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Archive for April, 2013
France Should Explore Potential of Shale Resources, Senator Says
Posted by Bloomberg: Tara Patel on April 18th, 2013
Bloomberg: France should allow exploration for shale oil and gas to gauge potential reserves even after banning hydraulic fracturing used to extract the fuels, the author of a report into alternative technologies told fellow lawmakers.
“We can’t close the door to research,” said Jean-Claude Lenoir, a senator who’s researching the alternatives to so- called fracking, banned in 2011. “Good sense tells us we should allow exploration to see how much resources we actually have.” He spoke at a parliamentary hearing...
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Comments Off on France Should Explore Potential of Shale Resources, Senator SaysSouth Africa: Backing a Legal Rhino Horn Trade
Posted by Inter Press Service: Brendon Bosworth on April 18th, 2013
Inter Press Service: In the face of rampant rhino poaching in South Africa, some conservationists and private rhino farmers are lobbying for removal of the international ban on rhino horn trading and the creation of a legal market, to quell poaching.
"The trade ban is creating a situation where rhinos are being killed unnecessarily," Duan Biggs, research fellow at the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions at Australia's University of Queensland, told IPS. "It's taking resources away from other conservation...
Oil-by-train may not be substitute for Keystone pipeline
Posted by Reuters: Patrick Rucker on April 18th, 2013
Reuters: The prospects for bringing large amounts of Canadian heavy crude oil into the United States by train is a contentious issue as the U.S. government weighs whether to allow the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to go ahead.
An assumption that oil would move by rail without Keystone was a key part of a U.S. State Department report in March that found development of Canada's oil sands region will proceed at roughly the same rate, with or without the pipeline.
That finding undercut warnings from...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Oil-by-train may not be substitute for Keystone pipelineKerry Staying ‘Far Away’ From Keystone XL Review—For Now
Posted by The Hill: None Given on April 18th, 2013
The Hill: Secretary of State John Kerry says he isn’t wading into the State Department’s review of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline.
At least not yet.
“I am staying as far away from that as I can now so that when the appropriate time comes to me, I am not getting information from any place I shouldn’t be, and I am not getting engaged in the debate at a time that I shouldn’t be,” Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
Kerry noted the decision would ultimately come to...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kerry Staying ‘Far Away’ From Keystone XL Review—For NowWorld Bank, IMF Link Urbanisation with Development
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 18th, 2013
Inter Press Service: Two of the world's largest multilateral institutions have released new data linking greater urbanisation with higher levels of human development, and are announcing that they will place greater priority on issues of urbanisation in coming decades.
According the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), urban areas in the developing world look set to pull in a staggering 96 percent of the additional 1.4 billion people expected in those countries by 2030. According to some metrics, that...
Colorado River Tops America’s Most Endangered Rivers List
Posted by Environment News Service: None Given on April 17th, 2013
Environment News Service: "Dammed, diverted, and drained ... to a trickle" and facing another drought this summer, the Colorado River tops American Rivers` annual list of America`s Most Endangered Rivers, the nonprofit river advocacy group announced today.
From its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park, the Colorado River flows for 1,450 miles through seven U.S. and two Mexican states, sustaining tens of millions of people as well as endangered fish and wildlife.
With its dramatic canyons, including the Grand Canyon,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Colorado River Tops America’s Most Endangered Rivers ListResidents of N.Y. Town Free to Express Worries About Fracking Again
Posted by OnEarth: Scott Dodd on April 17th, 2013
OnEarth: Back in February I wrote about a town in upstate New York that wanted its residents to just shut up about the potential hazards of fracking in their community. The details:
I had never heard of a town that actually imposed a gag order on its own citizens, until the Natural Resources Defense Council (which publishes OnEarth) received complaints about a town board in Sanford, New York (population: 2,400), that told its residents they could no longer bring up concerns about fracking at town meetings....
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Residents of N.Y. Town Free to Express Worries About Fracking AgainGiant Snails Invading Florida, “Major Threat” to Crops
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
National Geographic: A new outbreak of giant, disease-carrying snails is threatening Florida's crops, experts say.
The giant African land snail is finding itself right at home in the Sunshine State, whose hot and humid climate resembles the species' tropical Nigerian habitat. elated: "Giant Snails, Once a Delicacy, Overrun Brazil.")
Now found throughout the world, including the contiguous United States and Hawaii, these invasive plant-eaters pose a particular danger in Florida because of its vibrant agricultural...
Environmentalists appeal decision in fracking suit
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on April 17th, 2013
Associated Press: A coalition of environmental and landowner groups is appealing a district judge's decision that individual ingredients used in hydraulic fracturing can be protected under Wyoming's trade secrets law.
The Casper Star-Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/174zBna ) Wednesday the group, which includes the Powder River Basin Resource Council and the Wyoming Outdoor Council, appealed the decision by Natrona County District Judge Catherine Wilking to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Hydraulic fracturing, or...
None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use
Posted by Grist: David Roberts on April 17th, 2013
Grist: The notion of "externalities" has become familiar in environmental circles. It refers to costs imposed by businesses that are not paid for by those businesses. For instance, industrial processes can put pollutants in the air that increase public health costs, but the public, not the polluting businesses, picks up the tab. In this way, businesses privatize profits and publicize costs.
While the notion is incredibly useful, especially in folding ecological concerns into economics, I`ve always had...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use