The leaders of the Group of 20 (G20) nations met in Washington, DC on Nov. 15 for the group's first summit—an emergency session to discuss the world financial crisis. The G20 combines the Group of 8 (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US) with growing industrial powers like China and India; together the G20 nations account for as much as 90% of the world's gross domestic product. The Latin American members are Argentina, Brazil and Mexico; this year Brazil holds the group's rotating leadership.

A green-energy ballot initiative in Missouri, Proposition C, was approved by voters, calling for the state to increase the use of renewable energy to 15% by 2021, mandating steady yearly increases. Prop C made Missouri the 27th state to require its utilities to buy a set amount of power generated by renewable sources.

Earlier this year, we asked if oil would reach $200 per barrel by year's end. Short of a sudden and dramatic crisis in the Middle East, that now seems impossible. The rising prices themselves put some long-overdue breaks on consumption—and now the economic crunch is continuing that trend even as prices fall again. From the Houston Chronicle, Oct. 30:

Our October issue featured the story "Behind the Econocataclysm: Globalization, Oil Shock and the Iraq War" by Vilosh Vinograd, citing George Soros, Joseph Stiglitz and Walden Bello to argue that the financial crisis was sparked by George Bush's imperialist aggression in the Middle East. Our October Exit Poll was: "Is it 1929 yet?" We received the following responses:

Even now that the economy is hitting the skids bigtime and the price of oil is back down below $100 ($66 per barrel on Oct. 30 according to CNNMoney)—prompting OPEC at its Vienna meeting to decide to cut production, after months of high output (WSJ, Oct. 25)—Exxon's profits continue to break records. John McCain seizes on this to take a cheap (if none too logical) shot at Obama...

The US has plundered global wealth by exploiting the dollar's dominance, and the world urgently needs other currencies to take its place, a front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily said Oct. 24. "The grim reality has led people, amidst the panic, to realize that the United States has used the US dollar's hegemony to plunder the world's wealth," said the commentator, Shi Jianxun, a professor at Shanghai's Tongji University.

More than 900 million people in developing countries face starvation as food prices soar, a new report from Oxfam finds. Spiraling inflation in the cost of basic foods, such as rice and cereals, have pushed an extra 119 million people into hunger this year, according to the report, released to coincide with the UN International World Food Day. Oxfam's "Double Edged Prices" report found 967 million people are now officially living below the hunger line. It found there had been a 300% rise in the cost of wheat in Somalia, a 100% increase in the price of flour, and a doubling of the cost of rice in Cambodia and the Philippines in the past year. Oxfam chief executive Barbara Stocking said the effects of the price rises are "devastating." (Press Association, Oct. 15)

Oil prices posted the biggest one-day dollar gain ever Monday Sept. 22 as the dollar fell in response to Washington's $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. October oil contracts surged in afternoon trading, reaching $130—a more than $25 gain. It dropped back down to settle at $120.92 a barrel, up $16.37 from Friday's close. The gain eclipsed the $10.75 spike in oil on June 6. (CNNMoney.com, Sept. 22)