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Archive for July, 2011
United Kingdom: Planning changes could lead to tearing up of countryside, National Trust warns
Posted by Guardian: Robert Booth and John Vidal on July 26th, 2011
Guardian: London's green belt could be sacrificed to Los Angeles-style urban sprawl in the name of economic growth under sweeping reforms to the planning system unveiled by the government this week, the National Trust has warned.
The 3.6 million-member organisation voiced "grave concerns" on Tuesday over government proposals to slash 1,000 pages of planning policy to just 52 pages in a move that has won the ringing endorsement of property developers.
Opponents claim the new draft policy effectively removes...
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Comments Off on United Kingdom: Planning changes could lead to tearing up of countryside, National Trust warnsDepartment of Energy Prepares to Take the Floor in the Nation’s ‘Fracking’ Debate
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 26th, 2011
ClimateWire: When talking about his department's role in steering U.S. energy policy, Energy Secretary Steven Chu likes to recall its role in last year's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
"It's true that we had no jurisdictional or regulatory authority in the deepwater spill," Chu said in an interview with ClimateWire late last week. "We played a different role. We helped stop the leak."
Chu's behind-the-scenes war room is widely credited with bringing order to chaos in the aftermath of the BP PLC Macondo...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Department of Energy Prepares to Take the Floor in the Nation’s ‘Fracking’ DebateDroughts do not happen overnight
Posted by Indepth News: Ramesh Jaura on July 26th, 2011
Indepth News: As the international community struggles to provide all possible assistance to more than 11 million people in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Kenya – adversely affected by the lack of food and long spell of drought – Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Luc Gnacadja, has drawn attention to an often ignored fact that "droughts do not happen overnight."
UNCCD emerged from the Earth Summit in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, along with the UN Framework Convention...
Planning overhaul ‘damage’ feared
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 26th, 2011
BBC: A proposed planning system overhaul in England could lead to "unchecked and damaging development", campaigners say.
The draft National Planning Policy Framework introduces a "presumption in favour of sustainable development".
The Campaign to Protect Rural England said it feared "grave" consequences. The National Trust said the government was "putting short term financial gain ahead of everything else".
Planning minister Greg Clark has said a "simpler, swifter" system is needed.
The framework...
Australia: Report warns of climate change devastation
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 26th, 2011
Australian Broadcasting Corporation: The Australian Climate Commission says the Illawarra region, on the New South Wales south coast, is facing devastating bushfires, floods and loss of biodiversity by the year 2100 if it does not act on climate change.
The commission has released its report today into the impact of climate change in the region, titled The Critical Decade: Illawarra and South Coast Impacts.
The report highlights the key impacts by increased rainfall, rising temperatures and sea levels over the next century.
The...
Low-profile propane autogas goes looking for friends on the Hill
Posted by Greenwire: Jason Plautz on July 26th, 2011
Greenwire: Texas tycoon T. Boone Pickens has made himself the face of the natural gas industry. The flamboyant oil man has invested millions in his push to fuel cars with natural gas and is trailed by cameras and microphones during his frequent visits to Capitol Hill. Pickens' ability to grab attention for natural gas is much envied by its underdog rival, propane autogas. Natural gas "is getting all the publicity, and we don't want to be disadvantaged," said Stuart Weidie, the leader of the industry group...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Low-profile propane autogas goes looking for friends on the HillYellowstone Set for Transformative Wildfires as Climate Changes
Posted by International Business Times: None Given on July 26th, 2011
International Business Times: These finds are the result of a study published online in the July 25 edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It argues that years when no wildfires break out will become a rarity by 2050, and by 2075, ravaging fires will become the norm.
"What surprised us about our results was the speed and scale of the projected changes in fire in Greater Yellowstone," said Professor Anthony Westerling of the University of California, Merced.
"We expected fire to increase...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Yellowstone Set for Transformative Wildfires as Climate ChangesWater-oil mixture spills at BP Alaska facility
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on July 26th, 2011
Reuters: A spill of about 200 gallons of an oil-water mixture has prompted a temporary shutdown of an oil-separation facility at the BP-operated Prudhoe Bay oil field, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation reported on Monday.
The spilled material amounts to about 70 percent produced water and 30 percent crude oil, the department said in a statement. The material flowed into gravel-bermed, water-filled containment pits that encircle the flow station's flares.
The spill was discovered on...
India: Changing rainfall linked to plague outbreaks – report
Posted by AlertNet: Soumya Karlamangla on July 25th, 2011
AlertNet: Outbreaks of the plague -- a relatively rare but deadly disease -- are linked to rainfall and may become more frequent in some areas as climate change alters weather patterns, scientists from Norway and China say.
In a research project, Norwegian and Chinese scientists analyzed data from the last major outbreak of plague, which originated in China around 1855 and lasted over 100 years. The researchers compared the number of cases per year between 1850 and 1964 against the level of rainfall in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on India: Changing rainfall linked to plague outbreaks – reportUnited States: More big Yellowstone fires predicted with climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on July 25th, 2011
LA Times: The size and frequency of wildfires in the northern Rocky Mountains will increase so much with global warming that it will profoundly alter the landscape of Yellowstone National Park and its environs, predicts a new study.
The conifer forests of spruce, pine and Douglas fir that grow at elevations from 6,000 to 8,000 feet could give way to open woodlands, grass and shrubs, transforming the greater Yellowstone ecosytem that includes parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
The large, severe wildfires...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United States: More big Yellowstone fires predicted with climate change