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Archive for April 22nd, 2011
Chesapeake seeks permanent plug for natgas well
Posted by Reuters: Edward McAllister on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: Chesapeake Energy is looking for options to plug permanently a Pennsylvania natural gas well following a blowout this week that sent drilling fluid into local waterways.
Chesapeake, one of Pennsylvania's biggest shale gas producers, used a mix of plastic, ground-up tires and heavy mud on Thursday as a temporary plug for the well, which had spewed thousands of gallons of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, fluid into the surrounding area.
The spill, which occurred late on Tuesday, has stoked...
This will be the Arab world’s next battle
Posted by Guardian: Lester R Brown on April 22nd, 2011
Guardian: Long after the political uprisings in the Middle East have subsided, many underlying challenges that are not now in the news will remain. Prominent among these are rapid population growth, spreading water shortages, and growing food insecurity.
In some countries grain production is now falling as aquifers – underground water-bearing rocks – are depleted. After the Arab oil-export embargo of the 1970s, the Saudis realised that since they were heavily dependent on imported grain, they were vulnerable...
More pine barrens, last Long Island wilderness, protected
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: New York state officials chose Earth Day on Friday to announce purchase of a large tract of land in Long Island's pine barrens as a preserve for hikers and other naturalists and a source for pure drinking water.
The land, mostly surrounded by publicly owned property, had been sought for years by preservation advocates as an essential part of the 100,000-acre pine barrens in Suffolk County in eastern Long Island.
Calling the pine barrens a "beautiful natural resource" as well as "an important...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on More pine barrens, last Long Island wilderness, protectedEurope scorns “supersalmon” as GM battle widens
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Reuters: European salmon farmers and breeders who dominate global sales have a wary eye on transgenic American superfish that grow fast and might gulp part of the $107 billion-a-year aquaculture business.
"We don't have any monster pigs in Europe, or monster cows, and there's no need for such a salmon," said Geir Isaksen, the chief executive at big Norwegian fish farmer Cermaq.
Genetically modified (GM) Atlantic salmon patented by U.S. biotech firm AquaBounty are widely billed as growing at double speed...
Free Rain Barrels for New Yorkers
Posted by New York Times: MIREYA NAVARRO on April 22nd, 2011
New York Times: New York City Department of Environmental Protection New York City is offering homeowners 55-gallon rain-collection barrels.
It’s raining barrels.
New York City is giving away 55-gallon rain barrels to homeowners to help conserve water and reduce pressure on the city’s sewer system, which is often overwhelmed during heavy storms. The city started promoting the barrels by distributing a few hundred of them in Queens in 2008 and 750 more in 2009 to homeowners who applied for them. This year,...
In Texas, Questions of Drought and Climate Change
Posted by New York Times: KATE GALBRAITH on April 22nd, 2011
New York Times: Kate Galbraith Grass at the City Hall in Midland, Tex., may not fare as well under outdoor watering restrictions issued because of a severe drought.
The severe drought across Texas has hit the oil and gas city of Midland especially hard, as I reported in Friday`s New York Times and Texas Tribune. Since Oct. 1, Midland has received only 0.13 inches of rainfall -- making it "most likely the driest six-and-a-half-month period in recorded history," said David Hennig, a Midland-based meteorologist...
Earth Day Pictures: 20 Stunning Shots of Earth From Space
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
National Geographic: Sapphire waters tinged with pink sediment seem to get tangled amid emerald vegetation in a satellite picture of Bombetoka Bay, on the northwestern coast of Madagascar.
To celebrate Earth Day—which today received the ultimate Internet accolade, a Google Doodle—National Geographic photo editors selected 20 of the most stunning pictures of Earth, as seen from space, including this jewel-toned shot of the island country off the African coast.
Captured in 2000 by a NASA satellite, the scene shows...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Earth Day Pictures: 20 Stunning Shots of Earth From SpaceExperts on peat
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Telegraph: Peat is destroying the environment and is no longer necessary in the modern garden says Alys Fowler, presenter on BBC Gardeners World and The Edible Garden: "I think there needs to be more education about the benefits of non-peat compost -- it can be just as effective as peat. As well as reducing carbon emissions and protecting peat bog habitats, peat-free compost is also a great way of recycling our waste. Just as we do not have endless peatbogs, we also do not have bottomless landfill sites. I...
Forty percent of planet threatened with loss of biodiversity: Minister
Posted by Angop: None Given on April 22nd, 2011
Angop: About 40 percent of the planet earth is threatened with the loss of its biodiversity, as a result of human action, Angop learned Thursday in Luanda.
The information was released by Angolan minister of Environment, Fatima Jardim, on the occasion of the Earth Day, April 22.
The minister said that should there not be a change in human attitude towards the environment, 60 percent of the corals might disappear on the coasts around the world, in addition to maritime ecosystems and mangroves.
Fátima...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Forty percent of planet threatened with loss of biodiversity: MinisterFormer REDD+ negotiator for Indonesia sentenced to 3 years for corruption
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 22nd, 2011
Mongabay: Former REDD+ negotiator for Indonesia sentenced to 3 years for corruption
Wandojo Siswanto, one of the negotiators for Indonesia's delegation at 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen and a key architect of its Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) partnership with Norway, has been sentenced to three years in prison for accepting bribes.
Following an investigation by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Wandojo was found guilty of receiving a bribe of about $10,000 from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Former REDD+ negotiator for Indonesia sentenced to 3 years for corruption