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Archive for September, 2012
UK dash for gas would be illegal, says climate committee
Posted by BusinessGreen: James Murray on September 13th, 2012
BusinessGreen: The independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) has today warned unequivocally that the government would breach the Climate Change Act if it pursues Chancellor George Osborne's plans for a surge in new gas investment.
In what will be seen as an explosive intervention in the simmering row between the Lib Dems and the Chancellor over whether to include a target to decarbonise the electricity sector by 2030 in the upcoming Energy Bill, the CCC today stated categorically that "extensive use of unabated...
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Comments Off on UK dash for gas would be illegal, says climate committeeU.N. FAO chief says no need for panic over global food prices
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2012
Reuters: The head of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday there was no need for panic over global food prices and said a U.S. report on Wednesday on the outlook for its corn crop had sent a "very good message". "There is no reason for panic," FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva told a conference in Istanbul. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday cut its forecast for the country's corn crop by less than 1 percent, indicating the worst drought in U.S. Midwest...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.N. FAO chief says no need for panic over global food pricesAgricultural biotechnology ‘should be open source’
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2012
SciDev.Net: Open source biotechnology, through which biotechnology inventions are made freely available for others to use and improve upon, could help developing countries overcome hurdles created by stringent intellectual property rights (IPRs), a study says. The concept is based on open source in software development. To date, open source software's free accessibility, low cost, openness to modification and customisation, and availability of community support have helped it solve practical problems in agriculture,...
Development must be less about growth, more about wellbeing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2012
Guardian: People and their wellbeing need to be at the centre of development, with less emphasis on economic growth, according to a new report, but this requires philanthropic and development organisations to challenge current thinking.
"Development is political," said the final report of the Bellagio Initiative, a six-month exploration into the future of philanthropy and international development. "Not everyone can be a winner at the same time, but if no one among the winners is prepared to give up just...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Development must be less about growth, more about wellbeing‘Cambodia Can’t Afford New Dengue Vaccine’
Posted by Inter Press Service: Vincent MacIsaac on September 13th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Public health experts in Cambodia are unenthused by reports of trials for a dengue vaccine conducted in neighbouring Thailand, saying it will be too costly for those who need it most - children in the least developed and developing countries.
"Of course, they cannot come out with a vaccine that costs 20 cents," Dr. Philip Buchy, head of the virology unit at the Pasteur Institute of Cambodia, told IPS.
Buchy was referring to the Paris-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi SA's dengue vaccine...
Portland Approves Adding Fluoride to Water by ’14
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 13th, 2012
New York Times: Portland, Ore., which never fluoridated its water supply and over time earned the distinction as the biggest city in the country to just say no, reversed course on Wednesday with a unanimous vote by the City Council to add fluoride beginning in early 2014. The decision, which will cost the city about $5 million to carry out, was seen by both supporters and opponents as fraught with significance. Many Portlanders treasure their city’s quirky distinctiveness. Others said its leadership role as the...
Guyana endorses US$506M construction deal in China
Posted by Kaieteur News: None Given on September 13th, 2012
Kaieteur News: The construction agreement of what would be Guyana’s costliest infrastructural project – the Amaila Falls Hydroelectric Project (AFHEP) – has been signed, government announced yesterday. Construction is expected to start in mid-2013. According to a statement issued by the Government Information Agency (GINA), the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) agreement for the construction of the Amaila Falls Hydro project and Transmission Line was yesterday executed in Xian, China, by Sithe Global,...
Environmental group sues for federal protection of ice seals
Posted by Reuters: Yereth Rosen on September 13th, 2012
Reuters: Environmentalists sued the Obama administration on Wednesday seeking federal safeguards for seals that rely on vanishing Arctic sea ice and accusing the government of dragging its feet in listing the marine mammals under the Endangered Species Act.
The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, saying the National Marine Fisheries Service has illegally delayed listings for the ringed seal and the bearded seal.
Both dwell in coastal waters off northern...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Environmental group sues for federal protection of ice sealsTree-killing Asian beetle found in Massachusetts
Posted by Reuters: Ros Krasny on September 12th, 2012
Reuters: The emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle that has destroyed millions of trees in North America since being accidentally introduced from Asia, has been identified in Massachusetts for the first time, state officials said on Wednesday.
The beetle, named for its bright green color, was found in Dalton, a town in Berkshire County in western Massachusetts.
Massachusetts authorities said they are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to limit the pests' impact on the state's trees and...
Bolivian Park Declared One of Most Diverse Places on Earth
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on September 12th, 2012
Yahoo!: Madidi National Park, in northwest Bolivia, may be the most biologically diverse place on earth, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
A list of species living there was released this week in a presentation at the World Conservation Congress in Jeju, South Korea. The report follows yesterday's release of the 100 most threatened species, some of which live in Madidi National Park.
According to a WCS release, a full 11 percent of the world's bird species live in the park. Madidi's...
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