RSS Feed
Archive for June 26th, 2013
Narrow and Flawed, Federal Pipeline Safety Study Fails to Settle Controversy
Posted by InsideClimate: Lisa Song on June 26th, 2013
InsideClimate: Diluted bitumen, a controversial form of heavy Canadian oil, poses no more risks to pipelines than conventional oil, according to a long-awaited report released Tuesday by the National Academy of Sciences.
But environmentalists and pipeline watchdogs said the study's scope was so narrow and its methodology so flawed that it does little to settle the controversy over whether diluted bitumen, or dilbit, is more dangerous to humans and the environment than the light, conventional crude oil that most...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Narrow and Flawed, Federal Pipeline Safety Study Fails to Settle ControversyWhat’s in Obama’s plan to combat global warming
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Associated Press: President Barack Obama's wide-ranging plan to combat global warming would for the first time put limits on carbon pollution from new and existing power plants.
Obama on Tuesday announced plans to reduce domestic carbon dioxide emissions by 17 percent between 2005 and 2020 and "put an end to the limitless dumping of carbon pollution."
Other aspects of the plan would boost renewable energy production on federal lands, increase efficiency standards and prepare communities to deal with higher temperatures....
Obama offers plan to fight climate dangers
Posted by Boston Globe: Beth Daley on June 26th, 2013
Boston Globe: President Obama on Tuesday unveiled a comprehensive blueprint to combat rising seas and more frequent severe weather caused by climate change, including a long-awaited promise to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant at existing power plants.
The 21-page plan would expand production of solar and wind energy and includes billions of dollars in loan guarantees to develop cleaner fossil-fuel and other energy technologies. It also funds new efforts to armor communities against flooding, wildfires,...
Scientists Find Canadian Oil Safe for Pipelines, but Critics Say Questions Remain
Posted by New York Times: Dan Frosch on June 26th, 2013
New York Times: Diluted bitumen — the blend of thick Canadian crude that would be shipped by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline — is no riskier to transport than other types of crude oil, a new study has found, a conclusion that came under sharp attack by environmentalists. The study, which was conducted by the National Academy of Sciences and released on Tuesday, found that batches of diluted bitumen were no more likely to corrode or damage pipelines. And it determined that pipeline operators had no reason to change...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Scientists Find Canadian Oil Safe for Pipelines, but Critics Say Questions RemainCanada: Enbridge Says Spill From Line 37 Near Fort McMurray, Alta., Is Being Cleaned Up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Canadian Press: A clean up is underway on the oil spill from Enbridge’s Line 37 in an area southeast of Fort McMurray, Alta and the next stage will be to repair the pipeline itself, the company said Tuesday.
Enbridge said it anticipates as many as 75 workers would be on site Tuesday and the number will vary in the coming days.
“The site is very wet due to heavy rains and surface water is running down the slope to a small creek that discharges into an unnamed lake,” company spokesman Todd Nogier said.
“Containment...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Canada: Enbridge Says Spill From Line 37 Near Fort McMurray, Alta., Is Being Cleaned UpKeystone XL Protesters Stage Largest Action Yet in Oklahoma
Posted by Oklahoman: Jay F. Marks on June 26th, 2013
Oklahoman: Protesters say they shut down construction of a pump station Monday near Seminole in what they are calling their biggest action yet in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Eight people locked themselves to equipment and a work trailer on the construction site east of Seminole early Monday morning, as activists across the country began a week of protests billed as “Fearless Summer.” All events are meant to protect the country from the ravages of “extreme energy,” which includes coal mining,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Keystone XL Protesters Stage Largest Action Yet in OklahomaObama’s Climate-Change Goals Come With a Warning on Keystone
Posted by Globe and Mail: Steven Chase and Paul Koring on June 26th, 2013
Globe and Mail: U.S. President Barack Obama has laid out a sweeping plan to fight climate change that would limit pollution from coal-fired plants, a package he unveiled while making it clear that approval for Canada's Keystone XL pipeline project will only come if its backers can prove it won't worsen global warming.
Saying that the world still looks to the United States to lead, Mr. Obama called for curbs on existing and new coal-fired plants - the sector produces two-fifths of the country's electricity but...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Obama’s Climate-Change Goals Come With a Warning on KeystoneObama Links Keystone Approval to Carbon Emissions
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on June 26th, 2013
Associated Press: President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project from Canada to Texas should only be approved if it doesn't worsen carbon pollution.
The $7 billion pipeline has become a contentious issue, with Republicans touting the jobs it would create and demanding its approval and environmentalists urging the Obama administration to reject it, because it would carry carbon-intensive oil from Canadian tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast.
"Allowing the Keystone pipeline to...