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Archive for January, 2013
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 ExportsKeystone pipeline fate shifts to climate hawk Kerry
Posted by Bloomberg: Jim Snyder and Rebecca Penty on January 25th, 2013
Bloomberg: As a senator, John Kerry fought for sweeping climate change legislation, called human-induced warming among the top challenges facing the U.S., and pushed for an international accord to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
That track record has emboldened critics of TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL pipeline who want him to scuttle the remaining $5.3 billion portion of the project if he’s confirmed as secretary of State. Appearing yesterday at a hearing on his nomination before the Senate committee...
Drilling triggers rethink on ice
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 25th, 2013
Brisbane Times: THE first complete ice cores drilled from the Greenland ice sheet that extend back more than 120,000 years to the Earth`s last great warming period reveal the ice sheet experienced surface temperatures about 8 degrees hotter than today and was 400 metres thinner.
An international team of scientists have used a 2549-metre long ice core from north Greenland to reconstruct surface temperatures and ice sheet thickness back to the previous interglacial period, when global temperatures averaged about...
Kerry to make decision on Keystone after State Department review
Posted by Canadian Press: Lee-Anne Goodman on January 25th, 2013
Canadian Press: John Kerry offered scant indication Thursday about his position on TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, saying simply that he hopes to make "appropriate judgments" about the fate of the project should he officially become secretary of state.
The Massachusetts senator, appearing at his confirmation hearings, didn't face many questions on either climate change or the Keystone pipeline during almost four hours before the Senate foreign relations committee, of which he's currently the chairman.
"There...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kerry to make decision on Keystone after State Department reviewWhat we don’t want to know about chicken and fish
Posted by Grist: Sarah Miller on January 25th, 2013
Grist: Chicken and fish are often considered sort-of-not-really meat. You hear this a lot: “I don’t eat meat, but I eat chicken and fish.” Because they’re not mammals, the idea is, they’re not really animals.
I am as susceptible to this as anyone else. Also, I eat tons of chicken and fish. Probably a third of my at-home food intake is boneless chicken, and a third of my “eating out food” is fish. Not surprisingly, two weeks into not eating meat, I found that chicken and fish were my big cravings - as...
Governors at odds over Northwest export terminal proposals
Posted by Greenwire: Manuel Quinones on January 25th, 2013
Greenwire: Washington state's new Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has yet to take a strong position on five proposed coal export terminals in his state and neighboring Oregon, despite his environmental bona fides and efforts at controlling climate change.
Inslee, who took office last week, made it his first order of business to urge an unnamed clean energy CEO to set up shop in Washington. On coal, he is taking a more measured approach amid strong pressure to take sides.
"I'm going to give thought to this and frankly...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Governors at odds over Northwest export terminal proposals