Prime Minister Gordon Brown calls for 'new deal' to solve oil crisis

The Prime Minister has unveiled a four-point plan, which would see leading oil markets – including China and India as well as the Middle East – functioning better to reduce volatility and renew efforts to make the most of the world's remaining reserves.

Mr Brown's proposals also include accelerating the switch to alternative sources of energy, including renewables, and persuading producers to diversify into alternative energy projects, particularly those in Britain. 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown Calls For New Deal To Solve Oil Crisis 

meanwhile, back at central casting ….. 

Faced with a surge in the number of proposed solar power plants, the federal government has placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact, which is expected to take about two years. 

The Bureau of Land Management says an extensive environmental study is needed to determine how large solar plants might affect millions of acres it oversees in six Western states - Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. 

But the decision to freeze new solar proposals temporarily, reached late last month, has caused widespread concern in the alternative-energy industry, as fledgling solar companies must wait to see if they can realize their hopes of harnessing power from swaths of sun-baked public land, just as the demand for viable alternative energy is accelerating. 

Citing Need For Assessments, US Freezes Solar Energy Projects