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Archive for May, 2013
Stephen Harper touts Keystone XL pipeline in New York, downplays oilsands emissions
Posted by Edmonton Journal: William Marsden on May 18th, 2013
Edmonton Journal: The Keystone XL pipeline “absolutely needs to go ahead” because it will create jobs and bring energy security to the United States, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told an audience primarily made up of elderly businessmen Thursday.
He said construction of the 1,800-kilometre pipeline will create 40,000 jobs and bring enough oil to reduce American dependence on offshore oil by 40 per cent.
“This is an enormous benefit to the United States in terms of long-term energy security,” he said.
At...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Stephen Harper touts Keystone XL pipeline in New York, downplays oilsands emissionsEU to dial back measures against global warming
Posted by Kyodo: None Given on May 18th, 2013
Kyodo: The European Union, which has spearheaded efforts to curb global warming, is set to adopt a change of focus in response to concerns over costs and the impact on companies in economically depressed Europe. Under the change, the European Uniln will prioritize the supply of energy at affordable prices over cutting greenhouse gas emissions which impose burdens on industries, in a turnaround of the region's energy policy, an EU official said Saturday. EU leaders will decide on the shift in energy policy...
Is tornado intensity increasing?
Posted by Climate Nexus: Marlene Cimons on May 18th, 2013
Climate Nexus: With at least 10 tornadoes ripping through North Texas in one night this week -- leveling neighborhoods, killing six and injuring dozens -- it might be tempting to call the twisters yet another instance of climate-fueled weather. But not so fast.
While most climate scientists agree that global warming is driving record heat waves, widespread drought, heavy rain and floods, intense hurricanes, and even monster snowstorms, tornadoes -- at least for now -- are a different story.
"With tornadoes,...
Front-row seats to climate change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2013
PhysOrg: By day, insects provide the white noise of the South, but the night belongs to the amphibians. In a typical year, the Southern air hangs heavy from the humidity and the sounds of wildlife.
The Southeast, home to more than 140 species of frogs, toads and salamanders, is the center of amphibian biodiversity in our nation. If the ponds and swamps are the auditorium for their symphonic choruses, the scientists of the U.S. Geological Survey's Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative, or ARMI, have...
Draft fed rules would let frackers do whatever they want, but they’re still not happy
Posted by Grist: John Upton on May 17th, 2013
Grist: For everyone who was hoping the Obama administration`s proposed new rules for natural gas drilling on public lands would make a difference, the just-released new draft amounts to a big "frack you."
Federal rules governing fracking on public lands are being updated, ostensibly to help manage the boom that`s polluting America`s groundwater and shaking free vast volumes of cheap natural gas. Environmentalists were disappointed a year ago when the Department of Interior released a fracker-friendly...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Draft fed rules would let frackers do whatever they want, but they’re still not happyUK Signals Support for EU Import of Canadian Tar Sands Oil
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2013
Guardian: Britain has given its clearest signal yet that it wants to allow European countries to import carbon-intensive tar sands oil from Canada.
Leaked papers seen by the Guardian show that in EU negotiations on laws intended to encourage the use of low-carbon transport fuels, the UK has rejected language that would class tar sands oil as more polluting than conventional crude or other fuels.
The European commission has proposed labelling the oil as "highly polluting" under its fuel quality directive,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on UK Signals Support for EU Import of Canadian Tar Sands OilInterior Proposes New Rules for Fracking on U.S. Land
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2013
New York Times: The Obama administration on Thursday issued a new set of proposed rules governing hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on public lands, moving further to address industry concerns about the costs and reporting burdens of federal regulation.
The new Interior Department proposal, which is subject to 30 days of public comment and further revision, disappointed environmental advocates, who had pushed for full disclosure of the chemicals used in the drilling process and tougher standards for groundwater...
Public anger over pollution is being taken seriously
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 17th, 2013
Independent: Pollution and its health effects are a leading cause of unrest in China as the country’s rapid economic rise is accompanied by often appalling environmental side-effects. The air in most cities is regularly barely breathable and most of China’s rivers are poisoned. Pollution is the single biggest source of complaint among young people, and most environmental protests are carried out by educated, middle-class Chinese, worried about the danger to their families that environmental degradation can...
Smaller Glaciers Boost Sea Level as Much as the Giants
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on May 16th, 2013
Climate Central: As the planet warms under the influence of rising greenhouse gases, and melting ice drives sea level higher, scientists have focused mostly on changes in the vast ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica. If either one melts substantially or slides into the ocean, the results would be catastrophic.
But there's another ice reserve to worry about: the many thousands of smaller glaciers unconnected to continental-scale ice sheets. They're melting, too, and a new report in Science shows that...
Interior Department offers new rules for ‘fracking’
Posted by LA Times: Neela Banerjee and Wes Venteicher on May 16th, 2013
LA Times: The Interior Department proposed new rules to regulate hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on federal land Thursday, drawing criticism from environmentalists that it had weakened an earlier draft to placate industry.
Industry officials were not mollified, however, reiterating their objections to federal standards. Last year, they criticized the department's earlier draft rules as inflexible and onerous.
"We are proposing some common-sense updates that increase safety while also providing flexibility...