Archive for June 26th, 2012

Activists in Texas organizing blockade against Keystone XL pipeline

Truthout: The deadline for the review of TransCanada's permits for the Gulf Coast portion of the Keystone XL pipeline was Monday, June 25, at the Texas Army Corp of Engineers Galveston office and without any finalization of review, those permits will be automatically granted to the corporation - thanks to President Obama's announcement that he would expedite the southern leg of the pipeline in Cushing, Oklahoma, back in March. That's why Texas climate justice activists, including myself, are officially announcing...

Brazil’s environmental leadership at risk, warn scientists

Mongabay: The Brazilian government is putting its global environmental leadership at risk by ignoring scientific concern on large infrastructure projects and changes in the country's forest laws, warned an association of more than 1,200 tropical scientists gathering last week in Bonito, Brazil on the heels of the disappointing Rio+20 Earth Summit. While world leaders convened in Rio de Janeiro for the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development scientists from 48 countries met at the 49th annual meeting...

Fighting Western wildfires: Does Forest Service have enough air power?

Christian Science Monitor: As large fires scorch vast tracts of land from Alaska to Colorado and Arkansas, the debate over the nation’s fire-fighting preparedness is also heating up. The air tanker fleet tasked with the most dangerous mega-fire tasks – think dropping tons of fire-retardant into remote and steep canyons – is under particular scrutiny. Pointing to the fleet’s decade-long decline from some 44 tankers in 2002 to nine at the start of the 2012 fire season, one critic is calling the current situation an “air tanker...

Australia: Climate change taking hold, summit hears

AAP: NATIONAL Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) director Jean Palutikof says mankind has a lot of work to do to ensure it copes with the turbulence of a shifting climate. "(Climate change) is insidious and essentially non-linear, and has the capacity to deliver shocks and surprises which we are currently not well protected against," Professor Palutikof told the Climate Adaption in Action conference in Melbourne on Tuesday. "Decision makers in government, business and the community...