and back an alternative land route across its soil when their leaders meet this week, a Polish diplomat said on Tuesday.

The concept may be discussed at Friday talks between newly-installed Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Russian President Vladimir Putin, although the final agenda has yet to be confirmed, Polish diplomat Jerzy Rutkowski told Reuters.
"The land pipeline may cost about US$3 billion. So why pay US$12 billion if you can pay four times less?" said Rutkowski, the secretary for economic issues at the Polish embassy in Moscow.

The Baltic States and Poland, a major transit route for Russian gas, fear the direct seabed link from Russia to Germany would allow them to be cut off easily from Russian supplies.

From: , The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD

http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/30651

Published February 5, 2008 10:08 AM

Agriculture is possibly the most important sector of global activity. It is a source of foods, fibers and, increasingly, fuel. It provides livelihoods and subsistence for the largest number of people worldwide. It is vital to rural development and therefore critical to poverty alleviation. Up to 40% of the land's surface is used for agriculture, along with 70% of the world's fresh water supply. Today, agriculture accounts for 38.7% of total global employment.

Population growth and increasing affluence in some countries are increasing demand for food and changing the types of food in demand — from grain to meat, for example, a change that requires more farmland. More land is being used to grow fuel crops, and climate change and water scarcity are compromising the ability of agricultural lands to deliver quality produce.