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Archive for February 15th, 2013
Feds Charge Man in Fracking Wastewater Dumping Case
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 15th, 2013
EcoWatch: Federal prosecutors have charged a Northeast Ohio man with violating the federal Clean Water Act after dumping at least 20,000 gallons of toxic and potentially radioactive fracking wastewater into a storm drain that empties into a tributary of the Mahoning River in Youngstown, Ohio.
The U.S. Attorney`s Office announced the charge yesterday against 62-year-old Ben Lupo of Poland, Ohio. He pleaded not guilty.
"These charges today should serve as a warning to anyone that places their personal...
FDA Extends Comment Period for GE Salmon
Posted by EcoWatch: None Given on February 15th, 2013
EcoWatch: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced that it is extending the mandatory public comment period on the approval of genetically engineered (GE) salmon. Originally scheduled to end on Feb. 25, the public comment period, with two documents available for comment in the Federal Register, will now close on April 26. The salmon would be the first GE food given the green light for human consumption. The extension is for two documents related to the approval of Massachusetts company...
Elegaic Images From North Dakota’s Boom
Posted by New York Times: Dylan Walsh on February 15th, 2013
New York Times: For Elizabeth Farnsworth, the story began when she was walking her dog at a highway rest stop off Interstate 94 in North Dakota.
"My husband and I met a trucker who was making $100,000 per year," said Ms. Farnsworth, a freelance filmmaker and special correspondent on PBS NewsHour. "That`s when I got interested in the oil boom."
In collaboration with Terry Evans, a photographer and longtime friend, Ms. Farnsworth has since made seven trips to report on the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota....
Hey, Deniers: Climate Change Has Cost Americans $200 Billion
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2013
Yahoo!: Environmentalists have been very critical of the president for his approach to talking about climate change.
During the election, President Obama made almost no mention of climate--only making one or two references after getting mocked by his opponent, Mitt Romney.
After the election, Obama said he wanted to make climate change a top priority in his second term. That was welcome news to climate advocates. Unfortunately, at the same time, his administration dismissed any discussion of a carbon...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Hey, Deniers: Climate Change Has Cost Americans $200 BillionKeystone XL moves to centre stage of Washington political drama
Posted by Beacon News: Lee-Anne Goodman on February 15th, 2013
Beacon News: President Barack Obama`s State of the Union clarion call for action on environmental issues has put climate change at centre stage in the U.S. capital _ and the Keystone XL pipeline is once again playing the role of the villain.
As the Government Accountability Office added climate change to its list of "high risk" fiscal issues that threaten big costs to taxpayers, two liberal U.S. senators introduced legislation Thursday aimed at putting a price on carbon.
The bill from Bernie Sanders, an...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL moves to centre stage of Washington political dramaIs Fracking Wastewater Being Dumped into Coal Mines in Western Pennsylvania?
Posted by EcoWatch: Natasha Khan, PublicSource on February 15th, 2013
EcoWatch: In the January cold, Ken Dufalla’s hands, chapped and raw, shake as he grips a five-foot metal pole with a small, stained plastic container attached and dunks it into the icy, orange-colored water rushing into Ten Mile Creek.
Chuck Hunnell, an Izaak Walton League water tester, holds a container used to pull water from streams and mine discharges. Members of the conservation group voluntarily test water for contaminants. Photo by Natasha Khan
“Even the ice is turning color! You ever seen red...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Is Fracking Wastewater Being Dumped into Coal Mines in Western Pennsylvania?Why I Came to Washington to Protest the Keystone Pipeline
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2013
Yale Environment 360: It’s not exactly as if hell has frozen over, for me, an oil and gas geologist to be protesting -- maybe even beyond the extent allowable by law – the folly of the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. I’ve hugged a tree or two before, written some letters opposing this or that dam, mine, clear-cut, or whatnot. I’ve lived the last 26 years in the backwoods of northwest Montana, writing pretty little stories, poems and essays about the million-acre garden of the Yaak Valley, a lush wild rainforest of a place,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why I Came to Washington to Protest the Keystone PipelineFifth of reptiles facing extinction
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 15th, 2013
BBC: The Zoological Society of London says nearly a fifth of the world's reptiles are facing extinction. In a study of reptiles including crocodiles, lizards, snakes, tortoises and turtles, researchers found that half of freshwater turtles are close to extinction while the jungle runner lizard may already have died out. Dr Monika Bohm, lead author of the paper written with the IUCN Species Survival Commission, spoke to BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast.
India’s rice revolution – audio slideshow
Posted by Guardian: Jim Powell and John Vidal. on February 15th, 2013
Guardian: Farmers in parts of India are breaking growing records, using less seed, less water, and compost as fertiliser. This ground-breaking method of cultivation, developed in Madagascar, is boosting yields and changing lives for the farmers. Norman Uphoff, professor at Cornell University, explains how it is done
Land rights activists angered as India’s forest act undermined
Posted by Guardian: Matthew Newsome on February 15th, 2013
Guardian: Land and tribal rights in India have been dealt a new blow after the government announced last week that major infrastructure projects will be exempt from obtaining consent for forest clearance from tribal communities living in the forest, a decision that undermines the importance of the country's Forest Rights Act.
Tribal and forest rights activists say the decision by India's ministers leaves village councils (gram sabhas) powerless to reject the building of roads, railways, transmission lines,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Land rights activists angered as India’s forest act undermined