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Archive for December 20th, 2012
Obama triples area of protected California coastline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2012
Mongabay: Today President Obama announced the government would add almost 3,000 square miles of California coastline to the National Marine Sanctuary system, reports the Sierra Club. The designation, which triples the area of California coastline under protection to 4,500 square miles, expands two marine preserves: the Gulf of Farallones Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary off the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts. It prohibits offshore oil and gas drilling, while allowing fishing. ...
Matt Damon Kicks Up Controversy in ‘Promised Land’
Posted by ET: Raphael Chestang on December 20th, 2012
ET: Fracking is a term used for hydraulic fracturing -- a gas extracting technique where fractures are created in rock formations by injecting water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure.
Those opposing the method have expressed concerns about the chemicals used, alleging that if they are harmful they could pollute the groundwater.
Critics of the film accuse the co-writers, Damon and The Office's John Krasinski, of presenting a unilateral position that puts the practice in a negative light...
How Money in Politics Impacts Fracking
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on December 20th, 2012
EcoWatch: In the 2012 election cycle, pro-fracking interests contributed a combined total of nearly $400,000 to candidates for state legislature and county executive in New York`s Southern Tier.
Although incumbents uniformly prevailed, the natural gas industry and its boosters have attempted to frame these results as a "mandate" in support of fracking. The more likely analysis is that the trappings of entrenched incumbency, such as name recognition and an established fundraising apparatus, determined the...
Fish Fry: Study Says Climate Change Means Tough Going For Western Trout
Posted by ThinkProgress: Tom Kenworthy on December 20th, 2012
ThinkProgress: Changing water temperatures and stream flows combined with drought and increasing wildfires from global warming are creating a bleak outlook for trout in the western U.S., according to a new study.
“Despite the best intentions, we will not be able to preserve all populations of native trout in the Rocky Mountains this century,” concludes a paper that has been published in the December issue of the journal Fisheries. The study looked at five river basins in the West and was conducted by the U.S....
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Fish Fry: Study Says Climate Change Means Tough Going For Western TroutCanada: Oil Sands Group Reverses Funding Cut to Alberta Environmental Agency
Posted by Sheila Pratt: Edmonton Journal on December 20th, 2012
Sheila Pratt: In a sudden reversal, oilsands companies will restore funding to a key environmental agency in the province’s northeast after meeting with Environment Minister Diana McQueen.
McQueen said Wednesday she was pleased the Oil Sands Developers Group agreed to renew a $5-million annual budget for the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA).
The oilsands group last week halved CEMA’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, and called for an immediate review of the agency, suggesting...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Oil Sands Group Reverses Funding Cut to Alberta Environmental AgencyDems Seek Climate Vote On Post-Sandy Aid Bill
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on December 20th, 2012
The Hill: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) want to use debate over post-Hurricane Sandy aid to put lawmakers on the record on climate change.
His amendment declares the “sense of the Senate” that mitigating the effects of “extreme weather,” including curbing humans’ contribution to climate change, is in the nation’s economic interest.
Whitehouse and three colleagues proposed attaching the language to the $60.4 billion recovery and reconstruction bill that’s currently on the Senate floor.
But with...
Texas Landowner: Judge Delays TransCanada Hearing
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2012
Associated Press: A Texas landowner battling TransCanada Corp. says a judge has declined for now to hear arguments on whether to temporarily stop work on the property. Michael Bishop says a Nacogdoches County judge put off a hearing scheduled for Wednesday until he can determine whether the matter should be in state court. Bishop wants work on his property to cease until the judge rules on whether the product TransCanada plans to carry through it is crude oil. TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline is meant to transport...
U.S. Unveils Plan to Manage Huge Alaskan Oil Reserve
Posted by Reuters: Ros Krasny on December 20th, 2012
Reuters: The U.S. federal government on Wednesday announced a plan to manage energy drilling on part of Alaska's North Slope, with the 23-million-acre National Petroleum Reserve to be divided between areas available for oil and gas leases and those that are protected from development.
The announcement by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar followed the completion of an environmental impact study, which recommended development of areas that contain about 72 percent of the estimated "economically recoverable"...
Australia: Regions given cash to curb climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on December 20th, 2012
AAP: Australia's regional areas will have access to nearly $25 million in federal funding to prepare for the impact of climate change and steer projects that boost biodiversity.
Environment Minister Tony Burke on Thursday launched the government's first wave of funding linked to climate change for the country's natural resource management (NRM) organisations.
The government has identified 56 NRM regions that are based on catchments and "bioregions", areas that influence an entire ecosystem.
The...