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Archive for August, 2011
Canada highlight oilsands lobbying success
Posted by Vancouver Sun: Mike De Souza on August 30th, 2011
Vancouver Sun: The federal government described media reports about weakened Europe climate-change policies as a "leap forward" on work to protect Alberta's oilsands industry, internal documents obtained by Postmedia News have revealed.
The information was included in a document summarizing a March 2010 meeting between government officials, oil and gas industry executives, and Bruce Carson, a former top adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It highlighted media reports about the European Union backing away...
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Rural poor at risk from climate change, says report
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2011
IRIN: Building local resilience will prove key to better addressing the effects of climate change in Cambodia, this year's Cambodia Human Development Report (CHDR) states.
"Local action and local solutions are what is needed most," Tin Ponlok, deputy director-general of climate change for the Cambodian Ministry of Environment, told IRIN. "This is where we can make the most difference."
Released on 30 August, the report, Building Resilience: The Future for Rural Livelihoods in the Face of Climate...
Report: China to crank up 2015 renewable target
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 30th, 2011
Business Green: Chinese state media has today reported that the government will increase renewable energy targets for 2015 as it seeks to beef up efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
China is already one of the world's largest and fastest-growing renewable energy markets, having emerged as a leader in the development and installation of wind and solar energy.
The government had said it aims to accelerate the roll out of new renewable capacity as part of its next five-year plan and has signaled its intention...
U.S.: New Oil Pipeline Sparks Civil Disobedience
Posted by Inter Press Service: Kanya D'Almeida on August 30th, 2011
Inter Press Service: On the tenth day of a protest wave that has been gaining momentum since Aug. 20 and will continue until Sep. 3, nearly 300 people gathered in Lafayette Park directly across from the White House in Washington D.C., chanting, "When I say 'tar sands', you say 'no!' When I say 'action', you say 'go!'"
The protest - a sustained effort against the building of a new oil pipeline connecting the tar sands of Canada's southwestern province to several refineries around the Gulf of Mexico – is the most recent...
Vermont, New Jersey flooded as Irene spares NYC
Posted by Reuters: Christine Kearney and Scott Malone on August 30th, 2011
Reuters: New Jersey and Vermont struggled with their worst flooding in decades on Monday, a day after Hurricane Irene slammed an already soaked U.S. Northeast with torrential rain, dragging away homes and submerging neighborhoods underwater.
The massive storm churned up the U.S. East Coast over the weekend killing at least 38 people in 11 states, in addition to three who died in the Dominican Republic and one in Puerto Rico when the storm was still in the Caribbean, authorities said.
Spared from Irene's...
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...
Testing 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...
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...