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Archive for January, 2013
Report: Climate change a threat to wildlife
Posted by USA Today: Doyle Rice, on January 30th, 2013
USA Today: From birds in the Plains to bighorn sheep in California to caribou in Alaska and moose in Minnesota, a new study says animals are struggling to adapt to the new climate conditions caused by the burning of fossil fuels, which produces the carbon dioxide that warms the atmosphere.
"Climate change is the biggest threat wildlife will face this century," says the report released today by the National Wildlife Federation, an environmental group based in Reston, Va.
Though animals have adapted to...
Boats Still Idled by Oil Spill on Mississippi; Reopening Uncertain
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 30th, 2013
Associated Press: With more than 50 vessels idled on the water for a fourth day today, authorities said they still do not know when they will be able to reopen a 16-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that has been closed due to an oil spill. A plan to pump oil from a leaking barge onto another barge — a process known as lightering — had been approved but it was unclear how long that would take, Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Lally said. He said the other barge was en route. Severe weather that was...
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Posted by Reuters: Greg McCune on January 30th, 2013
Reuters: A wide area of the central and southeast United States faces the unusual threat of tornadoes in January over the next 12 to 18 hours as an approaching cold front clashes with unusually warm air, a meteorologist said on Tuesday.
The first tornado warning of the approaching storm was issued for western Missouri, said meteorologist Bill Bunting at the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
A warning is intended to signal residents to take cover because a tornado...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Wide area of U.S. faces unusual tornado threat in JanuaryEU executive thwarts Canada lobby on tar sand oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 30th, 2013
Reuters: Canada's urgent hunt for buyers for its oil is being thwarted as the European Commission sticks to a plan to label fuel from tar sands deposits as highly polluting, deterring refiners bound by environmental rules.
Intense pressure from Canada, seeking new markets to compensate for dwindling U.S. buying and discounted sales, has not convinced the EU executive to abandon its proposal to brand tar sands oil as more carbon-intensive than conventional crude.
"The Commission stands by its proposal,"...
House GOP, Citing North African Turmoil, Boosts Keystone XL Pressure on Obama
Posted by The Hill: Ben Geman on January 30th, 2013
The Hill: A mostly Republican group of House lawmakers is putting fresh pressure on President Obama to greenlight the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline, and a senior member said that another Capitol Hill hearing could be in the offing.
“In light of the recent events in North Africa, we need to be investing in energy infrastructure to control our own resources. We need to be able to move resources, not only from Canada, but from the many domestic shale plays that have recently come on line. We need to make...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on House GOP, Citing North African Turmoil, Boosts Keystone XL Pressure on ObamaClimate-change believers clash with skeptics as city hall plans for ‘volatile’ weather of the future
Posted by National Post: Natalie Alcoba on January 29th, 2013
National Post: Predictions of a future with even more extreme weather in Toronto should be taken seriously, if only as a precaution, says a climate change skeptic at city hall, as others suggested the municipality may have to spend billions of dollars rejigging its infrastructure.
The parks and environment committee unanimously agreed to set up a working group to examine the “increasingly wet and volatile climate” described in Toronto’s $250,000 Future Weather and Climate Driver study. Among its most alarming...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Climate-change believers clash with skeptics as city hall plans for ‘volatile’ weather of the futureDutch court to issue verdict in Shell Nigeria pollution suit
Posted by Reuters: Ivana Sekularac and Anthony Deutsch on January 29th, 2013
Reuters: A Dutch court will rule on Wednesday whether Royal Dutch Shell is responsible for pollution in Nigeria, a case activists say could set a precedent for damage claims related to the foreign activities of multinational companies.
Four Nigerians and interest group Friends of the Earth filed the suit in 2008 in The Hague, where Shell has its joint global headquarters, seeking unspecified reparations for lost income from contaminated land and waterways in the Niger Delta.
The Nigerians - fishermen...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Dutch court to issue verdict in Shell Nigeria pollution suitPopular pesticides kill frogs outright
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 28th, 2013
Mongabay: Commonly used agrochemicals (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides) kill frogs outright when sprayed on fields even when used at recommended dosages, according to new research in Scientific Reports. Testing seven chemicals on European common frogs (Rana temporaria), the scientists found that all of them were potentially lethal to amphibians. In fact, two fungicides-Headline and Captain Omya-wiped out the entire population of frogs at the recommended dosage. The study warns that agricultural chemicals...
A chat with the Sierra Club’s Michael Brune about civil disobedience
Posted by Grist: None Given on January 28th, 2013
Grist: Earlier this month, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune announced that the Club would, for the first time in its long and storied history, officially participate in an act of civil disobedience - i.e., break the law. The target? The Keystone XL pipeline. "For civil disobedience to be justified, something must be so wrong that it compels the strongest defensible protest," he wrote. "Such a protest, if rendered thoughtfully and peacefully, is in fact a profound act of patriotism."
I called...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on A chat with the Sierra Club’s Michael Brune about civil disobedienceOn battered Jersey shore, Sandy victims struggle with costs of climate change
Posted by Christian Science Monitor: Daniella Cheslow on January 28th, 2013
Christian Science Monitor: Nearly three months after superstorm Sandy inundated their house with five feet of water, retirees Brian and Dorothy Beebe went to the town hall here, clutching a survey of their home stuffed into a brown envelope, eager to repair their split-level home along New Jersey's shore. When they left, their best-laid plans – for their home, as well as for their life going forward – had been thrown into doubt. At town hall, clerks told them they may have to elevate their house as high as 11 feet above sea...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on On battered Jersey shore, Sandy victims struggle with costs of climate change