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Archive for November 15th, 2011
NY set to begin hearings on gas drilling rules
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Associated Press: With New York poised to begin hearings on proposed gas drilling rules, an industry group claimed Tuesday that the regulations as drafted would be so restrictive that drillers would avoid the state. Green groups said they feared the rules would be too lax to protect public health and the environment.
The state has refused to issue permits for drilling in the lucrative Marcellus Shale formation since 2008, when it began reviewing the high-volume hydraulic fracturing process used to blast wells into...
EU resolution to nudge higher goal for carbon cuts
Posted by Reuters: Barbara Lewis and Gilbert Reilhac on November 15th, 2011
Reuters: European politicians are expected to vote through a resolution on Wednesday that nudges higher the bloc's ambitions to deepen its carbon reduction, ahead of climate change talks this month in Durban, a European Parliament source said.
The European Union laid out its negotiating stance ahead of the Durban conference at a meeting of its Environment Council in October. Ministers said then the bloc would commit to a new phase of the Kyoto climate change pact on condition the big emitters gave a firm...
In Alabama, sewer woes spur war on water costs
Posted by Reuters: Michael Connor on November 15th, 2011
Reuters: Dogged by soaring sewer rates, Alabama social worker Mary Jones and her friends are finding novel ways to keep from flushing their income down the toilet -- literally.
In the last year, Jones, 76, started using dirty dishwater for flushing to reduce her Jefferson County sewage costs in response to rates that have more than quadrupled in the last 15 years.
Massive renovation costs for what locals call a "gold-plated sewer system" and its "Taj Mahal" waste treatment plant are behind the precipitous...
Keystone XL Delay Shows Climate Change Is a Big Election Issue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Mother Jones: Conventional wisdom has it that the next election will be fought exclusively on the topic of jobs. But President Obama's announcement [6] last week that he would postpone a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline until after the 2012 election, which may effectively kill [7] the project, makes it clear that other issues will weigh in—and that, oddly enough, one of them might even be climate change. The pipeline decision was a true upset. Everyone—and I mean everyone who "knew" how these things work—seemed...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Keystone XL Delay Shows Climate Change Is a Big Election IssuePipelines at risk of failure in Montana, Wyoming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Associated Press: Federal safety regulators disclosed problems Tuesday with oil and other hazardous liquid pipelines at seven major river crossings and hundreds of smaller crossings in Montana and northern Wyoming -- problems that could put the lines at increased risk of failure.
Problems found at the major river crossings must be fixed by spring or the companies that own them will face enforcement actions, said Chris Hoidal with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
That includes pipelines crossing the Missouri,...
United Kingdom: ‘Winter drought’ could mean hosepipe bans next year
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Telegraph: Usually droughts hit in the spring or summer and the last drought permit issued at this time of year was in 2003.
However the exceptional weather conditions of the last year mean many areas of the country in the Midlands, East Anglia and South East still have low water levels into autumn and winter.
Anglian Water have applied for a winter drought permit in East Anglia to stop water running low over Christmas and New Year.
The water company says it must be allowed to drain extra water from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: ‘Winter drought’ could mean hosepipe bans next yearStates Exert Little Enforcement Of Gas Drilling Boom, Report Says
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Yale Environment 360: Even as a push for unconventional oil and gas has triggered a boom in drilling not seen in the U.S. for decades, a published report finds that enforcement of environmental regulations associated with this drilling has been minimal. In a review of enforcement data from major drilling states -- including Texas, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia -- Greenwire has found that a small percentage of environmental infractions actually result in fines. And even when penalties are imposed, they typically represent...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on States Exert Little Enforcement Of Gas Drilling Boom, Report SaysIPCC says climate change signals small compared to natural climate variability
Posted by Tuscon Citizen: Jonathan DuHamel on November 15th, 2011
Tuscon Citizen: Some real science might have leaked from IPCC
British reporter Richard Black of the BBC claims to have received a draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on extreme weather.
In this draft, the IPCC seems to have backed off some of its past scary predictions and now says in the report:
There is "low confidence" that tropical cyclones have become more frequent, "limited-to-medium evidence available" to assess whether climatic factors have changed the frequency...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on IPCC says climate change signals small compared to natural climate variabilityThai lawmakers submit motion on moving capital
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Agence France-Presse: Lawmakers from Thailand's ruling political party submitted a parliamentary motion on Tuesday to begin discussions over possibly shifting the capital city to prevent future flooding chaos.
Experts have said Bangkok, which is built on swampland, is slowly sinking and the floods currently besieging the city of 12 million people could be merely a foretaste of a grim future, as climate change makes its impact felt.
Sataporn Maneerat, a Puea Thai party MP, told AFP that Thailand should think about...
A Threat to Food Security in Africa’s Basins
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on November 15th, 2011
Inter Press Service: While Africa has successfully avoided conflict over shared water courses, it will need greater diplomacy to keep the peace as new research warns that climate change will have an effect on food productivity.
"Climate change introduces a new element of uncertainty precisely when governments and donors are starting to have more open discussions about sharing water resources and to consider long-term investments in boosting food production," Alain Vidal, director of the CGIAR’s Challenge Programme...