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Archive for June 25th, 2013
Location May Stymie Wind and Solar Power Benefits
Posted by Scientific America: Quirin Schiermeier and Nature Magazine on June 25th, 2013
Scientific America: Wind farms and solar installations are often located in places where they will have the least impact on climate and health, a report finds.
These renewable energies emit less carbon dioxide and air pollution than burning fossil fuels for electricity. But the windiest and sunniest places in the United States -- such as the southwestern plains and deserts -- are not always the most socially and environmentally beneficial sites for wind turbines and solar panels. The benefits, according to a study...
Calgary floods trigger an oil spill and a mass evacuation
Posted by Grist: None Given on June 25th, 2013
Grist: Epic floods forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes last week in Calgary, Alberta, the tar-sands mining capital of Canada. More than seven inches of rain fell on the city over the course of 60 hours.
Now the floodwaters are subsiding throughout the province, leaving in their wake an oil spill, power outages, and questions about how climate change might affect flooding.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford said the crisis was “like nothing that we’ve ever seen before,” the Calgary Herald...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Calgary floods trigger an oil spill and a mass evacuationObama’s Challenge on Climate Change
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 25th, 2013
Bloomberg: President Barack Obama today announced a broad attack on climate change. His hope is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and he aims at every target imaginable -- every target within his authority, that is.
Included in his plan are solar and wind projects on U.S. public lands, new energy-efficiency standards and fuel-economy requirements, and greater limits on greenhouse-gas emissions of all kinds.
Unfortunately, he had to leave out any strong action Congress could take. That includes a meaningful...
Canada’s oil capital Calgary starts slow clean-up from floods
Posted by Reuters: Nia Williams on June 25th, 2013
Reuters: Canada's oil capital, Calgary, started the slow process of cleaning up its downtown on Tuesday in the aftermath of record-breaking floods, with many business owners returning for the first time to properties they were forced to leave last week.
Parts of the city's center were still without power, and most shops, hotels and businesses were closed for a fifth consecutive day.
"It's kind of spooky, it's so quiet," said Calgary resident Don Usselman, a remediation technologist, as he carried hoses...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada’s oil capital Calgary starts slow clean-up from floodsAlaska Feels Record High Temps, NASA Takes Rare Overhead Photo of the State Cloudfree
Posted by Nature World News: None Given on June 25th, 2013
Nature World News: A high pressure system over Alaska enabled NASA to capture a rare satellite image of the state almost completely devoid of cloud cover, but the odd and unusually hot weather has some climate scientists concerned.
Most days, the state is awash in clouds, which obscure much of Alaska's 6,640 miles (10,690 km) of coastline and 586,000 square miles (1,518,000 square km) of land.
The image above was taken on June 17 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer on NASA's Terra satellite and...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Alaska Feels Record High Temps, NASA Takes Rare Overhead Photo of the State CloudfreeStudy links fracking to drinking water pollution
Posted by Grist: John Upton on June 25th, 2013
Grist: While the EPA has been dumping and delaying studies of fracking’s effects on drinking water, new academic research reveals that people who live near natural gas wells in Pennsylvania are drinking the same gases that the frackers are pumping out from the shale beneath their feet. Researchers from Duke University, the University of Rochester, and California State Polytechnic University found dissolved methane, which is the main ingredient in natural gas, in water pumped from 82 percent of drinking...
Obama: Keystone decision turns on whether project adds pollution
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 25th, 2013
Reuters: President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that allowing the controversial Keystone pipeline to be built depends on whether it increases net carbon pollution.
"Our national interest will be served only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution," he said in a speech on energy policy at Georgetown University. "The net effects of the pipeline's impact on our climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward."
The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama: Keystone decision turns on whether project adds pollutionWhy Panama’s indigenous pulled out of the UN’s REDD program
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 25th, 2013
Mongabay: An Interview with Cacique Betanio Chiquidama, National Coordinator of Indigenous Peoples of Panama
This week in Lombok, Indonesia, the Policy Board of the United Nations climate change program known as UNREDD is addressing the first major test of the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the United Nations (UN DRIP), which recognizes the right of Indigenous People to stop projects in their territories that could endanger their traditions and livelihoods.
The National Coordinating...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Why Panama’s indigenous pulled out of the UN’s REDD programExperts praise Bloomberg’s climate plan but worry about his short remaining term
Posted by ClimateWire: Colin Sullivan on June 25th, 2013
ClimateWire: It didn't take long for critics to pounce on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 250 ideas for adapting the Big Apple to more intense storms and floods. But a survey of experts produced a surprisingly unified view: For the most part, they approve.
In a campaign-style event last week, the three-term independent with less than 200 days left in office trotted out a 438-page report. It had nearly $20 billion worth of project ideas for defending the city.
Artist's concept of a "multipurpose levee" that the...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Experts praise Bloomberg’s climate plan but worry about his short remaining termIn climate speech, Obama sets carbon limits on Keystone project
Posted by Hill: Justin Sink on June 25th, 2013
Hill: President Obama said Tuesday he will approve the Keystone XL pipeline only if it does not substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions -- a surprise announcement ambiguous enough to leave both sides in the fight thinking they’d heard good news.
“Our national interest will be served only if this project doesn’t significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution,” Obama said in speech laying out his second-term climate agenda, including greenhouse gas emissions for power plants.
“The...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on In climate speech, Obama sets carbon limits on Keystone project