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Archive for August 29th, 2011
Greens blast new Alberta oil sands lands policy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Reuters: Alberta released an updated land-use plan for its oil sands region on Monday that the energy sector lauded for its balance between development and conservation, but environmentalists criticized for being too industry-friendly.
The latest draft sought to revise a contentious plan for the Lower Athabasca region that the government of the western Canadian province first released in April, aimed at delineating which areas can be developed and which should be set aside.
In that version, some companies...
Rivers the healthiest in a generation due to stricter pollution controls
Posted by Guardian: Fiona Harvey, on August 29th, 2011
Guardian: Fishing for chub and barbel on London's river Wandle may have been the perfect way to pass a gloomy bank holiday weekend, while fans of salmon could have headed to the Dee and the Taff in Wales, which once ran black with coal.
This would have been impossible a few years ago, the Environment Agency notes on Tuesday, as it publishes a list of the 10 most improved rivers in England and Wales, which are now healthier than they have been for decades.
The Wandle was declared a mere sewer in the 1960s...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Rivers the healthiest in a generation due to stricter pollution controlsTesting Water Along the Path of Irene
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
New York Times: Beyond flooding and destruction, Hurricane Irene is likely to have caused less visible environmental damage by dumping sewage, pesticides and other contaminants into waterways along the East Coast, federal officials said.
High flows of water can also disturb sediment and make it settle out in new deposits that can clog oyster beds or require new dredging in shipping channels.
Officials are just beginning to assess the condition of seven rivers, including the Hudson River in New York. The United...
Will Hurricane Irene Be a Wake-Up Call About Climate Change?
Posted by Democracy Now: Bill McKibben on August 29th, 2011
Democracy Now: Hurricane Irene received a massive amount media coverage, but television reports made little or no reference to the role global warming played in the storm. We speak with someone with his eye on climate change and its impact. "We’ve had not only this extraordinary flooding, but on the same day that Hurricane Irene was coming down, Houston set its all-time temperature record, 109 degrees," says Bill McKibben, co-founder and director of 350.org. "We’re in a new situation." McKibben is among hundreds...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Will Hurricane Irene Be a Wake-Up Call About Climate Change?Hurricane Irene leaves US trail of destruction 1,100 miles long
Posted by Guardian: Dominic Rushe on August 29th, 2011
Guardian: As the remnants of hurricane Irene began to dissipate over Canada, the death toll from the storm continued to rise and widespread flooding affected states across the US north-east.
The huge, slow-moving storm travelled along 1,100 miles of US coastline leaving a trail of destruction reaching far inland. At least 28 deaths have so far been attributed to Irene with about 3 million people left without power along its path.
People have struggled to get back to work as officials tried to remove...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Hurricane Irene leaves US trail of destruction 1,100 miles longUnited Kingdom: The flow of history
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Telegraph: One hundred years ago, the River Wandle in south London, a tributary of the Thames, was reputedly the most polluted waterway in the world. On its banks were situated William Morris's dye factories and the water was not so much fouled, as poisoned. Today, the Wandle, in common with many rivers around the country, has recovered to the point where brown trout can be fished from what is now once again a swift flowing chalk stream. It features on a list published today of the country's most improved waterways,...
Tar Sands Pipeline Passes Key Hurdle as Protests Continue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 29th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: A controversial 1,711-mile pipeline that would link Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas and the Gulf Coast has passed a critical hurdle, even as environmental advocates continue to demonstrate outside theWhite House in opposition to the project. While the project must still must pass several key steps, State Department officials said Friday that the owners of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, TransCanada, had agreed to take steps to minimize the risks of spill, and many expect the Obama administration...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Tar Sands Pipeline Passes Key Hurdle as Protests ContinuePresident Obama, Look Out Your Window!
Posted by Huffington Post: Michael Kieschnick on August 29th, 2011
Huffington Post: I run a mobile telephone company, and expect to be arrested in Washington today just outside your window representing my customers' view on global warming. Seriously! Your administration is soon to make a pivotal climate change decision on the Keystone pipeline bringing tar sands oil from Canada, and the few available hints indicate that you are going to get it disastrously wrong. To help you and your advisors focus on this choice, I am going to join with many others and hold a big sign in front...
Shooting the messenger
Posted by Miami Herald: Andrew Dessler on August 29th, 2011
Miami Herald: Texas Gov. Rick Perry stirred up controversy on the campaign trail recently when he dismissed the problem of climate change and accused scientists of basically making up the problem. As a born-and-bred Texan, it's especially disturbing to hear this now, when our state is getting absolutely hammered by heat and drought. I've got to wonder how any resident of Texas - and particularly the governor who not so long ago was asking us to pray for rain - can be so cavalier about climate change. As a climate...
Mass extinctions linked to climate change are already underway
Posted by Environmental Health News: None Given on August 29th, 2011
Environmental Health News: Maclean, IMD and RJ Wilson, 2011. Recent ecological responses to climate change support predictions of high extinction risk. Proceedings of the National Association of Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1017352108.
New evidence confirms what scientists have long suspected: that climate change is already having major effects on many of the world's species.
Researchers report for the first time that the documented species responses -- migration to a higher or cooler climate or changes in...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Mass extinctions linked to climate change are already underway