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Archive for July, 2011
Montana governor threatens lawsuit over oil spill
Posted by Reuters: Laura Zuckerman on July 9th, 2011
Reuters: Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer continued on Friday to press Exxon Mobil over an oil spill into the Yellowstone River and threatened to take the company to court as clean-up continued a week after the leak.
Schweitzer has been increasingly critical of Exxon in the days since one of its pipelines burst on July 1, spilling what the company estimates was up to 42,000 gallons of oil into the river.
"We're going to hold them liable in court," Schweitzer told reporters following a public meeting...
Water flowing over levee threatens Missouri highway
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 9th, 2011
Reuters: Finally, a bright spot in a soggy summer for communities along the unruly and swollen Missouri River.
"I can see where the water is down six to eight inches," Nancy Thomsen, a flower shop owner in downtown Pierre, South Dakota said from her shop on Missouri Avenue. "So that's getting better."
Thomsen was looking at the water level from the back of Pierre Flower Shop, a state capital staple for 60 years.
The river is usually about two blocks from the shop, but a levee protecting downtown...
: On a pilgrimage to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest
Posted by LA Times: Dan Blackburn on July 9th, 2011
LA Times: Reporting from the White Mountains, Calif. –;–; The White Mountains that straddle the California-Nevada border are known for their extreme environment. They get less than a foot of rain a year. The wind blows almost constantly, and the temperatures can dip to well below zero.
Hard to imagine, then, that they're home to the oldest living things on the planet -- the ancient warped and twisted bristlecone pine tree, a big draw for photographers, painters and other artists.
Related Photos: Offbeat...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on : On a pilgrimage to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine ForestMontana, Exxon Mobil split over river oil spill
Posted by Associated Press: Matthew Brown, on July 8th, 2011
Associated Press: Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer has decided Exxon Mobil and the state don't make good roommates after nearly a week of working together in close quarters to clean up an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil released into the Yellowstone River.
State officials have moved out of a joint command post overseeing the response to the spill -- a mess that has painted a fresh target for scorn on one of the world's largest energy companies.
Security guards working for Exxon Mobil Corp. have closely guarded...
Weatherwatch: southern Britain’s spring drought
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2011
Guardian: Fine weather across Europe allowed species such as pied flycatchers and swallows (pictured) to return early.
This year's spring drought in southern Britain has had a profound influence on the natural world. Butterflies have been out in force, with many species sighted several weeks earlier than usual. They have subsequently thrived as a result of the fine, sunny weather: a welcome revival in their fortunes after a series of poor years. Warm, dry weather is generally good for breeding birds, too....
Drilling Into New York’s Fracking Report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2011
New York Times: The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has posted the voluminous draft document laying out how the state plans to regulate the controversial gas drilling method known as fracking. As was noted last week, this revised version of the state’s environmental impact statement calls for a ban on horizontal drilling with hydraulic fracturing in the watersheds and aquifers that supply drinking water to residents as well as in state parklands. Gas companies would still be allowed to drill in...
Wildlife Along Yellowstone River Faring Well, So Far, but Landowners Struggle With Oil Spill
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2011
Greenwire: Wildlife-rescue teams have yet to find significant numbers of oiled birds, fish or amphibians nearly a week after an Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline burst beneath Montana's famed Yellowstone River, spilling up to 1,000 barrels of crude and soiling the lawns of many downstream landowners.
While oil has been spotted on the wing tips of some pelicans and a garter snake that was treated and safely returned, the spill's immediate impact appears to have been largely minimized thanks in part to the river's...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Wildlife Along Yellowstone River Faring Well, So Far, but Landowners Struggle With Oil SpillBlack carbon
Posted by BBC: Navin Singh Khadka on July 8th, 2011
BBC: Although a normal monsoon has been forecast for South Asia this year, and rains have begun normally in many parts of the region, people are still anxious about the rainy season that lasts for four months.
Their anxiety has to do with the uncertainties surrounding the timing of the monsoon in recent years.
While the debate continues over the role of climate change, scientists have also been looking at the possible role of soot and urban smog pollution in disrupting this weather system.
The...
Water curbs spread in France despite June rain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2011
Reuters: Water restrictions are spreading across France after rain last month proved insufficient to replenish rivers and water tables hit by a spring drought, the environment ministry said on Friday. Curbs on water use have now been introduced in 70 out of 96 administrative departments in mainland France, the most to face such restrictions since a 2003 heatwave that led to the death of 15,000 people. "The rain in June was not enough to increase the flow of rivers," a farm ministry official said. "We've...
Africa drought endangers 500,000 children: U.N
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 8th, 2011
Reuters: The lives of half a million children in the Horn of Africa are at risk, international aid agencies said on Friday, as the worst drought in decades forces thousands of people to flee their homes each day.
High food prices and the driest years since the early 1950s have pushed many poor families in Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia and Djibouti into desperate need, UNICEF said.
"We have over two million children who are malnourished. Half a million of these children are in a life-threatening condition...