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Archive for October 18th, 2012
Aging Pipeline Poses Threat to Great Lakes, Report Says
Posted by New York Times: Dan Frosch on October 18th, 2012
New York Times: A report released on Thursday by the National Wildlife Federation questioned the safety of a network of oil pipelines operated by Enbridge that run through the Great Lakes region.
The group contends that Enbridge’s pipelines in the area are especially susceptible to spills because of their age and the company’s recent history of accidents -- creating a situation the environmental group said could be disastrous for the fragile ecosystems in Lake Michigan.
The report was prompted in part by Enbridge’s...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Aging Pipeline Poses Threat to Great Lakes, Report Says2 convicted of massive asbestos dumping
Posted by NBC: Miguel Llanos on October 18th, 2012
NBC: Where to dump 60 million pounds of demolition debris, much of it containing asbestos? How about an upstate New York farm that also has wetlands and runs along a river? That act led to the conviction this week of two men who now face years in prison and hefty fines.
A jury on Tuesday found Cross Nicastro, owner of the 28-acre farm on the Mohawk River in Frankfort, and Dominick Mazza, owner of a waste management company, guilty of violating the Clean Water Act.
The debris came from New Jersey...
Fracking Our Future: Shale Gas Industry Targets College Campuses, K-12 Schools
Posted by DeSmogBlog: Steve Horn on October 18th, 2012
DeSmogBlog: In Pennsylvania--a state that sits in the heart of the Marcellus Shale basin--the concept of "frackademia" and "frackademics" has taken on an entirely new meaning.
On Sept. 27, the PA House of Representatives--in a 136-62 vote--passed a bill that allows fracking to take place on the campuses of public universities. Its Senate copycat version passed in June in a 46-3 vote and Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed it into law as Act 147 on Oct. 8.
The bill is colloquially referred to as the Indigenous...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Fracking Our Future: Shale Gas Industry Targets College Campuses, K-12 SchoolsSouth Africa hits another new record in rhino killings
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
Mongabay: Four hundred and fifty-five rhinos have been killed by poachers in South Africa since the beginning of the year. The number surpasses the record set last year (448) and proves that national efforts to stem poaching have not yet made a dent in actual killings. The mass killing has been spurred on by high demand for powdered rhino horn in Vietnam and China. A traditional curative in Asia, rhino horn has no medicinal properties according to scientists.
While poachers have killed 455 rhinos in the...
U.S. trial set in Chevron fraud case against Ecuador lawyers
Posted by Reuters: Basil Katz on October 18th, 2012
Reuters: A U.S. trial has been set for next fall in a Chevron Corp lawsuit that accuses Ecuadorean residents, their lawyers, and advisers of fraud in obtaining a $19 billion pollution award against the U.S. oil company.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said at a brief hearing on Thursday that the trial would begin on October 15, 2013.
The battle over the pollution case has lasted for nearly two decades and is being fought in courts inside and outside the Andean country.
It has escalated...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on U.S. trial set in Chevron fraud case against Ecuador lawyersShadow Over Aichi Biodiversity Targets
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
Inter Press Service: With negotiations to mobilise resources for preservation of biodiversity at a major United Nations conference going nowhere, the Group of 77 and China have hinted at possible suspension of the "˜Aichi targets' under the Nagoya Protocol.
Algeria, current G 77 chair, stressed in a statement at the 11th Conference of Parties (COP 11) to the CBD, underway in this south Indian city, that developing countries had made significant commitments at COP 10 in Nagoya, Japan, on the expectation...
UK experiences most dramatic weather change for century
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
BBC: This year the UK has seen the most rapid transformation from drought to flood in modern times. The driest spring for over a century gave way to the wettest recorded April to June in a dramatic turnaround never documented before. David Shukman reports.
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UK experiences most dramatic weather change for centuryGreat Lakes at Risk of Major Oil Spill, Report Warns
Posted by Inside Climate News: David Hasemyer on October 18th, 2012
Inside Climate News: Two aging oil and natural gas pipelines running under the sparkling waters of the Straits of Mackinac in northern Michigan are time bombs that could devastate the upper Great Lakes if they rupture, according to a report issued today by the National Wildlife Federation [3]. The pipelines are owned by Enbridge Inc. [4] and carry an estimated 20 million gallons of oil and natural gas every day under the pristine water from Superior, Wisconsin to Sarnia, Ontario. The company announced in May [5] that...
Kenya Climate Innovation Center Helps Address Climate Change
Posted by Voice of America: Jill Craig on October 18th, 2012
Voice of America: Quickly becoming known as the home of the "Silicon Savannah,' Kenya hopes to make the world a bit greener with its new Climate Innovation Center. The center will assist entrepreneurs in securing financing and other services for their companies while helping the country and region address the effects of climate change.
Kenya's recently-launched Climate Innovation Center, or CIC, is positioned to become the business hub for African climate technology entrepreneurs. The center is the first of its...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kenya Climate Innovation Center Helps Address Climate ChangeU.S. drought to continue through winter, may spread
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on October 18th, 2012
Reuters: The drought that ravaged the United States this year does not appear to be abating and may spread through the winter, government forecasters said on Thursday. "The large majority of that drought we expect to persist," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "We even see drought expanding westward ... into Montana, Idaho and part of Oregon and Washington."