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Archive for January 25th, 2013
Senators propose revival of U.S. farm disaster-relief programs
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 25th, 2013
Reuters: Congress would revive disaster-relief programs for farmers and ranchers hurt by drought and other natural catastrophes under a stop-gap bill introduced on Friday by two key Senate committee leaders.
Producers could get up to $100,000 each for losses in 2012 and this year. In particular, ranchers would benefit because they do not have access to federally subsidized insurance, as farmers do for their crops.
The bundle of disaster programs, covering livestock, tree and fruit and vegetable producers,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Senators propose revival of U.S. farm disaster-relief programsAfter Nebraska setback, greens regroup on Keystone XL
Posted by Grist: Tim McDonnell on January 25th, 2013
Grist: Environmentalists waging an ongoing fight against the Keystone XL pipeline were dealt a major setback this week when Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman signed off on the pipe’s route through his state. Now all that stands between TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, and broken ground is a signature from the State Department, the final decision about which is expected this spring.
Between now and then, the sprawling unofficial coalition of green individuals and groups that have bonded in the...
Low Snowfall Raises Concerns About Drought Recovery
Posted by Climate Central: Daniel Yawitz on January 25th, 2013
Climate Central: The total extent of the persistent national drought receded slightly during the past week, but in many places, conditions look no better now than they did when winter began. In particular, thin snow cover in some Western states is raising concerns that the drought's impacts in some of the hardest-hit regions will only worsen when temperatures increase and evaporation rates rise in the spring.
Between January 15-22, the amount of land in the lower 48 states experiencing drought conditions shrank...
Court says EPA overestimates biofuels production
Posted by Associated Press: Mary Clare Jalonick on January 25th, 2013
Associated Press: A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency is overestimating the amount of fuel that can be produced from grasses, wood and other nonfood plants in an effort to promote a fledgling biofuels industry.
At issue is a 2007 renewable fuels law that requires a certain amount of those types of fuels, called cellulosic biofuels, to be mixed in with gasoline each year. Despite annual EPA projections that the industry would produce small amounts of the biofuels, none of that...
Shoring Up The Nation’s Crumbling Coastlines
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 25th, 2013
National Public Radio: Hurricane Sandy pummeled the beaches of the Northeast, stripping away sand and dunes, and ploughing through seawalls. Can beaches be rebuilt to face fiercer storms and rising seas? And is there even enough sand to do it? Ira Flatow and guests discuss engineering the nation's coasts for "the new normal."
Months After Sandy, Mucking And Gutting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 25th, 2013
National Public Radio: IRA FLATOW, HOST:
Flora Lichtman is here with our Video Pick of the Week. Flora, you visited Queens, the neighborhoods called the Rockaways, that was really wiped out by Hurricane Sandy.
FLORA LICHTMAN, BYLINE: It was hit very hard. Yes, this is a peninsula in Queens. If you past JFK, you hit the Rockaways. And so they have a bay side and an ocean side. And if you walk on the ocean side, you know, the destruction is still quite visible. There are houses that were literally ripped in half and...
A Boost in Radiation Monitoring for Fracking
Posted by New York Times: Jon Hurdle on January 25th, 2013
New York Times: Pennsylvania will step up its monitoring of naturally occurring radiation levels in water, rock cuttings and drilling wastes associated with oil and gas development in a yearlong study that will be peer-reviewed, the state`s environmental agency reports.
The study will also assess radiation levels in the pipes, well casings, storage tanks, treatment systems and trucks used by the natural gas industry, which has drilled thousands of wells in the gas-rich Marcellus Shale over the last five years....
Asian Monsoon Predictions Take Great Leap Forward
Posted by Environmental News Network: David A Gabel on January 25th, 2013
Environmental News Network: There are few other weather phenomenon which effect a country's agriculture, economy, and people greater than the Monsoon. The monsoon is defined as a seasonal reversing of wind accompanied by a significant change in precipitation. For many parts of the world, and particularly south Asia, the monsoon provides much needed rainfall. However, the amount of rainfall and number of tropical storms brought about by each year's monsoon has been extremely difficult to predict. Scientists from the International...
Snowfall too light to ease drought in U.S. crop region: expert
Posted by Reuters: Sam Nelson on January 25th, 2013
Reuters: Light snow expected next week in crop growing areas of the United States will provide only minor relief from the worst drought in more than 50 years, an agricultural meteorologist said on Friday.
Crop-killing drought deepened in Kansas over the last week, further jeopardizing this season's production of the important winter wheat crop. Kansas is generally the top U.S. wheat-growing state, but the new crop planted last fall has been struggling with a lack of soil moisture.
Without rain and/or...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Snowfall too light to ease drought in U.S. crop region: expert200,000+ Comments Delivered to DOE Criticizing Economic Study on Natural Gas Exports
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on January 25th, 2013
EcoWatch: Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy, CREDO, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Food & Water Watch and Sierra Club delivered more than 200,000 public comments, including extensive technical comments and a companion economic analysis report, along with a letter signed by 80 organization to the Department of Energy (DOE) expressing outrage over an economic study on exporting natural gas overseas that it is reviewing.
Yesterday was the last day to submit public comments to the DOE on the economic study,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on 200,000+ Comments Delivered to DOE Criticizing Economic Study on Natural Gas Exports